Search

A variety of cognitive and behavioral self-management skills have been posited as protective in terms of adolescent substance use. This study examined whether these skills measured in the 7th grade served a protective function in 9th grade substance use across ethnically diverse samples of adolescents. Participants consisted of Black (n = 461) and Hispanic (n = 320) urban youth and White suburban youth (n = 757). Structural equation modeling indicated that a second order Self-Management Skills latent factor consisting of first order latent factors of Decision-Making, Self-Regulation, and Self-Reinforcement skills was protective for adolescent substance use across racial/ethnic subgroups. However, Self-Management Skills were more strongly protective for suburban White youth and less protective for urban minority youth. These findings are consistent with previous research showing that predictive power of risk and protective factors derived from psychosocial theories varies widely across racial/ethnic subgroups of youth and is weaker among racial/ethnic minority youth compared to White youth. An important next step is to broaden the focus of etiology research from individual-level determinants to studying adolescent substance use behavior in the context of the cultural background and primary social settings of young people, such as family, school, and community environments.

This study examined long-term follow-up data from a large-scale randomized trial to determine the extent to which participation in a school-based drug abuse prevention program during junior high school led to less risky driving among high school students. Self-report data collected from students in the 7th, 10th, and 12th grades were matched by name to students' department of motor vehicles (DMV) records at the end of high school. The DMV data included the total number of violations on students' driving records as well as the number of "points" that indicate the frequency and severity of the violations. A series of logistic regression analyses revealed that males were more likely to have violations and points on their driving records than females, and regular alcohol users were more likely to have violations and points than those who did not use alcohol regularly. Controlling for gender and alcohol use, students who received the drug prevention program during junior high school were less likely to have violations and points on their driving records relative to control group participants that did not receive the prevention program. Findings indicated that antidrinking attitudes mediated the effect of the intervention on driving violations, but not points. These results support the hypothesis that the behavioral effects of competence-enhancement prevention programs can extend to risk behaviors beyond the initial focus of intervention, such as risky driving.

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 = 1,132) 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.

Adolescents who use a variety of cognitive and behavioral self-management strategies have been shown to report reduced rates of early-stage substance use, but little is known about how these personal competence skills may be protective. In a series of structural equation models, this study examined the association between competence skills and substance use over a 3-year period among 849 suburban junior high school students, and whether psychological distress, well-being, or both mediated this relation. Findings indicated that well-being fully mediated the relation between early competence and later substance use, but distress did not. Youth with good competence skills reported greater subsequent well-being, which in turn predicted less later substance use. Findings suggest that competence skills protect youth by enhancing well-being and that prevention programs should aim to enhance competence in order to promote resilience.

Hispanic sixth and seventh graders in 22 New York City middle schools (mean age: 12.66 years) completed self-report questionnaires with items related to drug use (cigarette smoking, alcohol use, and marijuana) use and linguistic acculturation at two assessments (N = 1299 at baseline; N = 1038 at 1-year follow-up). Adolescents who spoke English with their parents smoked marijuana more frequently than those who spoke Spanish with their parents at both surveys. By the 1-year follow-up, students who spoke English with their parents and bilingual students who spoke English and Spanish with their parents engaged in greater polydrug use than those who spoke Spanish with their parents.

Theoretical models suggest that many diverse psychosocial factors contribute to the etiology of substance use among youth. It has been suggested that substance use is a function of the total number of etiologic factors, rather than a specific type or set of factors. This study examined whether cumulative psychosocial risk and protection measured in the 7th grade predicted alcohol use in the 9th grade across ethnically diverse samples of adolescents. Participants consisted of black (n = 775) and Hispanic (n = 467) inner-city youth and white suburban youth (n = 708). Prevalence rates for alcohol use and risk/protection varied more widely based on ethnic group compared to gender. Black youth reported the fewest risk factors and lowest levels of alcohol use, white youth reported the most risk factors and highest levels of alcohol use, and Hispanic youth reported the fewest protective factors and intermediate levels of alcohol use. Despite these differences, structural equation modeling indicated that a latent factor consisting of cumulative risk, protection, and their interaction significantly predicted later alcohol use for the combined sample as well as for each ethnic/ gender subgroup. However, the proportion of variance explained in alcohol use varied across subgroups, and moderator analyses indicated that protection significantly buffered the effects of risk differentially across subgroups. The strongest protective effects were observed among black inner-city youth. Findings suggest that prevention approaches should focus on enhancing protection in addition to reducing risk, particularly among youth with lower levels of psychosocial protection.

Numerous alcohol and drug abuse prevention trials have included social resistance training as a strategy for reducing early-stage adolescent alcohol use. Evaluations of these trials has shown them to be moderately effective, although the precise impact of the resistance training in comparison to other programmatic features has not been clearly identified. The current study examined the extent to which assertiveness and related social skills, personal competence (perceived cognitive mastery), and refusal efficacy predict alcohol involvement. Males were at greater risk for poor refusal skills and reported higher alcohol involvement. Cross-sectionally, youth characterized by poor social skill development reported lower refusal efficacy, lower grades, poor competence, and more alcohol use. Poor refusal efficacy was associated with more risk-taking, lower grades, less competence, and more alcohol use. Longitudinally, both poor refusal skills and risk-taking were associated with higher alcohol use. High personal competence was associated with lower alcohol use in both the eighth and tenth grades, but had no long-term effects on alcohol use. Findings highlight the close interplay between perceived competence and refusal skill efficacy, both of which should be included as essential components of school-based prevention strategies.

Epidemiological research indicates that the prevalence rate of drug use among adolescents has risen steadily during this decade, and although alcohol use has stabilized it is still highly prevalent. Psychosocial etiological models have typically examined main effects of risk and protective factors. This study examined moderating effects of intrapersonal skills on social (peer and parental) risks associated with alcohol and marijuana use among eighth-grade rural adolescents, an understudied population. Results indicated that the relationships of peer and parental attitudes, and peer usage to alcohol and marijuana use, are moderated by adolescents' decision-making and self-reinforcement skills. Social risk factors were strongly associated with increased alcohol and marijuana use among adolescents with poor intrapersonal skills. However, good decision-making and self-reinforcement skills diminished the influence of social risk factors on substance use. Results are discussed in terms of implications for psychosocial models of alcohol and drug use, and for designing effective school-based universal prevention interventions.

Limited information is available about the etiology of illicit drug use among minority youth. This study examined predictors of marijuana use and intentions to use marijuana, cocaine/crack, and other drugs for African-American and Hispanic seventh graders (N = 757). Self-reports of marijuana use and intentions to use drugs were collected along with data concerning background, social environmental, and individual characteristics hypothesized to be related to drug use. Results indicated that social influences, including adults, friends, and the most admired person's marijuana use, predicted marijuana use. Individual characteristics, such as a lack of knowledge about the prevalence and negative social consequences of marijuana use, positive attitudes toward marijuana use, and inadequate social, communication, and refusal skills increased suspectability to marijuana use. Lack of self-efficacy was related to intentions to use cocaine and other drugs. Implications of these findings are discussed with respect to the development of effective prevention programs.