The purpose of this project was to conduct focus groups on motivations for youth to use and also not use alcohol, tobacco, and other drugs in first time and ongoing substance use situations.

Between November 2004, and February 2005, focus groups were conducted with six separate groups (n = 35 total participants), recruited within the state of North Carolina. Groups included: 1) parents of high school youth (between 9th and 12th grades); 2) older adolescents, who were court-involved, had also been suspended from school and were currently participating in a day reporting program; 3) a group of “normative” adolescents between 9th and 12th grades; 4) a group of “normative” adolescents (i.e., not currently in treatment for drug use) between 6th and 8th grades; 5) a substance abuse counselor; and 6) young adults recovering from addiction living in a residential treatment program.

Based on the focus group discussions, 17 items were developed tapping reasons youth might have for using alcohol, tobacco, or marijuana, and 15 items tapping reasons for not using those substances. Reasons included the importance of adult models, adult permissions and lack thereof, image management, peer pressure, curiosity, coping, substance use a sign of maturity, health effects, and the physical sensations associated with use.

Using these items, a three-part measure for each substance was created. First, youth who had used the substance were asked to indicate reasons they had for using. Alternatively, youth who had not used the substance were asked to indicate reasons that might affect the decisions of another child their age. Finally, all youth completed the 15 items assessing reasons not to use each substance.

In October 2005, and again in April 2006, this measure was administered to 300 7th and 8th grade students at the Durham School for the Arts as part of the C-StARR’s Program II questionnaire battery. Note that the Spring 2006 measurement took place after the Program II peer-leader intervention had been administered to the 7th grade leaders. Due to concerns about battery length, one third of the students in each cohort responded to the questionnaire for each substance. Analyses were conducted on the October 2005 responses to identify a data reduction structure, contrasting factor, latent class, and factor mixture analyses. Preliminary results were presented at the 2006 annual meeting of the Society for Prevention Research.