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Relatively little is known about the substance abuse treatment need patterns and experiences of youth incarcerated in the United States juvenile justice system. To address this issue, four analytic questions concerned with understanding the predictors of treatment need and utilization patterns among adolescents entering the juvenile corrections system are examined. Data analyzed were collected as part of a face-to-face survey of 401 youth who entered the Illinois juvenile correctional system in mid-2000. Overall, need for treatment and treatment utilization each were predicted by sets of social environmental and personal characteristics, in addition to several sociodemographic variables. Less than half of youth with an identified need for treatment reported receiving treatment. Considerable variability in the effects of demographic and social environmental indicators on treatment need and utilization across race groups also was observed. These findings underscore the need for the continual development of the cultural competence of treatment providers and the expansion of on-site provision of substance abuse treatment services to incarcerated juveniles.

We analyzed recanting of substance use reports for lifetime use of alcohol, alcohol to get drunk, cigarettes, marijuana and cocaine in an 8-wave panel study designed to evaluate the Drug Abuse Resistance Education program in the State of Illinois. Although this phenomenon has been identified elsewhere, the current analysis of recanting is a unique attempt to track this behavior over the entire course of adolescence. Overall, rates of recanting for specific drugs were extremely high, ranging from 45% for lifetime reports of alcohol use to 81% for lifetime reports of cocaine. Most recanting occurred in the wave immediately following the wave of first disclosure. Paralleling results from other studies, race/ethnicity was an important correlate of recanting in both bivariate and multivariate analyses. African American respondents had higher rates of recanting than White subjects. Even after controlling for the number of follow-up waves, the later the wave of first disclosed lifetime drug use, the lower the probability that drug use would be recanted ever (for all substances) or in the wave immediately following first disclosure (for reports of ever having been drunk or for lifetime marijuana or cocaine use). Alternative causes for this phenomenon are discussed. Implications for the design and interpretation of multiwave school-based panel surveys targeted toward adolescents are also addressed.

Data were analyzed from two years (1993 and 1995) of a statewide survey of high school students on drug use. Changes in the rates of inhalant use, and associations between inhalant use and sociodemographic variables, were examined across the two survey years. Measures of inhalant use included lifetime use, past year use, and past month use. Analyses showed no significant difference in the rates of inhalant use across years. Associations with sex, ethnicity, and age were partly consistent with previous research findings. Both lifetime and recent inhalant use were more prevalent among males than females. Blacks were less likely to use inhalants (lifetime and recent) than other racial/ethnic groups in both survey years. Native Americans showed elevated rates of recent inhalant use in 1993, but not in 1995. While age trends in the 1993 survey were consistent with expectations, age trends in the 1995 survey were not. Recent inhalant use was constant across age groups in the 1995 sample. Also contrary to expectations, inhalant use was not more prevalent in low-income or high-poverty areas. The associations of inhalant use with family intactness and academic performance varied by race/ethnicity. Family intactness was a significant protective factor only for whites and Hispanics. Poor grades were not a significant predictor of lifetime inhalant use for blacks, and the protective effect of high grades was found only for whites. Poor grades were highly predictive of lifetime inhalant use for Asians.

Aims: To evaluate the association between inhalant use and delinquent or criminal behavior., Design: A large statewide sample of high school students participated in a survey on drug use. Five groups were identified based on reported drug use: inhalant experimenters, other drug experimenters, inhalant users, other drug users and non-users. Inhalant users were compared with other drug users and inhalant experimenters with other drug experimenters on three measures of problem behavior., Participants: Over 13,000 students in grades 7-12 participated in the 1993 survey on drug use., Measurements: Three measures of problem behavior: drinking and drug-taking, "trouble behavior" and minor criminal activity., Findings: Among upper (9-12) grade level students only, both inhalant users and inhalant experimenters reported more minor criminal activity than other drug users and other drug experimenters, respectively. A similar trend was noted for trouble behavior. The same was not found for drinking and drug-taking behavior., Conclusions: The findings suggest that inhalant use is categorically different from other drug use, and that it has more in common with general delinquency than with general drug use. Prevention and treatment strategies should take this into consideration.