Strategic Prevention Framework State Incentive Grant (SPF SIG) Substance Use Maps

Purpose

The purpose of this website is to provide county-level data to support substance abuse prevention planning and evaluation for the Arkansas Office of Alcohol and Drug Abuse Prevention (ADAP). This website was developed for the Arkansas Strategic Prevention Framework State Incentive Grant (AR SPF SIG) with funding provided by the Center for Substance Abuse Prevention, Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration. The AR SPF SIG, coordinated by ADAP and the Governorís Office, is designed to provide an effective and comprehensive system of substance abuse prevention services that are sustained, monitored, and evaluated. Data-driven policy and programmatic decisions are a critical component of the AR SPF SIG.

Data

This website presents school survey and archival data on the prevalence of:

• alcohol, tobacco, and illicit drug use among adolescents and adults;
• individual, peer, family, school, and community risk and protective factors for substance use; and
• public health outcomes associated with substance abuse.

Data describing youths are from the Arkansas Prevention Needs Assessment Survey (APNA) conducted annually by ADAP to assess the prevalence of substance use and risk and protective factors for public school students in grades 6, 8, 10, and 12. A total of 58,385 students participated in the 2005 APNA survey. Sixtyeight out of 75 counties participated, representing 169 school districts. For more information about APNA, please use the APNA link to the left.

Other data were provided by the Arkansas State Police, Highway Safety Office; Arkansas Department of Health and Human Service; Arkansas Department of Education; Arkansas Department of Finance and Administration, Alcohol Beverage Control; and the U.S. Census Bureau. Most of these data were reported in the Risk Factors for Adolescent Drug and Alcohol Abuse in Arkansas 2005 Report prepared by the Institute for Economic Advancement, Children's Research Center, University of Arkansas at Little Rock.

Methods

For the county level maps, the data were divided into quartiles, or 25% intervals, based on the prevalence or rate. Counties in the highest quartile (greatest risk) are colored dark blue. Counties in the lowest quartile (least risk) are colored yellow. Higher risk is indicated by darker shading, and lower risk is indicated by lighter shading. High versus low risk is also depicted by an arrow to the left of the legend. The quartiles provide a way to see which counties have the highest need for substance abuse prevention activities on various alcohol- and drug-related indicators. In addition, the state average is provided on all maps for comparison purposes. Information on the source of the data is provided in the lower, right hand corner of the map. For maps based on APNA data, counties that had no schools participate in APNA are marked as such. All data presented in the county- and region-level maps are unweighted. State maps were created using Arc GIS 9.1 software.

For the APNA data, the prevalence estimates reflect only students who participated in the survey and do not represent all of the students in the county. Sample sizes and sample characteristics vary by county and these differences may affect the reliability of the prevalence estimates. For other agency data, differences in reporting protocols or enforcement practices may affect the comparability of data.

Accessing the Data

Click on ìCounty-Level Mapsî to access information on the prevalence of substance use, risk and protective factors and public health outcomes for each county (that has data) in the State.

Click on ìCounty Data by Demographicsî to view tables and figures illustrating gender and racial/ethnic differences in underage alcohol use, age of initiation of alcohol use, and information on how Arkansas adolescents obtain alcohol and where they drink. Underage drinking indicators are illustrated here because they were selected as a high priority for prevention for the SPF SIG.

Acknowledgements

This web site was developed by RTI International in partnership with ADAP. Web hosting is provided by The Institute for Economic Advancement at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock College of Business.

Alcohol and Drug Abuse Prevention (ADAP)
Division of Behavioral Health Services
Department of Human Services