In this SAj Flashback, we take it all the way back to 2008 with “Inhalant Use and Risky Behavior Correlates in a Sample of Rural Middle School Students” from authors Jessica Legge Muilenburg, PhD and William D. Johnson, PhD.
At the time, this study found 20.4% of children attending a middle school located in rural Mississippi had used inhalants to “get high,” a figure that is much larger than the national average. Many (3.4%) students reported they had used inhalants on 10 or more occasions. Inhalant use was most associated with being younger, ever smoking, riding with a driver who had been drinking, and being involved in a fight. Nearly twice as many younger students reported usage in our sample compared to other studies. Longitudinal studies need to be conducted to investigate whether use of inhalants is a precursor to other risky behaviors, and subsequent progression to alcohol abuse or illicit drug use.
You can still read this article in SAj Volume 27, Issue 4 or online.
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