TY - JOUR
T1 - Sequential progression of substance use among homeless youth
T2 - An empirical investigation of the gateway theory
AU - Ginzler, Joshua Aaron
AU - Cochran, Bryan N.
AU - Domenech-Rodríguez, Melanie
AU - Cauce, Ana Mari
AU - Whitbeck, Leslie B.
N1 - Funding Information:
This research was supported by an NIAAA award (AA10253-05; Cauce, PI), as well as partially supported by gran ts to Drs. Burton , Cauce, and Applebaum from the National Institutes of Mental Health for the establishment of the Family Research Consortium-III (R01 MH 49694-07) and FRC-III Postdoctoral Training (T32 MH 19734-06). We would also like to recognize the hard work and contributions of our research team.
PY - 2003
Y1 - 2003
N2 - We examined the sequence of substance-use initiation in 375 street youth (age 13-21) who were interviewed from 1994-99 in Seattle, Washington. Based on the "gateway theory," participants were categorized into six profiles to describe the order in which they initiated use of various substances (i.e., alcohol, marijuana, other drugs), or classified as nonprogressors if they had not tried all three classes of drugs. Youth progressing in the hypothesized gateway order (i.e., alcohol preceding marijuana, followed by other drugs) initiated their use at an earlier age than youth who had not progressed through all three substance classes. However, there was no relationship between a substance initiation profile and current substance-use. Implications include the recognition that street youth may follow different patterns of use than normative groups, and that interventions geared toward youth who use substances heavily must include contextual factors, in addition to substance-use history.
AB - We examined the sequence of substance-use initiation in 375 street youth (age 13-21) who were interviewed from 1994-99 in Seattle, Washington. Based on the "gateway theory," participants were categorized into six profiles to describe the order in which they initiated use of various substances (i.e., alcohol, marijuana, other drugs), or classified as nonprogressors if they had not tried all three classes of drugs. Youth progressing in the hypothesized gateway order (i.e., alcohol preceding marijuana, followed by other drugs) initiated their use at an earlier age than youth who had not progressed through all three substance classes. However, there was no relationship between a substance initiation profile and current substance-use. Implications include the recognition that street youth may follow different patterns of use than normative groups, and that interventions geared toward youth who use substances heavily must include contextual factors, in addition to substance-use history.
KW - Adolescents
KW - Development
KW - Drug use
KW - Gateway theory
KW - Homelessness
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=0038752956&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1081/JA-120017391
DO - 10.1081/JA-120017391
M3 - Article
C2 - 12747403
AN - SCOPUS:0038752956
SN - 1082-6084
VL - 38
SP - 725
EP - 758
JO - Substance Use and Misuse
JF - Substance Use and Misuse
IS - 3-6
ER -
