The proposed study will assess the impact of two educational transitions (beginning high school and beginning college) on the drug use behavior of rural Black adolescents.
Specific aims of the study are to examine the prevalence of drug use among rural Black adolescents making educational transitions, and to examine the psychosocial variables that are associated with drug use onset, drug use intensification, drug use cessation, and drug use abstinence during these transitions. Three hundred rural Black high school freshmen and three hundred rural Black college freshmen will participate in the study. All participants will be selected from the freshman classes entering Orangeburg-Wilkinson High School and South Carolina State University during the Fall semester of 1998. Both of these schools are located in Orangeburg County, a rural area of South Carolina. It is hypothesized that adolescents who have poor family relationships, less secure attachment relationships with their parents, and poorly utilized social support networks will be more likely to begin or increase drug use during educational transitions than adolescents with good family relationships, secure attachment relationships with their parents, and well-utilized social support networks. The findings of the study will address gaps in the literature pertaining to drug use among rural Black adolescents, and help to identify the factors that protect rural Black adolescents from drug use involvement during educational transitions. If feasible, the findings of this study will be utilized to enhance existing drug prevention and intervention programs at Orangeburg-Wilkinson High school, South Carolina State University, and in Orangeburg County.
