Tobacco, Alcohol, and Marijuana/Drug Use among School Children: Testing Hirschi's Social Bonding Theory.

The study attempts to test Hirschi's social bonding theory and to explore the sex, racial/ethnic differences in tobacco, alcohol, and marijuana/drug use among adolescents. Hirschi (1969) identified four types of social bonds to promote socialization and conformity: attachment to others, commitment, involvement, and belief. The explanatory variables used in this study include commitment to school, involvement with other students in the class, content about life, and attachment to parents. Age is used as a control variable. Data came from the Health Behavior in School Children (HBSC) Survey (1997-1998) conducted by the World Health Organization. The first ICPSR version of the U.S. HBSC survey data was released in March 2003. The U.S. survey consists of 15,686 respondents aged 11 to 17. Results from multivariate analysis indicate that among the six groups of adolescents under study (White boys, Black boys, Mexican-American boys, White girls, Black girls, and Mexican-American girls), commitment to school has the strongest effect on tobacco, alcohol, and marijuana/drug use. The addition of the control variable age does not alter the strength and the significance of the relationships between the dependent and independent variables. Limitations of the study are discussed. ..PAT.-Unpublished Manuscript [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]