Alasdair Forsyth

Levels of Drug Use Among a Sample of Scottish Schoolchildren

This paper reports on the lifetime prevalence of substance use among a sample of 758 schoolchildren from one Scottish city. The mean age was 13.3 (range 11–16), approximately half the sample were female, virtually all were ethnically white. Just over half (52.6%) of the sample reported lifetime use of tobacco. Alcohol had been consumed by most of the sample with (43.7%) reporting having ever been drunk. About a third of the sample (31.3%) reported ever having used a illegal drug. The drug most likely to be used was cannabis (29.2%). Use of any of the other drugs did not exceed 10%. By age 15 a majority of children in the sample had tried an illegal drug. These schoolchildren also exhibited high levels of awareness about drugs. A substantial proportion had been in situations where drugs were, taken (57.8%) and had themselves been offered drugs (51.6%). They also had friends whom they reported as having personal experience of drugs (57.4%). These data indicate the ubiquitousness of drugs in young peoples l...

Adolescent drug use, health and personality

Four factors have confounded the association between drug use and morbidity: (a) known drug users may be less healthy than unknown drug users; (b) drug users are rarely compared to control subjects; (c) the socio-economic status of drug users predisposes them to ill-health; (d) the personality of drug users predisposes them to ill-health. Here, controlling for these confounds, in a study of 210 adolescent drug users it was found that subjective ill-health was more strongly related to drug use than was objective ill-health. Drug use was related to neuroticism and psychopathic deviance. Controlling for personality, drug use accounted for little additional variance in health. It is concluded that drug use and health are not strongly related amongst adolescent drug users, although, because of their personalities, drug users tend not to feel well. Implications are discussed for the self-treatment explanation of drug use and for the design of preventative programmes.

Personality as an Explanation of Drug Use

The personalities of fifteen people in residential drug treatment were compared to those of people in a long-term hostel for the homeless and those of students. Many of the personality factors previously reported to be correlates of drug use did not distinguish between these three groups. Drug users tended to be similar to hostel residents, while both differed from students. Drug use was best predicted by the MAC scale of the MMPI and drug users tended to be shrewd, tough-minded, anxious, experience-seeking and well motivated for the future (perhaps related to entering treatment). It is concluded that many of the psychological phenomena which have been reported as correlates of drug use may be artifacts of using inadequate or incomparable control groups (such as students or general population norms). Also, previous research may have confused being “streetwise” with being “antisocial.”

Alcopops and under‐age drinking: changing trends in drink preference

Assesses the popularity of the new alcoholic carbonates (alcopops) among 14‐15 year old schoolchildren. Considers the relationship between last occasion consumption of alcopops and self‐reported drunkenness. These data are based on a follow‐up study of schoolchildren who self‐completed the same standard instrument in 1994 and two years later in 1997. The survey was carried out in five Dundee schools selected in consultation with the Local Education Authority. In 1994, schoolchildren in years S3‐4 aged 14‐15 were surveyed (n = 373). The survey was repeated again with S3‐4 pupils in 1996. Data from those pupils originally sampled as S1‐2 pupils and followed up at time 2 (n = 288) are included here. Alcopops were introduced onto the market three months after the first survey was carried out. By the time the original sample was recontacted in 1996, alcopops were the second most likely drink to be consumed by these under‐age drinkers (17.3 per cent drank alcopops, the same proportion as drank vodka, 20.8 per cent consumed ordinary beers on the last occasion). Despite the popularity of alcopops these drinks were not associated with drunkenness. Given the rate of increase in alcopop consumption between the two survey times, it is clear that the alcoholic carbonates are popular among under‐age drinkers. That these drinks are not associated with drunkenness suggests the importance of a better understanding of the decisions young people bring to bear on alcohol choice.

Alcopop Supernova: Are alcoholic lemonades (alcopops) responsible for under-age drunkenness?

In 1995 a range of lemonade flavoured alcohol products (lemon carbonates) were launched in Scotland and elsewhere in the UK. This coincided with concerns in the media over teenage drunkenness and the possibility that certain drinks might be being marketed to appeal to under-age consumers. An assumption made by the media and taken up by politicians was that alcoholic lemonade, with its soft drink taste, bright cartoon style packaging and ‘fun’ names would be appealing to children. Using survey data on the drinking habits of Scottish secondary schoolchildren this paper found little evidence to support this assumption. It is concluded that although some children do consume alcoholic lemonades, perhaps to the point of drunkenness, other drinks, notably white cider, fruit wine and vodka, are more strongly associated with such behaviour.

Drug use Among Schoolchildren in Rural Scotland

This paper reports on levels of substance use among a representative sample of 765 schoolchildren aged approximately 12–15 years-attending 5 schools in rural Perth and Kinross District, Scotland. Experience of tobacco was reported by over half of the sample (56.0 %). Of smokers, 53.2 % reported having smoked in the past month. A majority of pupils had consumed an whole alcoholic drink (72.4 %), 55.8 % of whom had drunk alcohol in the past month. Just under half reported having been intoxicated (46.6 %), with a mean number of 17 days reported drunk in the past year. Pupils reported high levels of awareness and exposure to illicit drugs. A quarter reported lifetime experience of drugs (25.4 %). By age fifteen, 44.4 % had tried a drug. Cannabis accounted for most of this drug use (23.0 %), although 12.8 % reported use of more than one drug (the mean number taken was 2). The levels of drug use reported are comparable with national survey results and suggest the degree to which drugs are prevalent in rural as ...

Is the ‘Addictive Personality’ Merely Delinquency?

The Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI) was administered to 210 adolescents whose drug use ranged from using only licit drugs to the injection of opiates. The personality traits of drug users differed significantly between groups and between sexes. For both sexes, drug users scored significantly higher than non-users on a number of MMPI scales. For females, neuroticism (as measured by elevations on the hypocondriasis, depression and hysteria scales) was more important in predicting the use of licit drugs and cannabis, with psychopathic deviance and mania being more important in predicting other illicit drugs. For males, elevated psychopathic deviance and mania scale scores were strongly associated with extent of drug use. The possibility that these two scales only measure “delinquency” rather than a more permanent personality type is discussed.

Levels of Drug Use in a Sample of Scottish Independent Secondary School Pupils

This short report quantifies the lifetime prevalence of substance use among a sample of 557 school pupils drawn from the independent school sector in Scotland. The mean age of these respondents was 14.4 years (range 11–18). A majority of the sample was female. Almost two-thirds (62.9%) of the sample reported lifetime use of tobacco. More than half (57.3%) of these smokers had done so within the past 28 days. Alcohol had been consumed by most of the sample, with a majority (61.4%) reporting having experienced at least one episode of drunkenness. As with smoking, more than half of respondents (61.2%) who had ever experienced drunkenness had done so during the previous month. More than one-quarter (26.0%) reported having used an illegal drug. In line with other studies, the drug most likely to be used was cannabis. Use of any other drugs was comparatively low (11.0%). By secondary school year five (ages 16–17) a majority (56.6%) of these respondents had tried an illegal drug. These data indicate that a high ...

Young people's awareness of illicit drug use in the family

A sample of Scottish schoolchildren aged 14–15 (N = 1240) were asked a series of questions regarding their knowledge and experience of illicit drugs. They were asked to report on personal lifetime drug use and whether they knew of any family member who had ever used drugs. More than four in ten respondents admitted to having used an illegal drug, with a similar number admitting to awareness of drug use by another family member. There was a strong statistical relationship between respondents’ own use and drug use by all types of family members. However, although respondents who reported using drugs themselves were more likely to nominate other drug users in their family, only a small minority of respondents stated that a family member initiated them into drug use and few stated that they were aware of any problematic use. Although prior drug use by family members may not directly lead to use by young people, these data indicate that illegal drug use tends to cluster within families.