School Experiences and Substance Use Among Youths

The NHSDA Report:  School Experiences and Substance Use Among Youths

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Highlights:

• Another report based on SAMHSA's National Household Survey on Drug Abuse found a association between academic performance and substance use.  See The NHSDA Report:  Academic Performance and Youth Substance Use.   In 2001,  youth were asked whether their school experiences were positive.

• Students aged 12 to 17 with positive school experiences were less likely to have used alcohol or illicit drugs in the past year than students without these positive school experiences.  The youth with positive school experiences were those who enjoyed going to school, who felt that their assigned schoolwork was meaningful, or who felt that the things they learned in school were going to be important later in life.

• Among youths, females were more likely than males to have a positive attitude toward school.

• Asian, black, and Hispanic youths were more likely than white youths to have a positive attitude toward school.

• The rates of past year alcohol and illicit drug use were lower for youths who had seen or heard drug or alcohol prevention messages at school in the past year than youths who had NOT seen or heard drug or alcohol prevention messages at school.

Reports on School Influences

Reports on Youth

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This Short Report, The NHSDA Report:  School Experiences and Substance Use Among Youths, is based on SAMHSA's  National Household Survey on Drug Abuse (NHSDA), conducted by the Office of Applied Studies (OAS) in the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA).  SAMHSA's National Household Survey on Drug Abuse (NHSDA) is the primary source of information on the prevalence, patterns, and consequences of drug and alcohol use and abuse in the general U.S. civilian non institutionalized population, age 12 and older.   The NHSDA also provides estimates for drug use by state.

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