Attitudes of Whitehorse Canada Grade 12 Students towards Harm Reduction as An Intervention Strategy for Crack/Heroin Dependency

Abstract

This study investigated the association between the psychological variables of conservatism, religiosity, sensation seeking, and health locus of control (HLOC) with Whitehorse Grade 12 students’ attitudes toward harm reduction as an intervention. A total of 138 high school students in Whitehorse Yukon, Canada voluntarily filled out a questionnaire designed to meet the objectives of the study. GLM multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA) showed that female participants reported higher levels of conservatism and religiosity than their male counterparts. Multiple regression analysis was conducted to test the impact of the psychological variables of conservatism, religiosity, sensation seeking, and HLOC on attitudes toward harm reduction as an intervention. The results indicated that only the variable of powerful others HLOC was significantly and negatively associated with the participants’ attitude toward harm reduction as an intervention. The findings were discussed in terms of the role that external HLOC, in particular, the belief that one’s life is controlled by powerful others, may play in the overall level of support for harm reduction as an intervention strategy for drug addiction.