Texas School Survey of Substance Use Among Students on the Border: Grades 712 2002

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Texas School Survey of Substance Use Among
Students on the Border Grades 7-122002
Liang Y. Liu, Ph.D.

• Texas Commission on
• Alcohol and Drug Abuse

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Introduction

• Statewide school survey conducted biennially
  since 1988 by TCADA with the Public Policy
  Research Institute at Texas AM University
• In 1998, schools along the Texas-Mexico border
  were oversampled for the first time to examine
  substance use among border students in detail
• A total of 53,053 students in grades 7-12 were
  sampled from 34 school districts in border
  counties
• 96,167 secondary students were sampled from the
  43 non-border school districts for comparison

2002 Texas School Survey G7-12
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Survey Participant Composition
2002 Texas School Survey G7-12
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Substance UseBorder vs. Non-Border

• 54.0 of border students vs. 52.6 of non-border
  students reported using some type of substance
  during the past school year
• Border students were more likely to
• use cocaine, crack, or Rohypnol
• be past-month users of alcohol or tobacco
• have used multiple illicit drugs
• Border students were less likely to
• use marijuana, hallucinogens, uppers, downers, or
  Ecstasy

2002 Texas School Survey G7-12
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Lifetime Use of Substances
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Past-Month Use of Substances
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Binge Drinking (5 drinks at One Time)
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Past-Year Drug UsersWho Used 1 Illicit Drugs
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Lifetime Use of Powder Cocaine and Crack
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Lifetime Use of Rohypnol
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Demographic Correlates of Substance Use

• Border Hispanic students reported lower lifetime
  use of most substances except cocaine, crack, and
  Rohypnol than their non-border peers
• Differences in cocaine use between border and
  non-border students were greater in the upper
  grades
• Inhalants, beer, and cigarettes were the first
  substances tried by both border and non-border
  students
• Border students who made Cs, Ds and Fs were
  two times as likely to use cocaine/crack, uppers,
  downers, hallucinogens, Rohypnol, or heroin as
  students who made As and Bs

2002 Texas School Survey G7-12
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Sociodemographic Status
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Past-Month Use of Any Substance by Gender and
Ethnicity
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Past-Month Use of Any Substance by
Sociodemographic StatusBorder Students
Live With Both Parents
In Other Family Structures
Have a Job
No Job
College -Ed. Parents
No College-Ed. Parents
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Protective and Risk Factors Related to Substance
Use

• Border students reported obtaining alcohol from
  stores or parties more often than non-border
  students
• Border students also reported that cocaine,
  crack, and Rohypnol were easy to obtain
• Border students were more likely to perceive
  tobacco and marijuana as dangerous to use, but
  less likely to perceive alcohol, inhalants,
  cocaine, crack, and heroin as dangerous to use
• All students who participated in extracurricular
  activities reported lower substance use than
  those who did not participate, however, the
  difference was more pronounced among non-border
  students

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Students Who Said Substances Were Used at Some
Parties They Attended
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Students Who Said Substances Were Very Easy to
Obtain
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Past-Month Alcohol Users Who Always/Most of the
Time Get Alcohol from Various Sources
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Students Who Thought Substances Were Very
Dangerous to Use
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Parental Attendance at School Events Past-Month
Substance Users/Non-Users
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Past-Month Use of Any Substance by Perceived
Environment Safety Border Students
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Border Students Who Participated in Specific
Extracurricular Activities
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Past-Month Use of Alcohol and Marijuana by
Extracurricular Activity Participation
Past-Month Alcohol Use
Past-Month Marijuana Use
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Alcohol- and Drug-Related Problems

• Both border and non-border students who missed
  class or had conduct problems in school were more
  likely to have used alcohol or other drugs than
  other students
• Border students were slightly more likely than
  non-border students to have attended class while
  drunk or high on inhalants or illicit drugs other
  than marijuana
• Border seniors were more likely than their
  non-border peers to report driving a car after
  having consumed a good bit to drink, but less
  likely to report driving while high from drugs

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Students Who Attended Class While High on
Substances in Past School Year
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Seniors Who Had Driven While Drunk or High from
Drugs
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Sources of Information and Assistance for
Substance Problems

• Border students reported having received
  information on substance use from more school
  sources than non-border students
• 11 of border and 7 of non-border students said
  they already had sought help for their substance
  problems
• Border students seemed more willing than
  non-border students to seek help from a counselor
  or program in school and out of school, medical
  doctor, or school nurse/teacher.

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Students Receiving Information on Substances in
Past School Year
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Would Seek Help from an Adult Past-Month
Substance Users/Non-Users
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Recommendations

• Border area youths may be protected through the
  strengths of the Mexican family culture, which
  can be a foundation for creating strategies to
  keep youths drug free
• Due to the flow of drugs across the border and
  the ease at which drugs can be obtained, parents,
  schools, and communities should address youth
  risk and resiliency factors
• Parents should have ongoing communication with
  their children and emphasize their disapproval of
  using substances

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• Recent information on prevention, drugs of abuse,
  research, clearinghouse services, and training
  opportunities can be
• found at the TCADA website

www.tcada.state.tx.us
Acknowledgement to Brian D. Robertson, graduate
student at the Texas AM University System Health
Science Center, for creating this presentation.
2002 Texas School Survey G7-12