AN INTERNSHlP REPORT AND COMPARATIVE STIJDY OF SUBSTANCE USE BY ffiGH SCHOOL STUDENTS IN NEWFOUNDLAND
By
JohnI.Phillips
An internshipreportsubmitted to the School of GraduateStudiesinpartial fulfilmentof
therequirements for the degree of Masterof Education
Facultyof Education Memorial University of Newfoundland
March.1998
St.John's Newfoundlmd
Abstrad
This Internshi pReport docum en tsan internship atahigh school in rural Newfoundlan dduring Spring 199 7.Thereportisdividedintotwo sectio ns.aplacement componentand aresearchcomponent. The placem ent compone ntcons istsofadescription of the internshi psetting,the goalsand obj ectivesofthe interns hip. andanevaluationofthe experience.The researchcomponentis a comparativestudythat compares substance use/abuse at arural NewfoundlandhighschoolwiththeProvincial 1996 StudentDrugUse Survey.A modified versionof the 1996 StudentDrugUse Surveywas administeredto all highschoo lstuden ts atthe internship setting.The ftndingsrevealed imponant differences insubstanc e uselabuse patterns.
Table of Contents Abstract
Acknowledgment Introductionto InternshipReport Inte rns hip Setting
Internship Rationale
Rationale for the Choice ofInte rship Setting Goals and ObjectivesofInte rns hip Imp lementation of Goals and Objectives
Evaluation of Goals and Objectives lntemshipActivities and Discussion
Co unse lling Activities Adm inistra tive Duties
Teaching Duties Asses smentActivities Overall Impression ResearchComponent
Context Statement of Purpose Literature Review
Risk Factors for AdolescentSubstanceUse/Abuse Reasons for Substance Abuse
II
12 13 14 15 16
19 20 23 24
AttitudesTowardSubstance Use Definitions
Alcoho l CigaretteSmoking
Prevention
TheHarm Reduction Approach
LocalImplications Local Options
Methodology Instrument
Administration Proced ure Sample
DefinitionofUse Data Analysis Results Discussion Summary Recommendations References
26
26 26 27 27 29 33 34
3S 3S 3S 36 36 36 37 40 42 43 4S
AppendixA Student Drug Use Survey 47 AppendixB Letterof Approvalfrom Ethics Committee 50
Appendix C Permission letterto School Board 51
Appendix D Permission Letterto School Principal 52
AppendixE ParentaVGuardian Consent Form 53
AppendixF StudentConsentForm 54
Tables Table I
DifferencesfoundinDrugUseBetweenthe1996~(SpurreL 1996)and 1991HSRNresuhs.
38
i i
Acknowledgemen t
I would liketothank.thefollowing individuals for their input.patienceandsuppo rt:Dr.Ed Dredge(Internship Supervisor).Ms.ValarieDavis(FieldSupervisor).DrNannGarlie (FacultySupervi sor).Dr.TomissaCleale.Mr.KevinCoady,Dr.TunSeifert. andMs.
Dorothy Joy.I would alsoliketothankmy family,especial lymywife.Jenni fer.forher patienceandsupport.
IDtroductiontotheIntern sbipReport
CompletionoftheEducationalPsycbologyprogram at Memorial Univers ityof Newfoundlan d requiresthat the student complete oneof the followingoptions:paper- ponfolio.internship. researc hproject orthesis.Ichosetheinterns hipoption because lt offered thebes t opponunityforpracticalexperiencein counselling.psycho-educational assessment, and conductingresearch.
Myinternshipbegan on April14.IC)q7and continuedforaperiodoftenwee ksat ahighschoo linruralNewfoundland (HSRN).Fourdays a weekwerespentatthe school withFridaysbeingreservedasanindependentresearch day.Mymainobj ectivein the internship was to gainpracticalexperienceinadministeri ngandscoringavarietyofpsycho- educationaltestswhileobtainingresearchexperience.
Myreportfollowstheguidelinesestablishedbythe CommitteeonGradua te Internshi p Programmes, Facultyof Education.MemorialUniversity.Itis comprisedofa descriptive sectionanda research componenLThedescripti ve component reflectsmygoals andobjectives. andoffers a critical discussion of speci fic aspects of such an endeavour.The research compo nentexamines an issue thatis relevanttostudents andisan area of concern for guidancecounsellorsand educational psychologists.The descriptive sectio nwill statethe goa ls and objectives cf the internshipincludingtherationale for takingthe internshiproute
as wellasthemethodsthatwerebe employedto implementandevaluat ethe internship.A briefdescription of theimemshipsettingwill alsobeprovided.Thiswill serveas abackdrop forthepresent study.The research componentmakesup the remainder of thereport.It consi sts oftheresearch question.a related literaturereview.a descriptionof the research design.a reportof researchfmdings.recommendations thatmight beimplemented.andareas forfurther research,
TbeInt ern sbip Setti ng
Theinternship setting was amid-sized high schoolonthe outski rts of'St.John's.The schoo lhadapproxim ately400 studentsand astaffof about 40teache rsandadministrators.
Theschoolislessthantenyears old andit has a full gym.computerlab. excellentcafeteria andagood library.Theruralsetting addsto the atmosphereofthe schoolsinceitis surro undedbytrees. meadowsandfarm land.Itisnestled awa yfrom the main highway providingacomfortabl e and safeschoolenvironment.Theschool has the servicesof a full time GuidanceCounse llor whoisquitebusyinherrole301the school. Bes ides her administrative and otherprogramming duties,shehelpsconduct otherprojects suc has peer mentoringclass.thestude ntcouncilandthe schoolrecyclingprogramme.She maintainsa counselling caseloadofstudentswiththe numberof weeklysessions averaging fifteen.Much of the counsellingsess io nscenter aroundfamilyissuesandrelationshipproblems.The schooldoesnothaveafull-timeschoolnurse butonevisitsHSRNabouttwicea year.
Counsellingservicesforstude nts are alsoprovidedby several medi cal doctorsin the
comm unity. whiledoseproximity [()St.John"s providesstudents with avarietyof counselling agenciesandresources.
loternsh ipRationale
Ichose the imemshi p routebecause I feltthepracticalexperience wouldbe invaluableformyprofessional development.Itwould helpintegratetheoretical knowledge fromtheprogram's courseworkintoa more completeprofessionalapproachthatwill broadenmy assessmentandintervention competencies.The internshipis anaturalextension ofthepre-practicum andpracticwnexperiences and willenhance skills in areas explored during earlier field placements.Theinternshipwill also assist in exploringcareer alterna tives. The decisionto pursue an internshipwaswell-informed,carefully considered, and thebestpossibleroutetoreach myacademicandcareergoals.
My interestintheareaof adolescent substanceabuse was amajor factorinselecti ng a high schoolasthesite for theinternship. Muchof my graduatecc wse work focusedon adolesce ntsandthe variety ofproblems associated with thisstressful timeoflife.
Specifically,I\\115curiouswhether substanceabuseprevention education inschools was successfulor not. IapproachedtheGuidanceCounsellorandtheschool Principal about substan ce abuse problems at the high school andtheyreadily acknowledged that thiswasan areaof concern tor the schooland theywelcomed research on theextentof the problem.
Rationa le For the ChoiceofIntern ship Setti og
The choice ofinternshipsetting was made easier because of the positiveexperience
at the highschool duringmy 12~week practicum,Thefield supervisor.Ms.Valari e Davis isa clinicalpsychologistwhoprovideda widerangeof activities and'WOrk.Muchofmy work focussedon the assessment and programmingneeds of students enteri ng the school fromthe elementary schoolin Septembe r,1997.Iworkedwith four elementary students.
assessing theirneeds forthe upcoming schoolyear.Iadministeredavarietyof tests.scored them.and 'MOtethe reportsthatincluded recommendationsderi ved inconsuha tion\101mmy supe rviso r.
Goalsand objectivesor Internship
A frameworkof goalsandobjecth ..es wasnecessary lO ensure that the internshipran smoothlyandmaximizedmy learning opportunities.Thissectionsdetailsthe parameters of theinternship andgives a synopsis of whatwas to be achieved. Thegoalsandobjec tives weredesignedthroughconsultatio n with the fieldsupervisor and theinternshipsupervisor.
GoalI:To demonstratecompetenceas a school psychologist/guidancecounsello r inthe consultativeprocess.
Object ive: Improvemyconsultationskills by observingandfollowing the feedback offered by my supervisorandotherteam members.
Goal 2: To demonstratecompete nceinthe practical aspects of assessment.
Objecrives: a) Familiarize myselfwith avarietyof assessment instruments.b)Practice the technicaladmi nistra tionofsuchinstru me nts.
Goa l3:Demonstra te competencein testanalysisand form ula ting recommendations.
Objectives: a)Impro ve know ledgeofleaming strategies.b)E~skills in interpreti ngtestresultsand communicating such informatio n.
Goal 4: Todem onstratecompetenceinreportwritingand docume ntane n.
Objectives: a)Toimprovereport-w'riting skillswithspeci al emphasis onstyle andcontent.b)Increasemyskill andcompetencein making inte rpreta tions and recommendations.c) Maintaina personaljournal of activities,appo intments, andanecdotalobserv ations.
GoalS:Todemons trate compete nceandeffecti venessin mycounsellingskills.
Objectiv.:s: a)Touti lizethe theoreticalknow led ge gainedin counselling theories.
b) To enhancecounsellingskillsthrough observatio nandpractice.and throughconstructivefeedbac k from mysuperv iso rs.
Goal6:Todevelop competentskills in thedesignandimple mentatio nof a research project.
Objectives: a)Del inea te thetopic area of intere st.b)Deviseproperinstrumentsand
strateg ies for data.collection. c)Interpeettheresults effectively and recommend possible interventions.
Goal ': Tounderstan d the comexrin whichpsychoed ucational recommenda tions arecarriedout.
Objectives: a) To observethe daily activities/routine intheschoo l. b) To becomeinvolved inthc schoolenvironment.c)Tobeempathic of thepressures andrewards
that teachers experiencein their work.
Im plemen tati on orGoals andObjectives
Thegoals and objecti veswere achievedina systematicfashion.This process canbe explainedinthefollowin g way.
Ste p I:TheObserverStage.The early stagesof theinternshi pconsistedof an observati onof the various activitiesof a GuidanceCounsellor.Duringthefirst few weeks Ipaid particularattention10assessment techniques.intervi ew styles. consultationmethod s.
evaluatio nskills.andother counsellor/educatio nal psychologyskills. Amyriad ofcas es , issues and situationswere observed.Each new experiencewasthendiscussedatlen gth with the GuidanceCounsell or.
Step 2:The Participant-ObserverStage.Duringthisstage Iasswn ed a moreacti ve rolein the daily activitiesofaGuidanceCounse llor.oftentakinga leading rolein case conferencesandvari ous counsellingsessions. These ectiviuesweremonitoreddoselybythe fieldsupervisor anddiscussedthoroughlyafterward.Thisstage beganduringthesecondand thirdweeks of theinternshi p.
Step3:TheIndependent PractitionerStage.DuringthisphaseIwasprovidedthe opportuni tyto operate independentlyina separa teoffice.The fieldsupervisormonitored me frequently. butwasnotapartofthe counselling and testing sessions.Iassumeda proactive rolewhilethefield supervisorbecame aconsul tan t.Duringthis stageIwasexpected to functionindependentlyin a com petentandpro fessional manner.
Evalu ati oD of Goals _a dObject ins
I believethat the negotiatedgoalsand objecti veswe rerealizedwiththe soundsuppo rt of thefield supervisorwhoprovidedfeedback,structureandencouragement.The school's administration. staff.andstudents alsoofferedsupport formy efforts. Theprofessional competencies goalslisted priorto the startof the internshipwerealso achieved . Ibecame wellversed inmanyfacets ofpsychoeducation al testingandreportwriting.Iengaged successfully withbothelementaryandhighschoo lstudentspresenting a rangeof cOW'ISClIing issues.FonnaI evaluationswerecompleted bymyfieldsupervisor.Dr.NormGarlie andmy
on-sitesupervisor.Ms.
valerie
Davis. During myinitialsessions as a counsellor.asupe rvisor provideddirect observation and gave feedback immediately following the session.Later.some sessions werevideotaped and reviewed afterward. Ms.Davis submi tted a written report toDr.Garlie at the end orthe InternshipandIthen met with both supervisors to disc uss my goals andobjectives in detail.
Int ern sh ip Activities
Counse!ljng Activities
The goaJs andobjectives helpedto structure theinterns hip thusmakingit an important learning experience.Thebenefitsoftheinternshiproute were increased confidence in counsellingknowledgeand ability.Day-to-dey exposure mcounselling experienceshelped tobroaden myperspectiveofcounselling. Idealtwithmany school- relateddiscip line problems as wellasfami lyissues and relationshipproblems.Anexam pleof thiswas a meetingwitha troubledyoung man whowould not talk10 anyone.After anwn be ror sess ions with himhe began to talk abouttheproblems hewashavingat home and atschool.
Justlisteningtohim seemedtobea great helptohimand he comme nted that itfeltgood to finallytalk withsomeone.l learnedthat listening is one ofthe mostimportantskillsthat I can improve uponandthat takingthe time to establishrapportis very impo rtant.Itellthat some of the best counselling sessions occurredwhen I said verylittle.Insuchsessions Iused
10 mylisteningskillsand10\0"35empathetic and WJdemandingtothestudent. Several st udents commentedthat Iwashelpfu landeasy totalktowhich mademefeelguudabcu,the counselling experienceIwasgainin g.
Caree rguidanceforgraduatingstudentswas adailyactivity as many stude nts droppedbytheguidanceofficetolook at universityandcollegecalendars. fillout applicationsforms. orjustchat about their educationalplans.Thisactivity becamemo re freq uent as the schoo lyear came to a close.During the firstfew weeks ofmy internsh ipall studen ts completed aninterest inven tory and allgraduat ingstudents metwitheitherthe GuidanceCounselloror me.Most studentshadeducational plans forthe futureand wanted 10discussspecificprogramsand coursesthat they should take.The students seemed well informedandconfidentin their choices. Thiscanbecredited tomy supervisor whohas excellentrapportwithlhestudents as well as anexcellentcareerresourcearea. Her career planni ngprogrambeginsassoonas a studententershighschoo l.Sheestablishescontac twith each studen tandbeginstheprocess ofeducatingthem abouttheireducationalfuture andthe highschool coursesthe).will needtomeettheirobjectives.Students areencouragedto visit the career resource cemer,to usethe careercomputersoftware program. ancnd thecareer fare orjust chat withtheguidance counsellor about theirfuture.
Manyof thepracticum activitiesthatIengaged in were routinein nature,but occasionaJly dramaticsituationspresentedthemselves.Suchsituationsincluded:a case wherea yo ungboywas sexuallyassaultedby an olderauthorityfigure,a date-rapecase where ayoung woman was coercedto have sexbya mend ,and various familyupheavals.
11
Themost fascinating caseofthe practicum concerned a studentwith aclosed headinjwy.
A closed headinj urymeansthatinternalbrain damageoccurs withoutthecraniwn being fractured.In thiscase the studenthadbeenhitbyacar andsustained abeadinjurythat affectedhis behaviour.Isalin onmeetingswi ththeguidance counsellor.educatio nal psychologist.neurologistand the parent ofthech.ild.The meetingsreinforced thenotionthat aguidancecounsellororeducational psychologistmust keep upwiththelatest developments in healthandeducational advance me nts,Eachcasewasunique and allowedmetoseelite proceduresand bureaucraticimplications suchvarietyhastooffer.Seeing thehuman
dynamics of suchcaseswas educationalsince things arenotasstraightforwardas they appear in textbooks.These casesforcedme10applytheoreticalknowledgeand oftentimehelped me feel morecomfo rta ble andconfide ntinmycounsellingabilities . Often.my supervisor woulddiscusshowcases fit particular theoriesandwhichapproaches seemedmost appropriate.Thisapproac hwasanexcell ent meansof helping meintegrate my theoretical knowledge withmypractical experie nces.Suchdiscuss io nsalsohelped me dealwith the emotionalinvolvement I feltduring trawnaticcounsellingsessions.Attimes I was shocked orenraged bythingsthat weredisclosedduringcounsellin g sessions.My supervisor helped meworkthroughsuc h emotions .helpingme understandthat suchreactio nsarenormal.
understandable.and commo noccurencesfor new counsellors. Administra tive Duties
Man y of a guidancecounsello r'sactivities are regimentedandhaveto beco mpleted dailyoraccordingto theschoo l'ssix dayschedulingsystem.Keeping U11ckof themailwas
12 3majortask sinceSOmuch educationaland health materialisreceivedatthe office.Mail mustbesorted. filedor dispersed tostudents. teachersor the administration. At thestanof theschoo lyeartheguidance counsellor helped theschool administrationwithcourse sched uling for students.Thisduty continues lhroughouttheschoolyear as students dropand addCOW5e$.Such administrativeduties takeupa great dealof timeand takeaway from co unse lling. testingand other preventativemeasures.
TeachingPYlics
Duringthe lunchbreaks.theguidancecounselloratHS RN taug ht tv."O courses.
affectivedevelopmentand peer counselling. foracadem iccredit.The affectivedevelopm ent classassisted students whostruggl ed academically.The studen tswere taughteffective comm unicatio nskillsaswellasotherlife skills includ ing angermanagemen tandccnrl ict resolution.Thepeercounsellingcourse comprised of gradetenstudentswhoapplied to be peer counsell ors.Theguidan ce counsellorsintervi ewedprospec tive studentsandchose students forthe coursebasedontheiracademicprogress, interes t inthecourseandtheir counse lling potential.Thecourse was thefirststageor a three-yearbasiccounsellingco urse.
Thefirsttwo yearswerespentlearnin g thebasictheorie s ofcounsellingwhile theirfinalyear ofhigh schoolwas spentdoing various basic counsellingassignments fortheir fellow students. AIthis stage thepeercounsello rsco uld help fellowstudentswithcourseselection.
sched ulingprob le ms.the administration oforalexamsandrests.and helping withvarious schoo l activities.
13
Assess mentActivities
Theinternship was anexce llent opportunity to gainassessment experience.Avariety of educationaltestingopponuni ties wereavailable. and inconsultationwithmy field supervisorIcompleted five comprehensiveassessment reports.My assessment reports reflec ted myexperience with the Wechs ler AdultIntelligence Scale (WAIS).theWech sler Intelligence ScaleforChildren(WISeIII).and theKaufman TestofEducational Achievement(K·TEA).The Burns DepressionInventory .BrownAttention,Activation DisorderScale (BAA OS) and theAdult Attenti onDeficitDisorder Chec klis twerealso em ploy ed andutilizedin someof myreportwriting.The assessmentreportswe recom pleted throughconsultationwithmy supervisorwflohelped me decidewhich assessmentteststo administe r.Ifelt thistobethemost interestingpartofthe internship.Examiningindividual caseswasstimulatingandeducationalbecause itprovided the practical experience of using thediagnostic instruments whilecritically examining theirpower andusefulness.The experienceconvincedme that the assessment process does have merit,but furtherentrenched my beliefthatsuch proced ures shouldbeconductedwithcaution.In my opi niona major proble mwiththeassessme ntprocessisthe lackoftimethat can bedevotedtoindividual cases.Ialwaysfeltthat the processwas rushed and thatIdid notreallygetto knowthe student.Itwouldbe beneficialifmoretime couldbespentwith thestudent. includingmore classroo mobservation and morecontactwith thestuden t'steache rsand paren ts .
"
Overnllim pressjo n
I thoroughlyenj oyedmyinternship .Timespentattheschool was educationaland rewardi ng.Itfeltgood[0beapartofthe schoolteam andIwas gratefultohavesuch an opportunity.Igot to know and helpa large numberofstude nts andItookpart in many activities at theschoo l that mademefeela parto fH SRN.Iwas invited toanen d the prom and the staffbarbequeat theend of tileschoolyear.Igot toknow my supervisor realty well andIhavecontinued to stayintouchwithher.The peercounselling classevenwentsofar astoorder apeercounselling sweat shirt for meat theend of the course.Such thingsmade me reallyfeelapartof HSRNandappreciatetheexperiencethatmuchmore.
In additiontothepersonal benefitsof my timespent at HSRN.I participatedin a com prehens iveguidanceprogram. I observed how valuable guidanceservicescanbefora highschoo landhow beneficialitcan be tostudents. I nowknow howGuidanceCounse llors and EducationalPsychologists operate within theeducationsystem.and thatI havetheability andcompete nce tofulfilltheir duties.
Research Component
Studeot DrugUseSurvey15
'6
Res_reb Component
Con fn t:
The NewfoundlandandIab@dar 1996DrugUsSuryev.NlDUS[Spurrell,1996 ) revealed somestartlinginformationaboutsubstanceabuseby adolescentsin thisprovince.
The reportdetailedthehighlevels of substanceabusethatprevailsinthisprovince despite majoreffortsbyschoo ls.communities and governm ent agencies topromoteabstinence and preventio n. The Nl DUSsho wedthatmany youngpeoplecontinueto usealcohol. tobacco. cannabisand otherdrugsinspilt of me educatio nand awarenesscampaigns provided to them [Spurrell.1996).
Alcoholis the mostcommonlyuseddrug amongadolescents.TbeNLDUS sho wed thatapproximate ly60% of highschoo l students survey edcons ume alcoho l.Manyof these stud e nts reportedthaitheyhave conswn ed enoughalcoholtobe co ns idereddrunk.Drink in g and drivingis also aproblem.withnearlyonethirdof adolescen tssayingtheyhadbeen a passengerwitha driverwhowasunderthe influenceofalco hol(Spurrell .I996).Tobaccois the secondmost populardrug usedby Newfoundland andLabrador studentswith approxi mately40"/0 of stude ntsstatingthatthey smoke.Students no te tworeasonswhythey continued tosmo ke:itis enjoya bleanditis difficu lttoquit.Thethirddrugofchoice was cannabiswhic hisused eitherregular lyorexperimentallyby about24% ofme students survey ed(Spum:lI.1996).
17 TheresultsfromtheNLDUSalsoshowedgender differencesindrug useandchoice.
Malestended to reportmorefrequentdrug usc andtheyappearedto haveheavier panemsof druguse.Ho....ever,female smc kers oumumber male smokersanditappearsthatthenumber offe mal es using otherdrugsis increasing(S purre ll. 1996).
I conducted an infonnalsurv e y oraruralNewfound landHighSchool.the local police:
andconcernedparentswhobelieved the problem of adolescentsubstanc e abusewasmo re severein their areathanin other areas of thepro vince .Over thepastfew years thereha ve beensignificant increases in thenumbe rof alcoho landdrug-related incidentsinthatschool.
Adramaticexam ple isan alcoh ol-relateddeath inwhichalocal youth wassubseq uently convictedofdrinkinganddrivingandinvo luntarymanslaugh ter.Inanothe rincident,seve ral yearsago. aprom weekendpartyresultedinseven!students being chargedwithposse ss ion of alcoholandothe r relatedoffences.Thispastyear alarg e quantityofdrugs was seized duringa police raid at the schoolresultingincriminalcharges against astud ent. This resulted in astuden t being charged.Astring of break-and-enters by seve ral studentshasbeen linked tosustai nin g a costlydrug habit.These students have also been charged by police. Final ly.
there arenumero us arrestsforunder-age drinkin g and drinkinginpub licinthe area. Such incidents of adolescentsubstan ce abuse havehada negativeeffect onthe highschooland the community ingeneral.Policesurveillan ceofthe area has increasedas vandalis m and drinkinginpublicbecomes morerampant.Parentsfearfor thei r child ren' ssafety around vari o us comm unity hang-outs whereado lescentsopenlysmo ke drugsandoftenbecome belligeren t and rowdy.
ia Preventingsuch prob lemshasalwaysbeen difficullforsociety.Themostprevalent stra tegy employedto combat adolescentsubstance abuse isprevention. Preventionprograms arestra tegi es implementedtoeradicatethe use ofillicitdrugs.Preventionstrategies incl ude:
I) Social learning -laming proper socialskills andcoping strategiesfromparents.
sig ni ficantothers and the environmentsothatattitudes aboutsubstance uselabusedo not becom edysfun c tionaJ.
2)Education- formallearning about the natureofandthenegative effectsof subs tan ce use/abuse.Preparin g students10co pewithpeer pressure andthetemptatio n10 experi me nt ....-ithsubstan ce use.
3) Family focus-a concentrationonfamilyvaluesand activitiesas a meansof decreasingstudents substanceuse/abuse.Families are encouragedtospendmorelime togetherparticipatinginactivitiesthatare substancefree.
4)Comm unityfocus- adeliberate attemptby communitiestoreduce student substanceuse/a busebyorganizingand financing activitiesthat promotehealthylifestylesfor comm un ity members.Such effcrts include recreation facilitiesand programs.
5)Publicpolicyandlegalefforts -evolutionof societal rules,regulationsandlawsSO the yaddress pertinen tsubstance use/abuseissues of the day.Suchmeasuresinclude age restrictionsforthepurchasing of alcoholandcigarettesandmaking publicbuildings smoke free(Callison.1995).
Preventio nstrate gies in the area where Icond uctedmyinternshiphaveemphasized boththeeducationalapproach and publicpolicyandlegal efforts. Adolesc e nts receivedrug
,.
educati on from classesinHealthand Family Life.andfromdrugawareness prese ntations by the Royal NewfoundlandCo nstabul arythat emphasizethepotentiallegal ramifications of drugandalco hol use.
Stateme-ntofPurpose
The purpose of this study wasto collectdata10compare drugand alcoholuse among stude ntsat thisruralNew found landhighschoolwiththe resultsfrom theprovincial1996 Student DrugUse Survey.Thisinformation willhelp the school administration and
counselli ngoffice determinewhether additio nalpreve ntive measures need tobeemplo yed 10combatdrugand alcohol abuse by students.Conversel y,theresultsmayhelpto dispel the myththat theyo uthafthe area haveasigni fican tly higherrateofsubstance abuse.
20 LiteratureReview
Adolescenceisprobablythemoststressful time of ourlives.Itis atime ofuansition.
Atimewhen wepreparetolet go of ourchil dhood andenter thead ultworl d.Partof this transitionentailsexperimentingwithaspects of theadultworld.Adolescents begin to question the worldand theirparents .Theybegin10 assumemoreresponsibili ty.tospe nd moretimeaway from theirfami lytobewithfriends.Forthemostpartadolescen tsdowell when theyassumemoremature roles.They do.however. experiencesome areasofdifficulty.
Onemajo rarea ofcoocemis when adolesc ents beginexperim ent ingwithcigarettes.
alcohol anddrugs.Inourculture suchsubstancesare generallythoughttobeforadult consumptio nonJy.Their use isreservedforadults.butinvariablyadolescentsfind the mse lves tryingsuchsubstances.Experimentatio n mayleadto frequen tuseandproblems beginto arise.Adol escen tsmaycrossthelinefrom substanceuse[0substan ceabuse.
Substance abuse isdefinedas a maladaptive patternof substance useleadingto clinically significan t impairmentor distress (DSM·IV. 1994). According to one classification,inthe DSM-IV.inthespan oftwelvemonths.oneormoreof the following mustoccur:I)thesubstance useimpingeson majorrole obligationsatwork.school.or home.Thisgenerally meansthatrepeated absences ordecreased workperformancerelated 10substanceuse. Also.thismayresultinsubstancerelated absences ,suspensions.or expulsionfrom school.2) Usingautomo bilesorother machinery(ie.•snow mobiles.arv's}
21 whileunder theinfluence.J)Legaltroublebecause of behaviourdoe tothe useof substan ces.4)Continueduseofsubstanceinspiteofallthe negativeconsequences (DS M - IV.1994).
Aless clinical view of adolescentsubstanceuselabuseisusedbyAddiction Services in Newfo undland and Labrador.According[0thismodel.thefirststageofadolescen t substan ce use is experime ntal usc.This isthe stage where curiosi ty gets the betterofmost adolescentsand they experimentwithalcoholandotheravailablesoftdrugs.Itisdiffic ultto assessdependanc y at this stage andoftenstude nts may be inappro pria tely labe lled. The next stageentails moreregular use of illegalsubstances or alcoholand is markedbya more
consist ent patternofdrugusage combinedwithadversebehavioral chan ges. This stagegives clear indicati o n lhallhcadolesce ntisheadedtoward a drug depend en cy.The concernhere isnotdruguse.butmore importantly,thereasonsforthe drug usage.Students maylose inte rest inschoolandotheractivitiesandmay begin10 experienc eguiltwhich maylead to an increase in drug usc.
Thenext stageis dai lypreoccupationwithdrugs.Preoccupa tionwithdrugs is a definitivesign lhat asubstanceabuse problemexis ts.Most oftheadolescentsactivities are centeredaround the use or the:procure ment ofdrugs.Drugsbeco me apart ofa daily routine.
Problemswithschool.thelaw, and parentsbecomemorenume:rousduringthis stage.Inspite ofthisthe usermayde ny that theyhave:a drugproblem.
Thefinal stageisknownas dependency.Thisisthestage wheresubstanceuse reach esachroniclevel.Drugsare now a dailynecessityandthe person cannot function
22 without them.Theuser will still denythatthe ir behaviorisoutof control.andthai:he orshe canquitat an)'lime.
Thereisa commonlyheld viewinthe current literature thatthe adolescent's family plays anintegralrolein the developmentofsubs taneeabuse <Pow ell.Zehm. and Jeffrey.
199 5).Researchhas sho wnthatamyriadoffamil y charac teristic intert wine toinfluen ce adolescence viewsaboutsubstanceabuse.Probablythe most notedstatisticalinferenceisthat childrenof alcoholicparents are more prone tosubstanceabusethanchildrenof non-
alcoholic parents(Powe ll,Zehm.and Jeffery.1995).
Onecf themostimportant characteristicsis the parent-adolescentcomm unicationthat OCCtm withinthefamily.Open.hones tcommunicationrendsto decrease the likelihoodof substanceabusebyadole scents.Responsive. flexible parents seem toprovidethe best
environme ntloradolesc en ts[0 navigatetheirwaythroughthese tur bulent times (Ande rso n andHenry.1994).Parentsthatprovideunconditio nal positiveregard ina sound. but not overl ystructured familyenvironment.appearto have the bestchan ces of havingadolescents who dealeffecti velywithsubstance use(AndcrsonandHenry.1994).Another good ind icato r ofthelikelihoodof adolescentsubstanceuselabuse is theparents'attitudes towardsubs tance usc:and theirown patternof usage(And ersonandHenry.1994).
Maladaptiveparentingpatterns thatincrease the likeli hood.of adolescen tsbeing subst anceabuse rs are asfollows.Theparentsare authoritarian, attempt ing to controltheir ado lescent'sbehaviour.Theyind uce guilt bywithdrawing love.attentio norotherprivileges.
Suc h parentsattemptto manipulatetheir adolesce ntsby coercion.oftenimposingmeasures
23 withoutreasons.Theyartem petousepunitivemeasures such asgroWJdingtheiradolescents.
imposing rigidrulesandregulatio nsand ignoringtheopinio nsofthe adolescent,Such parentsha ve diffic ulty raisin g theleve lofthei rrelations hipwith their adolesce nt.They refuse[0co nsultand respectthe opinio ns of theiremerg ing ad ultchild re n (Andersonand Henry.1994).
RiskFactors forAdolescen tSubstance Use'Abusc:
Otherresearchinthe areaofsubstanceabuse provides infonn ationon the risk factors thatleadto adolescent substance abuse.For themostpart.suchadolescentscome from a troubledfamilybackground.Oneorbothparentsmaybeabusers the msel ves.Theyoften come fromlow socio-economic backgrounds.ormay be onsocialassistanceor havea low famil yincom e.Theadolescen tsin questionare unem ployed.do not do we ll inschoo l. or havepossiblydroppedout.Manyhave legalpro blemsorarein andoulof troublewith the
law.Manyabusershave psychologicalproblems of theirown.Often theyare depressedand
ha ..'e a low sense ofself-est eemandself-wo rth,and lack of purpose.Otherprob lemslike cond uct disorder .hyperactivityand obsessive/c ompulsivebehavioursalsocontributetothe likelihood thattheywillbesubstanceabusers (SmanandOgbore,1994).
Otherfactors impac tonthe risksassociatedwith substanceabuse.Age is amajor conside ration.Adolesc entsbetweenthe ages of 16 and 18run the greatest riskofbecoming substan ceabusers.Thehigh riskperiod forinitiati on totheuse ofalco ho l and marijuana tendstobeduringthis age.Themostvulnerabletime frameforstarting cigare tte smoking
24 isfrom12to18years cf age(SmartandOgbcre,1994).
Someevidenceshowslhaladolescentsmayuse/abusedrugsas a means of intentionallytrying todecreasetheamoun tof responsibilityandpersonalcontro l(11lompson etal.1993).Itisoftenthis sease cfrecklessnessthatposesthemostrisk forharmandinjury (Thom psoneral.1993).In a sense someadolescentsrebelagainstthepowerthey are given byrejec ting responsibility for themselvesandacting irrationally.likemanyadults. young peopleoften use drugs asa means of coping.They seek to avoid psy ch ologicalpain or10 escapepersisten tproblems .frustratio ns.andreali ties(Olson.Huran.&Polansky.Iqq1).
Examplesof suc h problems arc family troubles. schoo ldiffic ult iesorcopingwithboredo m.
Pee r-pressurealsohas alarge im pac ton thelike lihood ofdrugusage.Itappearsthai relationsinintimate.smal lgroups increases thelike lihoodto use/abusedrugs.Peer pressure maybe moreintenseinsmallgroupsbecauseind ividuals have moreinflue nceC"CTeach other as aresultoftheproximityandclose contactwitheachother.Larger groupsmay providemore room for indiv idualstomanoeuveroedissent,Tee ns often feelthereis nowhere tohid einasmallgroup.Thisperception maybe accuratebecause direct peerpressure results insmaller groups(Beman.1995).
Reaso nsfor Substance Abuse
Astudy comple tedbyHealthandWelfareCan adain 199 5.loo ke d at alcoho land othe r drugs usedby Can adianyouth. One questionwas"whydo adolescents usedrugs: The
25
most common reasonscited were:to feelsociable(69%),to feel good (42%),to relax (39%).
toenjoy meal s(32% ), to feel les s inhibitedor less shy(23%),and toforgetworries(16%).
Drinkingfor sociability or relaxation increaseswithage. whiledrinkingtoforget wo rries and tofeellessinhibited or shy,decreaseswithage.Thismaybe related to se lf-conceptand self- confi dence which generallybecomesmore stableandentre nc hedwith age.
Italso appearsthat thereasons for drinking affect the amounts consumed.
Adolescents who reportthatthey drink to escapelife'sdifficulties tend to drink more -an average0[ 6.5drinks per week.Thosewhodrinksociallyare reported todrink3.8 drinks per week.Clear ly.reasonsfor drinking greatlyintluencesconsumption (Donovan.Jesser.and Jessor.1983).
For themost part. adolescents who drink makeitasocialactivity .Itappearsthatthe majori tyof adolescentdrinkers(84%) report neverdrinking alone.Drinkin gtendstohappen mostlyon weekendsand specialoccasions.Regardlessof age.adolesc entsare most likely todrink whenthey engage insuch socialactivitie s such as weddings.parties.andoutdoo r activities(e.g.camping).Themajorcompanionsforsuch activitiesareclose friends (67% ).
familymembers(24% ).andco-workers or students peers (19%)(Donovon,Jesser.and Jessor.1983).
26 AniN4esToward Substance:Use
Adol escent's attitudes tcwarddrugusc sometimesfollowsim ilar patterns as those demonstratedbytheirparents,For the mostpart.parents whe are moderatedrugusers have adolescentchildrenwhofollow this pattern.Ho wever.there ereinstanceswherethcoppositc istrue.Sometimes. parents who are severedrugabusers may have adolescents who totally abstai nbecause theyhavehadfirsthandexperie nceof theabho rre nt ramifications of substan ce abuse. Abstaining adolescentsmayfearthattheyhavethe ge net ic potentia!tobe abusers themselves.The oppositealsooccurs when abstainershaveadolescent children who becomesevere abusers.Thismaybeareaction againstthe values imposed on them bytheir teetotal llng parents(Gullona.Adams.and Momemeyor,1995).
pefinitions
Formost surveysandresearch,the definition of drugusc is imponant for classifying andinterp reti ng information.Ifocus on the twomost problematicdrugsthat adolescents uselabuse:alcohol and cigarettes.
Alcohol
A currentdrinker isthe tennusedto describea person whohasconsumedat leastone drinkin thepast12monthperiod.Thiscriterionhasbeenused inmany surveysandresearch through o ut theworld.
27 Adrink.isdefinedas:
one bonleofbeerorglass ofdraught;or one glassof wineora winecool er, or
onestraightor mixeddrinkwith44ml (1.5 oz.)o fhardliquor.
Peopl e who have consumedalcohol in their lifet ime.butnotinthe past12mon ths. are referredtoasformer drinkers.Individualswhoreporttheyhave "never"consumedan alcoholi cbeverag earc:referredto aslifetim e abstainers (Health andWelfareCanada. 1992).
Heavydrinking activity ismostoftendefinedas the intakeoffiveormoredrinkson a single occasio n(Jo hnst oneral,1989).Bouts of heavy drinkingarc:me number ofsuch
"binge"sessio ns thathave occurredinthepast 12months.
Cigare«eSmoking
The criterionforcurrent smokeris denotedbytheresponseto the question. "at the presentlimedoyousmokecigarettes?"If therespondentanswersyes,he'she is considered 3CW'll:n1smoker.Thetermjormersmokerreferstosomeone who did smo ke.but atthetime:
of theSUl'\'eyisnot smoking.This criterion appearstobea littlesuspect.giventhevery addictivenatureof cigarettes .and thelikelihoodthat thosewhostopsmo ki ng are likelyto start again (HealthandWelfareCanada, 1992 ).
~
Preventio n is the major methodofcombatingadolescent drug use/abuse.Prevention
28 concerns itselfwithSloppingdrug use altogether.Themajor goal of preventionis to eradicatetheoverallusc:of drugs.Our society is mostconcernedwithpreven ting use and abuse ofsubstances byinterceptingthe onsetof substance use/abuse byadolescents
(Callsion.1995).
The mostcommonpreventionstrategyemployed is the educationalapproach.
Commercials on TV.innewspapers and onradiotIYtoinfonnpeopleabout thenegative consequencesof substan ce abuse.Generally.topics like drinkinganddriving.and fa:nily violenceare often connectedwithsuch educationaladveni singcampaigns.Schools educate studentsbysho wing educationalmovies.,havingguestspeakers, and classeson the negative consequencesofsubstanceuse/abuse. Generally.prevention topicsare coveredincourses likeFam ily Life andHealth(Rctgers. 1996).
Anoth erapproach[0prevent ion is througheducating adolesce ntsabout the legal conseq uences ofdrug use.Often.loc al policegivepresentationsand answerquestions.Itis thought thaiknowingthe factsaboutthelaw willbe an effective means of pre ventio n.The la w prohibitsthe sale ofalcoholand cigarettestomino rsand alsomakespossess ion illegal.
Furthermore . Canadi an lawrestrictsthe sale of alcoholand cigarettes tominors and regulates we realcohol canbe served (Calli son.1995).
Familyandcommunityeducationis anotherpreventionstrategy.Familyfocusis when fam iliesinteractwithout thepresenceof alcoho lorcigarettes,modellin ghealthy responsible behavio ur totheirchildren.A comm unityfocus 10educationprovideseventsand facilities that promotehealthylifesty leswithout alcoholandcigarettes.Exam ples of this are
2.
family-orien ted concerts where alcoholandcigarettesere not allowed. and designating facilitiessuch asswimmingpoolsandskatingrinksas smoke-andalcohol-free.Generally.
responsible communitiesprovidecommunitycentres where adolescents can "hang-out"
withoutcigarettes and alcoholbeing present, Responsible communitiesare oftensensiti ve tozoning regulationsforliquor establis hme ntsnear schoolsorareas where there arehigh concentratio nsofyo ung people(Callison.1995).
Final ly. preven tion of substan ce use reliesheavily onthe social leam ingadolescents receive from their significant others.Thelist ofsignificantothersincludesparents.teachers.
peers. coaches and any otherpersons whomay have a significant influence on theirlives.
Children learn good habitsandbehaviours vicarious ly;therefore.goodrole modelsplayan important role insubstance use prevention(Callison.1995).
TheHarmReductionApprptchtoDrugControl
Avariety ofiniuativeshave beenintroduced bygo ve rnmentsin Europe and Ausualia inresponse todrugproblems.They are basedon lheevolving notion ofharmreductio".
reducing the adverse consequencesof bothpsychoactivedrug useand drug controlpolicies withoutelimi na ting drug consumption.
Hann reduction views abstinence as the most effectiv ewayof avoiding drug-related problem s,thou ghit isnot theonlysolution fordrug users.Thosewhobelie ve inhann reductionrefuse tobelievein theunachi evabl e objectiveof creating"a drugfree society:'
3 .
Instead...they emphasizethe needlOdesignpoliciesthat acknowledgethe ubiqui ty ofdrug use invirtuallyallsocietiesandseeklOminimizethehannthatresults.CleardistinctionsMe drawnbetweendrugmisuseandcontro lled useofdrugs (Zinberg.1984 ).Thenotio n or-zero tolerance-isregardedasunethical to publichealth. civil libert iesandhwnan rightsaswell asunnecessarilyburdensom e10 thecrimina.ljustic esystem. Drugusersshouldnorbe demonizedfor usingandsometimes misusingdrugs(Zinberg .1984).
The interventionsused inharmreductio napproache sfocusnot on isolatingdrug users.buton integratingor reintegratingthem intothe community. Maximizingthe proportio n ofdrug users in ccmactwithdrug treatment.outreach. and public healthservices isthepriority.Druglaws are regarded aspartofa broaderpublichealth andsocial welfare policieswhich emphas izepragma tismand inclusiveness.notmoralabso lutes tobeenforced indiscriminat ely(Zinberg . 1984).
Hannm:!u ct'io n fortbeDUrpo ' "ofa doltscco l!.
Harm reductio nfocuses on thefollo\ltin gquest io ns:
I.Howcan we reducetherisksthatdrugusers willtake?
2.Ho wcanwereducethe likelihood thatdruguserswillengag e in crimi nal andother undesirableactivitie sthathann others?
3.Howcan weinc rease thechancestha tdruguserswill act responsiblyto ward others, care fortheirfamilies,completetheir-educationor training and engageinlegal employ ment?
4.How can weincrease thelikelihoodof rehabilitati onfordrug users andsocietyat
31 largewhen drug useitselfisSOprevalent in our society?
Thetermharmreductio nmay benew. but the conceptis not . During the nineteenth andear lytwentiethcenturies.when newpotentdrugsbecame available.drugcontrolefforts focused lessonprohibiting opiates and otherdrugsand moreonensuri ngquality. purity and safe dose levels(BerridgeandEdwards.1981).In the UK.the influent ial Rollesto nRepon of1926.formalizedthepolicyofallowing mainlymiddle class. opiateusers to obtaintheir drugsfromtheirphysicians. As well, early in this century,Americanspromotedhann reduction regulatio ns andefforts 00 persuade drug abusers to switc hto safer drugs (Waldorf.
Orlickand Reinennan.1977).Inthe 19705 .themovemen tto decriminalizemarijuanawas drivenbythe realizationthat criminalsanctions created greaterharmthanmarijuanause itself.
The1970sandearly 1980 5 sawcontemporaryharmreduction notio ns firstemerg e in the fonnulatio noftheDutchdrugpolicy.Fromlhatpointon.the termharmreduction was a populartopicatinternational healthconferences.Many of these conferences statedthat the Iinkbetween injection drug useandtheAIDSepidemic wasthe singular event thatcatapulted harmreduction thinking into officialdrug policy.The UK. Australia.andSwitzerland embraced itwholehearted ly whenitwasdecided thatAIDSpreventioneffortswould take preced enceoveranti-drug efforts because the AIDS epidemic presentssucha great threatto public health(Staples.1988).
Thephilosophicaland practicaldevelopment of preventionstrategies isneededso
"
dialthe outcomesofdrugusean:as safeas possible.Itinvolvesthe provision of factual infonnation. resources. education, skillsandthedevelopmentofattitud e change.inorder10 insurethatthe consequences ofdruguse fortheusers.the communityandtheculture have minimal impact.Theharmreductionstrategyrecognizes lIlal peoplealways have.and always will.usedrugs.Themainconcernofharmreduction istominimize the poten tialhazards associatedwithdrugusc.
Peopleinourcultureacceptharmreductioninitiativeswhenit comestolegal drugs.
Although. outright pro hibitionoftheproduction. saleand consumptionof cigarettes.despite the dangers.isnotfavouredbygovernment. Theyrely on hightaxes. warning labels.
restnctionscntimes and places of saleandconsumption. public informationcampaigns.and numero us other meas ures to regulateanddete rtobaccoconsumption.Countries such as Canadahave aggressivelyusedthesetacticswhich have beenprovensuccessfulin encouraging smokers10 quit and discourage many young peoplefromstartingto smoke (Russell 1988).
For thosewhoare unable or unwilling[0quit, efforts have also been devoted to reducingmeharmassociatedwithtobacco consum ption.These efforts focus onsatisfying me cravingfor nicot ine. whilereducing oreliminatingassociatedtarsandotherhannful substances.Subsequentefforts to reducehealthrisksby encouragingsm okers10smo keless and marketing low-tar.low-nicotinecigarettesprovedrelatively unsuccessfulbecause smokers respondedbypuffingharder. inhal ing moredeeply.andsmoking toashorter bun (Russell, 1986).Itisbelievedthe sameistrue ofedolescentsmckers .This study willhelp
33 break downexisting barriersbetweenadultsandadolescents so adolescentsareableto seek helpandbothpanies can activelyreduceallassociatedrisks.
Local l m p licatioDs
Thepreced ingliterature review offersreasons whyadolescentsareproneto substanceabuse.Many of these reasons are applicableto students in theruralareaIstudied.
Researchsuggeststhateconom ic hardship may exacerbateadolescent substanceabuse and thismaybethe case in therural town studie d (Gullorta, Adams.&Montemeyor,1995).
Unemployment isrampantandmanyfamilies rely onsocialassistance. Regrettabl y.itis common knowledge in theareathatmany famil iesstruggleto makeendsmeet.The communityis closelyliedto the landwithseveral farms in the area thatstruggle tosurvive.
Thecomm uni tyhas also been adversely affectedbythe cod moratorium thathas resultedin several lishplant closures in the immediatevicinity,
Thelitera ture reviewdelineates severalareas that guidance counsellors can address inthelivesof adolescentsintheruralareastudied.Buildingcommunicationskills.
furthering interpe rson al relationships ,developi ng relationshipswithparents.assertiveness training,andlearningways todeal with peerpressureareareasthatcanbebeneficial to stude nts.Newapproach es likehannreductioncanbe explored further sothatif adolescents experiment with drugstheriskwillbe minim izedand theywillavoidserious accidents.
The main reason forthisstudyis to legitimi ze theneedformoreeducationa l programsto combatthe substanceabuseproblem in HSRN wherelcompleted myimernship.
3. Moreeducatio nmay resultinbetterdrugawarenessforstudents.andmaytriggeraduJtsto exami ne the reeliuesof adolescent substanceabusebyaddingharmreductionmeasures to thepreventionmeasuresthqalreadyemploy.
Loeal OptioDS
Localadolesce ntshaveseveral optionsavailab leiftheydevelop substanceabuse problems.Themostobvious.iftheyattendschool.istheirGuidance Counsellor.The GuidanceCounsellorcanprovidecounselling,suppo rt. anddirec ttheindividualto other available resources.Othe rresourc esincludefamilydoct o rs.public healthnurses. social wcrkeraoraddictionscounsello rs.Thisruralcommuniry is incloseproximitytothemany servicesavai lablein$1.John'5.However.many adolescentshavelittleknow led ge of such suppo rtsandservicesavai lab le.TheGuidanceCounselloris oftenthefirstprofessionalto deal with suchproble ms.
35 Methodology
1m..tI:Y.mm.t
For
me
purposes of thisstudy.a modified version ofthe provincial 1996 Newfo undlandandLabrador StudentDrugUse Survey willbeused(Appen dix A).The survey is comprisedof a computer-scann.able questio nnai re ondrug use. conswnption. and attitudes towarddrugusc.Initial ethics approvalfor use oftheSW'Vcywasgrantedbythe DalhousieUniversityFacultyofMedicineEthicsCommittee.Items werederived from instrum ents usedinother provincial surveys andfromthe Canad ianguideli nes for survey development(Adlaf.Smart&Walsh.1993;Smart1985).The questionnaireconsists of 99 itemsandone open-endedquestion.Forthepurposes of thisstudy.a modifiedversioncfthe provincial1996Student DrugUsc Survey willbeused.Thequestions thatpertain excl usiv elytotobacco.alcoholandillicitdrugswillbeusedforthis study.Adminis tration Proc tdu a
Allquest ionnai reswereadministeredatnineo'cloc konWednesday.March5th duringhome roomperiod.Thistook approximatelytwentyminutes.Eight teac hersassisted withthe distributionand collection.Theprocedureswereexplained[0theteachers prior to home roomand they weregivenan administratio nguidelinebooklet.
, .
5.!..m.D.Js
The questionnaire....'asdistributedto all of theapp roxima tely400studen ts ingrade 9throughLevelIII atthehighschool. Student's agesrange from fourteen to twenty yean.
Participationwasvoluntaryandboth parental and student consen twere obtai nedbefore me ques tionnaire wasadministered (See Append ices E toFl.
Definitionsof Use
The 19%NLDUSuses specific criteria todefinesubstanceuse.In thesurvey.
tobaccorefers to cigarette s. cigars.snuff. and chewi ngtobacco.MAn y"use ofcigarettesrefers tosmoking more thanonecigare ttein the 12mo nths prior tothe survey.and"freq uent"use referstosmoking morethanI0cigarettesaday.Foralcoho l.-any" userefers10alco holuse inthe12 monthsprior to thesurvey.rangingfromless oftenthan once amonth.For allother drugs.-eny"USC'refers to use on one ormoreoccasionsduri ngthe12 mo nthsprior tothe surv ey.and-&equenCuserefers to use more frequentlythan onceamonth (SpurrelL 1996).
The same defini tions willbeusedforthis study.Validityandreliab ility info nnationis reponedin The Student Drug Use Surveysin the AtlanticProvinces:A Standardized Approac h. (Poulin.Clarke.Baha m.Wilbur&Bryant1996 ).
Data Analysis
Thedata fromthis exp lorato rystudy weresummarizedusing descrip tive statistics including frequencies. perce ntages andmeans.My surv eyyielded thesametypeofdatathai
37
wereprovided by the 1996 NLDUS.For comparativeanalysis.the means of both studies.
W~compared so thatimportan t differencesbetweenbothstudies couldbe determined. For thepurposesofthiscomparativ e study.a differenceoflC'Rwasdeemed tobeanimporta nt difference.Thebenchmarkoften indicatedaserious increase ofsubstanceuselabuse for thatparticulardrug.However.itcouldbearguedthatanyincrease in behaviourthatis illegal andbadfor one' shealthisnotgood.
Results
Themainfocusofthisstudywastoestablish ifreported druguseat HSRN was highet-thanthatindicatedin the 1996 NewfoWldlan dandLabradorStud en tDrugUse Survey.
"Hard drugs- such ascocaine or heroinand-sc f drugs-suchasmarijuana orhashishwe re examinedand therateswere described separately.Results were alsopresentedcollecti vely bygrade and gender.
Means were usedtodetermineifdifferencesbetweenthe HSRN surveyand the1996 NLDUS existed.For thepurpose ofthis exploratorystudy adilferenceof tenwas considered an importan tchange indrughabits forthe studentsat HS RN.Resultsfrom theHS RN survey.
the1996 NLDUS survey . and the differenc esin drug usebetween thetwosurveys can be foundin Table 1.
3.
TableI
Differences foundinDrug Use betweenthe 1996NLDUSresultsand1997 HSRNresults.
DRUG 97HSRN 96 NLDUS(%) DIFf E RENC ES
SURV EV (%) lN DRUG
USE(%)
Alco hol 75.2 56.1 -'9.1
To bacc o 58.4 36.7 -2 1.1
Cannabis 31.2 23.9 7.\
Psilocybin! 15.3 10.6 4.7
Mescaline
LSD 17.7 1.4 -10.3
Tranq uill izers S.1 4.3 0.8
(Non-presc ribed)
Stimu lants 5.5 5.1 0.4
(No n-prescribed)
Barbituates l.5 1.7 1.8
(Non-prescri bed)
Cocaine 6.6 3.\ 3.5
PCP 2.3 1.3 \
Impo rtan t differenceIS>than10.
Differen ces were foundin theuse ofto bacco....ith58.4 percent ofthestude nts in the curre ntstudy reporting that they were smokers. whilethe1996NLDUS re poned that36.7 perce ntof stud entssurveyed weresmokers.a difference of 21.7percent.
TheHSRN currentsurveyreportsthat 75.2percent ofstudentscanbedeemed regular
39 drinkers.while the 1996 NLDUSreportedthat36.7 percent of students surveyed were smokers.This amoun151oa noticeable difference 0(21.7percen t,
There arealsomarkeddifferencesintheuseof cannabis.The HSRN studyreports that31.4percentofstudentssurveyed use cannabis.whilethe 1996NlDUSreports that 23.9percentusethisillegalsubstance.Thisisa difference0( 7.4.
Differe nces are also apparentintheuse ofpsilocybinlmescalinewithIS.)percentof studentsbeing consideredregularusers. whilethe1996 NLDUS reportsthat 10.6percent areregularusers. a7.4percent difference.
The current surveyreports that17.65 percentof students are users of LSDwhile only 7.4 percentof studentsinthe1996 Student DrugUseSurveyhaveusedLSD.Thisisa differenceofIO.2Sandcanbeconsidered a Rateab ledifferenc e.
All othersubstances measuredshowedno important differences (seedruguse com parison table).althoughuseof uanquillizers(no n-presc ribed).stimulants(no n- prescribed). andcocaineinthecurre ntsurvey are marginallyhigherthan the1996Stude nt DrugUse Survey.
40
Discussion
Theresults ofthe HSRN study can be interpretedinseveral ways.The percentages reponedcanbe seenas alnIcindicator ofstudentdruguseinthe rural area and a reflection ofthe students"openness inreportingtheir drug use.Itisapparentthat the students have considerable knowledge ofdrugsbecause they general lydid noterroneous lyindicatetaking thefakedrugquabalinethaiwasincluded in the survey.Lessthan onepercent of all stude nts reported using the fictitioussubstan ce quabaline.Thisaddssomecredence10their report ing since it ind icatesthat theywere notfakin gbad.Althoughonecouldargue thattheywere me relyknowledgeablefakersandwere havingfunbysabotagingthedata.
This study clearly indicaIeslhaJ.there are importantdifferencesbetweenreporteddtug use in theNlDUSandthe present study.Thebenchmarkoflenindicateshigherdruguse forparticulardrugsalHSRN.Allcf theHS RN ratesofdruguseare higherthanthe..-alues recognizedj ustoneyearearlierin theNLDUS.Societal emphasison preven tion ofsubstan ce abusesuggests that anyincreasesinharmfulandillegalbeha viorsho uld be takenseriously.
Thisdata cited.heresuggests the argument thatsignificantdrugusc:occurs at HSRN and needstobe:exam ined further.
The most dramaticdifferenc esbetween the NLDUSand HSRN surveyare seenin the rates of alcoh ol andtobacco usage.HSRNsurveydata.show ratestwentypercenthigher lhan ratesindicat edinthe NLS DUS.Thisindicatesa seriousprob lem at HSRN and onethat
41 needs tobeexamined futher.Thesehigh ratesseem to indicate thatpreventionstrategies[0 decreasesuchusage are not working. Alcoholuse atHSRN also indicatesa strongneedfor harm reduction measuresto decreasethelikeli hood ofalcoholrelatedtragedies.
More startling differences betweenHSRN and NLDUSoccur inthe use of 'hard drugs.'Many of the HSRN studentsare usingdrugsthatare notonly illegalbut highly addictiveand damagingto their health.The use ofLSD is an alarming ten percenthigher thanthe ratesreportedinthe NLDUS.The use of'bard drugs'also carries stiffer legal consequencesas poccessionortraffickingofsuchsubstancesare indictablecriminaloffences carry ing stiffer penaltiesthatincludejail sentences.
The results of significantlyhigherdrug use couldindicatethe economically- depressed socialclimate in theruralarea. Unemploymentis rampantas is a relianceon social assistance. Theliterature shows thatareaswithdepressedeconomies and low standardsof living are more likely10 have peopleengagingintheuse of drugs as a means ofescapism (Single.1996).Whenpeoplegarner litt leenjoyment or passion from their lives.theyoften tumto drugsas a means ofcoping.Highunempl oyment means thatindiv idua ls are not only struggling to survivebut question the ir own self worth.Suchself-ruminat ionoftenleads peopleto seek out meansof escaping theirtroubles through druguse (Ro tgers,1996).This may bethecase for studentsinruralNewfoundlandwhoexperience financial depriv atio nin theirown householdsas well asthedifficultiesin thelocal and natio nalecono mies.
Provincialunemploymentis thehighestin the country.andjobprospects are terrible.Today.
a good educatio ndoesnotguaranteea good job as there arethousands of welleducated
42 unemployed young peopleinthe province. Surely,such conditionsmake the developmental hurdles of adolescentsthat much more difficultto cope with.
Another reason for thehighrates ofdruguse maybetheproximity of theschool to the adjacenturban areas whereillicitdrugsareread ily available.The prevalenceof illegal drugsinSt.John'sarea isat an all-timehighwitha wide variety ofdrugseasily accessible.
Itsho uld alsobenoted thatthe 1996 NLDUS was completedprovince-wideand takes into accountmany isolat edareas of the province that rarelyhaveproblem swithillic it drug use.
Themajority ofsubstance abuse problemsinruralNewfoundland focuses on tobaccoand alcohol. Geographicisolationmay affect the percentages reported in the1996 NLDUS, makingit appear that illicitdruguseisno t a problem inruralpamof theprovince.
Summary
Adolescenceisdifficult.Itis importantthateducationalpsych ologistsandguidance co unse llors educatethemselvesinthe area ofsubstance abusein order to offerassistance and guidan cewhen it isrequired. Also.theysho ulded ucatestudents. their pare nts andteachers about substance abuseandthe problem sit can create. Their approachshouldberealistic. down to earth and coverthe most commondrugsandtheir effects.Itisnot good enoughto preac h abstinenceandturn a blindeye to thereality thatsomestude nts willexperiment with drugs.Theyneed guidance counsellors.parents and teachers to workwiththem to red uce risks.offer safe options.and make informed decisions sotheycan avoidthedebilitating ramifications ofsubstan ce abuse.
43 Rccommcodati oDS
Thefollowingrecommendations are basedon theinformati ongarnered fromthe literaturereviewandthe drugusesurveysincludedinthis report.'Therecommendatio nswere fannulated in consultationwiththe guidancecounse lloratthe rural area highschool.
Hopefull y.me recommendationswillresultina morecompre hensi vepreventi oneduca tion program for the studentsand provide abetterundemandingoftheadolesce ntsubstance use/abusein thisprovince.
I.Repeat thedrugusesurvey on aregularbasis sopatterns ofsubstanceabusecanbe monitoredandcompared10previous years.Itwouldbe goodifthe surveywere ayearly activity for theguidance departmentat theschool. The survey is brie f and easily administered and eouidbecom e a regular counselloractivitydutylorfuture visitinginterns.
2.Reviewandevaluateother preventi onprograms in anefforttokeep upwiththe latest research andsubs tanceabuseinfonnation available.This couldlead tothe develop men t and implementationofa pilolprevent ionprogramforstudents.Theeffectivenessofsucha programcouldbemeas ured using thestudentdrugusc:survey.
3.Raise aware nessabout adolescent substanceabuse.Hopefu lly.a repo rtsuchasthiswill enco urage furtherresearchand discuss iontodeal withadolesce ntsubs tan ce abuseproblems in rural areas ofNe wfo undland and Labrador.
4.Promotepartnershi ps between adolescen tsand theirteachers and parents.Itwouldbe beneficialif the students'participation.opennessandhonesty in completingthe student drug uscsurvey wasac kno wledg edandrespected byteachersand parents.Thissurveyco uldbe
44
3catalystforbuildingapositiverelationshipbetweenthe adolesc entsand adultsof therural areatotackle the problems ofadolescentsubstanceabuse.
5. Reviewthecurrenthealth and substanc e abuse curriculumatthehighschool toensurethat the preventi on ed ucatio n programmeetstheneedsof thestudents .
6.Promotetheconceptofharmreduction byeducatingstudents.teachersand parents on the risksassociatedwithadolescent substan ce abuseandlhemethod sthat can be imple mented to minimizesuch risks .
7.Review substan ceabuse treatment options.Itis impo rtan t toeducatestudents .teac he rs and parents on the proc essesand resourcesavailablefor adolescen ts.
45 Refereaees
Anderson,A.&:Henry.C.(1994).FamilySystemcharacteristics and parental behaviours aspredi ctors ofadolcsc:ent substanceuse.Adolescence')9 (114)405420.
Beman. D.S.(1995).Risk Factorsleadingto AdolescentSubstanceAbuse. ~.
Vol.30.No.117.Spring1995.
Berridge.V.&:Griffith.E.(1987).Opiwnand the PeopleNew York:Oxford Univ ersityPress.
Callison. W.(1995 ). PRventiooHandbook.
Gullona. T.•Adams.G.•&:Monterneyor.R.(J99S). SubstanceMisuseinAdolescence.
Harbach.R.&:Jones.P.(199 5). Family BeliefsAmon gAdolescentsatRiskfor Substance Abuse.Journa loeDrugEducation.VaL 25.1-9. 1995.
HealrhandWelfare Canada. (1992).AlcoholandQt~rdrugusebvCanadianyouth.Minister ofSuppliesand Services Canada.
Johnston.L.•&:O'Mall ey.P.(1986).Why do the nation's stude nts use drugsandalcohol?
Self- repon ed reasons fromninenationalsurveys. TheJournal
prorn gIsSUes .
16,28- 66.Powell.R.oZehm.S.,&:Jeffery. A.(1995).Classroomunder!be influence:addjc1sd timil.in... addicted students.Newbwy Park.Calif.:CorwinPress.
Rapoport.J.&lsmond,D.(1996).DSM-IV TrainingGuideforDiagnosisofChjldhood 0ii2N.m.New York:BrunnerlMazel. Publish ers.
Russell.A.H .(1998).Reductio nof smoking-related harm:the scope for nicotine replacement.InN.Heather er al.(Eds.]PsychoactjveDrugsand Harm Reduction.
London:HMSO.
Smart. R.&Ogbore,A.(1994).Street Youthin Substan ceAbuseTJ>atmentAdolescence.
29(115).733·745.
Spurrell,D.C.(1996).Newfoundland andLabradorStudentDrug I1seSuO'e¥, Summary
R£Rsm.
Governmentof Newfo undland andLabrador.Departm ent of Healthand46 AddictionsServices.
Staples. P.(1988). Reduction ofAlcohol-and Drug RelatedHarminAustralia:A Goverm ent Minister' sPerspective.In N.HeatheretaI.(Eds.) ,PsychoactiveDrugs and HanDRed uction.london:HMSO.
Thompson.J.(1992).A twoyear studyofsubstanceuse amongsecondary students:analysis ofemploymentas variable. Paperpresentedat the annual meetingof the Midwestern Educational research association.Chicago.IL.
Waldo rf. D.•Orlick.M.•&Reinannan.(I977).MorphineMaintenancetheShre ypO" Clinic 1919·1923.Washington.D.C.:DrugAbuse Council.
Zln berg.N.(1984).Drug Setand Setting.NewHaven:Yale University Press.
AppendixA StudentDrugUseSu rvey I.Areyo u maleorfemale:'
2.Inthepast12months ho w many cigarettesdid you usuall y sm okeperday:' Aj Lhaveneversmcked .
B)ldidnOlsmo kecigarettesinthelasr I2monlhs.
C)Itriedonecig;m:n einthepasttwe lvemonths . D) Ihadlessthanonecigare ttea day.
E)IhadIor 2cigarettesa day.
F) jl0 5 ci garenes aday.
G)610tu cigarenes edey.
H)IIto15cigarettesa day. I)16 1020cigarettes a day.
JImore than 20 ci garen esaday.
3.In thelasl 4weeks. howoftendid youuseCANNABIS(marijuana.weed.pOI.Itashoil) A)Idano tknow wltal cannabi sis.
B)ldid no t usc cannabisataH in thelest 4weeks . C)I used can na bisonceortwicein thelast 4wee ks . D)Iusedcannabisonceortwiceeach week inthelast 4weeks E)ThreellI'"4 limeseachweekinthelast4weeks.
F) Fiveor6nmeseach week in the last4weeks.
G)Onceeac hday in the last4weeks.
H}Morethanonce eac h dayin lite iast4wee ks.
4.In thepast12 months.haveyou use d PSILOCYB IN(magicmushrooms.shroo rnsjorMES CA LI NE (mesc ).
A)1donOIkno w what psilocybin and mescalineate.
B)Notatall.
CrOnetime.
DlTwotimes . E)Threeorfourlimes.
F)Five 10eight times.
G)Nine1012limes(about oncea montlt) H)Thirteen1026times(abeuttwicea month).
IITwenty-se ven or more times(mo re Ihantwicea month)
5.Inthepast 12months,haveyoutakenLSD (acid,cid)?
Alldo nOIkno wwhatLSDis, B) N()(al all.
CjOnenmes.
D) Two limes.
E) Three orfou r times.
F) Fiveto eightlimes . G) Nine to12times (abo ulonceamonth).
H) Thirteento 26 times(about twice amonth).
47
46 I) Twenty-seven or more times(mere than once awee k) .
6.During the past 12 months. have youtakenQuabaline(quabs.zippers)?
A) Ido nOIknowwhatQua baJine is.
8) Notalall.
C)Onetime. DjTwc ttmea E) Three to fourtimes.
F)Five10eigltllimes.
G) Nine 1012 times (aboUIoncea month).
H) Thirteento 26times(aOOUIrwic e amonth ).
I)Twenty- seven ormorttimes(morethantwice amonth ).
1.Inthepast12 rnOllms.haveyoutaken TRANQUILLIZERS(Valium, libfium. SCI<I..'(.trangs,55.lOs) withoutaprescript ion from adOO::IOforwitho utadoctor tellingyou10 takethem?
A) I do nOl:know what tranquillizers are B)Notatall.
C) I did not usccannabis inthepast12months.
Dj Onenme.
E) Two times.
F)ThreeIOfivtlimes.
G) Five10eighl limes
H) Nine to J21imcs(abou t om:e a month).
l)Twenty-sevenOf"meretimes (more than oncetwice amonth ).
8. In thepast12 months, haveyoutakenStimulants (Benzedrine. Dexeanee.speed,uppers. bennies,pep pills) withouta prescriptionorwithoutadoctortellingyou to do so?
A)Ido not knowwhat stimulantsare.
B) NotatalJ.
Cl Onelime.
D) Two limes . E) Three or fourlimes.
F) Fivetoeightlimes.
G)Nine1012 times(aboutonceamonth).
H) Thirtee nto 26limes (abouttwiceamonlh ).
I)Twenty-sevenor more times (morethan twice a month).
9.In the pasl12 months. have you takenBARBITURATE(Seconal.Amytal,downers, bombers) withouta prescriptionorwhh outadoctortellingyou to do so?
A)IdonOIknow wharbarbinrrateare.
BjNotarall.
CjOne nme.
D)Twotimcs.
E) Three to fourtimes.
F)Five 10 eight rimes . G)Nine 10 12 times(abo crcece amon lh).
H) Thincen1026times(aboutIWiceamonth) l)twen~··sevcnor morelimes(morethantwicea monlh).
10.Indu: past 12monlbs.haveyouusedCOC'A INEorCRACKEDCOCA lN E<$lX)W.mke.rock)?
A.)IdolICKknow ...hal:cocaineis.
B)NOIaIall.
C)Oneume.
D)Two limes.
E) Three 10 fourtimes, G)Nine 1012 l imes(aboo lonce II mondl ).
HIThineen (a 26 times(abo\Iltwice.. monlh).
I)Twmry-sevenor morelirnd (more th&nrwicea "'ftk).
49
hcu.ltyolEduution
May20, 1997
Dea r John,
Afterreviewingyoursubmi ssion, theEthicsReview Committeefinds thatyour proposal meetsthe guidelinesoftheUniver sity andFaculty,with some minor modifications.Specifically.yourletter 10 parents is well done.buttheletters to thesupennoentern.principal,and teachersneed to bemOdified by makingthem similarto thelet terto parents.After thesechanges. everything should bein order.
We wishyou allthe bestin yourwork.
Sincerely,
T. Seifert
Ethics Review Committee
cc:Dr.E. Drodge
St.John'$.Nf,Comd.oAlB 3X8_T"I..:1109l n7-J4(W.fu:1?O9l n7..s637
51
AppendixC JohnJ.Phillips
170 Permeywe ltRd.
St.John's Nfld.
April29.1997
Mr.David Streifling AvalonEastSchool Board Suite601.AtlanticPlace 215WaterStreet St.John's.Nfld.
Ale 6C9 DearMr.Streifling:
(0orderto completetherequirementsfortheMastersDegree in Educatio nal Psychology atMemori al UniversityofNewfo undland I willbe completing an interns hip at St.
Kevin'sHighSchoolin the Goulds. Theinternship requiresthata researchcompo nentbe comple ted. I will rese archthe prevetenceof stude nt druguseatSt.Ke vin'sHighSchool byadministeringasurvey.Thisdatawillbeco mpare dto the resultsof the1996 ProvincialStudentDrugUse Survey.Amodifiedvers ion oftheinstrum entwillbeused.
Writtenconsentwillberequiredfrom the parent(s )orguardian(s)andas well the students participatingin thestudy.
Please findenclosedacopyofmyresearch proposal.theparentalconsent form.the studentconsentform. thesurveyinstrumentused.and otherrequireddocume ntation.
Thank youfor consideringmyrequest.
Since rely.
John J.Phillips
52
Appendix 0
lohn J.Phillips 170 Penneywell Rd.
St.John's Ntld.
April 19.1997 Mr.Kevin Coady Principal St. Kevin's HighSchool Goulds.Nfld.
Dear Mr. Coady:
ln order to completethe requirements for the Masters Degree in Educational Psychology at Memorial UniversityofNe...foundland Iwillbecompletingan internshipatSt.
Kevin'sHigh School in the Goulds.Theinternship requires that a research component be completed.I will research the prevelanceof student drug useat St.Kevin' sHigh School byadministeringasurvey.This datawilt becomparedto the results of the 1996 ProvincialStudent Drug Use Survey.A modified version afthe instrumentwillbeused.
written consentwillberequiredfrom theparent(s) or guardian(s) and as wellthe students participatingin the study.
Please li nd enclosed a copy ofmyresearch proposal. the parental consent forrn. the student consent Conn,thesurvey instrument used.andother requireddocumentation.
Thankyo u forconsideringmyrequest.
Sincerely.
John1.Phillips
53
Appe ndixE
ParentaUG uardian Consent Form
1. •give permissionformy son/daughter10takepart in the St.Kevin'sHigh SchoolStudent Drug Use Survey.I understandthatthe surveyisto assessthepanerns of substanceuse/abuseof adolesce nts inthe area.Nostudentswillbe identifiedandthe resultswillbe used to improve the preventioneducationprogram at Sf.
Kevin'sHighSchool.
Signed : Date: _
54
AppendixF
St ude nt Consent Form
-;0---;,...-,,..--,...-,-,-,..
agree to takepaninthe St.Kevin'sHighSchoo lStudent DrugUscSurvey.I understandthat thesurveyis to assessthepatterns of substance use/abuse of adolescentsinthearea. No studentswillbeidentified and the result s willbeused[0improvethepreventioneducation program atSt.Kevin's High School.
Signed: _ Date: _
