Prevention Council Reviews

Substance Abuse Statistics And Strategies

By Larissa Lytwyn

Health Director Judy Blanchard summarized efforts by Prevention Council last fall to identify risk and protective factors related to underage drinking and substance abuse in a report to the school board January 20.

Ms Blanchard first outlined the council’s work since administering a substance use survey in grades 7 through 12 through the University of Connecticut Health Center in April 2002. Due to factors beyond the council’s control, including a temporary misplacement of tabulations on the part of the UCONN Health Center, results were not released until March 2003.

On May 15, the survey was circulated among council members and eventually district administrators and school board members.

“Substance use among our middle school students was lower than the national average,” said Ms Blanchard. “We were at or above average by grade 10 and significantly above average by grade 12.”

It should be recognized, she continued, that substance abuse rates are highest in New England.

Connecticut has the highest substance abuse rate of all New England states, she said.

She described students’ consumption of alcohol as “alarming,” remarking that 24 percent of eleventh and twelfth graders said they consumed more than five drinks in one sitting. Some reported being drunk on as many as 20 occasions during the past month.

Girls’ Use Up

Along with national trends, Newtown girls have now “surpassed” boys in using some substances, Ms Blanchard said.

A report released last February by the National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse at Columbia University (CASA), funded by the National Institute of Health, suggested that unisex prevention programs failed to reach millions of adolescent girls.

The reason, CASA speculates, is that “girls and women use cigarettes, alcohol, and other drugs for different reasons than boys.” CASA suggests that girls’ earlier onset of puberty can be a factor, as well as the high jumps in usage rates in connection to transitions from elementary to middle school, middle to high school and high school to college. Girls are often more prone to depression than boys, and substance abuse could be a way to “self-medicate.” Girls also use barbiturates and painkillers more frequently than boys.

The consequences of female substance abuse are sometimes even steeper than their male counterparts.

CASA reports that young women “are more susceptible to alcohol-induced brain damage, cardiac problems and liver disease, which occur more quickly and with lower levels of alcohol consumption than boys.”

CASA suggests more stringent depression screenings for young women and suggests the media should “refrain from presenting glamorous images of women drinking and smoking.” CASA also encourages health professionals to remain vigilant on identifying red-flag raising risk factors that can lead to substance abuse, including poor school performance, eating disorders, sexual and physical abuse, and stress.

Ms Blanchard noted that barbiturate and pain medication misuse is high among Newtown High School students.

Although there are relatively low rates of drinking and driving, there is a notably high rate of drinking among Newtown students, said Ms Blanchard.

“There are [social messages] implying that drinking is okay as long as you don’t drive,” she said. “This indicates social acceptance.”

She also discussed the connection between substance abuse and antisocial behaviors including stealing, cheating, and vandalism.

 

Preventative Strategies

Ms Blanchard said that Prevention Council has been relying largely on risk and protective factor research conducted by Hawkins and Catalano. “Basically there are four domains: child/peers, family, school, and community,” explained Ms Blanchard.

During Prevention Council’s December 2003 meeting, members discussed techniques that could increase positive protective factors in each domain.

On the child/peer level, for example, Ms Blanchard hopes to use school organizations including Students Against Destructive Decisions (SADD) and focus groups to change the perception that alcohol use equals fun.

She also is interested in beginning “Father’s Forums” that connect the paternal role more intimately with child raising, as well as invoking parent understanding and involvement in their children’s lives.

“Parent Connection [a grassroots parent-to-parent drug awareness and prevention group] has been active in presenting these kinds of forums,” said Ms Blanchard.

During the Parent Connection’s latest forum January 21, family counselor Wendy Davenson discussed how parents could better create a protective, openly communicative family environment.

Parent Connection’s next forum on Wednesday, February 13, will feature a student panel discussing substance abuse with parents.

A meeting in March will connect families to local drug awareness, prevention, and treatment agencies.

During Prevention Council’s January 22 meeting, members allocated various responsibilities based on domain research.