Inhalant use and risky behavior correlates in a sample of rural middle school students

Subst Abus. 2006 Dec;27(4):21-5. doi: 10.1300/j465v27n04_03.

Abstract

This study found 20.4% of children attending a middle school located in rural Mississippi had used inhalants to "get high", a figure that is much larger than the national average. Many (3.4%) students reported they had used inhalants on 10 or more occasions. Inhalant use was most associated with being younger, ever smoking, riding with a driver who had been drinking, and being involved in a fight. Nearly twice as many younger students reported usage in our sample compared to other studies. Longitudinal studies need to be conducted to investigate whether use of inhalants is a precursor to other risky behaviors, and subsequent progression to alcohol abuse or illicit drug use.

MeSH terms

  • Adhesives*
  • Adolescent
  • Aerosol Propellants*
  • Age Factors
  • Alcohol Drinking / epidemiology
  • Child
  • Cross-Sectional Studies
  • Female
  • Health Behavior
  • Health Surveys
  • Humans
  • Male
  • Marijuana Smoking / epidemiology
  • Mississippi
  • Risk-Taking
  • Rural Population / statistics & numerical data*
  • Sex Factors
  • Smoking / epidemiology
  • Solvents*
  • Substance-Related Disorders / epidemiology*

Substances

  • Adhesives
  • Aerosol Propellants
  • Solvents