The purpose of this study was to examine the prevalence, patterns, and predictors of
nitrite inhalant use in antisocial adolescents. Face-to-face interviews were conducted with 723 Missouri youth (M age = 15.5, SD = 1.2) in residential care for
antisocial behavior. The lifetime prevalence of
nitrite inhalant use was 1.7% (1.3% for boys; 4.3% for girls, p = .06), a figure somewhat higher than comparable estimates from the MTF and NSDUH national surveys. Most lifetime users reported
nitrite use in the prior year (92%) and experienced intoxication (83%) during periods of
nitrite inhalation.
Nitrite users had significantly higher scores on measures of somatization, obsessive-compulsive traits, interpersonal sensitivity, impulsivity, fearlessness, suicidality, and polydrug use and were significantly more likely to have suffered a serious
head injury and to be White than their non-
nitrite-using counterparts.
Nitrite users also reported significantly higher levels of current psychiatric distress related to periods of faintness or
dizziness, hot or cold spells, difficulty making decisions, and their "mind going blank" than did non-
nitrite users. Antisocial adolescent
nitrite users are at substantially elevated risk for serious functional impairments given their high rates of lifetime
head injury, comparatively more varied and intensive levels of involvement with
psychoactive drugs, and symptom reports suggestive of psychiatric and
cognitive dysfunction.