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Date: November 25, 2024 Mon
Time: 8:23 pm
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Results for substance abuse (scotland)
5 results foundAuthor: McAra, Lesley Title: Truancy, School Exclusion and Substance Misuse Summary: The purpose of this paper is to explore the relationship between truancy, school exclusion and substance misuse. It draws on the findings of the Edinburgh Study of Youth Transi-tions and Crime (the Edinburgh Study), a longitudinal research programme exploring pathways into and out of offending for a cohort of around 4,300 young people who started secondary school in the City of Edinburgh in 1998. The key findings of the study are as follows: Truants have a significantly higher incidence of illegal drug use, underage drinking and smoking than non-truanting pupils and rates of substance misuse increase over time. Long-term truants exhibit a higher incidence of all forms of substance misuse in compari-son with other categories of truant. Illegal drug use and smoking significantly predict truancy after controlling for a range of other explanatory variables, including school experience, victimisation, parenting and a range of personality characteristics such as self esteem and impulsivity. Pupils who have been excluded from school report a significantly higher incidence of il-legal drug use, underage drinking and smoking than their non-excluded counterparts. Substance misuse is less strongly associated with exclusion than it is for truancy. Illegal drug use is only weakly predictive of exclusion after controlling for other explanatory variables, including school experience and anti-social behaviour. Underage drinking and smoking are not significant predictors. Early intervention targeting health risk behaviours may have some part to play in dimin-ishing truancy rates. However substance misuse is only one part of a complex set of be-haviours and adverse circumstances associated with both truancy and exclusion. Policy needs to take greater cognizance of sex differences in truancy and exclusion. While early truanting is predominantly a male activity, by second year of secondary edu-cation girls form the majority of truants (including persistent truants). By contrast boys form the overwhelming majority of excluded pupils at all sweeps of the study. Details: Edinburgh, Scotland: Centre for Law and Society, The University of Edinburgh, 2004. 30p. Source: The Edinburgh Study of Youth Transitions and Crime, Number 4: Internet Resource: Accessed July 18, 2012 at http://www.law.ed.ac.uk/cls/esytc/findings/digest4.pdf Year: 2004 Country: United Kingdom URL: http://www.law.ed.ac.uk/cls/esytc/findings/digest4.pdf Shelf Number: 102905 Keywords: School Exclusions (Scotland)Substance Abuse (Scotland)Truancy (Scotland) |
Author: McAra, Lesley Title: Patterns of Referral to the Children's Hearing System for Drug and Alcohol Misuse Summary: The purpose of this paper is to explore patterns of referral to the children’s hearings system for drug and/or alcohol misuse. It draws on the findings of the Edinburgh Study of Youth Transitions and Crime (the Edinburgh Study), a longitudinal research programme exploring pathways into and out of offending for a cohort of around 4,300 young people who started secondary school in the City of Edinburgh in 1998. The key findings are as follows: Only a small proportion (10 per cent) of children in the Edinburgh Study cohort with a children’s hearing record, were ever referred to the reporter on J grounds (for drug or alcohol misuse). However J ground referrals were only one of several routes into the hearings system for children with significant substance misuse problems. A further 3 per cent of those with records were referred for Misuse of Drugs Act offences and in another 11 per cent of cases drug and/or alcohol misuse was raised as a key issue in reports. Children known to the hearings system for substance misuse and other children with a hearings record were significantly more likely to be living in a single parent household and to come from a socially deprived background than non-record children. Self-reported substance misuse was significantly higher amongst children known to the hearings system for drug and/or alcohol misuse than amongst other children with a hearings record and non-record children. In official records, alcohol misuse was the most commonly identified problem. Children known to the system for drug and/or alcohol misuse exhibited high levels of anti-social and disruptive behaviour had problematic family and peer relationships and absconded regularly from school. Parental substance misuse, however, was not identified as a common problem in records. The earliest substance misuse referrals were made at age 11 and peaked at sweep five (reference period fourth year of secondary education). A high proportion of these children had a long history of involvement with the system, mostly for offending or being beyond the control of a relevant person. Just over a third of referrals with a substance misuse component resulted in a hearing, the most common outcome of which was a home supervision requirement. Children made subject to compulsory measures of care appear to have only limited access to specialist drug and/or alcohol programmes. Reports indicate that social work interventions focused on: the child’s challenging behaviour; truancy; the capacity of parents to control their children; and parent/child relationship breakdown. Compulsory measures of care may only have a limited impact on substance misuse. Just under two-thirds of those with a hearing had at least one further referral to the hearings system in later years. Moreover drug and/or alcohol misuse was raised as a key issue in the referral process in later years, for just under a half of children made subject to compulsory measures of care. Very few children in the Edinburgh cohort who regularly drank alcohol or took drugs were known to the hearings system. Level of drug use was only a weak predictor of having a hearings record. Substance misusers most likely to be referred were those who: were not living with two birth parents; came from a socially deprived background; exhibited challenging behaviour in the context of school; and came frequently to the attention of the police (importantly the latter were not always the most persistent and serious offenders). The findings are supportive of policy initiatives aimed at broadening the range of community- based services, access to which is not predominantly controlled by the police, schools or social work. The findings also suggest that sports and leisure programmes which aim to divert youngsters away from the streets and into meaningful, structured activities have an important role to play in preventing or reducing substance misuse amongst children. Details: Edinburgh, Scotland: Centre for Law and Society, The University of Edinburgh, 2005. 34p. Source: The Edinburgh Study of Youth Transitions and Crime, Number 6: Internet Resource: Accessed July 18, 2012 at http://www.law.ed.ac.uk/cls/esytc/findings/digest6.pdf Year: 2005 Country: United Kingdom URL: http://www.law.ed.ac.uk/cls/esytc/findings/digest6.pdf Shelf Number: 102905 Keywords: Alcohol Abuse (Scotland)Drug Abuse (Scotland)Juvenile Justice System (Scotland)Juvenile Offenders (Scotland)Substance Abuse (Scotland) |
Author: McVie, Susan Title: Adolescent Smoking, Drinking and Drug Use Summary: The purpose of this paper is to explore the relationships and inter-dependence between tobacco, alcohol and illicit drug use in adolescence and the characteristics of substance users. It draws on the findings of the Edinburgh Study of Youth Transitions and Crime, a longitudinal research programme exploring pathways in and out of offending for a cohort of around 4,300 young people who started secondary school in the City of Edinburgh in 1998. Tobacco smoking, alcohol consumption and drug use all rose dramatically between ages 12 and 15, although there was a particularly sharp increase around age 13 to 14. Girls were more likely than boys to smoke from age 13 and drink alcohol from age 14, and equally likely to take drugs from age 14. Age of starting was lowest for alcohol, followed by smoking and then illicit drug use. Early experimentation resulted in behavioural continuity for all three substances, demonstrated by the high proportion of drinkers, smokers and drug users at age 12 who continued to report such behaviours at subsequent sweeps. Alcohol, tobacco and illicit drug use are closely inter-related and demonstrate a high level of dose-dependence, whereby increased frequency of use of one coincides with increased frequency of use of the other. Within each substance type, there is evidence of sequential progression from occasional use at one age to regular use later. Multiple substance users report higher levels of delinquency and victimisation; higher impulsivity and lower self-esteem; greater involvement in unconventional activities; weaker parental supervision and stronger peer influence than single substance users and non-users. These findings are supportive of policies that recognise the close links between tobacco, alcohol and illicit drug use and ensure that education or health-based initiatives involve an integrated response. Early intervention may be most effective in terms of preventing continued and more serious misuse in later adolescence. Details: Edinburgh, Scotland: Centre for Law and Society, The University of Edinburgh, 2005. 44p. Source: The Edinburgh Study of Youth Transitions and Crime, Report No. 7: Internet Resource: Accessed July 18, 2012 at http://www.law.ed.ac.uk/cls/esytc/findings/digest7.pdf Year: 2005 Country: United Kingdom URL: http://www.law.ed.ac.uk/cls/esytc/findings/digest7.pdf Shelf Number: 102905 Keywords: Alcohol Use and Abuse (Scotland)Juvenile Offenders (Scotland)Longitudinal Studies (Scotland)Substance Abuse (Scotland)Tobacco (Scotland) |
Author: McVie, Susan Title: Family Functioning and Substance Use at Ages 12 to 17 Summary: This paper explores the relationship between family functioning and substance use among young people aged 12 to 17. It draws on findings from the Edinburgh Study of Youth Transitions and Crime (the Edinburgh Study), a longitudinal research programme exploring pathways into and out of offending among a single age cohort of young people who started secondary school in the City of Edinburgh in 1998. Between the ages of 12 and 17, prevalence of smoking, drinking and illicit drug use increased continuously amongst cohort members. From age 13 onwards, girls were more likely to smoke weekly than boys, although there was little or no gender difference in terms of weekly drinking or drug use in the last year. Family characteristics and parenting styles were found to play a significant role in the substance using behaviour of young people. There was evidence of a causal link between these factors, since family related factors at age 15 predicted substance use at age 17. Excessive drinking and involvement in drug use amongst parents strongly predicted young people’s involvement in smoking and drug use. Parents’ drinking and drug use was not related to their children’s drinking. The difference may arise because smoking and drug use are considered deviant, whereas drinking is more widely accepted. Five dimensions of parenting consistently predicted involvement in smoking, drinking and drug use. Ineffective parenting methods were characterised by high levels of parent/ child conflict, poor parental monitoring and lack of leisure time spent doing activities together. Substance using children were likely to conceal information about their social activities from their parents, although they were more likely to report engaging in positive forms of conflict resolution. There were important demographic differences between smokers and other substance users which have policy implications for prevention strategies. Smokers were more likely to be female and from less affluent backgrounds, whereas drinkers and drug users (at age 17) were likely to be from more affluent backgrounds. These findings are broadly supportive of social learning theory and indicate the need to provide information on methods of parenting which may be more effective in tackling various forms of problematic behaviour, including substance use. Details: Edinburgh, Scotland: Centre for Law and Society, The University of Edinburgh, 2005. 35p. Source: The Edinburgh Study of Youth Transitions and Crime, Report No. 9: Internet Resource: Accessed July 18, 2012 at http://www.law.ed.ac.uk/cls/esytc/findings/digest9.pdf Year: 2005 Country: United Kingdom URL: http://www.law.ed.ac.uk/cls/esytc/findings/digest9.pdf Shelf Number: 102905 Keywords: Family Relationships (Scotland)Juvenile Offenders (Scotland)Parents (Scotland)Substance Abuse (Scotland) |
Author: Norris, Paul Title: Neighbourhood Effects on Youth Delinquency and Drug Use Summary: This report aims to investigate whether the characteristics of residential neighbourhoods exert an influence on two forms of problematic adolescent behaviour, criminal offending and drug use, that is independent of factors relating specifically to the individual. It draws on the findings of the Edinburgh Study of Youth Transitions and Crime (the Edinburgh Study), a longitudinal research programme exploring pathways into and out of offending for a cohort of 4,328 young people, who started secondary school in the City of Edinburgh in 1998. The key findings are as follows: Characteristics of the neighbourhoods in which young people live do play a role in influencing aspects of their delinquent and drug using behaviour, although their impact is relatively weak in comparison to the effect of individual characteristics, such as gender and personality. The neighbourhood factors involved in explaining higher levels of delinquency, cannabis and hard drug use amongst 16 year olds are quite different, which indicates that a different theoretical framework may be needed to understand the contextual effects of areas on different problematic behaviours. Whereas delinquency and hard drug use are partially explained by negative neighbourhood characteristics (such as greater deprivation in the case of delinquency and higher crime rates for hard drug use), more frequent cannabis use is greater within prosperous neighbourhoods but also within areas in which there is greater social disorganisation. The findings support crime control policies based on tackling underlying structural deprivation (such as unemployment and density of local authority housing). However, they also indicate that community-based strategies that take a uniform approach to tackling both crime and drug use are unlikely to be entirely successful due to the different influences of neighbourhood factors. Details: Edinburgh, Scotland: Centre for Law and Society, The University of Edinburgh, 2006. 34p. Source: The Edinburgh Study of Youth Transitions and Crime, Report No. 10: Internet Resource: Accessed July 18, 2012 at http://www.law.ed.ac.uk/cls/esytc/findings/digest10.pdf Year: 2006 Country: United Kingdom URL: http://www.law.ed.ac.uk/cls/esytc/findings/digest10.pdf Shelf Number: 102905 Keywords: Juvenile Delinquency (Scotland)Juvenile Offenders (Scotland)Neighborhoods and Crime (Scotland)Substance Abuse (Scotland) |