ERIC Number: ED381524
Record Type: Non-Journal
Publication Date: 1994-Oct-9
Pages: 11
Abstractor: N/A
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: N/A
EISSN: N/A
Stages of Acquisition of Gateway Drug Use in Upper Elementary School Children.
Kelley, R. Mark; And Others
This study examines the stages of acquisition of "gateway" drug use among fourth, fifth, and sixth grade students at 11 elementary schools in Arkansas. A 109-item questionnaire, administered in the classrooms by the classroom teachers, solicited information about the stages of acquisition and the subjects' use of alcohol, smokeless tobacco, cigarettes, and marijuana, as well as demographic information. Complete data were collected from 464 students. Of respondents, 77.4 percent were white. Results were analyzed within stages of use defined as: precontemplation 1--those who had not tried the substance and were not planning to; contemplation--those who had not tried the substance but were planning on trying it sometime; precontemplation 2--those who had tried the substance but were not planning to try it again; initiation--those who had tried the substance and/or were planning on trying it in the next 30 days; action--those who had used the substance regularly for up to 6 months; maintenance--those who had been using the substance for 6 months or longer; and habit change--those who had been using the substance regularly for at least 6 months and were thinking of stopping. Some of the findings were: (1) for alcohol use, 61 percent were in the precontemplation 1 stage, 24.1 percent in the precontemplation 2 stage, and 8.2 percent in the initiation stage; (2) for smokeless tobacco, 71.6 percent were in the precontemplation 1 stage, 2.4 percent in the contemplation stage, and 15.9 percent in the contemplation 2 stage; (3) for cigarettes, 80.8 percent indicated the precontemplation 1 stage, 1.3 percent the contemplation stage, 9.1 percent the precontemplation 2 stage, and 3.9 the initiation stage; (4) for marijuana, 93.5 percent indicated the precontemplation 1 stage, 0.4 percent the contemplation stage, and 0.9 percent the precontemplation stage. The conclusion is that the Stages of Acquisition of Gateway Drug Use model may be a useful tool for examining drug use among upper elementary school students. (Contains 12 references.) (JB)
Descriptors: Alcoholic Beverages, Drinking, Drug Use, Elementary School Students, Grade 4, Grade 5, Grade 6, Intermediate Grades, Marijuana, Smoking, Student Behavior, Tobacco
Publication Type: Reports - Research; Speeches/Meeting Papers
Education Level: N/A
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Identifiers - Location: Arkansas
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A