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Do adolescent ecstasy users have different attitudes towards drugs when compared to marijuana users?
Silvia S Martins1, Carla L Storr, Pierre K Alexandre
1Department of Mental Health, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore, MD 21205, USA. smartins@jhsph.edu
Drug and Alcohol Dependence
|December 11, 2007
Summary
Adolescents who use marijuana or ecstasy are more likely to approve of drug use and have friends who approve. Presenting risks of ecstasy use may reduce adolescent approval and experimentation.
Area of Science:
- Adolescent health
- Substance use research
- Social psychology
Background:
- Adolescent drug experimentation is influenced by perceived risks, attitudes, peer expectations, and self-efficacy.
- Understanding these factors is crucial, especially given the common progression from marijuana to ecstasy use.
Purpose of the Study:
- To examine the associations between adolescents' attitudes and beliefs regarding ecstasy use.
- To compare these associations across three groups: non-drug users, marijuana-only users, and ecstasy users.
Main Methods:
- Analysis of data from 5049 adolescents (aged 12-18) from the National Survey of Parents and Youth (NSPY).
- Utilized jackknife weighted multinomial logistic regression models for data analysis.
Main Results:
- Adolescent marijuana and ecstasy users showed higher approval of drug use compared to non-users.
- Users were more likely to have friends who approved of ecstasy use; this association was stronger for ecstasy than marijuana.
- Approval of drug use was a stronger predictor of use than perceived risk.
Conclusions:
- Educational interventions highlighting the risks and consequences of ecstasy use are needed.
- These interventions aim to decrease adolescent approval and experimentation with ecstasy.
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