Rural–urban differences in the distribution of parent-reported risk factors for substance use among young adolescents

Purpose: We examined rural–urban differences in cumulative risk for youth substance use. A recent report [National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse (CASA) 2000] found that the rural–urban distribution of substance use and known risk factors for substance use differed; in many cases rural youth showed higher levels of use, as well as higher levels of risk factors. The current investigation, while not directly examining substance use, further examined rural–urban differences in the distribution of risk factors for youth substance use, based on information from parent reports. Method: Study 1 data were collected from a random sample of Midwestern parents (n=339) with a young adolescent between the ages of 11 and 13 years. Study 2 data were collected from a second sample of Midwestern parents (n=593). Results: Analyses of rural–urban comparisons demonstrated higher levels of cumulative risk among rural youth. An evaluation of the sensitivity of the analysis to rural–urban classification schemes indicated that the findings were robust, but that there was some minor variation in rural–urban differences by classification scheme. Implications: Results contribute to an explanation of findings from earlier reports of rural–urban differences in substance use, and suggest directions for future research on rural–urban distributions of youth risk factors.