Week 1 Assignment

Introduction.

I have chosen the AddHealth dataset. After looking through its codebook, I found that I am interested in studying the dependencies between Drug Abuse of teenagers and some factors that most likely affect or been affected by it.

Review of literature

Drug abuse, or substance abuse, is a patterned use of a drug in which the user consumes the substance in amounts or with methods which are harmful to themselves or others (Wikipedia, 2015). Drug abuse also commonly known as addiction (Compton and Volkow, 2006). Drug, smoking, and alcohol addiction have severe effects on health (Breslau N et al., 1991; Kaner et al., 1999; Oates et al., 1988). Contrary to general assumptions, most alcohol and drug use occurs among persons who are not violent! (Fagan and Chin, 1990). However, alcohol and, to a lesser extent, illicit drugs are present in both offenders and victims in many violent events (Boles and Miotto, 2003). The effect of alcohol and cocaine addiction on suicide rates was studied by several researchers (Norström, 1988; Roy, 2001) confirming this relationship.

On the other hand there are many factors that probably affects the drug abuse which are peer pressure or friends’ effects (Dielman et al., 1987; Hansen and Graham, 1991; Santor et al., 2000), Education level (Clayton et al., 1996; Reeves et al., 1997), the attitude of parents and the relationship between them and their children (Kelleher et al., 1994; Merikangas et al., 1998), and finally, It is proved that Ethics, Morals, and religion have a direct effect on limiting the adults substance abuse(Gorsuch, 1995; Pardini et al., 2000).

Data in the dataset.

In a quick look, the factors that probably been affected by drug abuse are:

1. Daily activities (Sec.2)
2. General health (Sec.3)
3. Motivations to Engage in Risky Behaviors (Sec.17)
4. Fighting and violence (Sec.31)
5. Suicide (Sec.33)

While the factors that probably affects the drug abuse are:

1. Friends (Sec.20)
2. Education level (Sec.5)
3. Relations with parents (Sec.16) and their attitudes (Sec.34)
4. Religion (Sec.37)

Questions to be answered

1. Has the drug abuse any effect on the daily activities of the studied sample?
2. Has the drug abuse any effect on the general health of the studied sample?
3. Has the drug abuse any effect on the risky behaviors of the studied sample?
4. Has the drug abuse any effect on the violent behaviors of the studied sample?
5. Has the drug abuse any effect on the suicide rate of the studied sample?
6. Are the peers and friends have any effect on the addiction rate of the studied sample?
7. Is the education level have any effect on the addiction rate of the studied sample?
8. Are the parents have any effect on the addiction rate of the studied sample?
9. Is the religion and ethics have any effect on the addiction rate of the studied sample?

Dataset codebook

     The codebook of the dataset can be found here

References

• Boles, S.M., Miotto, K., 2003. Substance abuse and violence: A review of the literature. Aggress. Violent Behav. 8, 155–174. doi:10.1016/S1359-1789(01)00057-X
• Breslau N, Kilbey M, Andreski P, 1991. NIcotine dependence, major depression, and anxiety in young adults. Arch. Gen. Psychiatry 48, 1069–1074. doi:10.1001/archpsyc.1991.01810360033005
• Clayton, R.R., Cattarello, A.M., Johnstone, B.M., 1996. The Effectiveness of Drug Abuse Resistance Education (Project DARE): 5-Year Follow-Up Results. Prev. Med. 25, 307–318. doi:10.1006/pmed.1996.0061
• Compton, W.M., Volkow, N.D., 2006. Abuse of prescription drugs and the risk of addiction. Drug Alcohol Depend., Drug Formulation and Abuse Liability 83, Supplement 1, S4–S7. doi:10.1016/j.drugalcdep.2005.10.020
• Dielman, T.E., Campanelli, P.C., Shope, J.T., Butchart, A.T., 1987. Susceptibility to Peer Pressure, Self-Esteem, and Health Locus of Control as Correlates of Adolescent Substance Abuse. Health Educ. Behav. 14, 207–221. doi:10.1177/109019818701400207
• Fagan, J., Chin, K.-L., 1990. Violence as regulation and social control in the distribution of crack. NIDA Res. Monogr. Ser. 8–43.
• Gorsuch, R.L., 1995. Religious Aspects of Substance Abuse and Recovery. J. Soc. Issues 51, 65–83. doi:10.1111/j.1540-4560.1995.tb01324.x
• Hansen, W.B., Graham, J.W., 1991. Preventing alcohol, marijuana, and cigarette use among adolescents: Peer pressure resistance training versus establishing conservative norms. Prev. Med. 20, 414–430. doi:10.1016/0091-7435(91)90039-7
• Kaner, E.F.S., Heather, N., Mcavoy, B.R., Lock, C.A., Gilvarry, E., 1999. Intervention for Excessive Alcohol Consumption in Primary Health Care: Attitudes and Practices of English General Practitioners. Alcohol Alcohol 34, 559–566. doi:10.1093/alcalc/34.4.559
• Kelleher, K., Chaffin, M., Hollenberg, J., Fischer, E., 1994. Alcohol and drug disorders among physically abusive and neglectful parents in a community-based sample. Am. J. Public Health 84, 1586–1590. doi:10.2105/AJPH.84.10.1586
• Merikangas, K.R., Dierker, L.C., Szatmari, P., 1998. Psychopathology among Offspring of Parents with Substance Abuse and/or Anxiety Disorders: A High-risk Study. J. Child Psychol. Psychiatry 39, 711–720. doi:null
• Norström, T., 1988. Alcohol and Suicide in Scandinavia. Br. J. Addict. 83, 553–559. doi:10.1111/j.1360-0443.1988.tb02574.x
• Oates, J.A., Wood, A.J.J., Benowitz, N.L., 1988. Pharmacologic Aspects of Cigarette Smoking and Nicotine Addiction. N. Engl. J. Med. 319, 1318–1330. doi:10.1056/NEJM198811173192005
• Pardini, D.A., Plante, T.G., Sherman, A., Stump, J.E., 2000. Religious faith and spirituality in substance abuse recovery: Determining the mental health benefits. J. Subst. Abuse Treat. 19, 347–354. doi:10.1016/S0740-5472(00)00125-2
• Reeves, D., Culbreth, J.R., Greene, A., 1997. Effect of sex, age, and education level on the supervisory styles of substance abuse counselor supervisors. J. Alcohol Drug Educ. 43, 76.
• Roy, A., 2001. Characteristics of Cocaine-Dependent Patients Who Attempt Suicide. Am. J. Psychiatry 158, 1215–1219. doi:10.1176/appi.ajp.158.8.1215
• Santor, D.A., Messervey, D., Kusumakar, V., 2000. Measuring Peer Pressure, Popularity, and Conformity in Adolescent Boys and Girls: Predicting School Performance, Sexual Attitudes, and Substance Abuse. J. Youth Adolesc. 29, 163–182. doi:10.1023/A:1005152515264
• Wikipedia, 2015. Substance abuse. Wikipedia Free Encycl.