Modified Stages of Acquisition of Gateway Drug Use: A Primary Prevention Application of the Stages of Change Model

Abstract

The purpose of the study was to identify the stages of acquisition of gateway drugs in fourth, fifth, and sixth graders. The Stages of Acquisition model is a primary prevention application of the Stages of Change model. The subjects in the study were 811 students from seventeen elementary schools in Arkansas and Missouri. The instrument elicited information regarding the stages of acquisition and individual self-reported drug use. The data were analyzed using frequency, distribution, discriminant analysis, and correlation analyses. Stage placement was confirmed using a series of drug use measures. Results confirmed the existence of discrete stages of acquisition. Results supported the concept of gateway drugs in that subjects indicated they had progressed further through the stages of acquisition of alcohol use than through the stages of acquisition of cigarettes use, smokeless tobacco use, or marijuana use.

Get full access to this article

View all access options for this article.

References

Johnston

L. D.

O'Malley

P. M.

Bachman

J. G.

, Illicit Drug Use, Smoking and Drinking by American High School Student, College Students, and Young Adults: 1975–1987, U.S. Government Printing Office, Washington, D.C., 1988.

Johnston

L. D.

O'Malley

P. M.

Bachman

J. G.

, National Survey Results on Drug Use from the Monitoring the Future Study, 1975–1993: Volume I, Secondary School Students, U.S. Government Printing Office, Washington, D.C., 1994.

Prochaska

J. O.

DiClemente

C. C.

, Transtheoretical Therapy: Toward a More Integrative Model of Change, Psychotherapy: Theory, Research and Practice, 20, pp. 161–173, 1983.

Prochaska

J. O.

DiClemente

C. C.

, Stages and Processes of Self-Change of Smoking: Toward an Integrative Model of Change, Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 51, pp. 390–395, 1983.

Werch

C. E.

DiClemente

C. C.

, A Multi-Component Stage Model for Matching Drug Prevention Strategies and Messages to Youth Stage of Use, Health Education Research: Theory and Practice, 9:1, pp. 37–46, 1994.

Werch

C. E.

Anzalone

Castellon-Vogel

, Factors Associated with Stages of Alcohol Use Among Inner City School Youth, Journal of School Health, 65:7, pp. 255–259, 1995.

Werch

C. E.

Meers

B. W.

Farrell

, Stages of Drug Use Acquisition among College Students: Implications for the Prevention of Drug Abuse, Journal of Drug Education, 23:4, pp. 375–386, 1993.

DiClemente

C. C.

Prochaska

J. O.

, Self-Change and Therapy Change of Smoking Behavior: A Comparison of Processes of change in Cessation and Maintenance, Addictive Behaviors, 7, pp. 133–142, 1982.

Prochaska

J. O.

DiClemente

C. C.

Velicer

W. F.

, Predicting Change in Smoking Status for Self-Changers, Addictive Behavior, 10, pp. 395–406, 1985.

10.

DiClemente

C. C.

Prochaska

J. O.

, Processes and Stages of Change: Coping and Competence in Smoking Behavior Change, in Coping and Substance Abuse, Shiffman

Willis

T. A.

(eds.), Academic Press, New York, pp. 319–343, 1985.

11.

DiClemente

C. C.

Prochaska

J. O.

Gilbertini

, Self-Efficacy and the Stages of Self-Change of Smoking, Cognitive Therapy and Research, 9, pp. 181–200, 1985.

12.

DiClemente

C. C.

Prochaska

J. O.

Velicer

W. F.

, The Process of Smoking Cessation: An Analysis of Precontemplation, Contemplation and Preparation Stages of Change, Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 59, pp. 295–304, 1991.

13.

Prochaska

J. O.

DiClemente

C. C.

, Stages of Change in the Modification of Problem Behaviors, Progress in Behavior Modification, 28, pp. 183–218, 1992.

14.

DiClemente

C. C.

Hughes

S. O.

, Stages of Change Profiles in Alcoholism Treatment, Journal of Substance Abuse, 2, pp. 217–235, 1990.

15.

Prochaska

J. O.

DiClemente

C. C.

, Toward a Comprehensive Model for Change, in Treating Addictive Behaviors, Miller

W. R.

Heather

(eds.), Plenum Press, New York, 1986.

16.

Werch

C. E.

Anzalone

Stage Theory and Research on Tobacco, Alcohol, and Other Drug Use, Journal of Drug Education, 25:2, pp. 81–98, 1995.

17.

Brook

J. S.

Whiteman

Gordon

A. S.

, Stages of Drug Use in Adolescence: Personality, Peer, and Family Correlates, Developmental Psychology, 19, pp. 269–277, 1983.

18.

Kandel

, Stages in Adolescent Involvement in Drug Use, Science, 190, pp. 912–914, 1975.