A Comparison of Individual-Level and Community-Level Predictors of Marijuana and Cocaine Use among a Sample of Newly Arrested Juvenile Offenders

Abstract

Variations in drug use have been found across individual-level factors and community characteristics, and by type of drug used. Relatively little research, however, has examined this variation among juvenile offenders. Based on a sample of 924 newly arrested juvenile offenders, two multilevel logistic regression models predicting marijuana test result and cocaine test result were separately examined. The results highlighted a strong association between individual-level socio-demographic characteristics, most notably age and seriousness of arrest charge, and drug use. Residential stability was related to cocaine use, yet none of the community variables were related to marijuana use. These findings suggest that different risk factors are related to adolescent marijuana and cocaine use. The research implications of the findings are discussed.

KEYWORDS:

• cocaine use
• community characteristics
• juvenile offenders
• marijuana use

Notes

^a Marijuana test result chi-square test of significance: p < .05.

^b Cocaine test result chi-square test of significance: p < .05.

Note: Since the multilevel logistic regression analyses relied on random effects modeling, calculations of the odds ratios (OR) at the between level are not appropriate.

**p < .05; ***p < .01; ****p < .001.

Florida law requires that a youth be at least 12 years old to consent to STD testing, without parental permission.

Among the eligible 759 males and 634 females who were assessed and asked to participate in the study, 83% of each gender consented to provide the initial urine specimen. Of these, 85.3% of males and 87.5% of females also consented to be tested for STDs (70.5%, 72.7%, and 71.5% of assessed males, females, and youths overall). No significant differences were found in consent rates by gender, race, age, HJAC operational shift (7 a.m.–3 p.m., 3 p.m.–11 p.m., 11 p.m.–7 a.m.), or post-HJAC placement. In total, 948 youths, 506 males and 448 females, agreed to participate in the project.

For the non-geocoded youths, N = 2 (0.2%) provided an out-of-state address, N = 8 (0.8%) provided addresses with missing or incorrect address information, and N = 14 (1.5%) lived in counties that were not contiguous to Hillsborough County.

The urine specimens were collected at the Hillsborough County Juvenile Assessment Center as part of the assessment process within three hours following arrest. The collected specimens were kept in a refrigerator until picked up by a courier within 24 hours for transport to the testing laboratory.