The 24th Annual Survey of Alcohol, Tobacco and Other Drug Use by Indiana Children and Adolescents shows that alcohol use has been declining for 21 years, according to the University.
The survey is conducted by the Indiana Prevention Resource Center, a unit in the IU School of Public Health.
According to the results of the survey, less than 60 percent of high school seniors reported having tried alcohol at least once, down from a reported 80 percent in 1993.
Surveyed adolescents reported that the most common means by which they obtained alcohol was by having it purchased for them or being given it by a family member.
These results were obtained by surveying 119,147 students at 429 public and private schools.
The survey addressed a number of concerns, including mental health, gambling, parental incarceration, tobacco use, marijuana use, methamphetamine use and prescription drug abuse.
Indiana teenagers reported having fewer suicidal thoughts and a lower ?tendency toward depression than the national survey results, according to the ?University.
Ruth Gassman, executive director of IPRC, said in the University release that there is a strong connection between mental health concerns and substance abuse.
In terms of parental incarceration, high school seniors reported the lowest figure, with 17.9 percent of them reporting a parent having served time and eighth-graders had the highest rate at 23.9 percent.
Tobacco use continued to decline as it has since 1993, much like alcohol use, according to the University.
Marijuana use increased among high school seniors and decreased among freshmen, but Indiana’s marijuana usage rate remains lower than the national average.
Methamphetamine use remained largely unchanged, according to the University, and prescription drug abuse decreased across the board.
Gambling increased among high school freshmen but decreased among seniors.
Types of gambling included playing cards, betting on games, betting on sports, buying lottery tickets, gambling in a casinos and playing online for money.
Anna Hyzy
