Prince Albert youth drug and alcohol use: a comparison study of Prince Albert, Saskatchewan, and Canada youth

Community Mobilization Prince Albert’s (CMPA) Hub and Centre of Responsibility (COR) had been dealing with high rates of youth arrest and referrals to treatment facilities stemming from youth substance abuse. To better help the CMPA craft policies to counter the high rates of youth alcohol and drug use, a study was conducted in June of 2012 that utilized a school survey of PA youth. Data were collected from four local Prince Albert high schools and compared with Saskatchewan and Canadian youth. Analyses of the data were conducted using logistic regression and bivariate correlation. The following paper will provide an overview of the study and explain why youth substance abuse was chosen for this study. Later sections will examine how the Prince Albert school survey was formulated for comparison purposes with Saskatchewan and Canadian youth data obtained from the 2010-11 Youth Smoking Survey (YSS). This will be followed by an overview of the study’s key findings, along with results of logistic regression and bivariate correlation analysis and the study’s limitations. A final section will examine the implications of this study’s findings on youth substance abuse policy and programs for the CMPA Hub and COR, along with the city of PA.

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Co-morbid substance use behaviors among youth: any impact of school environment?

Global Health Promotion ◽

10.1177/1757975911429873 ◽

2012 ◽

Vol 19 (1) ◽

pp. 50-59 ◽

Cited By ~ 8

Author(s):

Mary Jean E. Costello ◽

Scott T. Leatherdale ◽

Rashid Ahmed ◽

Dana L. Church ◽

John A. Cunningham

Keyword(s):

Substance Use ◽

School Environment ◽

Marijuana Use ◽

Alcohol Education ◽

Youth Smoking Survey ◽

Canadian Youth ◽

Current Cigarette ◽

Nationally Representative ◽

Drug And Alcohol ◽

Level Analysis

Background. Substance use is common among youth; however, our understanding of co-morbid tobacco, alcohol and marijuana use remains limited. The school-environment may play an important role in the likelihood a student engages in high risk substance use behaviors, including co-morbid use. Purpose. This study aims to: (i) describe the prevalence of co-morbid substance use behaviors among youth; (ii) identify and compare the characteristics of youth who currently use a single substance, any two substances, and all three substances; (iii) examine if the likelihood of co-morbid use varies by school and; (iv) examine what factors are associated with co-morbid use. Methods. This study used nationally representative data collected from students in grades 9 to 12 (n = 41,886) as part of the 2006-2007 Canadian Youth Smoking Survey (YSS). Demographic and behavioral data were collected including, current cigarette, alcohol and marijuana use. Results. 6.5% (n = 107,000) reported current use of all three substances and 20.3% (n = 333,000) of any two substances. Multi-level analysis revealed significant between school variability in the odds a student used all three substances and any two substances; accounting for 16.9% and 13.5% of the variability, respectively. Co-morbid use was associated with sex, grade, amount of available spending money and perceived academic performance. Conclusions. Co-morbid substance use is high among youth; however, not all schools share the same prevalence. Knowing the school characteristics that place particular schools at risk for student substance use is important for tailoring drug and alcohol education programs. Interventions that target the prevention of co-morbid substance use are required.

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