Background to the Research

• There has been a dramatic increase in illicit drug use amongst adolescents in the last two decades. The effects of alcohol and illicit drug abuse on adolescents have the potential to cause a range of damaging health and safety risks to the young people themselves, their family, and the environment in which they live. While policy initiatives have relied to some extent on school based surveys, these generally do not include the experiences of young people attending special schools and/or those with a statement of special education needs, resulting in an information gap compared with their peer group attending mainstream schools; this may have serious implications for policy initiatives such as targeted drug and alcohol programs.
  

Research Approach

• This article reports findings from 4 years of the Belfast Youth Development Study, a longitudinal study of adolescent drug use. It focuses on the experience of a cohort of young people with a statement of special education needs attending a special school. The mainstream school survey included approximately 4000 young people attending 43 mainstream schools.
  

Main Findings

• Those attending special schools (the MLD sample) contrasted with those attending mainstream schools (the school sample) on a number of demographic factors. A higher proportion were male, a lower proportion lived with both biological parents and were much more likely to have been in receipt of free school meals, an indicator of social deprivation used by the Department of Education in Northern Ireland.
• At each stage of the study, regardless of age, the MLD sample consistently reported lower levels of both licit and illicit drug use. Illicit drug use was almost nonexistent except for relatively low level cannabis use in each of the last 3 years of the survey.
• The MLD sample reported lower levels of weekly use of all substances compared with the school sample. Only tobacco was reported on a weekly basis throughout the study, rising consistently during each year of the survey from 1 person (7%) in year 9 to 4 (20%) in year 12. However, 2 young people attending the special school reported weekly alcohol use during year 12.
• Among the MLD sample, most cigarette smokers purchased them from a shop; same age friends were the only other source reported. Older friends were the source of cannabis during the first 2 years of the study but a 'dealer' became the source during the last 2 years. Home was the main location for drinking alcohol throughout the survey, but other 'sociable' venues were reported during the final year when the young people were aged 15/16 years. Home was the only location for cannabis use during the first three years of the survey, but other locations were reported during the final year of the study, including a party, disco and nightclub. Whilst the numbers reporting these sources were small relative to the main school survey, the emerging trends were generally similar.
• Responses to 14 questions on specific delinquency and antisocial behaviours were consistently lower among the MLD sample at all stages of the study; however, this increased throughout the survey, reaching a high when the young people were aged 15/16 years.
• The most common types of offending and antisocial behaviour were not paying the correct fare on a bus or train, rowdy behaviour, fighting, and drawing graffiti in public places. These types of antisocial behaviours were more likely to be reported during the latter stages of the survey. Whilst more serious offending and acquisitive crime were almost nonexistent, some isolated incidents of these were reported by the MLD sample.
• Lower levels of commitment and lower levels of motivation to do well were consistently reported by the MLD sample. Whilst no clear and consistent trends in relation to leisure activities were reported, the MLD sample were generally more likely to report higher levels of home-based activities, lower levels of friends-based activities, and lower levels of out-of-home based activities than those attending mainstream schools. Those in the MLD sample were generally more likely to report going out in the evenings than the school sample.

Conclusions

• The findings present a profile of the lifestyle of young people with a statement of special education needs for MLD, and appear to present a positive image of this group in relation to illicit drug use. The general behavioural patterns that emerged appear to confirm that, as a group, the MLD sample is at a lower level of risk of drug use than the school sample during adolescence.
• The findings appear to support the value of targeted drug and alcohol education initiatives for young people with moderate learning difficulties. Whilst prevalence rates for both licit and illicit drug use remained relatively low compared with the school sample, this does not undermine the value of such initiatives for which schools play an important role. However, services tailored to the needs of those with learning difficulties generally remain limited; the often higher level of access of special schools to resources for their pupil population could actually assist the development of such initiatives.
• The authors conclude that the findings provide an important contribution to the limited information base on drug use behaviour of young people with moderate learning difficulties attending a special school, and support the value of targeting drug and alcohol prevention initiatives to this group.