How Do Rates of American Indian Youth Substance Use Compare to National Rates?
A comparison of American Indian (AI) youth substance use data to national rates from Monitoring the Future (MTF) for the years 2009-2012 shows that adolescent substance use is still a major problem among reservation-based AI students. This is especially true for 8th graders where lifetime, annual, and last month prevalence rates were significantly higher than national rates for nearly all substances. (More)
Stanley L.R., Harness, S., Swaim, R.C., & Beauvais F. (2013, in press). Trends in substance use among American Indian youth living on or near reservations; Update, 2009-2012. Public Health Reports.
How Do Drug Use Rates Among American Indian Youth Vary by Region?
AI students in the Northern Plains and Upper Great Lakes are more likely to have used substances at much higher rates than those living in the Southwest and Oklahoma, with the exception of methamphetamines, where students in the Southwest have higher use rates. Use among female AI students was equal to or higher than that of male AI students. (More)
Miller K.A., Stanley L.R., Beauvais F. (2012). Regional differences in drug use rates among American Indian youth. Drug and Alcohol Dependence. 126(1-2), 35-41. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22575603
Do Drug Use Rates Differ Between Oklahoma and Non-Oklahoma Indian Youth?
Oklahoma Indian 7th-12th graders have significantly lower drug use rates than those of Non-Oklahoma Indian 7th -12th graders. In addition, Oklahoma youth show later ages of initiation of drug use and greater perceptions of harm from using drugs. (More)
Tragesser, S.L., Beauvais, F., Burnside, M., & Jumper-Thurman, P. (2010) Differences in illicit drug-use rates among Oklahoma and non-Oklahoma Indian youth. Substance Use and Misuse, 45(13) 2323-39. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20482336
How does American Indian 4th-6th grade drug use compare to non-Indian use?
Marijuana use rates for American Indian 4th-6th graders are significantly higher than non-Indian 4th-6th graders while inhalant use rates are very similar. Last month marijuana use rates are 5 to 10 times higher for Indian youth, suggesting very early initiation of marijuana use for a large percentage of Indian youth. (More)
Miller K.A., Beauvais F., Burnside M., & Jumper-Thurman P. (2008). A comparison of American Indian and non-Indian fourth to sixth graders’ rates of drug use. Journal of Ethnicity in Substance Abuse. 7(3), 258-267. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19042809
Are tobacco use rates for American Indian adolescents similar to those for non-Indian youth?
Comparing MTF rates of tobacco use for 8th, 10th and 12th grade youth to Indian youth shows that their use of cigarettes and smokeless tobacco are significantly higher than those found for the MTF national survey. In conjunction with these higher rates are lower levels of perceived harm of tobacco use. (More)
Beauvais F., Thurman P.J., Burnside M, & Plested B. (2007). Prevalence of American Indian adolescent tobacco use: 1993-2004. Substance Use and Misuse. 42(4), 591-601. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/17558952