Comparing Risk Factors for Adolescent Drug Use Between Colombia and the United States

Risk factors for adolescent drug use have been well established in the prevention science literature. Studies have demonstrated the equivalency of these measures by gender, age, and racial/ethnic groups, as well as between upper income countries. However, the cross-national utility of risk factor measures has not been examined thoroughly for lower and middle income countries.    

This study compared data on levels of risk factors for adolescent drug use between Colombia and the United States. Data were taken from the Communities That Care (CTC) Youth Survey administered in both countries during the spring of 2012. Colombian data were obtained from 8^th- and 10^th-grade youth as part of a CTC-based demonstration project in two communities in Bogotá, Colombia (A. Pérez Gómez, PI). U.S. data were obtained from 8^th- and 10^th-grade youth from 7 and 10 control communities in the Community Youth Development Study (J. D. Hawkins, PI). Samples for the Colombian communities consisted of 1,712 and 1,619 students; sample sizes for the 10 U.S. communities averaged 424 students per community. Nine different risk factors were examined in this study: Perceived Availability of Drugs, Laws and Norms Favorable to Drug Use, Low Commitment to School, Parental Attitudes Favoring Drug Use, Poor Family Management, Individual/Peer Attitudes Favoring Antisocial Behavior, Friends’ Use of Drugs, Interaction with Antisocial Peers, and Perceived Risks of Drug Use.

The percentages of 10^th-grade students at high risk for each of the nine risk factors were calculated using the cut-point methodology described in Arthur et al., 2007. Ninety-five percent confidence intervals around estimated proportions of youth at high risk were calculated for the two Colombian communities and compared to the weighted average of the 10 U.S. communities.       

Results from this study revealed that rates of youth at high risk are generally comparable between the two countries, with error bars for Colombian communities crossing the average of U.S. communities for 4 of the 7 risk factors. One risk factor, Low Commitment to School, was consistently lower for Colombian youth than for U.S. youth; and two risk factors, Friend’s Use of Drugs and Interaction with Antisocial Peers, were generally higher for Colombian youth compared to U.S. youth. These findings demonstrate the utility of using common measures of risk factors for adolescent drug use for local prevention programming and for making international comparisons.