Drug use amongst 12- and 13-year-olds attending emotional and behavioural difficulty units in Belfast

Abstract

This article reports on the findings from a survey of 12- and 13-year-old young people with statements of special educational needs who are attending emotional and behavioural difficulty units in Belfast. The existing literature in the area of special education suggests that a gap in contemporary empirical evidence for drug use behaviours of adolescents attending EBD units and other special educational facilities exists at present. In attempting to redress this knowledge gap, the findings from the present study support the opinions of commentators in the field that young people attending EBD units are at a high risk of illicit drug use in comparison with their contemporaries in mainstream school.

Keywords:

• Belfast Youth Development Study
• Drug Use
• EBD units