Alcohol, drugs, and violence among youth, 1992

Abstract

The prevalence of alcohol. drugs. and violence among youth age 12-21 IS estimated from the youth supplement (Youth Risk Behavior Survey) of the 1992 National Health lnterview Survey. We present national benchmarks on the extent of alcohol. drug . and violence-related behavior among youth . Risk activities among six race/ethnic and gender groups are compared and examined byeducational and employment status . School and work are selected because of their economic signifcance to youth The incidence of risk among youth by race and gender is complex the prevalence of alcohol, drugs, and violence varies by education and employment for the different groups of youth . Nonetheless. we discover that Mexican American men and white men exhibit comparable risk profiles Among women. alcohol use was greater among the employed than those witho ut a Job: college attendance was associated with greater alcohol use among Mexican American women. For blacks. a lower medince of health risks was associated with more favorable educational and employment status . The findings suggest that greater attention be given to differences in health risks by race/ethnicity and gender and to the contributions of education and employment in determming health risks among youth.