STUDY: TEEN DRUG USE LINKED TO DISSATISFACTION

South Carolina high school students are far more likely to use drugs and to
start using them sooner if the teens are dissatisfied with their lives,
University of South Carolina researchers reported Tuesday. Teens who are
satisfied with their lives are less apt to try or use drugs ranging from
alcohol to marijuana, cocaine and heroin. "The consistent association
between kids who are not happy and kids who use drugs is amazing," said Dr.
Robert F. Valois, a USC public health researcher who studies teen risk
behavior.

Valois studied 5,032 public high school students across South Carolina.
Studies often show a link with males, but not females, or blacks, but not
whites, he added. This also represents the most comprehensive study to
examine adolescents' life satisfaction and substance abuse, according to
USC psychology professor Dr. Scott Huebner, co-author of the study. White
females were nearly 12 times more likely to use cocaine at age 13 or
younger if they were dissatisfied, white males 12 times more likely, black
males nearly 17 times more likely and black females more than four times
more likely than if they were satisfied.

Dissatisfied black males were nearly 12 times more likely than satisfied
counterparts to have tried crack or freebase in their lifetime.

For white females the rate was four times, black females six times and
white males three times more likely. For injecting illegal drugs, white
females were nearly six times more likely, white males five times and black
males nearly 12 times more likely if they were dissatisfied with life. The
study does not determine whether teens' dissatisfaction causes them to use
alcohol and other drugs or whether their substance abuse is leading to
their unhappiness, said Keith Zullig, a USC doctoral candidate and lead
author of the study, published in the latest edition of the Journal of
Adolescent Health. It's important that so many teens are abusing
substances, Zullig said, noting concern that about 25 percent of students
reported trying cigarettes before age 13. For the study, the researchers
added questions on life satisfaction to the Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention Youth Risk Behavior Survey. Students were asked to rate their
satisfaction in six areas, including family, friendships, school and
overall life, on a scale of one to seven, from terrible to delighted.

The dissatisfied group chose any of the three bottom ratings, the satisfied
any of the top three. Dissatisfied white females stood out most
dramatically. They were significantly more likely to have tried or be using
the drug in all 21 questions while the count was 16 of 21 for black
females, black males and white males. Dissatisfied students were more than
twice as apt to inhale glue and gas, which Valois described as readily
available and inexpensive. For cocaine, lifetime use was four times as high
among dissatisfied girls, nearly three times for white males and nearly six
times for black males.

While 75 percent of all students reported having used alcohol at least
once, the rate was about twice as high for dissatisfied teens as satisfied.
Principals, doctors, counselors and others might employ the satisfaction
questions to determine which students are more likely to be using drugs,
something students may not want to discuss, Valois said.