Substance use among street children in Honduras

The hypothesis that drug use among Honduran street children is a function of developmental social isolation from cultural and structural influences is examined. Data from 1,244 children working and/or living on the streets of Tegucigalpa are described, separating "market" children from "street" children. The latter group is then divided into those who sniff glue and those who do not to identify salient distinguishing factors. An OLS regression of drug usage on these variables results in a model that explains 75% of the variance, where family relations, length of time on the street, and delinquency are the most important factors.