Swedish high-school pupils’ attitudes towards drugs in relation to drug usage, impulsiveness and other risk factors
Background. Illicit drug use influences people’s lives and elicits unwanted behaviour. Current research shows that there is an increase in young people’s drug use in Sweden. The aim was to investigate Swedish high-school pupils’ attitudes, impulsiveness and gender differences linked to drug use. Ris...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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PeerJ Inc.
2014-06-01
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| Online Access: | https://peerj.com/articles/410.pdf |
| _version_ | 1797413112924602368 |
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| author | Fariba Mousavi Danilo Garcia Alexander Jimmefors Trevor Archer Béatrice Ewalds-Kvist |
| author_facet | Fariba Mousavi Danilo Garcia Alexander Jimmefors Trevor Archer Béatrice Ewalds-Kvist |
| author_sort | Fariba Mousavi |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Background. Illicit drug use influences people’s lives and elicits unwanted behaviour. Current research shows that there is an increase in young people’s drug use in Sweden. The aim was to investigate Swedish high-school pupils’ attitudes, impulsiveness and gender differences linked to drug use. Risk and protective factors relative to drug use were also a focus of interest.Method. High school pupils (n = 146) aged 17–21 years, responded to the Adolescent Health and Development Inventory, Barratt Impulsiveness Scale and Knowledge, and the Attitudes and Beliefs. Direct logistic, multiple regression analyses, and Multivariate Analysis of Variance were used to analyze the data.Results. Positive Attitudes towards drugs were predicted by risk factors (odds ratio = 37.31) and gender (odds ratio = .32). Risk factors (odds ratio = 46.89), positive attitudes towards drugs (odds ratio = 4.63), and impulsiveness (odds ratio = 1.11) predicted drug usage. Risk factors dimensions Family, Friends and Individual Characteristic were positively related to impulsiveness among drug users. Moreover, although boys reported using drugs to a greater extent, girls expressed more positive attitude towards drugs and even reported more impulsiveness than boys.Conclusion. This study reinforces the notion that research ought to focus on gender differences relative to pro-drug attitudes along with testing for differences in the predictors of girls’ and boys’ delinquency and impulsiveness. Positive attitudes towards drugs among adolescents seem to be part of a vicious circle including risk factors, such as friendly drug environments (e.g., friends who use drugs) and unsupportive family environments, individual characteristics, and impulsiveness. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-09T05:13:51Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-45c6e5b966d445ecaddb1f63c12b5d9e |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2167-8359 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-09T05:13:51Z |
| publishDate | 2014-06-01 |
| publisher | PeerJ Inc. |
| record_format | Article |
| series | PeerJ |
| spelling | doaj.art-45c6e5b966d445ecaddb1f63c12b5d9e2023-12-03T12:47:08ZengPeerJ Inc.PeerJ2167-83592014-06-012e41010.7717/peerj.410410Swedish high-school pupils’ attitudes towards drugs in relation to drug usage, impulsiveness and other risk factorsFariba Mousavi0Danilo Garcia1Alexander Jimmefors2Trevor Archer3Béatrice Ewalds-Kvist4Network for Empowerment and Well-Being, SwedenNetwork for Empowerment and Well-Being, SwedenNetwork for Empowerment and Well-Being, SwedenNetwork for Empowerment and Well-Being, SwedenDepartment of Psychology, University of Turku, FinlandBackground. Illicit drug use influences people’s lives and elicits unwanted behaviour. Current research shows that there is an increase in young people’s drug use in Sweden. The aim was to investigate Swedish high-school pupils’ attitudes, impulsiveness and gender differences linked to drug use. Risk and protective factors relative to drug use were also a focus of interest.Method. High school pupils (n = 146) aged 17–21 years, responded to the Adolescent Health and Development Inventory, Barratt Impulsiveness Scale and Knowledge, and the Attitudes and Beliefs. Direct logistic, multiple regression analyses, and Multivariate Analysis of Variance were used to analyze the data.Results. Positive Attitudes towards drugs were predicted by risk factors (odds ratio = 37.31) and gender (odds ratio = .32). Risk factors (odds ratio = 46.89), positive attitudes towards drugs (odds ratio = 4.63), and impulsiveness (odds ratio = 1.11) predicted drug usage. Risk factors dimensions Family, Friends and Individual Characteristic were positively related to impulsiveness among drug users. Moreover, although boys reported using drugs to a greater extent, girls expressed more positive attitude towards drugs and even reported more impulsiveness than boys.Conclusion. This study reinforces the notion that research ought to focus on gender differences relative to pro-drug attitudes along with testing for differences in the predictors of girls’ and boys’ delinquency and impulsiveness. Positive attitudes towards drugs among adolescents seem to be part of a vicious circle including risk factors, such as friendly drug environments (e.g., friends who use drugs) and unsupportive family environments, individual characteristics, and impulsiveness.https://peerj.com/articles/410.pdfAttitudes towards drug useImpulsivenessGender and drug useRisk factor for drug use |
| spellingShingle | Fariba Mousavi Danilo Garcia Alexander Jimmefors Trevor Archer Béatrice Ewalds-Kvist Swedish high-school pupils’ attitudes towards drugs in relation to drug usage, impulsiveness and other risk factors PeerJ Attitudes towards drug use Impulsiveness Gender and drug use Risk factor for drug use |
| title | Swedish high-school pupils’ attitudes towards drugs in relation to drug usage, impulsiveness and other risk factors |
| title_full | Swedish high-school pupils’ attitudes towards drugs in relation to drug usage, impulsiveness and other risk factors |
| title_fullStr | Swedish high-school pupils’ attitudes towards drugs in relation to drug usage, impulsiveness and other risk factors |
| title_full_unstemmed | Swedish high-school pupils’ attitudes towards drugs in relation to drug usage, impulsiveness and other risk factors |
| title_short | Swedish high-school pupils’ attitudes towards drugs in relation to drug usage, impulsiveness and other risk factors |
| title_sort | swedish high school pupils attitudes towards drugs in relation to drug usage impulsiveness and other risk factors |
| topic | Attitudes towards drug use Impulsiveness Gender and drug use Risk factor for drug use |
| url | https://peerj.com/articles/410.pdf |
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