The rural context of illicit substance offers: A study of appalachian rural adolescents

Jonathan Pettigrew, Michelle Miller-Day, Janice Krieger, Michael L. Hecht

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

29 Scopus citations

Abstract

Rural adolescents are at risk for early initiation and problematic substance use, but to date few studies have examined the rural context of substance use. To better understand substance offers in the rural context, semi-structured interviews were conducted with 118, 12- to 19-year-old adolescents (M = 13.68, SD = 1.37) from Appalachian, rural school districts in Pennsylvania and Ohio. Interviews elicited stories about substance offer-response episodes, including where offers occurred, who offered substances, and how youth gained access to illicit substances. Findings describe the settings in which substance offers and use occur for these rural adolescents and advance prevention efforts for tailoring health messages to this target population.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)523-550
Number of pages28
JournalJournal of Adolescent Research
Volume27
Issue number4
DOIs
StatePublished - Jul 2012
Externally publishedYes

Keywords

  • community/neighborhood issues
  • family relationships
  • risk behavior
  • substance use

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Developmental and Educational Psychology
  • Sociology and Political Science

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