Profile of the high school drug user

Abstract

An Attitude Survey consisting of 70 variables was administered to 1007 Indiana high school students. This sample came from public, parochial, and private schools. The survey was designed to investigate the backgrounds, attitudes, and personality characteristics of the high school drug user.Significant correlates of high school drug use were: sex, age, and grade in school, mother working outside the home, lack of closeness to family members, and parental drinking, smoking, and medicating habits. Users tended to identify strongly with their peers and depend upon them. They generally exhibited a negative attitude toward school and authority, a pessimistic assessment of life in general and of their own futures, and a positive evaluation of the effects of drugs.The high school drug user’s personality was marked by: depression, anxiety, low self-esteem, self-seeking, and a lack of religiosity. They also combined multiple personal worries and fears with few effective coping mechanisms.