Rurality and gender. Effects on early adolescent alcohol use
K. J. Kelleher, V. I. Rickert, B. H. Hardin, S. K. Pope and F. L. Farmer
Department of Pediatrics, University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences, Little Rock.
Previous studies of adolescent alcohol use have focused almost exclusively
on urban and suburban youth, although alcohol is the most important drug of
abuse among rural adolescents. Young adolescents, aged 11 to 14 years (N =
1601), from urban, suburban, and two different rural areas (delta and
highland), were surveyed about health-compromising behaviors, such as
alcohol use. Significant differences in the number of adolescents using
alcohol and the patterns of alcohol use were noted across areas by gender.
Youths from the delta area, especially girls, reported drinking less
frequently and in less abusive patterns than did adolescents from other
areas, while youths from the highland area reported rates and patterns of
drinking similar to those of urban adolescents. The reasons for intrarural
variation in adolescent drinking are unknown.
