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Abstract
The purpose of this study is to assess the relationships between county-level characteristics and adolescent use of alcohol, cigarettes, and marijuana. The study consisted of a hierarchical generalized linear analysis of secondary data from the Florida Youth Substance Abuse Survey. Variables on the county level included the percent of adolescents in the county reporting the presence of a Boys & Girls Club, neighbors available to adolescents needing to talk, abandoned buildings, and easy access to the substance. The easy access variable explained a majority of the variance in the county-level log odds of use. The results provide support for policies that restrict access to alcohol, cigarettes, and marijuana.
The author wishes to express her appreciation to the Florida Department of Children and Families for making their database available for this study. She extends her appreciation to Lisa Sayegh, PhD, for her thoughtful comments and suggestions on manuscript drafts.
Portions of this article were presented at the Society for Social Work and Research Annual Conference in January 2007.
Notes
a Response set − 0 = no risk, 1 = slight risk, 2 = moderate risk, 3 = great risk.
b Response set − 0 = very wrong, 1 = wrong, 2 = a little bit wrong, 3 = not wrong at all.
c Response set − 0 = very hard, 1 = sort of hard, 2 = sort of easy, 3 = very easy.
d Percentage of respondents reporting presence of this characteristic/element.