Young Urban Adolescents' Activity Spaces,Close Peers,and the Risk of Cannabis Use: A Social–Spatial Longitudinal Analysis

Background: An understudied, yet important area of youth development research is the examination of how place affects critical psychosocial processes such as identity formation, problem solving, emotional regulation, and in particular with adolescents, belongingness, autonomy, social competency, and behavioral health. A growing spatially informed literature indicates that youth interact with meaningful places as environmental strategies, shaping developmental trajectories related to behavioral health. Objectives: The objective is to investigate the relationship between place preference and health behavior among adolescents, with a focus on substance use behavior, specifically, cannabis use. We theorize that cannabis use is associated with place preference for urban, city types of places, and that this particular place preference interacts with close peer network behaviors. Methods: To understand the role of preferred locations, close peer relations, and mental health on cannabis use, 248 adolescents (ages 13 to 14) were studied longitudinally. Logistic regression models tested the moderating effects of peer network health (sum of close friends risk and protective behaviors) on selecting city locations (urban stress/neighborhoods) as preferred places, and subsequent cannabis use. Results: Results indicated that peer network health moderated the effects of choosing city locations as favorite, increasing the odds of cannabis use more than eight-fold at 24 months. Conclusions: Favorite places located in city environments appear to interact with peer risk behaviors influencing the cannabis use of young urban adolescents, even after controlling for the influence of baseline cannabis use, neighborhood disorder the home neighborhood, age, gender, and mental health effects.     

Comparison of Various Risk and Protective Factors for Substance Use/Abuse in a Court-Adjudicated Male Population

ABSTRACT

A sample of 350 court-adjudicated adolescent males, labeled as “delinquent,” and referred to a residential treatment center and school, were comprehensively assessed at the time of admission into a prevention/early intervention program for substance use/abuse.

A factor analysis of 20 social behavior/peer relationship variables that had been found significantly related to a summary index measure of substance use/abuse, yielded two factors that neatly separated the risk factors from the protective factors.

Cross-sectional analyses showed the social behavior/peer relationship risk variables to be more strongly related to the degree of substance use/abuse than were the family problem risk variables, accounting for 36% of the variance compared to 12% of the variance, in the degree of substance use/abuse.

In the analyses for predicting to degree of substance use/abuse one year later, at follow-up assessment, in which the family problem risk variables were entered as controls, the fact that the subject's father had a substance abuse problem accounted for 6.2% of the variance in the subject's degree of substance use/abuse; and the factor score for deviant and delinquent social behavior and peer relationships did not account for any additional variance in the later degree of substance use/abuse. On the other hand, the factor score for conforming socially acceptable behavior was found to still account for 8.1% of additional variance in later substance use/abuse, after the initial 6.2% of variance had been accounted for by the fact that the father had a drug problem. Thus, the degree of protective factors (conforming social behavior and conventional bonding) were found to be more powerful than degree of the social behavior risk factors for predicting to either or both of the following: (1) which court-adjudicated male adolescent will improve more with treatment; or (2) which of such adolescents will not develop a more serious substance abuse problem, during a one-year period.     

The Role of Individual and Contextual Factors in Differentiating Substance Use Profiles among Adolescents

Background: Adolescent substance use is a significant public health concern due to its prevalence and associated negative consequences. Although many adolescents use substances, there is substantial heterogeneity in their use patterns. Identifying risk and protective factors that differentiate adolescents with different substance use profiles is important for preventing negative consequences for those at risk. Objective: This study identified distinct latent profiles of substance use by considering adolescents' involvement in multiple common and illicit substances as well as related problems and examined the extent to which individual and contextual factors in the family, peer, school, and neighborhood environments were related to adolescents' membership of substance use profiles. Method: Data came from 9,155 high school students (51% female; 74% European American) who completed electronic surveys in the 2009 Dane County Youth Assessment (DCYA). Latent class analysis (LCA) was conducted to identify profiles of adolescent substance involvement and related problems. Multinomial logistic regression was conducted to examine associations between individual and contextual factors and latent class membership. Results: LCA identified four distinct profiles of adolescent substance use characterized by both licit and illicit substance use and related problems: Abstainers (56.3%), Alcohol-only users (25.6%), Alcohol-cigarette-marijuana users (13.8%), and Problem polysubstance users (4.3%). Controlling for demographics, individual and contextual factors were associated with adolescents' likelihoods of membership in substance use profiles; notably, the associations varied to some extent across substance use profiles. Conclusions: Substance use is heterogeneous among adolescents. Effects of risk and protective factors on substance use vary depending on adolescents' substance use patterns.     

School Factors and Alcohol Use: The Moderating Effect of Nativity in a National Sample of Latino Adolescents

Background: School is an important developmental context for adolescents and may be related to adolescent alcohol use. Less is known as to whether the relationships between school factors and alcohol use differ between Latino youth born outside of the United States versus those born in the United States. Objective: The aim of this study is to test nativity as a moderator of the relationship between school factors and alcohol use among Latino adolescents. Methods: This study used data from Waves I and II of the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health (Add Health) to test nativity as a moderator of the relationship between school factors and alcohol use in a subsample of Latino adolescents. Results: Results found that during adolescence, nativity moderates the relationship between school connectedness and Wave I alcohol use. For those born outside of the United States, school connectedness was not related to alcohol use. Significant main effects emerged for grades in school and truancy. Better grades were associated with less alcohol use, while truancy was associated with greater alcohol use. The longitudinal relationships between school factors and Wave II alcohol use were not statistically significant. Conclusions: School connectedness is a contemporaneous risk factor for alcohol use among those born in the United States. Prevention efforts that address school contextual factors may be important for all Latino students to reduce engagement in alcohol use and optimize well-being.     

Binge Drinking in African American Males From Adolescence to Young Adulthood: The Protective Influence of Religiosity,Family Connectedness,and Close Friends’ Substance Use

We examined the contribution of culturally relevant protective factors (i.e., adolescent religiosity, family connectedness, and perceived close friends’ substance use) to the probability of young adult binge drinking among African American males. Participants (n = 1,599) drawn from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health were high school age adolescents (14–18 years, M = 16) at Wave 1 and young adults (18–26, M = 22) at Wave 3. Adolescent binge drinking was associated with all three protective factors. Perceived close friends’ substance use in adolescence was a protective factor in later binge drinking during young adulthood, and was moderated by age such that the effect was stronger for younger adolescents. Implications for culturally relevant research and prevention are discussed.     

Impact of social influences and problem behavior on alcohol use among inner-city Hispanic and black adolescents.

OBJECTIVE: Inner-city black and Hispanic adolescents might be at great risk for alcohol use. Yet the etiology of drinking among these adolescents receives little attention. The purpose of this study was to examine the impact of social influences and problem behavior on alcohol use among Hispanic and black adolescents. The impact of these factors was also tested separately for girls and boys to determine the differences in etiology of alcohol use depending on gender. METHOD: A large sample of black and Hispanic seventh-grade students (N = 4,847, 52% female) self-reported alcohol use, demographic characteristics (gender, family structure, age, ethnicity and socioeconomic status), social influences to drink (peer norms, adult norms, their friends' use, their mother's use, their father's use, their siblings' use, and perceived availability of alcohol), and problem behaviors (cigarette smoking, marijuana use, getting into trouble). Teams of three to five data collectors administered the questionnaire following standardized protocol. These data were collected in class during a regular 40-minute period. RESULTS: Logistic regressions indicated that social influences to drink from friends, peers, and family and problem behaviors including cigarette smoking and marijuana use were related to alcohol use across and within gender. Getting into trouble predicted drinking for boys but not girls. CONCLUSIONS: Based on these findings, adolescent alcohol prevention programs need to include an awareness of the many social influences to drink, modify incorrectly perceived peer norms for drinking, involve family members in the prevention program and address an array of problem behaviors within one prevention intervention.     

Very young adolescents and alcohol: evidence of a unique susceptibility to peer alcohol use

Aim

The aim of this study is to examine the susceptibility of very young adolescents (10–12 years of age) to peer alcohol-related influences, compared to older adolescents (13–14 years of age).

Methods

The analysis sample consisted of 7064 adolescents in grade 6 (modal age 11) or grade 8 (modal age 13) from 231 schools in 30 communities across three Australian States. Key measures were adolescent reports of alcohol use (past 30 days) and the number of peers who consume alcohol without their parent's awareness. Control variables included parent alcohol use, family relationship quality, pubertal advancement, school connectedness, sensation seeking, depression, length of time in high school, as well as age, gender, father/mother education, and language spoken at home. A multi-level model of alcohol use was used to account for school-level clustering on the dependent variable.

Results

For both groups, the number of peers who consumed alcohol was associated with alcohol use, but Grade 6 students showed a unique susceptibility to peripheral involvement with peer drinking networks (having one friend who consumed alcohol).

Conclusion

The results point to the importance of monitoring and responding to comparatively minor shifts in the proportion of peers who use alcohol, particularly among very young adolescents.     

Adolescent Social Networks and Alcohol Use: Variability by Gender and Type

Background: Scientists have established that social networks influence adolescents' substance use behavior, an influence that varies by gender. However, the role of gender in this mechanism of influence remains poorly understood. Particularly, the role an adolescent's gender, alongside the gender composition of his/her network, plays in facilitating or constraining alcohol use is still unclear. Objectives: This study examined the associations among the gender composition of adolescents' networks, select network characteristics, intrapersonal and interpersonal factors, and alcohol use among a sample of adolescents in the United States. Methods: We assessed cross-sectional data from a 2010 study of 1,523 high school students from a school district in Los Angeles. Analyses of adolescents' network characteristics were conducted using UCINET 6; and logistic regression analyses testing the associations between gender composition of the network and alcohol use were conducted using SPSS 20. Results: Our results indicate that the gender composition of adolescents' networks in our sample is associated with alcohol use. Adolescents in predominantly female or predominantly male friendship networks were less likely to report alcohol use compared to adolescents in an equal/balanced network. In addition, depending upon the context/type of network, intrapersonal and interpersonal factors varied in their association with alcohol use. Conclusions/Importance: Based on these findings, we make several recommendations for the future research. We call for researchers to further examine gender as a risk factor for alcohol abuse, particularly within the complex interplay between gender and network contexts.     

Exploring the Positive Impact of Peers on Adolescent Substance Misuse

ABSTRACT

Background: Previous research has consistently shown the negative impact that peers can have on adolescent substance use patterns. Few studies have examined the positive influence adolescents can have on their peers. This study aimed to examine the relationship of positive peer influence with indices of substance use and also to compare abstinent adolescents and substance-using adolescents on positive peer influence. Method: One hundred fifty-four adolescents (age range 12–20 years) completed a questionnaire on positive peer influence and other correlates of adolescent substance use including mental health, family functioning, and social support. Results: Positive peer influence was a significant predictor of lower substance use behaviors in adolescents, with positive influence from close friends being the strongest predictor. Substance-using adolescents' scores were significantly different from abstinent adolescents' scores for positive peer support, mental health functioning, impulsivity, and social support. Conclusions: These results indicate that positive influence from adolescents' peers may act as a protective factor in substance use. This influence should be utilized to aid the design of prevention and intervention initiatives in adolescent substance use.     

Smoking in European adolescents: Relation between media influences,family affluence,and migration background

Seeing smoking depictions in movies has been identified as a determinant of smoking in adolescents. Little is known about how such media influences interact with other social risk factors. Differences in smoking rates in different socio-economic status groups might be explainable by differences in media exposure. There might also be differences in the average response to movie smoking exposure. We tested this hypothesis within a cross-national study conducted in six European countries. A total of 16,551 pupils from Germany, Iceland, Italy, Netherlands, Poland, and Scotland with a mean age of 13.4 years (SD = 1.18) were recruited from 114 state funded schools. Using previously validated methods, exposure to smoking depictions in movies was estimated for each student and related to ever smoking. The analysis was stratified by level of family affluence (low, medium, high) and migration history of parents (yes vs. no), controlling for a number of covariates like age, gender, school performance, television screen time, sensation seeking and rebelliousness and smoking within the social environment (peers, parents, siblings). We found a significant association for each category of family affluence and ethnicity between ever smoking and movie smoking exposure, also significant adjusted odds ratios for age, school performance, sensation seeking, peer smoking, mother smoking, and sibling smoking. This relationship between movie smoking and adolescent smoking was not moderated by family affluence or ethnicity. Although we used a very broad measure of economic status and migration history, the results suggest that the effects of exposure to movie smoking can be generalized to the population of youths across European countries.     

Substance Use Among Adolescents of Parents Living With HIV in New York City

We examined the relationship of community, interpersonal, and personal risk and protective factors to substance use among adolescents of parents with HIV (PWH). Families with HIV (n = 269 PWH and 409 adolescents) from New York City were recruited, and multivariate models were used to examine the associations. Adjusting for age, gender, and ethnicity, substance use was positively associated in univariate analyses with parental substance use, family conflict, adolescent emotional distress, and adverse life events; having academically oriented friends and religiosity were protective. In the multivariate model, multiple problem behaviors (e.g., delinquency) and substance-using peers were significantly associated with substance use. The patterns of associations between the risk factors and substance use are similar to those of adolescents in families not impacted by HIV. Interventions aimed at improving parental care, reducing maladaptive peer networks, and decreasing problem behaviors are important strategies to explore in future prevention studies.     

Social influence,health variables and criminal behaviours associated with substance use among rural Norwegian adolescents

Aims: To investigate social influence, health, criminality and substance use in a sample of 1288 Norwegian rural adolescents. Relations between these factors and substance use were examined.

Methods: Data were obtained from the ‘UngData’ study. A cross-sectional questionnaire survey was conducted among adolescents (n?=?740) in nine secondary schools and among 548 adolescents in three high schools across two counties. The response rate was 63%.

Findings: Deviant behaviours had higher social status among males and adolescents in high school. The social status of deviant behaviours and participation in criminal activities were associated with alcohol and illicit substance use. Parent–adolescent trust was positively associated with alcohol use and parent involvement with friends was similarly related to illicit substance use. The social status of physical appearance and talent in sports were negatively associated with alcohol use.

Conclusions: Early intervention could promote the social status of healthy activities and reduce the status of deviant behaviours. The transition between secondary school and high school may constitute a risk period for establishing problem behaviours and interventions should target this period. Research should test whether substance availability relates to differences in substance use in rural and urban settlements.     

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.     

Perceived parental monitoring and adolescent internet addiction: A moderated mediation model

Bronfenbrenner's (1979) ecological model focuses on the interrelation between different contexts and the interaction between individuals and their proximal contexts. Based on this theory, the present study tested a moderated mediation model of family, peer, and individual characteristics to investigate how they impact adolescent Internet addiction. Specifically, we examined whether deviant peer affiliation partially mediated the relation between perceived parental monitoring and adolescent Internet addiction, and whether this indirect relation was moderated by effortful control. A total of 747 Chinese middle school students filled out anonymous questionnaires concerning perceived parental monitoring, deviant peer affiliation, effortful control, and Internet addiction. The findings indicated that while the impact of parental monitoring on Internet addiction was partially mediated by deviant peer affiliation, effortful control moderated the first stage of the indirect relationship. For low effortful control adolescents, perceived parental monitoring negatively predicted deviant peer affiliation. Conversely, the indirect path was not significant for high effortful control adolescents. These findings highlight the need to consider family, peer and individual factors simultaneously when evaluating risks associated with adolescent Internet addiction and have important implications for the prevention and intervention of adolescent Internet addiction.     

Drug Use in Soldiers: Family and Peer Contextual Associations

Background: Given the stressful nature of military life, people in the armed forces are vulnerable to substance use. Objectives: The aim of this study was to explore the relationship between family and peers with drug use among military forces in Iran. Methods: Convenience sampling was used to recruit a total of 422 draftees doing military service in army units in Tehran, Iran. Measures of family and peers' risk and protective factors, alcohol use, and other drug use were administered. Results: Findings indicated significant relationships between family (i.e., family models for risk behavior, parent sanctions, and family controls) and peers (i.e., peer modeling for risk behavior, peer controls, support from friends) with drug use. A multiple regression analysis revealed that peer modeling for risk behavior, family models for risk behavior, and parent sanctions were significant predictors of drug use in soldiers. Conclusions: These results were consistent with the influence of family and peer on drug use amongst soldiers. Programs designed to reduce alcohol and other drug use may benefit from tailoring to fit risk and protective files amongst peer and family networks.     

Behavioral and social correlates of methamphetamine use in a population-based sample of early and later adolescents

This paper reports relationships between methamphetamine use and behaviors and social influences using data from a population-based survey of 8th- and 11th-grade students in Oregon for the 2001–2003 school years. We analyze methamphetamine use within a general problem behavior framework to identify malleable correlates of behavior for future prevention interventions. We specifically test two models of methamphetamine use employing logistic regression analysis: one comprised of behaviors and traits of the individual students and another focusing on peer and parental influences. This study finds adolescent methamphetamine use related to several problem behaviors. However, the specific problems vary by grade and are moderated by gender. Findings indicate the need for tailored interventions targeting gender/grade-specific behaviors or problems such as antisocial activities, risky sex, and depression, as well as social influences such as peers engaging in antisocial behaviors or using drugs and parents favoring drug use or poorly monitoring or setting limits for their children.     

Same-Sex Friendship,School Gender Composition,and Substance Use: A Social Network Study of 50 European Schools

Background: Other-sex friendship (girls with boy friends, boys with girl friends) has been associated with substance use, but how the gender composition of schools influences substance use has not been known. Objectives: We analyzed the influence of other-sex friendship on substance use and took into account the proportion of each gender group at the schools, and hypothesized that other-sex friendship is associated with higher levels of substance use and that schools with a majority of males have higher levels of use than female-majority schools. Methods: In 2013, a social network survey was carried out in six European cities. In each city, schools were selected and 11,015 adolescents (aged 14-16) were recruited (participation rate = 79.4%). We collected data on smoking, binge drinking, cannabis use, and peer group composition. Results: Other-sex friendship was associated with smoking, binge drinking, and cannabis use for girls and with smoking for boys. Substance use was more frequent in schools with a majority of males. Conclusions/Importance: Adolescent girls are best protected from substance use if they are in gender-balanced schools, but in same-sex friendship. This offers new perspectives on gender mixing at school. In schools with a majority of boys, more attention should be paid to girls, and gender-specific health promotion programs should be implemented. This European study is the first to take into account both individual (other-sex friendship) and contextual (gender composition of schools) gender interactions. It confirms previous studies on other-sex friendship, while shedding light on the influence of gender-normative contexts on substance use.     

Perceived Peer Behavior and Parental Support as Correlates of Marijuana Use: The Role of Age and Gender

Introduction: Parental support and perceptions of peer behavior on substance use are well-studied, but precisely how their associations vary as a function of age, and how those age-specific patterns vary by gender, remain unknown components of the developmental process underlying substance use. Methods: Using data from an 18-year longitudinal study of predominantly African-American students at high-risk for high school dropout in Flint, Michigan (baseline average age = 14.8 years), we examined longitudinal associations between past 30-day marijuana use and three self-reported variables: perceived friend drug use, perceived friend aggression, parental support. We used varying-coefficient regression models to semiparametrically estimate how covariate effects on past 30-day marijuana use vary smoothly as a function of age; gender differences in these age-specific coefficient trajectories were also tested. Results: In the unadjusted tests, the risk-enhancing effect of perceived friend drug use decreased with age in both genders, but the effect of perceived friend aggression varied only in females; in both cases, gender differences were not significant. In males, parental support had protective effects that decreased with age. The effect of both parental support differed in females, with less protective baseline effects and no evidence of age-variation. Adjusted models simultaneously including both friend and parental variables produced qualitatively similar results. Conclusions: Prevention strategies focusing on social exposures may be more effective if they are age- and gender-specific. In particular, interventions focusing on perceived peer behaviors may be more appropriate during adolescence, and those involving parental relationships may be more appropriate for males.     

Alcohol Use Severity Among Adult Hispanic Immigrants: Examining the Roles of Family Cohesion,Social Support,and Gender

Background: This study examined (a) the direct association of family cohesion on alcohol use severity among adult Hispanic immigrants; (b) the indirect association of family cohesion on alcohol use severity via social support; and (c) if gender moderates the direct and indirect associations between family cohesion and alcohol use severity. Method: Mediation and moderation analyses were conducted on a cross-sectional sample of 411 (men = 222, women = 189) participants from Miami-Dade, Florida. Results: Findings indicate that higher family cohesion was directly associated with higher social support and lower alcohol use severity. Higher social support was also directly associated with lower alcohol use severity. Additionally, family cohesion had an indirect association with alcohol use severity via social support. Moderation analyses indicated that gender moderated the direct association between family cohesion and alcohol use severity, but did not moderate the indirect association. Conclusions: Some potential clinical implications may be that strengthening family cohesion may enhance levels of social support, and in turn, lower alcohol use severity among adult Hispanic immigrants. Furthermore, strengthening family cohesion may be especially beneficial to men in efforts to lower levels of alcohol use severity.