School-Level Correlates of Adolescent Tobacco,Alcohol, and Marijuana Use

Background: School-level characteristics are related to students’ substance use, but little research systematically examined multiple school characteristics in relation to different types of substance use across grade levels. Objectives: This study examines multiple school-level characteristics as correlates of students’ tobacco, alcohol, marijuana, and combined substance use across three grade levels. Methods: Students (N = 23,615) from 42 urban and suburban middle schools and 24 high schools in the U.S. reported on their tobacco, alcohol, and marijuana use. Students’ mean age was 14 years; 47% were male, 53% African American, and 41% Caucasian. School-level data included poverty, racial composition, academic achievement, student-teacher ratio, absenteeism, and school size. Multilevel logistic and Poisson regressions tested associations between school-level predictors and adolescent substance use in middle school, early high school, and late high school. Results: School-level poverty, more ethnic minority students, low achievement, and higher absenteeism were related to alcohol, marijuana, and combined substance use, particularly at lower grade levels. By contrast, cigarette smoking was more prevalent in more affluent high schools with more White students. After adjusting for other school characteristics, absenteeism emerged as the most consistent predictor of student substance use. Conclusions/Importance: Interventions addressing absenteeism and truancy in middle and high schools may help prevent student substance use. Schools serving poor, urban, and mostly minority students may benefit from interventions targeting alcohol and marijuana use, whereas interventions focusing on tobacco use prevention may be more relevant for schools serving more affluent and predominantly White students.     

Daily Reports of Positive and Negative Affect and Alcohol and Marijuana Use Among College Student and Nonstudent Young Adults

Background: Daily affect and substance use covary among college students, but little is known about these associations among young adults not in college. Objectives: The current pilot study examines associations between positive and negative affect and alcohol and marijuana use, with a focus on differences between college student and nonstudent young adults. Methods: High school seniors completed a baseline survey during the spring of 2012 and were then randomly selected to participate in an intensive measurement follow-up. Participants in the follow-up (N = 72, 40.3% men, 77.8% White, 66.7% full-time college students) completed up to 14 consecutive web-based daily surveys during the fall after high school completion. Multilevel models in which days (Level 1) were nested in persons (Level 2) were estimated. Results: Weekend days were associated with increased alcohol use among all young adults, increased marijuana use among college students, and decreased marijuana use among nonstudents. For young adults not in college, greater daily positive affect was associated with increased likelihood of binge drinking, consuming a greater number of drinks, and lower odds of marijuana use; greater daily negative affect was associated with lower odds of alcohol use and lower odds of binge drinking for non-students. For college students, greater daily negative affect was associated with lower odds of marijuana use. Conclusions/Importance: Daily affect and alcohol and marijuana use covary among young adults, though these associations differ between students and non-students. Results highlight the need to examine predictors of alcohol and marijuana use among young adults who do not attend college.     

The Role of Alcohol Expectancies in the Associations Between Close Friend,Typical College Student,and Personal Alcohol Use

Background Perceptions of peer drinking and alcohol expectancies have been consistently associated with alcohol use among college students. There is evidence that perceived peer drinking also shapes alcohol expectancies. Research has yet to address the potential differential impact of perceived drinking by close friends versus by typical college students on alcohol use among first-semester college students. Relatedly, mediation of these associations by specific domains of alcohol expectancies has yet to be examined. Objectives: The first aim of the present study was to investigate whether perceptions of close friend drinking were more strongly associated with alcohol expectancies, alcohol use, and consequences of alcohol use than perceptions of typical college student drinking. The second aim focused on which alcohol expectancy domains partially accounted for the association between close friend drinking, typical college student drinking, and alcohol use and consequences. Method: Participants (n = 400 first-semester college students) completed survey questionnaires, which included measures of perceived close friend/typical student alcohol use, alcohol expectancies, and drinking behaviors. Results: Results showed that close friend alcohol use was more strongly associated with alcohol use and consequences compared to typical college student use both directly and indirectly through expectancies about alcohol enhancing social behaviors. Conclusions/Importance: These findings suggest that first-semester college student drinking is more influenced by perceived alcohol use among close friends than typical college students. Future intervention efforts for alcohol use on college campuses may benefit from including close friend network components along with targeting alcohol expectancies regarding social behaviors.     

The Influence of Online-Only Friends on the Substance Use of Young Adults with a History of Childhood Maltreatment

Background: Existing research shows that having offline friends that use substances increases risk for individual substance use in adolescence. However, there is little research examining the influence of online social networks on substance use in young adulthood. Objectives: This study examined the number of online-only Facebook friends (i.e. those with no in-person contact) that were substance users in relation to the participants’ alcohol and marijuana use in the past year. Methods: The sample (n?=?114) were selected from participants enrolled in a longitudinal study on childhood maltreatment in an urban city within the United States. The mean age of the sample was 21.84 (SD = 1.43), 61% female. With participant permission, data were downloaded from Facebook to obtain the list of online friends. A self-report questionnaire recorded the substance use of each participant. Path analysis and logistic regression were used to examine (a) the number of online-only friends who drink as a predictor of participants’ problem drinking, (b) the number of online-only friends who smoke marijuana as a predictor of participants’ marijuana use, and (c) moderation by maltreatment status. Results: The results showed a significant effect of the number of online-only friends who smoke marijuana on the participant’s marijuana use. However, after including offline friends this significant effect was no longer present, but offline friends predicted individual marijuana use. Conclusions/Importance: These findings demonstrate that substance use in online social networks may be associated with individual use in young adulthood, but that offline influence is stronger.     

An Examination of Multiple Substance Use Between African American and Caucasian Female College Students

Abstract

This study examined the use of alcohol, tobacco, marijuana, and cocaine among 445 African American and Caucasian female college students. Using the Core Alcohol and Drug Survey, the authors explored: (1) the extent of substance use; and (2) whether or not African American female college students were more or less likely to engage in the use of these substances compared to their Caucasian counterparts. Results indicated that alcohol was the most frequently used substance, with more than 73% of the participants reporting alcohol use. The second most commonly used drug was tobacco followed by marijuana; however, only one-fourth of the participants reported using these substances. Cocaine was the least frequently used substance, with less than 2% of the participants reporting the use of this substance. Results also indicated that Caucasian female college students were more likely to engage in the use of alcohol and tobacco than are African American female college students.     

FACTORS ASSOCIATED WITH REGULAR MARIJUANA USE AMONG HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS: A LONG-TERM FOLLOW-UP STUDY

The present study investigated whether several behavioral and psychosocial factors measured during early adolescence predicted regular marijuana use 6 years later in a sample of high school students. As part of a school-based survey, 7th-grade students (N = 1132) reported levels of alcohol, tobacco, and marijuana use, and were assessed on several domains of psychosocial functioning potentially relevant in the etiology of marijuana use. When students were followed-up in the 12th- grade, 14% smoked marijuana on a regular basis (once or more per month). Findings indicated that early cigarette smoking, alcohol use, and alcohol intoxication predicted later regular marijuana use. For boys, early marijuana use increased the odds for later regular marijuana use. Cigarette smoking by friends and siblings during early adolescence also increased the likelihood of later monthly marijuana use. The findings suggest that early prevention programs for adolescent alcohol, tobacco, and/or other drug use may have important preventive effects in terms of potentially more serious levels of marijuana involvement later in adolescence and early adulthood.     

Alcohol and Cigarette Use Among Warsaw Adolescents: Factors Associated With Risk and Resilience

Background: Youth in Poland are at notable risk for substance use. Guided by resiliency theory, we examine if developmental risk and promotive factors are associated with substance abuse risk. Objectives: We examined the association between adolescent cigarette and alcohol use and related risk and promotive factors including maternal support, neighbors' informal social control, friends' acceptance of substance use, and alcohol and cigarette use by nonparental adults. Method: Data were collected from a random sample of 13- to 14-year-old students attending Warsaw middle schools (N = 3029). We used hierarchical regression models and examined compensatory and protective models of resilience, controlling for sociodemograhic factors. Results: Our results indicated that friends' acceptance of substance use and perceived drug use among nonparental adults was associated with increased risk cigarette and alcohol use among youth. We found that maternal support moderated the relationship between friends' acceptance of substance use and cigarette use (protective model of resilience). Thus, mother support buffered the negative effects of friends' acceptance of substance use on youths' cigarette use. Neighbor's informal social control and maternal support were associated with reduced risk of alcohol use (compensatory model of resilience). Conclusion: Collectively, results of the study support compensatory and protective models of resilience in a large representative sample of Warsaw adolescents.     

Drinking,Cigarette Smoking,and Employment Among American College Freshmen at a Four-Year University

Background: For American college students, alcohol and cigarette use are important health concerns, and employment concurrent with school attendance is on the rise. Given the lifelong importance of employment and substance use trajectories begun in college, parsing out the relationship between the two is meaningful. Objectives: This study's purpose is to determine whether employment during college is associated with substance use. Methods: Cross-sectional associations between employment (work hours, earnings) and substance use (drinking frequency, drinking quantity, smoking frequency) were estimated using partial proportional odds models in a sample of N = 1457 freshmen attending a large, public 4-year university in 2011, after accounting for demographics, personality, social environment, and parental influences. Results: Working 10 more hours and earning $50 more per week as a freshman had modest positive associations with higher smoking frequency and with moderate drinking frequency and quantity prior to adjustment. After adjustment, work hours remained modestly associated with moderate drinking frequency and quantity. No adjusted associations were found among employment measures and smoking or between weekly earnings and drinking frequency. Different relationships emerged for moderate versus heavy alcohol use frequency and quantity. Conclusions: Both employment and substance use are commonplace among college freshmen. After extensive controls for potential confounders, the relationship between the two appears modest. Employment may yet play a role in college student substance use, but work hours and earnings are likely only small parts of a larger web of influences on drinking and smoking.     

Components of the Prototype/Willingness Model as Concurrent and Prospective Predictors of Adolescents' Alcohol Consumption

ABSTRACT

The aim of this study was to assess the predictive value of vulnerability, subjective norms, prototypes and willingness on alcohol use concurrently (T1) and prospectively (two years later; T2) on 126 high school students. Alcohol consumption by friends and parents and willingness were concurrently positively related to alcohol use. Perception of vulnerability was a positive predictor only when parents' subjective norms were included in analysis. Considering alcohol consumption at T2, willingness, friends' alcohol consumption, and friends' reaction were significant predictors of drinking. While willingness has had a consistent contribution to drinking, parents' influence becomes weaker in comparison to the friends' as adolescents get older.     

Predictors of Marijuana Use and Uptake Among Teenagers in Sydney,Australia

Information on drug-related behaviors was obtained from a random sample of teenagers aged 14 to 19 years in Sydney, Australia, interviewed in their homes in 1985 (N = 996) and 1986 (N = 756). The 1985 prevalence of current marijuana use was 10%. The predictors of marijuana use were: male sex; heavier, more frequent alcohol use; use of drugs other than alcohol, tobacco, or marijuana; marijuana use by siblings, friends, and other acquaintances; attitudes and beliefs favoring drug use; the attitude that possession of marijuana should not be a criminal offense; and the attitude that marijuana is not an important drug issue. In the 756 reinterviewed respondents, prevalence of marijuana use rose from 7% in 1985 to 9% in 1986. The rate of uptake was 6% and peaked at 12% at age 17. The predictors of uptake were: age; male sex; heavier, more frequent alcohol use; tobacco smoking; attitudes and beliefs favoring drag use; and the attitude that marijuana smoking should be legal. Strategies to prevent marijuana use need to take into account the strong association between heavy drinking and marijuana use, the influence of drug users in the social network, and attitudes and beliefs about drugs.     

Relationships between early alcohol experiences,drinker self-schema,and drinking and smoking in college students

Background: Drinking and smoking commonly co-occur in undergraduate students. Although an identity as a drinker is a known predictor of alcohol use and alcohol problems, and early evidence suggests that it also predicts smoking, the role of these behaviors in the development of an identity as a drinker is unknown. In this study, the authors conceptualized a drinker identity as an enduring memory structure referred to as a self-schema and conducted a preliminary investigation of the relationships between early drinking experiences, drinker self-schema, and alcohol and tobacco use in undergraduate students. Methods: Three-hundred thirty undergraduates who reported current alcohol and tobacco use were recruited for an online survey study. Frequency of alcohol and tobacco use in the past 30 days, drinker self-schema, and early experiences with alcohol were measured. Results: Structural equation modeling showed that parental alcohol problems were associated with early onset of drinking. Early onset of drinking and high school friends' drinking were associated with more alcohol use and alcohol-related problems in high school. Alcohol problems during high school were associated with high drinker self-schema scores, which were associated with high frequency of alcohol and tobacco use during college. The indirect effects through the drinker self-schema were significant. Conclusions: Although cross-sectional, this preliminary examination supports theoretical predictions that early alcohol experiences may contribute to development of the drinker self-schema, which, as expected, was positively associated with alcohol and tobacco use in college. Longitudinal studies that track the unfolding of drinking behavior and the contextual factors that are associated with it in the development of the drinker self-schema are essential to confirming the theoretical model. If supported, implications for intervention at different developmental stages to prevent early onset of drinking, limit adolescent alcohol use, and modify the development of a drinker self-schema may mitigate undergraduate drinking and smoking.     

Compulsive Eating and Substance Abuse Factors Among African-American Community College Students

Abstract

This study examines die associations between compulsive eating and selected substance abuse factors. Respondents were incoming African-American community college students (N = 374). Instruments completed by the respondents consisted of the Compulsive Eating Scale, the Core Alcohol and Drug Survey, and Satisfaction With Life Scale. No strong associations were found between compulsive eating, satisfaction with life, and the substance abuse factors examined, including reported family history of substance abuse. However, strong positive associations were found between the age of first use and the frequency of use within the last year of tobacco, alcohol, marijuana, and cocaine.     

Low rates of alcohol and tobacco use,strong cultural ties for Native American college students in the Southwest

IntroductionCollege attendance is associated with an increased risk for substance use yet we know little about substance use among Native American college students and its regional variation. This study examined alcohol, tobacco, and drug use and their relation to gender, institution, age, and cultural involvement among Native American college students in the Southwest.MethodsNative American community college and university students in a large Southwest city (N = 347) completed an online survey about past-month and lifetime substance use and involvement in cultural activities.ResultsCultural involvement was related to less past-month substance use. In the past month, 43% drank alcohol, 27% binge drank, 20% used drugs, and 13% were current smokers. Males, community college students, and older individuals were more likely to have a positive CAGE-AID and have used drugs more than 100 times. Younger individuals were more likely to use marijuana in the past month.ConclusionsThese findings highlight cultural strengths and comparatively low rates of tobacco and alcohol use among Native American college students in the Southwest.     

Simultaneous Use of Alcohol and Marijuana: Patterns and Individual Differences

Background: Simultaneous alcohol and marijuana (SAM) use, or using alcohol and marijuana in such a way that their effects overlap, is associated with negative health and behavioral outcomes. Objectives: Our study sought to fill gaps in our knowledge on this emerging public health concern by comparing SAM users and alcohol-only users on individual-level factors and substance use outcomes as well as examining associations of SAM use frequency, within users. Methods: Participants were recruited through online postings. Our analytic sample consisted of 1017 young adults (18–25?years) who reported past-month alcohol use. Most were male (67.8%), Caucasian (71.5%), and had attended at least some college (74.8%). Results: Past-year SAM users reported higher levels of sensation seeking and greater perceptions of their close friends’ drinking behavior in comparison to alcohol-only users. SAM users reported heavier and more frequent alcohol use than alcohol-only users. Within past-year SAM users, 70% reported SAM use at least weekly. More frequent SAM use was associated with all alcohol use outcomes (e.g., weekly quantity, frequency, alcohol-related problems) and marijuana use outcomes (e.g., quantity, frequency, peak use) and higher drinking norms. Conclusions/Importance: It is clear that SAM users are a vulnerable sub-population of young adult drinkers. SAM users are differentiated from alcohol-only users in terms of their personality characteristics and perceptions of peer groups’ drinking. SAM users and more frequent users are also at heightened risk for substance use outcomes. Prevention and intervention efforts targeting high-risk drinking may benefit from also assessing whether they simultaneously use alcohol and marijuana.     

Self-control and jail inmates' substance misuse post-release: mediation by friends' substance use and moderation by age

Objective

This study examined the relationship between two risk factors for substance misuse (self-control, substance using friends) and changes in jail inmates' substance misuse from pre-incarceration to post-release.

Method

Participants were 485 adult jail inmates held on a felony conviction, recruited from a metropolitan county-jail situated in the mid-Atlantic region of the U.S. During incarceration, participants completed self-report assessments of pre-incarceration substance misuse and self-control. At one-year post-release, participants reported their substance misuse and proportion of substance-using friends (n = 322 at follow-up).

Results

The relationship between self-control and changes in inmates' substance misuse was fully mediated by association with substance-using friends. Age moderated the relationship between friends' substance use and changes in inmates' own misuse of marijuana and cocaine. Friends' use was more strongly related to marijuana misuse for younger adults than for older adults. However, for cocaine misuse, this relationship was stronger for older adults than for younger adults. Self-control's relationships with other variables were not moderated by age.

Conclusions

This study underscores importance of self-control's indirect relationship (through substance-using friends) with changes in substance misuse: inmates with lower self-control were more likely to associate with substance-using friends and, in turn, had more symptoms of substance misuse 1-year post release. Results emphasize the importance of considering adult substance-users' friend-relationships. However, age and type of substance appear important when considering the relative importance of friends' influence.     

Deterrence's Element of Sanction Certainty: Friendships,Vicarious Experiences,and Underage Alcohol Use

Background: Underage drinking remains a pressing issue on college campuses across the United States. Though the most common form of addressing underage alcohol use on campuses is through deterrence-based policies, evidence suggests deterrence-based methods are ineffective and may produce negative outcomes. Objectives: Using dyadic data, the objective of this study is to use a friendship-informed perspective on deterrence theory to examine how an individual's and his/her friend's perceptions of sanction certainty relate to self-reported underage alcohol use. Results: Using multilevel mixed models which fall under the actor-partner interdependence modeling class, results demonstrate that respondents who perceive high levels of sanction certainty drink and heavily use alcohol more frequently than those who perceive low levels of sanction certainty. Additionally, those who have friends who perceive high levels of sanction certainty tend to drink at young ages significantly more frequently and in more dangerous patterns than those who have friends who perceive a low sanction certainty. The dyad members' levels of sanction certainty do not interact in relation to alcohol use. Conclusions: The significant relationships of the friends' sanction certainty support the notion of friendship-based deterrence. However, the consistent positive direction of all sanction certainty measures is the opposite of what deterrence theory hypothesizes. As such, it appears that deterrence is not only ineffective at stopping underage alcohol use on college campuses, but may be harmful due to increased rates of both drinking and high-risk drinking.     

Perceptions of alcohol use by friends compared to peers: Associations with middle adolescents' own use

ABSTRACT

Background: In this study, the authors (a) distinguished between adolescents' perceptions of their peers' and friends' alcohol use to examine the unique associations these perceptions have on adolescents' own alcohol use and (b) tested if the ability to resist peer influence moderated those associations. Methods: Data were from the Study of Early Child Care and Youth Development (N = 876, all aged 15). Adolescents reported (a) perceptions of alcohol use by their peers, (b) perceptions of alcohol use by their friends, (c) their own alcohol use in the last year, and (d) a measure of their ability to resist peer influence. Data were analyzed with hierarchical logistic regression (HLR), controlling for demographic variables and parental knowledge. Results: Three HLR models were computed: 1 for the full sample, 1 for only males, and 1 for only females. In all models, perceptions of alcohol use by friends (odds ratios [ORs]: OR_Full = 10.17, OR_Female = 15.51, OR_Male = 7.25) were associated with a greater likelihood of adolescents using alcohol themselves. Perceptions of alcohol use by peers (OR_Full = 1.13, OR_Female = 1.11, OR_Male = 1.14) were not significantly associated with adolescents' own alcohol use. The ability to resist peer influence did not moderate any of those associations. Conclusions: It appears that when adolescents perceive more of their friends, but not their peers, consume alcohol, they themselves are at greater risk for alcohol use, and those associations do not depend upon their ability to resist peer influence.     

Are Dimensions of Parenting Differentially Linked to Substance Use Across Caucasian and Asian American College Students?

Background: Parental warmth and autonomy granting are commonly thought of as protective factors against substance use among Caucasians. However, limited research has examined whether associations between parenting dimensions and substance use outcomes are the same or different among Asian Americans. Method: A final analytic sample of 839 college students was used to test whether race (Caucasian vs. Asian American) moderated the relations between parenting dimensions and substance use outcomes across Caucasians and Asian Americans. We utilized the Parental Bonding Instrument (Parker, Tupling, & Brown, 1979) to measure maternal and paternal warmth, encouragement of behavioral freedom, and denial of psychological autonomy. Results: Multivariate regression models controlling for covariates including age, gender, and paternal education indicated four significant parenting by race interactions on alcohol problems and/or marijuana use. Specifically, maternal warmth was inversely associated with both alcohol problems and marijuana use among Caucasians but not among Asian Americans. Both maternal and paternal denial of psychological autonomy were positively associated with alcohol problems among Caucasians but not among Asian Americans. Conclusions: Consistent with emerging cross-cultural research, the associations between parenting dimensions and substance use behaviors observed in Caucasian populations may not be readily generalized to Asian Americans. These findings highlight the importance of considering different parenting dimensions in understanding substance use etiology among Asian Americans. Future research should use longitudinal data to replicate these findings across development and seek to identify other parenting dimensions that may be more relevant for Asian American youth.     

Differential Involvement with Marijuana and Its Sociocultural Context: A Study of Suburban Youths

The relationship between (1) the respondent's perception of the drug behavior of his father, mother, siblings, current friends, and wife/female partner; and (2) past drug use and future drug use intentions for tobacco, alcohol, marijuana, psychedelics, stimulants, sedatives, heroin, other opiates, and cocaine is examined among a representative sample of men in the U.S. population who were 20-30 years old in 1974 (N= 2,510). For each drug the results indicated that current friends’ and wife/partner's drug behaviors are the factors most strongly associated with the respondent's past drug use as well as his intentions of future drug use. Although substantially less important, siblings’ drug behavior also appears to be a source of influence, while the drug behavior of mothers and fathers is only minimally associated with drug use and future intentions.