New Findings on Inhalants: Parent and Youth Attitudes, Partnership Attitude Tracking Study 2004
Publication Date:
Publisher: The Partnership for a Drug-Free America
Author(s): The Partnership for a Drug-Free America
Research Area: Health
Type: Report
Abstract:
This study, commissioned by The Partnership for a Drug-Free America, is the 17th annual survey of attitudes toward inhalant drugs and is the largest drug-related attitudinal tracking study in the United States. The Partnership is a consortium of communication, health, medical and education professionals. This survey, conducted by Roper Public Affairs and Media, sampled 7,314 youths in grades 7–12; 3,480 youths in grades 6–8; and 1,205 parents of children under 19. The error margin was +/- 2.8 percent.
Four types of inhalants are generally recognized: volatile solvents (glue, gasoline, paint thinners); aerosols (hair spray and deodorants that contain propellants); gases (nitrous oxide, gases found in whipped cream dispensers, butane lighters); and nitrites (cyclohexyl nitritem, found in room odorizers, amyl and butyl nitrite). Acute exposure to inhalants can lead to sudden death, and chronic exposures can lead to brain, heart, lung, liver and kidney damage. Many parents are unaware of the ubiquity of inhalants in common products, and many adolescents are unaware of the serious health risks of inhalant use.
In 1995, the Partnership developed television, radio and print messages to raise teen awareness of inhalant risk and abuse, and to increase parent motivation to discuss inhalants with children. The campaign was very successful and parental discussion of risks, as well as teen use of inhalants, fell correspondingly. However, today's youth are too young to benefit from efforts launched in the 1990s. By 2003, inhalant use among students in 6th to 8th grade was up and has stayed up, though it is stable among those in 7th to12th grade. Although parents are aware that inhalants are the most available drugs, they are least likely to talk to children about inhalants compared with cigarettes, marijuana, alcohol and/or other drugs because they mistakenly feel children understand the risks of inhalant drug use. While 4 percent of parents of 6th to 8th graders believe their children have tried inhalants, the actual percentage of children that have done so is 22. The report emphasizes that youth-targeted anti-inhalant advertising must be careful "not to educate kids about potential behaviors and inadvertently increase use." The Partnership relaunched their campaign messages in 2004, and is actively exploring delivering messages via the Internet and other expanded media.