The Role of Parenting in Drug Use Among Black,Latino and White Adolescents

Abstract

This study investigates the role of parenting in adolescent drug use for black, white and Latino adolescents. Parenting has been consistently identified as a crucial factor in drug use by adolescents. This study uses data from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health. Results show that parenting has a significant effect on drug use for these adolescents. The relationship between parenting and drug use is more strongly negative for the Latino adolescents, than for black and white adolescents. This indicates that greater parental warmth and family acceptance exert a stronger impact in reducing drug use for Latino adolescents than is the case for the black and white adolescents.