Alcohol and drug use of inter-city versus rural school age children

The purpose of this study of seventy-nine children was to determine: 1) the prevalence and type of substance use in inter-city and rural eight to twelve-year-old children; and 2) the relationships between child substance use, self-esteem, peer substance use, and family climate. The conceptual framework for the study was a modification of Kumpfer and Turner's Social Ecology Model (1991). Nineteen percent of the children had used alcohol or drugs. Thirty-three percent of the children acknowledged having friends who used substances. Inter-city children reported more alcohol and marijuana use, while the rural children reported more use of inhalants. The responses of both inter-city and rural children also indicated that there were problems with substance use and family violence in the home. Self-esteem and affiliation with drug using peers were significantly correlated with substance use of the child.