Prevalence and demographic correlates of symptoms of last year dependence on alcohol, nicotine, marijuana and cocaine in the U.S. population

doi:10.1016/S0376-8716(96)01315-4

Drug and Alcohol Dependence

Volume 44, Issue 1, 10 January 1997, Pages 11-29

https://doi.org/10.1016/S0376-8716(96)01315-4 Get rights and content

Abstract

The prevalence of last year use of alcohol, cigarettes, marijuana and cocaine in the U.S. population and conditional prevalence of a proxy measure of last year dependence among last year users of each drug class were assessed as a function of age, gender and ethnicity. Analyses were based on three aggregated waves (1991, 1992 and 1993) of the nationally representative samples of the general population aged ≥ 12 interviewed in the National Household Surveys on Drug Abuse (n = 87915). An approximation of DSM-IV drug-specific last year dependence for each drug class was derived from self-reported symptoms of dependence, data on frequency and quantity of use and drug-related problems reported for the last year. Descriptive and multivariate analyses were conducted. The inclusion of cigarettes among the drugs, the large number of cases and the wide age range of respondents (≥ 12) enable us to make drug, age, gender and ethnic comparisons not otherwise possible in any other data set. The proxy measure of dependence, however, has limitations. The five major findings are that: (1) nicotine is the most addictive of the four drugs we examined; (2) among female last year users of alcohol and marijuana, adolescents are significantly more at risk for dependence than any other age group of women; (3) conditional prevalences of last year dependence on alcohol, marijuana and cocaine are higher among adolescent females than adolescent males but significantly different only for cocaine; (4) among adults, the rates of dependence are higher among males than among females for alcohol and marijuana, but lower for nicotine; and (5) among last year users, whites are more likely than any other ethnic group to be dependent on nicotine and blacks to be dependent on cocaine.

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Prevalence and demographic correlates of symptoms of last year dependence on alcohol, nicotine, marijuana and cocaine in the U.S. population

Abstract

Drug Alcohol Depend.

Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders

Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders

Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders

Syndromes of drug abuse and dependence

Comparative epidemiology of dependence on tobacco, alcohol, controlled substances and inhalants: basic findings from the National Comorbidity Survey

Exp. Clin. Psychopharmacol.

Nicotine dependence in an urban population of young adults: Prevalence and co-morbidity with depression, anxiety and other substance dependencies

DSM-III-R nicotine dependence in young adults: prevalence, correlates and associated psychiatric disorders

Addiction

Psychiatric comorbidity of smoking and nicotine dependence

Behav. Genet.

Youth risk behavior surveillance — US, 1993. CDC Surveillance Summaries, March 24, 1995

MMWR 44 (No. SS-1)

Symptoms of substance dependence associated with use of cigarettes, alcohol and illicit Drugs-US, 1991–1992, November 10, 1995

MMWR 44 (No. 44)

The DSM-IV field trial for substance use disorders: Major results

Drug Alcohol Depend

Statistical Methods for Rates and Proportions

Comparison of DSM-III-R and draft DSM-IV alcohol abuse and dependence in a general population sample

Addiction

Prevalence of DSM-IV alcohol abuse and dependence: US, 1992

Alcohol, Health Res. World

The Alcohol Use Disorder and Associated Disabilities Interview Schedule (AUDADIS): reliability of alcohol and drug modules in a general population sample

Drug Alcohol Depend

National Survey Results on Drug Use from the Monitoring the Future Study, 1975–1993

The social demography of drug use

The Milbank Quarterly

The social demography of drug use