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Date: Friday, Sept. 6, 1996 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Contact: SAMHSA Press Office (301) 443-8956
The new study finds that the relationships with family structure are not diminished when the effects of gender, age, family income, and race/ethnicity are statistically controlled in the analysis.
Today's report represents the first time HHS has examined the relationship between family structure and adolescent substance abuse. Previous studies have examined the effects of family structure on alcohol and cigarette use among adolescents, as well as risk for teen pregnancy, but this report examines the effects on marijuana and other illicit drug use, dependence, and the need for illicit drug abuse treatment.
These findings are one more indication that children who live with two biological or adoptive parents have a measurable advantage in dealing with the risks and temptations of adolescence, Secretary Shalala said. The study tells us that the long-term commitment of two parents helps give children the edge they need to resist substance abuse."
Secretary Shalala released the new report during a New York meeting with producers and writers of daytime soap operas. In remarks at the meeting, she challenged soap opera productions to develop programming that supports public health messages and demonstrates the importance of families.
"The fact is, for most parents, raising children is more than a daily drama - it is a difficult and confusing struggle that can be made much less so with good public health information," Shalala told the "Soap Opera Summit" meeting.
Saying that more than 40 million viewers watch the "soaps" each day, Shalala said, "I'm asking you to give more thought to the public health consequences of each and every show - to empower parents to help their children make the right choices."
Parents raise children - but all of us have an obligation to give them a helping hand," she said.
Principal findings from the study include:
"Children and teens need to hear from all the adults in their lives the consistent message that drugs are illegal, dangerous and wrong," Chavez said.
While more than 60 percent of American youth are still raised in families with both of their biological (including adoptive) parents present, the proportion living with fewer than two parents has grown, as has the proportion of American adults who are divorced or remarried.
This report examines some implications of the changing family living arrangements on substance use (including alcohol and cigarettes) among American adolescents, including the effects of family structure on adolescent substance use, dependence, and need for illicit drug treatment. The study uses data from approximately 22,000 respondents aged 12-17 in the combined 1991, 1992, and 1993 National Household Surveys on Drug Abuse (NHSDA), a much larger sample than any analyzed in previous studies.
SAMHSA, the federal government's lead agency on providing services for substance abuse prevention and treatment, is one of the Public Health Service agencies in HHS. Information and materials are available from the National Clearinghouse for Alcohol and Drug Information (NCADI), at 1-800-729-6686, or by going on-line to the NCADI web site at www.health.org.