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Abstract
Abstract
The drug abuse risk status and characteristics of pregnant adolescents (under 21 years) were evaluated at public maternal health clinics in Prince George's County, Maryland. During the project period (March 1988 to September 1989), 403 young women were interviewed. Based on those interviews, one of four risk judgments, scaled for increasing severity of risk, was assigned. Twenty percent of the sample was found to be either at high risk or current abusers of alcohol or other drugs. Risk was equally represented across both the age range (14–20 years) and marital status of the sample. but Whites were overall at significantly higher risk than Blacks (P <. 0001). Post-hoc examination of risk correlates identified drug use in the home and past or current cigarette smoking to be strongly predictive of risk (γ =. 92). While parental drug use was the most frequently reported social environment drug influence factor, as risk status of the young women increased in severity, the parental influence factor declined and the significant-other influence factor increased. A separate sample of adult women (21 years and older) was interviewed for comparison to the youth sample.