01/10/04

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Intentions to use drugs can start in childhood, new study shows

As early as first grade, most children know what cigarettes and alcohol are – and a surprising number already express their intention to use these substances in the future, according to the results of an Oregon Research Institute (ORI) study recently published in the Journal of Clinical Child and Adolescent Psychology. The study was funded by the National Institute on Drug Abuse.

In the study of 1,075 students conducted at Springfield schools, researchers found that more than 90% of boys and girls in the first grade could correctly identify cigarettes and alcohol from pictures. About one-fourth of these children could also identify smokeless tobacco.

Few first graders (less than 5%) had tried the substances. But 20% of boys and 15% of girls said they intended to use cigarettes, and 33% of boys and 22% of girls said they planned to use alcohol, when they became teenagers or adults. Children who said they intended to try cigarettes and alcohol were more likely to use them in later years, according to the study.

At an early age, more boys in the study said that they had tried alcohol and smokeless tobacco, that they had tried alcohol without parent’s knowledge and intended to try both alcohol and cigarettes when older. By the seventh grade, however, more girls than boys reported trying both cigarettes and alcohol.

Prevalence of substance use increased in the late elementary years among both boys and girls, according to the study’s results. By the seventh grade, nearly 20% of students said they had tried cigarettes and about 50% said they had tried alcohol.

The results of this study suggest that drug prevention efforts should target the elementary years, with a special focus on boys in the early years.

“Our results demonstrate that even young children have knowledge of alcohol and cigarettes – either through direct exposure or through the media,” said ORI scientist Judy Andrews, Ph.D., who directed the study. “Although most of these children have not tried substances in the early grades, some of them have definite intentions to do so – and we found that early intentions do predict later use. Intention may be viewed as an early warning sign, particularly in the early elementary years, of later substance use.”

Founded in 1960, Oregon Research Institute is a non-profit behavioral research center located in Eugene, Oregon.