Young Aboriginal people in Australia who have never used marijuana in the 'Next Generation Youth Well-being study': A strengths-based approach

Abstract

Background: Being young is a period of experimentation which can lead to increased vulnerability to poor health choices and outcomes. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander (Aboriginal) people have a long and strong history of resilience; however, a deficit approach is often taken with messages of poor health and low socioeconomic status. This study takes a strengths-based approach and examines the demographic factors and behaviours associated with never using marijuana among young Aboriginal people in Australia.

Methods: Overall, 521 Aboriginal people aged 16-24 years from Western Australia, Central Australia and New South Wales participated in the Next Generation: Youth Wellbeing Study. The baseline survey examined demographics, health-related behaviours and clinical indicators of young Aboriginal people. We calculated the number and proportion of young Aboriginal people who never used marijuana by demographics and behavioural factors. Logistic regression was used to assess the demographic and behavioural factors associated with never using marijuana.

Results: Of the 521 participants, 458 (87.9%) answered the question about marijuana use of which 220 had incomplete demographic or behavioural questions, leaving a final cohort of 301 participants. A total of 174 (57.8%) had never used marijuana. A higher proportion of young Aboriginal people who never used marijuana were younger (16-19 years old), female, queer, single, lived in Central Australia, were students, had never smoked tobacco, had never drank alcohol, never had anxiety and never had depression. Never using marijuana was independently associated with being a parent or carer of a child (Adjusted Odds Ratio (AOR): 2.80, 95% CI: 1.03-7.59, p = 0.043), never smoking tobacco (AOR: 29.73, 95 CI: 13.32-66.37, p < 0.001), never drinking alcohol (AOR: 2.78, 95 CI: 1.12-6.93, p = 0.028), not having anxiety (AOR: 3.49, 95 CI: 1.19-10.23, p = 0.022), and having lower levels of distress (AOR: 2.63, 95 CI: 1.20-5.77, p = 0.016).

Conclusion: Our study shows that more than half of young Aboriginal people did not use marijuana, smoke, or drink alcohol and that those who had not used marijuana had lower levels of distress.

Keywords: Alcohol; Anxiety; Cannabis; First nations; Indigenous; Smoking; Youth.