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Indiana Prevention Resource Center (IPRC)

2008 Indiana Prevention Resource Center (IPRC) Survey

In spring 2008, IPRC conducted its 18th annual Alcohol, Tobacco, and Other Drug Use (ATOD) Survey. A total of 167,783 Indiana students in grades 6 through 12 from both public and nonpublic school corporations completed the written surveys, with 152,732 being usable surveys. The written survey consists of a series of questions about their use of various drugs, age at first use, consequences of drug use, perceptions of peers and parents/guardians, participation in after-school activities, and gambling activities. The questionnaire results are comparable to nationally conducted drug use surveys such as, Monitoring the Future and Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance.

Before taking the survey, students were informed that participation in the survey is voluntary and the results are confidential. Students are then given 30 minutes to answer the ATOD survey which consists of 27 sections. No individual information is collected except grade level, gender, ethnicity, and race.

In 2008, the ATOD survey included items from the CRAFFT (figure 1) screening instrument to measure the prevalence of substance use-related problems among adolescents (Knight, Sherrit, Shrier, Harris, & Chang, 2002). The CRAFFT was designed specifically for youth and asks about alcohol & other drugs. When a youth answers “yes” in two or more categories, it may suggest a significant problem. If someone were to screen positive on the CRAFFT in a clinical setting, the clinician would refer the patient to diagnose the substance use disorder.

A CRAFFT score of 2+ suggest possible substance abuse problems of the students surveyed. Pearson’s Chi-square test indicates significant differences among age groups for the scores (p<.001). Table 1 gives the CRAFFT scores of respondents.

Reference

Knight, J.R., Sherrit, L., Shrier, L.A. Harris, S.K., & Chang, G. (2002). Validity of the CRAFFT substance asbuse screening test among adolescent clinic patients. Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine, 156, 607-614.
By Susan Samuel,   10/21/2008