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Background: Psychoactive substance use is a transient behavior among many adolescents and diminishes as they mature, but some engage in heavy forms of substance use, which increases their risk of health and behavioral challenges. A consistent predictor of substance use among youth is family structure, with adolescents living in single-parent, stepparent, or no-parent families at higher risk than others of several forms of substance use. The objective of this research was to investigate whether unstructured socializing mediated the association between family structure and heavy alcohol or substance use., Methods: Data from 30 nations ( n = 65,737) were used to test the hypothesis using a generalized structural equation model and tests of mediation., Results: The analysis furnished clear support for a mediation effect among adolescents living with a single parent but less support among those living with a stepparent or neither parent., Conclusion: The association between living in a single-parent household and heavy alcohol or other substance use was mediated largely by time spent outside the home with friends in unsupervised activities. Additional research that uses longitudinal data and more nuanced measures of family structure is needed to validate this finding.

The aim of this review is to assess empirical studies from the last 2 decades that have examined the association between cumulative stressors and adolescent substance use. Cumulative stressors were measured in these studies with adverse childhood experiences or adolescent stressful life events inventories. The 109 articles meeting the eligibility criteria that emerged from the review demonstrated a consistent, yet modest, association between cumulative stressors and adolescent substance use. Of note, several studies found that the associations were moderated or mediated by genetic factors related to cortisol regulation, intrapersonal factors such as low self-control, or interpersonal factors such as peer substance use. The review's findings thus suggest that efforts to reduce the effects of cumulative stressors on substance use could gainfully identify and target these risk moderators and mediators.

Objective: The purpose of this research was to examine the associations of parenting style, religiosity, and peer alcohol use with alcohol use and heavy drinking., Method: Structural equation modeling was used to estimate direct and indirect associations among 5,419 adolescents ages 12-14 years from the National Longitudinal Study of Youth 1997., Results: Adolescents whose parents were authoritative were less likely to drink heavily than adolescents who experienced neglectful or indulgent parenting styles. Religiosity was negatively associated with heavy drinking after other relevant variables were controlled for., Conclusions: Authoritative parenting appears to have both direct and indirect negative associations with the risk of heavy drinking among adolescents. Authoritative parenting, where monitoring and support are above average, and religiosity might help deter adolescents from heavy drinking, even when adolescents experience peer environments where alcohol use is common. Authoritarian parenting, although it was not associated with heavy drinking, was positively associated with alcohol use and peer alcohol use, thus placing adolescents at some risk.

Objective: The purpose of this research was to examine whether authoritative, authoritarian, indulgent, and neglectful parenting styles were associated with adolescent alcohol use and heavy drinking, after controlling for peer use, religiosity, and other relevant variables., Method: Structural equation modeling was used to estimate direct and indirect associations of parenting style with alcohol use and heavy drinking among 4,983 adolescents in Grades 7-12., Results: Adolescents whose parents were authoritative were less likely to drink heavily than adolescents from the other three parenting styles, and they were less likely to have close friends who used alcohol. In addition, religiosity was negatively associated with heavy drinking after controlling for other relevant variables., Conclusions: Authoritative parenting appears to have both direct and indirect associations with the risk of heavy drinking among adolescents. Authoritative parenting, where monitoring and support are above average, might help deter adolescents from heavy alcohol use, even when adolescents have friends who drink. In addition, the data suggest that the adolescent's choice of friends may be an intervening variable that helps explain the negative association between authoritative parenting and adolescent heavy drinking.

Using a probability sample of 4,230 adolescents from grades 7-12, we used negative binomial regression to estimate the effects of peer and six family variables on the risk of adolescent drug use. Peer drug use had relatively strong effects of adolescent drug use. Parental drug attitudes, sibling drug use, and adult drug use had significant direct effects net of peer influences. In addition, they had significant indirect effects that were mediated by peer drug use. The influences of parental monitoring, attachment to mother, and attachment to father were statistically significant but relatively small. The findings applied to alcohol, binge drinking, cigarettes, marijuana, and other illicit drugs. Editors' Strategic Implications: The authors interpret their findings as being more consistent with social learning than social control theory. This research, although cross-sectional and limited to adolescents' self-reports, contributes to a growing literature on the direct and indirect influences of parents on their teens' substance use rates. It speaks to the need for school- and community-based prevention efforts to focus on families as well as peers.

A common observation in the research literature is that children of drug-dependent parents are at significantly heightened risk of adolescent drug use, abuse, and dependence. Recent research indicates that several psychological and interpersonal factors may affect the association between parents' psychoactive substance use disorder (PSUD) and drug use risks among adolescents, yet studies have failed to examine explicitly whether these factors moderate the association between PSUD and adolescent substance abuse. This paper explores these potential relationships using longitudinal data from a study that has followed three cohorts of adolescents and their families over a 7-year period. The cohorts are defined by parental diagnoses of PSUD, affective disorders, or no diagnosable disorder. The results indicate that PSUD is positively associated with adolescent drug abuse, yet this association is attenuated by strong family cohesion. Affective disorders among parents are associated with a higher risk of alcohol, but not drug, abuse. The associations are stronger in the presence of lower stress and higher self-esteem. PSUD is also associated more strongly with offspring drug and alcohol abuse when levels of use are lower. Hence, some unobserved mechanism that may involve physiological sensitivities to drugs and alcohol appears to put children of parents with drug problems at particular risk of drug and alcohol abuse. Limitations of the data and analysis are discussed.

The purpose of this paper is to describe and examine one pathway by which adolescent drug use increases during early and mid-adolescence. It draws upon recent research on adolescent stress, drug use, and family processes to describe an important stage of the life course. A chief principle underlying the proposed pathway is that the cumulative effect of stressful life experiences over time can lead to a steeper escalation of drug use in adolescence. Furthermore, based on previous stress research, we propose that this effect may be moderated by factors such as sex, income, family attachment, self-esteem, and mastery. Using 4 years of panel data from the Family Health Study (n = 651 adolescents ages 11-14 during Year 1), we estimate a hierarchical growth curve model that examines the time-varying effects of stressful life events and peer relations on drug use. The results indicate that experiencing a high number of life events over time is related to a significant "growth" of drug use, even after controlling for "growth" due to age or peer relations. In addition, this relationship is moderated by family attachment; high levels of attachment serve to diminish this growth significantly.

The role of family structure in adolescence has been linked to a host of problem behaviors, including marijuana use. This paper investigates the relationship between family structure and marijuana use, and elaborates previous research by 1) exploring several intervening mechanisms that affect the relationship, and 2) examining the effects of a variety of family forms. Analyses of data from the National Youth Survey (1977-79) indicate that 1) a parental divorce or living with a stepparent decreases family attachment among adolescents; 2) attenuated family attachment and involvement increase the likelihood of associating with drug-using peers; and 3) less family involvement and increased associations with drug-using peers increase the probability of initiating marijuana use and elevate frequency of use.