Time‐Use Patterns and the Recreational Use of Prescription Medications Among Rural and Small Town Youth

Abstract

PURPOSE: To examine the relationship between rural and small town adolescents' time-use and an increased risk for recreational use of prescription drugs in rural settings. METHODS: Rural students in grades 9 and 10 (n = 2,393) were asked about past-year recreational use of prescription medications and their time-use in structured and unstructured activity contexts in the 2009/2010 Cycle of the Canadian Health Behaviour in School-aged Children survey. Time-use patterns of rural and small town youth from across Canada were examined using multilevel, multivariate Poisson regression analyses to determine whether they may impact the risk of this kind of substance use. FINDINGS: Peer time outside school hours and nonparticipation in extracurricular activities were significantly associated with rural youths' recreational use of prescription drugs. Peer drug use, unhappy home lives and frequent binge drinking explained most of these associations. CONCLUSIONS: Structured and unstructured activity contexts within rural settings play a role in the nonmedical use of prescription medications. Results support interventions aimed at increasing structured time-use opportunities in addition to focusing on peer contexts and multiple risk-taking behaviors among rural youth.