The Potential Protective Effect of Youth Assets on Adolescent Alcohol and Drug Use.

SUBSTANCE abuse; YOUTH development; URBAN poor; ADOLESCENT psychology; REGRESSION analysis

Objectives. We examined the association between adolescent alcohol and drug use and 9 youth assets in a low-income, inner-city population. Methods. An in-person survey of 1350 adolescents and parents assessed youth assets and risk behaviors. We analyzed data with χ² tests and logistic regression analyses. Results. When we controlled for appropriate variables, there were significant positive relationships between several youth assets and nonuse of alcohol and drugs. Furthermore, youths who possessed all of the statistically significant youth assets were 4.44 times more likely to report nonuse of alcohol and 5.41 times more likely to report nonuse of drugs compared with youths who possessed fewer youth assets. Conclusions. Our study supports the view that specific youth assets may protect youths from alcohol and drug use. (Am J Public Health. 2004;94:1425-1430). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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