What are the risk factors for inhalant misuse?
A number of risk factors for inhalant use and misuse have been identified in the international literature (Box 3). Socioeconomic disadvantage has consistently been implicated as an important risk factor,10 particularly in Indigenous communities, where isolation (both geographical and social), poverty and unemployment are more likely to be predictive of inhalant use than cultural issues.14 Inhalant misuse is frequently associated with severe family dysfunction. Young people who use inhalants typically come from separated or divorced families,11 with high levels of family conflict and a lack of family support and cohesiveness.12 Among non-Indigenous young people who use inhalants, there is often a history of physical or sexual abuse,13 and parental substance misuse and criminality appear to be additional risk factors.12 It is therefore not surprising that inhalant misuse is disproportionately higher among children and adolescents “in care”, or among those involved in the juvenile justice
