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Examining the effects of academic beliefs and behaviors on changes in substance use among urban adolescents
Abstract
This study examines substance use between 10th and 12th grades in a predominantly African American sample of 785 adolescents from an urban environment. Psychological distress, academic factors, and perceptions of parents and peers are used to explain 10th-grade substance use and changes in use using hierarchical linear modeling. Results indicate that low achievement and motivation, high truancy, and perceptions of peer substance use are associated with higher 10th-grade substance use. Growth curve analyses reveal that adolescents who perceive negative school attitudes among peers are more likely to increase their cigarette and marijuana use. Among high-achieving students, low motivation is a risk factor for increased cigarette use. Implications focused on enhancing motivation, reducing truancy, and understanding adolescents' perceptions of their peers.
... Moreover, higher levels of parental substance use might be a risk factor, but lower levels of parental substance use are not necessarily promotive. Therefore, researchers have created resilience models where risk and promotive factors are separate variables and higher levels of a risk variable are hypothesized to contribute to higher levels of substance use while higher levels of a promotive factor are expected to contribute to lower levels of substance use or exert a stronger moderation effect on the relationship between a specific risk factor and substance use/abuse (Bryant & Zimmerman, 2002; Newcomb & Felix-Ortiz, 1992). Considering how risk and promotive factors interact as a process over time is essential to the study of adolescent resilience (Rutter, 1985). ...
... Yet it is also reasonable to expect that belonging to peer groups where academics are valued over substance use may decrease adolescents' inclination to use substances. Bryant and Zimmerman (2002) included positive peer influences in their study of risk and protective factors of substance use (cigarette, alcohol, and marijuana use) over time. Their study included 785 urban, predominantly African American, older adolescents. ...
... Under the terms of the licence agreement, an individual user may print out a PDF of a single chapter of a title in Oxford Handbooks Online for personal use (for details see Privacy Policy). Subscriber: OUP-Reference Gratis Access; date: 21 March 2016 awareness of the positive academic attitudes and aspirations of their peers may increase their motivation to do well in school and make them less likely to increase their use of substances over time (Bryant & Zimmerman, 2002). Vest and Simpkins (2013) investigated peer influence on adolescent alcohol use in the context of sports participation among a large, nationally representative sample of adolescents. ...
Resilience refers to positive adjustment among youth who have been exposed to one or
more risk factor(s). In this chapter, we review articles published within the past two
decades that have included a focus on resilience processes among adolescents at risk of
using substances. The review is organized by the level of promotive factor investigated
(individual, family, and community), followed by a review of studies that have focused on
exposure to cumulative risk and promotive factors. Prior to reviewing these studies, we
provide a brief overview of resilience theory, including key terms and models of
resilience. The chapter concludes by addressing the limitations of the research on
resilience and adolescent substance use and makes recommendations for future research.
... Te cztery rodzaje zachowań wybrano z szerszej puli kilkunastu zachowań ze względu na ich stopień rozpowszechnienia w badanej populacji nastolatków. Wybrano więc kradzieże, niszczenie rzeczy w szkole oraz problemy z policją, czyli zachowania niezgodne z prawem, które charakteryzowały się najwyższym poziomem rozpowszechnienia w populacji warszawskich gimnazjalistów (Ostaszewski, Rustecka -Krawczyk, Wójcik, 2011 Bryant, Zimmerman, 2002). Czwarte pytanie dotyczyło oceny z zachowania za ostatni semestr: 1. Jak często w ciągu ostatnich 4 tygodni zdarzało Ci się opuszczać celowo pojedyncze lekcje (uciekać z lekcji)? ...
... Większość narzędzi wykorzystanych do pomiaru psychospołecznych czynników ryzyka i ochrony to skale, które wcześniej stosowano do badań nad zachowaniami ryzykownymi młodzieży w Polsce (Frączek, Stępień, 1991;Ostaszewski i wsp., 2002;Bobrowski, 2002;Czabała i wsp., 2004) lub w amerykańskim projekcie Flint Adolescent Study (np. Salem, Zimmerman, Notaro, 1998;Bryant, Zimmerman, 2002;Zimmerman, Bingenheimer, Notaro, 2002;Zimmerman, Schmeelk-Cone, 2003;Ostaszewski, Zimmerman, 2006;Hurd, Zimmerman, Xue, 2009;Elkington, Bauermeister, Zimmerman, 2011). Psychometryczne własności niektórych skal były przedmiotem odrębnych badań. ...
... Wiele wskazuje na to, że problemy szkolne sprzyjają używaniu substancji psychoaktywnych przez gimnazjalistów, a używanie substancji utrudnia wywiązywanie się z obowiązków szkolnych. Na podobne zależności między używaniem substancji psychoaktywnych i występowaniem problemów szkolnych wskazują inni badacze (Bryant, Zimmerman, 2002;Zimmerman, Schmeelk-Cone, 2003;Bryant i wsp., 2003). Te dwa obszary narastających zachowań ryzykownych stanowią znaczne zagrożenie dla prawidłowego rozwoju młodzieży uczącej się w gimnazjum. ...
Książka została napisana z myślą o ludziach, którzy profesjonalnie zajmują się profilaktyką zachowań ryzykownych młodzieży: zarówno badaczach tej problematyki, jak również liderach i animatorach działań profilaktycznych, którzy poszukują wiedzy na temat zachowań ryzykownych młodzieży oraz mechanizmów chroniących. Świetnie sprawdzi się w procesie kształcenia studentów nauk społecznych w zakresie podstaw profilaktyki zachowań ryzykownych młodzieży. To z pewnością wyjątkowa na polskim rynku pozycja.
Pierwsza część książki – to bardzo ciekawy i przystępnie napisany przegląd aktualnej wiedzy na temat zachowań ryzykownych młodzieży. Autor uwzględnił w nim sposoby wyjaśniania i interpretowania problemów wieku dojrzewania, koncepcję resilience, koncepcję pozytywnego rozwoju młodzieży oraz autorską propozycje modelu pozytywnej profilaktyki.
Część druga – stanowi efekt dobrze przemyślanych 3-letnich badań podłużnych nad zachowaniami ryzykownymi gimnazjalistów. Wyniki potwierdzają znaczenie mechanizmów resilience dla profilaktyki zachowań ryzykownych młodzieży, a także wskazują na konkretne czynniki i mechanizmy chroniące. Wykorzystanie tej wiedzy w praktyce może zwiększać skuteczności działań profilaktycznych i jednocześnie wspierać prawidłowy rozwój młodzieży, czyli służyć idei pozytywnej profilaktyki propagowanej przez Autora.
... For instance, variablebased studies have found that cigarette use shares a unique association with poor achievement among early adolescents ( Andrews & Duncan, 1997;Ellickson et al., 1998) and late adolescents ( Luthar & Ansary, 2005), while other evidence using person-based techniques suggests that it is only when cigarettes are used concomitantly with marijuana that poorer achievement emerges ( Ansary & Luthar, 2009). Regarding alcohol consumption and academic achievement among older adolescents, some studies suggest that there is no significant association between the two ( Bryant & Zimmerman, 2002;Luthar & Ansary, 2005), while others have found alcohol use to be associated with increased dropout rates ( Zimmerman & Schmeelk-Cone, 2003). Yet others have found alcohol use to be associated with high school achievement and plans for college ( Newcomb & Bentler, 1988;Schulenberg et al., 1994). ...
... With regards to earlier achievement predicting to later substance use, several findings have emerged, suggesting that in low-income environments achievement is protective against substance use among both early adolescents ( Ludden & Eccles, 2007) as well as high schoolers ( Bryant & Zimmerman, 2002), whereas the same was not found for youth from more privileged settings. In fact, Ludden and Eccles (2007) found that high-achieving early adolescents from affluent backgrounds were at increased risk for substance use. ...
... This finding does, however, concur with our earlier work on affluent youth attending high school, because cigarette and alcohol use alone did not confer risk for poorer achievement, but deficits in achievement were only found among individuals using cigarettes, alcohol, and marijuana concomitantly ( Ansary & Luthar, 2009). Whereas a good deal of evidence has identified cigarette use as the single strongest drug predictor of academic underachievement ( Bryant & Zimmerman, 2002;Ellickson et al., 1998;Luthar & Ansary, 2005;Newcomb et al., 2002), other results suggest that this finding may driven by a subgroup of youth engaging in marijuana, cigarette, and alcohol use concurrently ( Ansary & Luthar, 2009). Unfortunately, as mentioned previously, marijuana use in the current sample was so low that we could not include the variable in our analyses; hopefully future work explores this remarkable finding further. ...
Temporal associations in the relationship between emotional-behavioral difficulty and academic achievement were explored in 2 samples followed from 6th through 8th grade. The first sample comprised 280 students entering an economically disadvantaged urban middle school and the second comprised 318 students entering an affluent suburban middle school. Among disadvantaged youth, emotional indices were concurrently associated with poorer achievement while prospective associations between substance use and achievement were evident. For privileged adolescents, only a significant concurrent relationship emerged between social anxiety and achievement, although nonsignificant trends in the data suggest other, albeit weak, associations. The findings are discussed in terms of similarities and differences in these temporal associations across 2 samples representing extremes of the socioeconomic continuum.
... The current study focuses on patterns of substance use and clusters of substance users among primarily African-American adolescents from diverse economic backgrounds. Variable-centered research suggests that African-American adolescents are less likely to be substance users than European-American adolescents (Johnston, O'Malley, Bachman, & Schulenberg, 2005); however, the profiles of users are likely to be similar, as there is much overlap in the psychosocial risks for substance use between African-American and European-American adolescents (Bryant, Schulenberg, O'Malley, Bachman, & Johnston, 2003; Bryant & Zimmerman, 2002). ...
... In the current research, it is expected that different patterns of substance use will be linked to different profiles of risk in terms of adolescents' psychosocial background, their motivational and school-related beliefs, and their perceptions of their parents and peers. Youth who report low achievement and high misbehavior are consistently more likely also to report substance use (Brook, Whiteman, Balka, & Hamburg, 1992; Bryant, Schulenberg, Bachman, O'Malley, & Johnston, 2000; Bryant & Zimmerman, 2002; Bryant et al., 2003; Hawkins et al., 1992). Popularity and perceptions of being popular or attractive have been associated with both prosocial and antisocial behavior (Brown, Mory, & Kinney, 1994; Bryant, 2003; Harter, 1999; Luthar & McMahon, 1996; Rodkin, Farmer, Pearl, & Van Acker, 2000). ...
... Beyond academic achievement and school misbehavior—adolescents' achievement motivation and beliefs about school, peers, and family are also important. Adolescents who do well in school and see value in schooling are less likely to increase their use over time compared with less-motivated high achievers (Bryant & Zimmerman, 2002). Adolescents who report that they go to school because they enjoy it and value their experiences and have expectations for continuing their education are likely to avoid choices that jeopardize their chances for success in school (Eccles, 1983). ...
This research examined patterns of substance use and academic factors among a sample of 733 African-American and European-American adolescents from a metropolitan area. First, youth were classified into 11th grade high, moderate, or no substance use groups and classified as users, initiators, desistors, and nonusers based on eighth and 11th grade use. Nonusers did not differ in eighth grade from 11th grade moderate users and initiators over time. Eighth graders who reported misbehavior and having low-achieving friends were more likely to be high 11th grade users and users at both grades. Direct achievement effects were not found; however, interactions indicated achievement was protective when paired with having fun at school, high task value, and low levels of socioeconomic status (SES); and was a risk factor when paired with positive self regard, low fun at school and high SES. Cluster analyses indicated the most prevalent group of substance users reported high grades, social reasons for going to school, and having friends who do well in school.
... In empirical studies, school failure has been well documented as a risk factor for problem behaviors in general (Dryfoos, 1990) and for substance use specifically (Bachman et al., 1981; Eccles, Lord, Roeser, Barber, & Jozefowicz, 1997; Hawkins et al., 1992; Schulenberg et al., 1994; Smith & Fogg, 1978). Relatively few studies, in comparison, have associated adolescents' achievement levels with change in substance use over time (for exceptions, see Bryant et al., 2000; Bryant & Zimmerman, 2002; Luthar & Cushing, 1997). Consistent with previous research, we expect that adolescents who report low academic achievement will report higher concurrent use of substances and, to a lesser extent, increased substance use over time. ...
... Consistent with previous research, we expect that adolescents who report low academic achievement will report higher concurrent use of substances and, to a lesser extent, increased substance use over time. Some studies revealed links between academic achievement and change in substance use over time (e.g., Bryant et al., 2000; Luthar & Cushing, 1997) whereas others have not (e.g., Bryant & Zimmerman, 2002). The direct effects of achievement on substance use may be moderated by demographic factors. ...
... A number of studies have linked truancy and psychological distress with adolescent substance use and abuse (Dryfoos, 1990; Hawkins et al., 1992; Newcomb & Bentler, 1989; Newcomb et al., 2002). Relatively few studies, in comparison, have associated negative school behaviors and psychological distress with change in substance use over time (for exceptions, see Bryant et al., 2000; Bryant & Zimmerman, 2002; Luthar & Cushing, 1997; Orlando, Ellickson, & Jinnett, 2001; Scheier, Botvin, Griffin, & Diaz, 2000; Wills, Sandy, & Yaeger, 2002). Based on the findings from these studies, we expected to find stronger positive associations between school misbehavior and concurrent substance use, weaker positive associations between loneliness and concurrent substance use, and weaker positive associations between these two factors and change in substance use over time. ...
Self-report data regarding alcohol, cigarette, and marijuana use were collected biennially from ages 14 to 20 in a nationally representative panel sample of adolescents (N=1,897) from the Monitoring the Future study. Growth curve analyses were performed using hierarchical linear modeling to consider psychosocial background, motivation and school attitudes, and parental and peer influences at age 14 as predictors of concurrent substance use and change in substance use. Results indicated that school misbehavior and peer encouragement of misbehavior were positively associated with substance use at age 14 and with increased use over time; school bonding, school interest, school effort, academic achievement, and parental help with school were negatively associated. The protective effects of positive school attitudes and perceptions of high status connected to academics were stronger for low-achieving compared with high-achieving youth. Implications for a developmental perspective on substance use etiology and prevention are discussed.
... Individuals who reported higher scores related to strengths at school and community involvement tended to be from the school-based groups. Similar findings have been identified across resiliency-based studies that have indicated that these promotive factors are associated with decreased risk for substance use among youth (e.g., Bryant & Zimmerman, 2002; Crosnoe, 2002). As these studies took a longitudinal approach, and our study represents a cross-sectional design, the interpretations of our findings do differ. ...
... Individuals who reported higher scores related to strengths at school and community involvement tended to be from the school-based groups. Similar findings have beenidentified across resiliency-based studies that have indicated that these promotive factors are associated with decreased risk for substance use among youth (e.g.,Bryant & Zimmerman, 2002;Crosnoe, 2002). As these studies took a longitudinal approach, and our study represents a cross-sectional design, the interpretations of our findings do differ. ...
The importance of examining positive aspects of youth development has been emphasized across disciplines involved in the care of youth with substance abuse problems. However, little is known about the strengths of adolescents with substance abuse problems, especially youth entering residential treatment. Utilizing the Strengths Assessment Inventory, a measure assessing psychological and social strengths, we examined patterns of strengths across groups of age- and gender-matched youth who reported no substance use, frequent substance use, and those entering treatment for severe substance use. Each group consisted of 43 participants ranging in age from 14 to 18 years. Results indicated that, on average, individuals entering treatment scored lower on personal strengths. However, through the use of more sophisticated statistical approaches, it was found that certain strengths were predictive of individuals belonging to the treatment group. Results are discussed in terms of their relevance to the treatment of adolescent substance abuse problems.
... Additional studies have suggested that the drinking behavior of friends is the most reliable predictor of adolescent alcohol use (Ahlström and Österberg, 2004). Friends' perceptions of and behaviors toward alcohol are associated with adolescents' likelihood of use (Waller et al., 2003), as are adolescents' perceptions of their peers' substance use (Bryant and Zimmerman, 2002). In addition to influences from the school environment and peer group, alcohol consumption has been linked to several other delinquent behaviors (Guo et al., 2001; Best et al., 2006; Llorens et al., 2011). ...
... The number of friends who have consumed alcohol in the past 30 days and the number of friends who have been drunk in the past 30 days each uniquely predicted alcohol consumption such that a greater number of friends engaging in these behaviors was associated with increased participant alcohol consumption. This is consistent with past findings showing that peers' and friends' alcohol use predicts an individual's alcohol consumption, as does an individual's perception of his or her peers' substance use (Bryant and Zimmerman, 2002; Segura et al., 2003; Waller et al., 2003; Denault and Poulin, 2012). However, when both variables were entered into the final regression examining all previously significant predictors, the number of friends who have been drunk in the past 30 days was no longer significant. ...
This study examined the connections between adolescent alcohol use in Alicante, Spain and variables reflecting academic problems, potentially delinquent behaviors, friends’ alcohol consumption, and friendship quality. Information about alcohol use and a number of school and social variables was collected from adolescent students (N = 640) who completed the National Students School-Based Drug Survey in a classroom setting. Results suggested that gender was not significantly associated with alcohol use. Alcohol use increased with age and was more likely for adolescents enrolled in public schools in comparison to private. Academic problems explained 5.1% of the variance in adolescents’ alcohol use, potentially delinquent behaviors explained 29.0%, friends’ alcohol use 16.8%, and friendship quality 1.6%. When all unique predictors from these four models were included in a comprehensive model, they explained 32.3% of the variance in adolescents’ alcohol use. In this final model, getting expelled, participating in a fight, going out at night, the hour at which one returns, and the number of friends who have consumed alcohol were uniquely and positively associated with adolescents’ alcohol use. These results provide important information about multi-system influences on adolescent alcohol use in Alicante, Spain and suggest potential areas of focus for intervention research.
... Friend influence has similarly been considered a factor in adolescent risk behavior (Brown et al., 1992; Bryant & Zimmerman, 2002; Gillmore et al., 1997; Heinrich et al., 2006; Kotchick et al., 2001; Prinstein et al., 2001; Romer et al., 1994; Stanton et al., 1994). In this study, participants cited family as the most important factor influencing their knowledge and decisions regarding sexual behavior. ...
... Friends were also the source of mixed messages. Similar to previous studies with other racial groups, friends both encouraged and discouraged sexual behavior (Brown et al., 1992; Bryant & Zimmerman, 2002; Kotchick et al., 2001; Romer et al., 1994). Girls in this study cited their friends as influences on their sexual behavior. ...
Adolescent sexual risk behavior can have devastating effects for young women, including unintended pregnancy and sexually transmitted infections (STI). American Indian (AI) adolescent females have higher rates of sexual activity, births and STIs compared to the national average. However, research is limited on urban AI adolescent girls’ sexual behavior, pregnancy and STIs. The purpose of this grounded theory study was to explore how individual, family, tribal factors and processes, and national policy influence urban adolescent AI females’ in sexual risk behavior as a basis for developing a theoretical model.
This grounded theory study revealed that urban AI adolescent females’ sexual behavior is influenced by social and structural systems consistent with Bronfenbrenner’s ecological model. The microsystem, mesosystem, and macrosystem framed sexual behavior for the AI girls in this study. The microsystem, including long-term goals, identification of being a normal teenager, and cultural identity helped participants form an identity that allowed them to make choices about sexual behavior consistent with the identity they developed. The mesosystem included family, friends, neighborhood, school, media, and health care. The messages that girls in this study received from these structural influences either discouraged or encouraged sexual behavior. Family and friends were reported as most influential on sexual behavior with neighborhood, school, media, and health care influences also reported as influential. The macrosystem, including culture and federal policy were influential on the daily lives of participants. The subsequent grounded theory model that emerged was an adaptation of Bronfenbrenner’s ecological model.
Urban AI adolescent girls reported similar social and structural influences on sexual risk behavior as urban adolescents from other racial and ethnic groups. However, there were differenced noted in the family structure, cultural heritage, and unique history of AIs in American society. The similarities among racial groups can be used for guiding future research and when caring for this population in health care settings. Future research should focus on further exploration of microsystem, mesosystem, and macrosystem influences on sexual risk behavior among AI girls. Subsequently, providers should be cognizant of the AI girls’ social and structural surroundings and provide culturally sensitive care based upon these variables.
... Negative peer influences were measured with the score for 10 items, summed (between 10-50) to assess number of friends with aggressive behaviors and theft, alcohol use, and illicit substance use ( Doljanac and Zimmerman, 1998). Positive peer influences were measured with the score for 4 items, summed (between 4-20) to assess number of friends with attendance at church and school, college plans, and good grades ( Bryant and Zimmerman, 2002). Parental support was measured with the score for 6 items each on a 5-point scale, summed (between 6-36) to assess parental listening, support, problem solving, and encouragement ( Bryant and Zimmerman, 2002;Doljanac and Zimmerman, 1998). ...
... Positive peer influences were measured with the score for 4 items, summed (between 4-20) to assess number of friends with attendance at church and school, college plans, and good grades ( Bryant and Zimmerman, 2002). Parental support was measured with the score for 6 items each on a 5-point scale, summed (between 6-36) to assess parental listening, support, problem solving, and encouragement ( Bryant and Zimmerman, 2002;Doljanac and Zimmerman, 1998). Religious participation in services or activities was dichotomized as none vs. any ( Ramirez-Valles et al., 1998). ...
This study determined prevalence and correlates of physical dating violence (victimization or aggression) among male and female youth with alcohol misuse and seeking emergency department (ED) care.
Patients age 14-20 seeking care at a single large university-based ED completed a computerized, self-administered, cross-sectional survey. Measures included demographics, alcohol and substance use, mental health problems, health service use, peer influences, parent support, and community involvement. Bivariate and multivariate regression assessed physical dating violence correlates.
Among 842 male and female youth seeking ED care who screened positive for alcohol misuse, 22.3% (n=188) reported dating violence in the past year. Multivariate analyses showed variables associated with dating violence were female gender (AOR 2.17, CI 1.46-3.22), Caucasian race (AOR 0.59, CI 0.37-0.93), receipt of public assistance (AOR 1.82, CI 1.16-2.87), AUDIT Score (AOR 1.06, CI 1.02-1.10), older age of drinking onset (AOR 0.86, CI 0.77-0.96), suicidal ideation or attempt (AOR 1.95, CI 1.13-3.37), frequency of ED visits (AOR 1.22, CI 1.05-1.46), negative peer influences (AOR 1.05, CI 1.01-1.10), and positive peer influences (AOR 0.86, CI 0.80-0.93).
Nearly 1 in 4 youth with alcohol misuse seeking ED care report dating violence. Key correlates of dating violence included alcohol use severity, suicidal ideation, ED services, and peer influences. Evidence-based dating violence interventions addressing these correlates are needed for youth with alcohol misuse seeking ED care.
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... Other studies regarding social control theory and adolescent drug use have examined familial bonds specifically and have found that adolescents who have close relationships with their parents and whose parents closely monitor their activities are less likely to use drugs (Hoeve et al. 2012; Jackson 2013; Kelly et al. 2011; Mounts 2002 ). In addition, some studies chose to focus on the attachment to school and the community in determining if adolescents would engage in deviant behavior (Bryant and Zimmerman 2002; Dufur, Parcel, and McKune 2013; Wray-Lake et al. 2012 ). Similar to the studies referenced above, individuals who are strongly connected to school and their community are less likely to engage in drug use (Bryant and Zimmerman 2002; Dufur et al. 2013; Wray-Lake et al. 2012). ...
... In addition, some studies chose to focus on the attachment to school and the community in determining if adolescents would engage in deviant behavior (Bryant and Zimmerman 2002; Dufur, Parcel, and McKune 2013; Wray-Lake et al. 2012 ). Similar to the studies referenced above, individuals who are strongly connected to school and their community are less likely to engage in drug use (Bryant and Zimmerman 2002; Dufur et al. 2013; Wray-Lake et al. 2012). Downloaded by [ ...
Recent data show an increase in ecstasy use among adolescents, yet the literature on ecstasy use is scant and largely atheoretical. This research seeks to fill this gap by utilizing data from a national sample of adolescents to test two prominent criminological theories. The findings are supportive of both social control and social learning theories. Adolescents who have favorable attitudes toward substance use, whose peers use, and whose parents and peers condone use are more likely to consume ecstasy. Adolescents with strong bonds to family and school were less likely to consume ecstasy in comparison to adolescents with weaker bonds. Implications and suggestions for future research are discussed.
... Because of its sizable infl uence on adolescents, the educational system may serve as a protective force against alcohol use, even without explicitly addressing students' drinking. A substantial literature highlights academic factors—including performance (Bryant et al., 2000; Henry, 2010; for a review, see Dewey, 1999; Perkins and Borden, 2003), school attachment (Hawkins et al., 1992; Voelkl and Frone, 2000), self-effi cacy (Bryant and Zimmerman, 2002), plans to attend college (Bryant and Zimmerman, 2002; Ellickson and Hays, 1992), and school attendance (Ellickson and Hays, 1992; Hope, 1995)—as potential protective factors against drinking. Students' academic motivation has also been examined as a correlate of adolescent drinking, although the relationship between the two is unclear (Cox et al., 2007). ...
... Because of its sizable infl uence on adolescents, the educational system may serve as a protective force against alcohol use, even without explicitly addressing students' drinking. A substantial literature highlights academic factors—including performance (Bryant et al., 2000; Henry, 2010; for a review, see Dewey, 1999; Perkins and Borden, 2003), school attachment (Hawkins et al., 1992; Voelkl and Frone, 2000), self-effi cacy (Bryant and Zimmerman, 2002), plans to attend college (Bryant and Zimmerman, 2002; Ellickson and Hays, 1992), and school attendance (Ellickson and Hays, 1992; Hope, 1995)—as potential protective factors against drinking. Students' academic motivation has also been examined as a correlate of adolescent drinking, although the relationship between the two is unclear (Cox et al., 2007). ...
This study used a person-centered approach to identify naturally occurring combinations of intrinsic motivation and controlled forms of extrinsic motivation (i.e., introjected and external regulation) and their correlates in an academic context. 1061 high school students completed measures of academic motivation, performance, and school-related correlates. Cluster analysis revealed four motivational profiles characterized by comparably high levels of all types of motivation (high quantity), high intrinsic motivation relative to introjected and external regulation (good quality), low intrinsic motivation and introjected regulation relative to external regulation (poor quality), and very low intrinsic motivation and introjected regulation relative to external regulation (low quantity with poor quality). Students in the high quantity and good quality profiles reported the strongest academic performance and greatest overall extracurricular participation, with students in different motivational profiles likely to participate in different types of activities. Students in the high quantity profile, moreover, perceived the most teacher support and school relatedness. These findings suggest that controlled forms of extrinsic motivation may not be associated with maladaptive outcomes at the high school level when coupled with high levels of intrinsic motivation.
... substance use, urban youth, school engagement, perceptions of teachers Adolescent substance use predicts a host of negative school-related outcomes, including lower achievement, lower motivation, and more negative attitudes toward school (Williams, Davis, Johnson, Williams, Saunders, & Nebbitt, 2007;Zimmerman & Schmeelk-Cone, 2003). At the same time, negative attitudes to school are also predictive of greater substance use (Bryant & Zimmerman, 2002;Eccles, Lord, Roeser, Barber, & Jozefowicz, 1997;Hawkins, Catalano, & Miller, 1992), suggesting a maladaptive cycle that may culminate in the decision to drop out of school (seeTownsend, Fisher, & King, 2007for a review). As the drop-out rate has reached epidemic proportions in major urban centers in America (Bridgeland, Dilulio, & Morison, 2006;Swanson, 2004), it is particularly important to study the relationships between substance use and school attitudes in urban adolescents, those who may be considered at risk of dropping out because of the schools they attend, the color of their skin, and their socioeconomic status. ...
... Students who have positive beliefs about the importance and value of school are less likely to use substance than their peers who see school as less important (Roeser, Eccles, & Freedman-Doan, 1999). Meanwhile, those who frequently cut class or skip school and those who express low motivation are more likely to use alcohol, cigarettes, and marijuana than their more engaged peers (Bryant, Schulenberg, Bachman, O'Malley, & Johnston, 2000;Bryant & Zimmerman, 2002;Voelkl & Frone, 2000). In a 6-year longitudinal study of 1,897 nationally representative youth, Bryant and Zimmerman (2003) found that adolescents who reported higher levels of school interest, school effort, and school bonding were less likely to report concurrent cigarette and alcohol use than their peers. ...
Research has found strong linkages between adolescent substance use and attitudes toward school. Few studies of this relationship, however, consider the different dimensions of students’ school attitudes, separating perceptions of the importance of school from the quality of students’ affective experiences therein. Using a sample of 301 urban adolescents, evenly divided into substance users and nonusers, this study examines the relationships between these two dimensions of school attitudes and substance use. Findings highlight a subset of adolescent substance users who see school as the most important place in which they routinely spend time and who differ significantly from other users, but not from nonusers, in their expressed satisfaction with school. Results also call attention to the ubiquity of urban adolescents’ dissatisfaction with their teachers, showing such dissatisfaction as unrelated to their rates of substance use. Implications for school reform, dropout prevention programs, and future research are discussed.
... Peer support. Support from friends was assessed with a fi ve-item social support scale adapted from the Perceived Social Support from Friends Scale (e.g., I rely on my friends for emotional support) (Bryant and Zimmerman, 2002; Procidano and Heller, 1983). Response options ranged from 1 (not true) to 5 (very true). ...
... Online peer support. Online peer support was measured with the same fi ve-item social support scale but reworded to assess their relationships with primarily online friends (e.g., I rely on my online friends for emotional support) (Bryant and Zimmerman, 2002; Procidano and Heller, 1983). Participants were instructed to answer online social support items for peers they had only met online, not their face-to-face peers. ...
Young adults are increasingly interacting with their peer groups online through social networking sites. These online interactions may reinforce or escalate alcohol and other drug (AOD) use as a result of more frequent and continuous exposure to AOD promotive norms; however, the influence of young adults' virtual networks on AOD use remains untested. The purpose of this study was to examine the association between the presence of AOD use content in online social networking, perceived norms (online norms regarding AOD use and anticipated regret with AOD use postings), and alcohol and marijuana use in a sample of 18- to 24-year-olds.
Using an adapted web version of respondent-driven sampling (webRDS), we recruited a sample of 18- to 24-year-olds (N = 3,448) in the United States. Using multivariate regression, we explored the relationship between past-30-day alcohol and marijuana use, online norms regarding AOD use, peer substance use, and online and offline peer support.
Alcohol use was associated with more alcohol content online. Anticipated regret and online peer support were associated with less alcohol use. Anticipated regret was negatively associated with marijuana use. Peer AOD use was positively associated with both alcohol and marijuana use.
Peers play an important role in young adult alcohol and marijuana use, whether online or in person. Our findings highlight the importance of promoting online network-based AOD prevention programs for young adults in the United States.
... Because of its sizable infl uence on adolescents, the educational system may serve as a protective force against alcohol use, even without explicitly addressing students' drinking. A substantial literature highlights academic factors—including performance (Bryant et al., 2000; Henry, 2010; for a review, see Dewey, 1999; Perkins and Borden, 2003), school attachment (Hawkins et al., 1992; Voelkl and Frone, 2000), self-effi cacy (Bryant and Zimmerman, 2002), plans to attend college (Bryant and Zimmerman, 2002; Ellickson and Hays, 1992), and school attendance (Ellickson and Hays, 1992; Hope, 1995)—as potential protective factors against drinking. Students' academic motivation has also been examined as a correlate of adolescent drinking, although the relationship between the two is unclear (Cox et al., 2007). ...
... Because of its sizable infl uence on adolescents, the educational system may serve as a protective force against alcohol use, even without explicitly addressing students' drinking. A substantial literature highlights academic factors—including performance (Bryant et al., 2000; Henry, 2010; for a review, see Dewey, 1999; Perkins and Borden, 2003), school attachment (Hawkins et al., 1992; Voelkl and Frone, 2000), self-effi cacy (Bryant and Zimmerman, 2002), plans to attend college (Bryant and Zimmerman, 2002; Ellickson and Hays, 1992), and school attendance (Ellickson and Hays, 1992; Hope, 1995)—as potential protective factors against drinking. Students' academic motivation has also been examined as a correlate of adolescent drinking, although the relationship between the two is unclear (Cox et al., 2007). ...
The current study investigated the relationship between different types of academic motives-specifically, intrinsic motivation, introjected regulation, and external regulation-and high school students' current and lifetime alcohol consumption.
One thousand sixty-seven high school students completed measures of academic motivation, other school-related factors, and lifetime and current alcohol consumption.
Using structural equation modeling, different types of motivation and school-related factors were differentially related to student drinking. Specifically, intrinsic motivation was negatively related to lifetime and current alcohol consumption. External regulation, on the other hand, was positively associated with current drinking. Grade point average was the only school-related factor related to student alcohol use.
These findings suggest that motivation is an important construct to consider in predicting students' alcohol use, even when other more commonly studied educational variables are considered. In addition, it supports the adoption of a motivation framework that considers different types of motivation in understanding the relationship between academic motivation and alcohol use. Suggestions for incorporating the self-determination model of motivation into studies of alcohol and substance use, as well as potential impacts on intervention efforts, are discussed. In particular, it may be important to foster only certain types of motivation, rather than all types of academically-focused motives, in efforts to deter alcohol use.
... Kategoria obejmowała następujące trzy rodzaje aktywności: spędzanie czasu poza domem (na mieście, osiedlu, przed blokiem), całodniowe wagary oraz odwiedzanie centrów handlowych (shopping). Pomiaru czasu spędzanego poza domem dokonano za pomocą pytania: , 1997;Bryant, Zimmerman, 2002). ...
Niniejsza monografia jest pierwszą publikacją prezentującą wyniki dziewiątej rundy badań mokotowskich przeprowadzonej w 2016 roku. Tak jak poprzednie pomiary, bieżąca runda stanowi kontynuację pierwotnej idei śledzenia zmian w używaniu substancji psychoaktywnych przez 15-letnią młodzież, a także późniejszych pomysłów dotyczących monitorowania problemów zdrowia psychicznego, zachowań nałogowych i sposobów spędzania wolnego czasu przez nastolatków. Publikacja ta ma jednak swoją wyraźną specyfikę. Tym razem podjęliśmy decyzję, aby z naszych ponad 30-letnich obserwacji „wykroić” cztery ostatnie rundy obserwacji (lata 2004-2016), kiedy to uczestnikami naszych badań byli uczniowie trzecich klas gimnazjum. Ostatnie dwanaście lat było jednorodnym okresem obserwacji z perspektywy systemu edukacji. W 2016 roku gimnazjaliści prawdopodobnie po raz ostatni uczestniczyli w badaniach mokotowskich, ponieważ, jak wiadomo, bieżąca reforma systemu edukacji stopniowo likwiduje gimnazja. Przyszli uczestnicy badań mokotowskich, jeśli do nich dojdzie, będą już uczniami nowych szkół ponadpodstawowych.
Cezura 2004 roku jest dla nas istotna jeszcze z jednej przyczyny. Właśnie wtedy do palety „starych” pytań badawczych dodaliśmy nowe znaczące wątki. Nasze zainteresowania badawcze poszerzyły się o problemy zdrowia psychicznego młodzieży (depresję, samopoczucie psychiczne), nadużywanie leków dostępnych bez recepty (przeciwbólowych i innych) , zachowania problemowe (wykroczenia i agresja), nowe zachowania ryzykowne (nadużywanie Internetu, cyberprzemoc), a także różne aktywności młodzieży w czasie wolnym. Warto więc z tych dwóch powodów podsumować ten etap naszych badań i przyjrzeć się bliżej średniookresowym trendom w wyżej wymienionych obszarach funkcjonowania15-letniej młodzieży z Warszawy.
Z tym zamiarem wiązały się sformułowane przez nasz zespół pytania badawcze dotyczące tego, jak w latach 2004–2016 zmieniły się:
• wskaźniki używania substancji psychoaktywnych (narkotyki, nikotyna, alkohol, leki uspokajające i nasenne)?
• wskaźniki zdrowia psychicznego młodzieży i innych zachowań ryzykownych?
• zachowania związane z samodzielnym zażywaniem leków?
• sposoby spędzania czasu wolnego?
• wskaźniki dysfunkcyjnego korzystania z Internetu?
Odpowiedzi na te pytania składają się na wielowymiarowy obraz stanu zagrożeń dla zdrowia, bezpieczeństwa i przystosowania społecznego 15-letniej młodzieży. Są więc pewnego rodzaju diagnozą stanu bieżącego. Dostarczają również informacji na temat niektórych uwarunkowań, co pozwala na formułowanie zaleceń i rekomendacji dla profilaktyki.
W 2016 roku, z inicjatywy Państwowej Agencji Rozwiązywania Problemów Alkoholowych, do udziału w badaniach dołączyli ukraińscy badacze problemów młodzieży z Narodowego Uniwersytetu „Politechnika Lwowska” we Lwowie oraz z Państwowego Uniwersytetu Pedagogicznego imienia Iwana Franki w Drohobyczu. Powodem zainteresowania polskimi badaniami był brak reprezentatywnych badań zdrowia psychicznego młodzieży na Ukrainie. Nasi partnerzy z Ukrainy przetłumaczyli ankietę, przeprowadzili pilotaż i badanie główne we Lwowie, Drohobyczu i powiecie drohobyckim. W ten sposób badania mokotowskie wyszły poza obręb Warszawy, a ich wyniki stały się przedmiotem międzynarodowej wymiany naukowej. Dowodem na tę współpracę jest jeden z rozdziałów tej monografii. Przedstawione zostały w nim wskaźniki rozpowszechnienia używania substancji psychoaktywnych, zaburzeń psychicznych i innych zachowań ryzykownych wśród 15-latków z zachodniej Ukrainy. W tym miejscu warto dodać, że zainteresowanie okazywane przez naszych partnerów z Ukrainy oraz ich determinacja w realizacji projektu bardzo pomogła nam w podjęciu decyzji o kontynuowaniu badań mokotowskich w 2016 roku. Naszym istotnym celem było również zapoczątkowanie współpracy naukowej i pomoc w przeprowadzeniu siostrzanych badań na Ukrainie.
Struktura monografii w dużym stopniu odzwierciedla porządek pytań badawczych. W rozdziale pierwszym opisano metodologię i problemy realizacyjne ostatniej rundy badań mokotowskich. W rozdziale drugim przedstawiono zmiany w używaniu narkotyków, leków uspokajających/nasennych oraz paleniu papierosów. Rozdział trzeci dotyczy zmian w piciu napojów alkoholowych. W rozdziale czwartym opisano, co zmieniło się w problemach zdrowia psychicznego i zachowaniach problemowych młodzieży. Rozdział piąty przedstawia kwestie związane z samoleczeniem się młodzieży i rozpowszechnieniem przyjmowania leków OTC. W rozdziale szóstym omówione zostały zmiany w sposobach spędzania czasu wolnego przez młodzież. W rozdziale siódmym zaprezentowano wyniki dotyczące nadmiernego korzystania z komputera i sieci internetowej. Rozdział ósmy zawiera wspomniane wcześniej wyniki badań przeprowadzonych na zachodniej Ukrainie. Dla badaczy problematyki młodzieży oraz osób zainteresowanych zamieszczamy w aneksie naszą ankietę NAN-2016 ze wszystkimi pytaniami ankietowymi.
Szkolne badania ankietowe są ważnym źródłem wiedzy o kondycji zdrowotnej młodzieży oraz jej uwarunkowaniach. Powtarzane okresowo pozwalają na monitorowanie zmian i aktualizowanie wiedzy. Niniejsza monografia koncentruje się na zmieniających się w czasie wzorach zachowań i funkcjonowania psychicznego młodzieży. Stanowi cegiełkę, która uzupełnia wiedzę o współczesnej młodzieży z perspektywy wielkomiejskiej. W toku dalszych analiz zamierzamy przyjrzeć się związkom pomiędzy obserwowanymi zachowaniami / problemami młodych ludzi a rodzinnymi, szkolnymi i rówieśniczymi czynnikami, które sprzyjają oraz przeciwdziałają tym zachowaniom i problemom. Zagadnienia te będą przedmiotem dalszych analiz i publikacji. Zapraszamy więc wszystkich zainteresowanych problematyką młodzieży do lektury tej i przyszłych publikacji.
... Substances act directly on the limbic system, which can interfere with ability to regulate emotions and control behaviors[30], contributing to the dichotomous thinking patterns often seen in addicted individuals[26]. Substance-using adolescents have been found to have more psychological distress, coupled with fewer of the problem-solving and coping skills needed to help regulate this distress[31][32][33]. ...
... All measures were based on previously validated items or scales, and most of them were adapted from the Longitudinal Study of School Dropout and Substance Use, 13 also known as Flint Adolescent Study. 14 The risk behaviors variables included measures of substance usealcohol, nicotine, and illegal drugs (Johnston, O'Malley, & Bachman, 2003) as well as aggressive behaviors (Stoddard, Zimmerman, & Bauermeister, 2012;Zimmerman, 2014), delinquent behaviors (Salem et al., 1998;Zimmerman, 2014), and school problems (Bryant & Zimmerman, 2002;Zimmerman, 2014). ...
The main goal of this chapter is to present theoretical and empirical background of prevention efforts, among Polish youth, based on positive relationship building in the context of a positive youth development concept. Positive relationships with important adults (parents, teachers, natural mentors) and social relationships associated with youth participation in constructive leisure time activities are connected with lower risk of a variety of problem behaviors such as substance use, violence, delinquency, school problems, and sexual risky behaviors (Nation et al., 2003; Zimmerman et al., 2013).
The content of the chapter builds upon research that explores the protective factors associated with adolescent problem behaviors. The importance of positive factors in prevention research is evidenced by the burgeoning research on resilience (Borucka & Ostaszewski, 2008; Fergus & Zimmerman, 2005; Luthar, 2006; Mazur et al., 2008; Rutter, 2012; Werner, 2005) and the positive youth development movement (Catalano, Berglund, Ryan, Lonczak, & Hawkins, 2004a; Lerner, Von Eye, Lerner, Lewin-Bizan, & Bowers, 2010). Contrary to this direction, until recently in Poland most research on aetiology of youth risk/problem behaviors was focused on risk factors associated with substance use and abuse. Only a few researchers in Poland have studied relationships between positive factors and adolescent risk behaviors (Bobrowski, 2002; 2003; Kwiatkowski, 2009; Mazur et al. 2008, 2009; Okulicz-Kozaryn, 2010; Ostaszewski, 2009, 2014; Ostaszewski, Bobrowski, Borucka & Pisarska, 2002; Pyżalski, 2012).
Results of the Warsaw Adolescent Study (Ostaszewski, 2014), presented in this chapter, address an existing gap in prevention science as observed in Poland. While doing so, the chapter provides a review of the current status of prevention science in Poland by exploring the role of positive youth relationships in preventing risky behaviors. The chapter is organized in three sections: section 1 discusses barriers to implementing well-informed prevention activities and current challenges of science-based prevention in Poland; section 2 contains a literature review that explores the associations between positive relationships and youth risk behaviors; and section 3 presents results of Warsaw Adolescent Study with a focus on associations between youth risk behavior and psychosocial positive factors.
... Los riesgos de la prevalencia del consumo, así como los efectos positivos de la educación preventiva en la escuela han sido ampliamente analizados. Contamos con estudios como el de Cox, Zhang, Johnson y Bender (2007) que correlacionan consumo de tabaco, alcohol y otras drogas con rendimiento académico; o indagan en factores de riesgo predictores del consumo de sustancias psicoactivas (Pisetsky, Chao, Dierker, May y StriegelMoore, 2008 ) como puede ser las actitudes escolares negativas , la inadaptación social y la baja autoestima (Bryant y Zimmerman, 2002). Correlaciones entre consumidores, consumo de drogas y creencias erróneas Para cubrir el segundo objetivo de nuestro estudio, hemos analizado las correlaciones entre alguna característica del consumidor, el sexo, la experiencia en consumo de sustancias psicoactivas y las creencias erróneas sobre la educación escolar en drogas. ...
Resumen La realización de programas escolares de prevención de consumo de drogas se ha demostrado eficaz en el control de hábitos de adicción en la población juvenil. El éxito de los programas preventivos descansa, en buena parte, en la capacitación de los docentes que los desarrollan y sus propias creencias sobre el consumo de drogas. Otro factor que puede estar relacionado con el éxito de los programas, es la experiencia del propio docente en el consumo de sustancias psicoactivas. En este artículo se explora la relación entre hábitos de consumo de tabaco, alcohol y drogas ilegales de futuros docentes (estudiantes de magisterio de la Universidad de Granada) y las creencias falsas sobre prevención de la drogadicción en la escuela que mantienen. Palabras clave: formación inicial docente; educación para la salud; dependencia; drogas. Abstract Conducting educational programs to prevent drug use has proven effective in controlling addiction habits among young people. The success of Correspondencia:
... On the other hand, it is indicated that some adolescents perceive this period more stressfully and cannot cope with their problems effectively; and for these reasons, suicide rate increases among adolescents (Masten et al., 1994). In connection with emotional conflicts, adolescents may experience problems such as dropping out, school failure, failure in classroom, special education and absences (Pallas, 2002), they may incline towards risky behaviors such as substance use, especially drug and alcohol use (Bryant & Zimmerman, 2002). ...
In this chapter, we examine the developmental characteristics, risky behaviors and counseling during adolescence period. Protective and risk factors are emphasized, prevention of risky behaviors and healthy developmental issues of adolescents are identified. Adolescence is one of the most important developmental period in which person grows and matures physically, mentally, cognitively, socially and emotionally. Risky behaviors restrain adolescents to become responsible adults by threatening their well-being. Preventive interventions should reduce risk factors and enhance protective factors. As a consequence, it is important to realize healthy and unhealthy developmental aspects of adolescents, also to realize their need of assistance. Adolescents should benefit from professional psychological counseling and guidance to give right decisions. Preventive counseling approaches and related techniques for counseling with adolescents also examined.
... The inconsistencies in the field regarding the association between alcohol use and achievement, regardless of socioeconomic context, fail to produce a firm direction going forward. For instance, while some findings suggest no direct association between alcohol consumption and academic achievement (Bryant & Zimmerman, 2002; Ludden & Eccles, 2007), others have found alcohol use to be associated with increased rates of drop out (Zimmerman & SchmeelkCone, 2003 ), and others have found alcohol use to be associated with high school achievement and plans for college (Newcomb & Bentler, 1988; Schulenberg, Bachman, O'Malley, & Johnston, 1994 ). Again, as noted by Ludden and Eccles (2007), there are likely to be myriad moderating factors (e.g., academic motivation, school engagement, peer influences on views of achievement, etc.) that may explain these discrepant findings. ...
This longitudinal study of affluent suburban youth (
N
= 319) tracked from 6th to 12th grade is parsed into two segments examining prospective associations concerning emotional–behavioral difficulties and academic achievement. In Part 1 of the investigation, markers of emotional–behavioral difficulty were used to cluster participants during 6th grade. Generalized estimating equations were then used to document between-cluster differences in academic competence from 6th to 12th grade. In Part 2 of the study, indicators of academic competence were used to cluster the same students during 6th grade, and generalized estimating equations were used to document between-cluster differences in emotional–behavioral difficulty from 6th to 12th grade. The results from Part 1 indicated that patterns of emotional–behavioral difficulty during 6th grade were concurrently associated with poorer grades and classroom adjustment with some group differences in the rate of change in classroom adjustment over time. In Part 2, patterns of academic competence during 6th grade were concurrently associated with less emotional–behavioral difficulty and some group differences in the rate of change in specific forms of emotional–behavioral difficulty over time. These results suggest that the youth sampled appeared relatively well adjusted and any emotional–behavioral–achievement difficulty that was evident at the start of middle school was sustained through the end of high school.
... This finding continues to be a consistent finding since the early 1970s; therefore, it is important to understand how academic performance can be a precursor to ditching school and in turn dropping out of school in early adolescence, and how this impacts inhalant lifetime and current use specifically with Latina early adolescents. Poorer academic performance continues to be noted as one of the main factors that directly impacts and mediates all substance use in adolescent populations (Bryant, Schulenberg, O'Malley, Bachman, & Johnston, 2003; Bryant & Zimmerman, 2002; Jeynes, 2002). There is also a substantial amount of research on poorer academic performance and the early onset of sexual behaviors in adolescence (Ellis et al., 2003; Lohman & Billings, 2008). ...
The purpose of the current study was to examine how lifetime use and extent of use of inhalants by Latina girls is impacted by age, acculturation, grades, ditching, sexual behaviors (light petting, heavy petting, and going all the way) and sexual agency. A total of 273 females who self-identified as being Latina whose mean age was 13.94 completed a self-report questionnaire. The extent of inhalant use increased as age decreased and acculturation was not a predictor of lifetime or extent of use. Girls reporting poorer grades and more ditching were more likely to have ever tried inhalants and had the highest frequency of inhalant use. In terms of sexual behaviors, heavy petting predicted lifetime use of inhalants while going all the way decreased inhalant use. Higher sexual agency predicted lower rates of ever trying inhalants and extent of inhalant use. Implications for the improvement of intervention programming are discussed.
... The present study found teacher/school factors reduced the odds of youth engagement in marijuana. As the consequences of marijuana use on academic achievement have been well documented (Bryant & Zimmerman, 2002; Dryfoos, 1990; Hawkins et al., 1992; Voelkl & Frone, 2000), school and school personnel are critical factors in preventing marijuana use and the negative outcomes associated with use. Global school approaches include setting and enforcing rules against use whereas on the classroom level, teachers should clearly communicate all school-level policies to students. ...
This study examines the psychosocial determinants of marijuana use among youth. A total of 7,488 African American middle and high school students from 133 metropolitan private and public schools completed a survey assessing psychosocial factors associated with annual marijuana use. The PRIDE survey, a nationally recognized survey on substance use, was used to assess the frequency of marijuana use and the influence of psychosocial factors on marijuana use among African American students. Results indicated that 18.5% of African American youth used marijuana in the past year. Males were significantly more likely than females to report using marijuana. Engaging in risky behaviors, such as getting in trouble at school and with police and attending a party with alcohol and other drugs, were significantly correlated with annual marijuana use. Conversely, having multiple parent, teacher, and school protective factors reduced annual marijuana use in this population. Such findings may assist prevention specialists in developing interventions to reduce and prevent marijuana use.
... However, the current study found that adolescents with a higher likelihood of ever trying cigarettes, alcohol (for boys), marijuana use, and inhalant use (for girls) were students with average academic success. Research often discusses the lowest achieving adolescents as having the highest risk of substance use and abuse (Bond et al., 2007; Bryant & Zimmerman, 2002), however, the current study found that achieving D's and F's did not increase the likelihood of cigarette and alcohol consumption. However, D's and F's did increase the odds of ever trying marijuana and inhalant use. ...
A growing population in the US is Latinos, an ethnic group defined by people of origin from Latin America. By 2050, Hispanics will be at least one quarter of the United States population (U.S. Census Bureau, 2006 ) with a substantial proportion under the age of 25 (Vaughan, Kratz, & D'argent, 2011 ). Yet, the literature on substance use among Latino adolescents is not advancing parallel to the growth of the population (Szapocznik, Lopez, Prado, Schwartz, & Pantin, 2006 ). Health concerns during early adolescence can have a lasting impact on the Latino community and society at large, as early substance initiation can lead to addiction during adulthood (Behrendt, Wittchen, Höfler, Lieb, & Beesdo, 2009 ). Therefore, research that aims to identify psychosocial determinants that serve as risk and protective factors specific to Latino early adolescents is needed as a critical first step in the development of culturally specific prevention initiatives (Vaughan et al., 2011 ).
... This study was designed to explore the association between marijuana use and craving in a college setting and how these variables might relate to academic motivation, effort and success. While there has been considerable research exploring the association between marijuana use and academic success (e.g., cumulative GPA, dropout, etc.) with high school students (e.g., Bray, Zarkin, Ringwalt, & Junfeng, 2000; Bryant & Zimmerman, 2002; Horwood et al., 2010; Lynskey & Hall, 2000), there has been less emphasis on exploring academic factors in college students using marijuana. Results indicate that marijuana craving is associated with marijuana use in college students who frequently use marijuana. ...
... Other mechanisms may also shed light on how poor academic performance contributes to subsequent sleep difficulties. For example, poor school performance (and associated detachment from school) is associated with increased family/parent-child conflict ( Brkovic et al. 2014;Dotterer et al. 2008), increased involvement with a negative peer group ( Dishion et al. 2010;Reinke et al. 2008), and substance use (Bryant et al. 2003;Bryant and Zimmerman 2002). As described above, each of these factors may in turn contribute to sleep problems, underscoring the importance of longitudinal studies that can consider both the complex interplay of academic and sleep functioning and also test for developmental cascades and mediating processes. ...
Sleep problems in adolescence have been identified as an international public health issue. Over the past few decades, notable advances have been made in our understanding of the patterns and consequences of sleep in adolescence. Despite these important gains, there is much about the role of sleep in adolescence that remains to be understood. This Special Issue brings together studies that examine sleep as it specifically pertains to adolescent development and adjustment. In this introductory article, we argue for the importance of grounding the study of sleep and adolescence in developmental science and a developmental psychopathology framework. First, a review of the literature is used to outline a biopsychosocial and contextual model of sleep in adolescence. Second, attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is used as an exemplar of the proposed model given the pervasiveness of sleep problems among youth with ADHD and the likelihood that sleep problems and ADHD symptoms are interconnected in complex ways. Finally, a brief introduction to the empirical articles included in the Special Issue is provided, with particular attention given to how these articles fit within the proposed biopsychosocial and contextual model. Along with the framework proposed in this article, the studies included in this Special Issue advance the current literature and point to critical directions for future research.
... Second, truancy may lead to other delinquent or criminal behaviors that increase the likelihood of the truant becoming involved in the criminal justice system. Studies have reported a positive association between truancy and substance use and abuse (Bryant & Zimmerman, 2002; Chou, Ho, Chen, & Chen, 2006; Miller & Plant, 1999). In a series of studies examining the connection between truancy and substance use during adolescence, Henry and her associates (Henry et al., 2009; Henry & Huizinga, 2007; Henry & Thornberry, 2010) found truancy leads to the onset and escalation of substance use, specifically alcohol, tobacco, and marijuana , among adolescents. ...
School truancy is a serious concern in the U.S., with far-reaching negative consequences. Truancy has been positively associated with substance use and delinquent behavior; however, research is limited. Consequently, the Truancy Brief Intervention Project was established to treat and prevent substance use and other risky behaviors among truants. This article examines whether the Brief Intervention program is more effective in preventing future delinquency over a 12-month follow-up period, than the standard truancy program. Results indicate the Brief Intervention was marginally significant in effecting future delinquency among truants, compared to the standard truancy program. Future implications of this study are discussed.
... The school presents adolescents with an opportunity to build a strong social bond by developing attachments with teachers, coaches, and administrators; establishing a stake in conformity; and providing involvement in extracurricular activities. The school bond, measured by liking or being interested in school work, is a correlate of substance use (Bryant & Zimmerman, 2002; Roeser, Eccles, & Freedman-Doan, 1999; Scheier & Botvin, 1998; Voelkl & Frone, 2000). Adolescents with strong bonds to school are less likely to be substance users. ...
There has been a tremendous increase in the prevalence of nonmedical prescription drug use among adolescents in recent years. Research now indicates that the prevalence of nonmedical prescription drug use is greater than the prevalence of other illicit drug use, excluding marijuana. Despite these recent trends, there is a dearth of research in the social sciences on this issue. Furthermore, existing research on this topic is largely atheoretical. Using the 2005 National Survey on Drug Use and Health, a nationally representative survey of persons age 12 and older, the current study examines the impact of social bonds to family and school on nonmedical prescription drug use among adolescents. The findings provide support for social control theory. Adolescents with strong bonds to family and school are less likely to report nonmedical prescription drug use. Important implications and future research needs are discussed.
... Although schools may not be directly responsible for students' behaviors, they can be a safe space for students who are struggling with these issues as they formulate and revise their identities (Gadsden, Jacobs, Bickerstaff, Park, & Kane, 2008). Specifically, children with negative school experiences are more likely than are their peers with positive school experiences to use alcohol and smoke cigarettes and marijuana (Bryant, Schulenberg, Bachman, O'Malley, & Johnston, 2000; Bryant & Zimmerman, 2002). Furthermore, when adolescents have high levels of school interest, they exhibit more effort at school and feel a certain bond with their school, making them less likely to engage in tobacco or alcohol use (Bryant et al., 2003 ). ...
... gs and directives in ways that their children can hear and understand). Some of these blaming assumptions make sense, in that parents are often the ones who request therapy and who are, at least initially, most motivated to change. However, some of my reactions were wrong-headed, in that parents are only one influence on their children's behaviors. Bryant and Zimmerman (2002) , for example, concluded that sibling and peer behaviors " have particularly salient influences on adolescents' substance use " (p. 623) relative to parental attitudes. Although in the past my attributions were gentle and moderated by my recognition of parents' strengths, I am learning to pay even greater attention to both sides of this ...
Stress-related growth following a variety of highly stressful experiences is receiving increased attention. However, one area that has not yet been addressed is the growth that therapists may experience in their own personal life through encounters with trauma and personal struggles and how this growth might carry forward to the work that they do with their clients in the practice of psychotherapy. In the present article, the authors describe stress-related growth and use it as a framework to examine the stressful experience and ultimate growth of a therapist dealing with a family member's emotional crises. Three areas of her growth as a therapist are examined: strengthened understanding of the therapeutic process from the client's viewpoint, additional strategies for approaching the change process, and increased empathy for parents and clients. The article concludes with recommendations for therapists experiencing personal struggles. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
... Responses ranged from not true (1) to very true (5). This adapted measure has been used with other adolescent samples (e.g., Bryant and Zimmerman, 2002) and has shown convergent and discriminant validity (Gavazzi, 1994; Procidano and Heller, 1983). ...
The current study expands upon body image research to examine how gender, self-esteem, social support, teasing, and family,
friend, and media pressures relate to body image and eating-related attitudes and behaviors among male and female adolescents
(N=177). Results indicated that adolescents were dissatisfied with their current bodies: males were concerned with increasing
their upper body, whereas females wanted to decrease the overall size of their body. Low self-esteem and social support, weight-related
teasing, and greater pressures to lose weight were associated with adolescents’ negative body esteem, body image, and eating
attitudes. Females displayed more high risk eating behaviors—which were associated with more psychosocial risk factors—than
males, whose high risk attitudes and behaviors were only associated with low parental support and greater pressure to be muscular.
Reducing adolescents’ perceptions of appearance-related pressure from family and friends may be key for enhancing body image
and decreasing links between low self-esteem and negative eating behaviors and weight-related perceptions.
Discrimination negatively impacts students’ ability to adapt to and deal with the educational stressors of a new environment. When students experience discrimination, their options are to fight, fawn, or flee—that is, skip school. This study focuses on the third option among refugee and immigrant students and addresses two inter-related issues: (a) the relationships between newcomer first-generation youth truancy and the perception of discrimination and psychological isolation in school, and (b) whether such relationships persist after employment, voluntary activities, or other socio-demographic factors are taken into account. The data source is a survey of immigrant and refugee students 14 to 24 years of age who attended school in a medium-sized city in Canada. Results show that experiences of discrimination and psychological isolation are significant predictors of truancy. I also find support for the effects of length of residency, paid employment, and participation in voluntary activities on increasing truancy, suggesting the importance of acculturation, socio-economic status, and time availability.
Background: Chronic school absenteeism is prevalent among high school students in the United States. Its impacts on academic success and health are cause for concern. One specific area of concern is its relationship to youth substance use; chronic absenteeism is associated with using alcohol, marijuana, tobacco, and other drugs. Despite important findings, absent from the literature is a recent and systematic synthesis of related research. Objective: We aimed to examine the literature to provide a better understanding of the relationship between chronic school absenteeism and the use of alcohol, tobacco, marijuana and other drugs among U.S. high school students. Methods: We conducted an integrative review of existing peer-reviewed literature using key terms in five databases from the education and health sectors. We included English-language, quantitative and qualitative studies published between 1992 and October 2017 and focused on U.S. students in grades 9 through 12 and between ages 13 and 21. We extracted data and study quality measures for included studies. Results: After screening 3,130 articles using titles and abstracts and reviewing 99 full-text articles, 37 met inclusion criteria. Most were cross-sectional, used local-level data, widely varied in sampling, were of limited generalizability, and simultaneously considered school absenteeism and the use of multiple substances. Due to methodological issues, the relationship between chronic absenteeism and substance use is difficult to fully understand. Conclusions: We confirm the connection between school absenteeism and substance use among U.S. youth, highlight a limited understanding of how and why this relationship manifests, and call for absenteeism research that uses longitudinal methods, national data, and clearly articulated methodologies and self-appraised limitations.
Alcohol use by middle school students is a significant national problem with serious consequences. In response to district-wide survey data identifying high rates of drinking at the middle school level, this case study gathered information from students in the suburban district’s two middle schools about the use of alcohol among their peers and their understanding of factors contributing to drinking. While the study establishes the complexity of the problem with roots in family, school, and society, consistent with other research, it emphasizes the importance of the school context and suggests proactive and protective leadership strategies that would meet students’ socio-emotional needs, support student engagement, and reduce alcohol use.
African American youth who experience racial discrimination are at heightened risk to use drugs as a coping response to distress. Based on the buffer-stress hypothesis, we proposed that parental support would attenuate this effect. Participants were 1,521 African American youth between 4th and 12th grade. As hypothesized, a mediation pathway was observed among racial discrimination, depression symptoms, and drug use. This effect was observed for both genders, although the pathway was partially mediated for males. In addition, as hypothesized, parental support buffered the negative effect of depression symptomatology on drug use as a consequence of discrimination. Our findings highlight the impact racial discrimination has on health outcomes for African American youth and the importance of managing youths’ emotional responses to discrimination. Moreover, findings illuminate the protective role of supportive parenting within the risk model and should thus be considered as an important component within prevention programming for this population of youth.
The current study utilizes an asset-based approach to examine inner-city African-American and Latino adolescent non-marijuana use. Interview findings suggest that the common theme in adolescent narratives is why they avoid marijuana use. Specifically, adolescents formulate several reasons situated in their perceptions of self, peers, and parents to avoid marijuana use. Drawing on resiliency theory and to broaden our scope of inquiry, we utilize these findings to further delve into the relationship between perceptions of self, peer communication, parental monitoring, and marijuana use avoidance utilizing survey data analysis. Findings can be used to leverage prevention programs with this population.
The aim of this research is to assess the relationship among the smoking status of primary school children with demographics and the smoking characteristics of their parents. In addition, to identify any factor(s) considered strong predictor(s) of academic achievement. A descriptive cross-sectional design was used in this study. A cluster random sample of 453 primary school children was obtained from both genders. Smoking was measured by the self-reported smoking behavior questionnaire and the educational achievement was measured by “Jordan Certificate of Primary Education.” The results indicate that there is a significant correlation between smoking status rpb ((451) = -.44, p < .001), age of smoking initiation r ((451) = -.30, p < .001), daily cigarettes r ((451) = -.12, p < .01), and smoked 100 cigarettes in lifetime rpb ((451) = -.28, p < .01) with academic achievement. In multiple hierarchical regression analysis, Model 1 explained 12% of variance with academic achievement. By adding the smoking characteristics Model 2 explained 28% of the variance with academic achievement. The conclusion is that there is a correlation between smoking and academic achievement.
Objectives: To determine the prevalence of substance use among high-school students in Guilan province, Iran Design: Cross-sectional study conducted from September 2004 to June 2005 Settings: Guilan province high-schools, Iran Subjects: A representative sample of 1927 students Interventions: A self-report questionnaire that included socio-demographic data, type of substance used, history of lifetime and past month substance use, first motivation, first place and first provider of substance was applied. Main Outcome Measure(s): Frequency of substance use in high-school students and some associated factors. Results: About 24% of subjects had substance use during their lifetime. 24% of the sample used tobacco and 10.5%, alcohol. Substance use was significantly higher in males (p<0.001). The highest frequency of substance use was among 3rd and 4th grade students (28.8% and 23.7% respectively). Substance use was related with higher educational grades in boys (p < 0.001) and significantly associated with smoker parents (p< 0.001). First experience with substances most commonly happened at home (26.6%), friends' parties (26.3%) and park/street (20.4%). 55.68% had obtained drugs, first time,from friends. Curiosity was the most common reason for drug use in 42.61% of the sample. Although substance use was higher in public schools and students with illiterate parents, it was not related with the type of school and parents' educational levels. Conclusion: A large number of high-school students had the experience of substance use, mostly tobacco and alcohol. Effective solutions and preventive programs should be applied to reduce substance use in Iranian youth population.
Background:
Marijuana use rates remain higher among Hispanic youth compared to youth from other ethnic groups.
Objectives:
The purpose of the study was to examine if sex, age, authoritarian parenting, perceived school experiences, lifetime depression, legal involvement, and perceived social norms of marijuana use predicted recent marijuana use and past year marijuana use among Hispanic youth.
Methods:
The participants of this study were a nationwide sample of Hispanic youth (n = 3,457) in the United States. A secondary data analysis of the 2012 National Survey on Drug Use and Health was performed. Unadjusted odds ratios were computed via univariate logistic regression analyses and all statistically significant variables were retained and included in the final multiple logistic regression analyses. Recent marijuana use was operationally defined as use within the past 30 days, and marijuana use in the past year was defined as use within the past year.
Results:
Results indicated that 7.5% of Hispanic youth used within the past month and 14.5% of Hispanic youth used within the past year. Results revealed that significant predictors for recent use were age, authoritarian parenting, perceived school experiences, legal involvement, and perceived social norms of youth marijuana use. Predictors for past year were age, perceived school experiences, legal involvement, and perceived social norms of youth marijuana use. Conclusions/Importance: Findings from this study can be used to address the public health problem of marijuana use among Hispanic youth that is ultimately contributing to health disparities among this ethnic group nationwide. Recommendations for future studies are included.
Time budgets represent key opportunities for developmental support and contribute to an understanding of achievement gaps and adjustment across populations of youth. This study assessed the connection between out-of-school time use patterns and academic performance outcomes, academic motivations and goals, and problem behaviors for 504 low-income urban African American and Latino adolescents (54% female; M=16.6 years). Time use patterns were measured across eight activity types using cluster analysis. Four groups of adolescents were identified, based on their different profiles of time use: (1) Academic: those with most time in academic activities; (2) Social: those with most time in social activities; (3) Maintenance/work: those with most time in maintenance/work activities; and (4) TV/computer: those with most time in TV or computer activities. Time use patterns were meaningfully associated with variation in outcomes in this population. Adolescents in the Academic cluster had the highest levels of adjustment across all domains; adolescents in the Social cluster had the lowest academic performance and highest problem behaviors; and adolescents in the TV/computer cluster had the lowest levels of intrinsic motivation. Females were more likely to be in the Academic cluster, and less likely to be in the other three clusters compared to males. No differences by race or gender were found in assessing the relationship between time use and outcomes. The study’s results indicate that time use patterns are meaningfully associated with within-group variation in adjustment for low-income minority adolescents, and that shared contexts may shape time use more than individual differences in race/ethnicity for this population.
Background:
The objective of the research was to study the association between school bonding dimensions (school commitment and school attachment) and current adolescent smoking in Chile, controlling for confounding variables using the fifth Chilean School Population National Substance Use Survey, 2003 (CHSS-2003) data set.
Methods:
The CHSS-2003 is a stratified cross-sectional survey that gathers information about personal, familial, peer, and school factors and cigarette use using a self-reported questionnaire. Complete data from 21,956 adolescent students for all the variables of interest were used in the analyses. An exploratory factor analysis (EFA) was performed in order to explore the construct validity of the questionnaire and create the main exposure and potential confounding variables. Multivariable logistic regression analyses were undertaken to study the association between school bonding and smoking.
Results:
The construct validity of the school attachment and school commitment scales was mainly supported by the EFA. Multivariable analyses showed strong evidence that, after adjusting for factors from different domains, school commitment (student's good grades and school attendance) appears to have a clear inverse association with current smoking (odds ratio [OR] = 0.46, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.38-0.56). On the other hand, school attachment (their feelings towards their school and their teachers) was not associated with adolescent smoking (OR = 1.16, 95% CI: 0.88-1.53).
Conclusions:
School commitment was strongly associated with current smoking. It is important to further study this variable with the aim of ascertaining whether or not interventions that improve school commitment may prevent or reduce smoking amongst adolescent students.
A growing body of literature has linked substance use and academic performance exploring substance use as a predictor of academic performance or vice versa. This study uses a different approach conceptualizing substance use and academic performance as parallel outcomes and exploring two topics: its multilevel-longitudinal association and school contextual effects on both outcomes. Using multilevel Confirmatory Factor Analysis and multilevel-longitudinal analyses, the empirical estimates relied on 7843 students nested in 114 schools (Add Health study). The main finding suggests that the correlation between substance use and academic performance was positive at the school level in contraposition to the negative relationship at the individual level. Additional findings suggest a positive effect of a school risk factor on substance use and a positive effect of academic pressure on academic performance. These findings represent a contribution to our understanding of how schools could affect the relationship between academic performance and substance use.
Few studies have examined the behavioral and protective correlates of alcohol use among young Hispanics. Using a national sample (N = 7,606), logistic regression and latent profile analysis (LPA) are employed to examine the relationships between alcohol use, psychosocial factors, and externalizing behavior among Hispanics during early adolescence. Early drinkers are more likely to report truancy, fighting, smoking, and drug use. LPA results revealed a three class solution. Classes identified included: psychosocial risk (41.11%), moderate protection (39.44%), and highly religious (19.44%). Alcohol use is clearly associated with externalizing behavior; however, an important degree of psychosocial and behavioral heterogeneity nevertheless exists.
Prior research suggests a link between academic performance and alcohol use during adolescence, but the degree to which this association reflects actual protective effects continues to be debated. We investigated the role of genetic factors in the association between academic achievement and adolescent alcohol use and whether achievement might constrain the translation of genetic influences on drinking into actual behavior (a Gene × Environment interaction). Analysis of twin data from Add Health (n = 399 monozygotic and dizygotic twin pairs) revealed not only common genetic factors underlying the association between achievement and alcohol consumption but also evidence for a gene-environment interaction. Specifically, the protective effect of achievement operated by moderating heritability of alcohol use, which was particularly salient for adolescents at high genetic risk for alcohol use. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2013 APA, all rights reserved).
Shifting drug use patterns away from traditional illicit drugs (i.e., heroin, cocaine, methamphetamines) and toward prescription drug misuse among adolescents necessitates a renewed theoretical emphasis in adolescent drug use research. Given the unique processes and perspectives associated with prescription drug misuse, theoretical connections to prescription drug misuse likely show different patterns than prior research has shown with marijuana and other illicit drugs. Using data from the 2009 National Survey on Drug Use and Health, the authors apply concepts of social control theory, social learning theory, and strain theory to prescription drug misuse and draw comparisons with the predictors of marijuana and other drug use. Findings indicate that social learning, social control, and strain measures exert unique and independent influences on all three categories of adolescent substance use. Despite the similar theoretical effects across categories of substance use, many notable differences in theoretical processes are evident, especially for prescription drug misuse.
Cross-sectional and longitudinal studies have reported equivocal findings regarding the association between self-esteem, self-efficacy and adolescent alcohol use. Data were collected from a sample of 11–16-year olds in Northern Ireland (n = 4088) over two consecutive academic years measuring global self-esteem, academic, social and emotional self-efficacy and alcohol involvement. Results showed a domain-specific association between alcohol involvement and self-efficacy, with more problematic alcohol use associated with higher social self-efficacy but lower emotional and academic self-efficacy. Additionally, regression analyses revealed that all self-concept measures significantly predicted drinking group membership. The results are discussed in terms of reported drinking behaviour, interventions with adolescent groups and general development.
Aim: To investigate whether or not a range of factors were associated with problematic drinking, as assessed using the Adolescent Alcohol Involvement Scale (AAIS) in a sample of 11–16-year olds in Northern Ireland. Methods: The study used a cross-sectional experimental design. Post-primary schools in the Eastern Health Board Area of Northern Ireland were targeted and 1137 participants were recruited of whom 1057 (93%) successfully completed a battery of questionnaires. These measured parent and peer Attachment, self-efficacy, self-esteem, academic motivation, alcohol outcome expectancies, parental rules on alcohol use and alcohol use (if any). Findings: Multinomial logistic regression revealed that more problematic alcohol use was predicted by being in higher school year, higher reported positive outcome expectancies and lower negative outcome expectancies, less strict and/or clear parental rules on alcohol consumption, lower academic self-efficacy, higher social self-efficacy and less trust of parents. Conclusions: Preventative and/or harm reduction initiatives with this age group need to be aware of these as factors which differentiate adolescent drinkers. In particular, the findings suggest the potential need for age and gender specific interventions which challenge social norms about alcohol consumption, and the potential viability of family/school relationship-building interventions.
Many studies have established that warm, authoritative parenting is associated with positive adjustment in children and adolescents. Fewer studies, however, have examined the potential mechanisms driving this relationship. The current study explores the effects of late adolescents’ positive and negative perceptions of their parents in the association between perceived parenting and late adolescent emotional adjustment (depression, anxiety, and self-esteem). The sample consisted of 151 males and 324 females ranging in age from 18- to 22-years. Data were analysed with structural equation modeling. Results of the study suggested that perceived parenting, positive and negative perceptions of parents, and emotional adjustment as reported by late adolescents all are correlated significantly. The effects of perceived parenting on late adolescents’ emotional adjustment, however, were not statistically significant when analysed simultaneously with late adolescents’ positive and negative perceptions of parents. Also, the relationship between late adolescents’ positive and negative perceptions of parents and late adolescent emotional adjustment became non-significant when examining father relationships. Overall, the importance of considering parenting in the context of parent and adolescents’ sex as well as other variables is emphasised.
This study conceptualized individual-level cultural-ecological factors (racial identity and religious coping) as adolescent
assets that would promote achievement motivation and reduce negative associations between community violence exposure and
motivation. Our examination of African American adolescents (N=380) from urban contexts indicated a negative association between community violence exposure and motivation beliefs (academic
self-efficacy and academic importance). Accounting for socioeconomic factors and parental support, higher racial pride (private
regard), and higher use of religion to cope with difficult times predicted higher motivation beliefs. Religious coping reduced
the negative association of violence exposure with motivation beliefs. Among boys, however, there was a stronger, negative
relationship between community violence and academic self-efficacy for those higher in private regard. Boys reporting higher
private regard had more positive motivation beliefs when experiencing lower community violence. Results suggest cultural-ecological
factors can support academic motivation but also may not fully protect youth exposed to high ecological risk.
KeywordsAchievement motivation beliefs–At-risk african american youth–Community violence–Racial identity–Religious coping
illustrate how several aspects of U. Bronfenbrenner's perspective on the ecology of human development can be incorporated into a program of research / [examine] the role of context in adolescent development at multiple levels / look at adolescent development in the microsystems of the family and peer group, at the intersection of these 2 microsystems (what Bronfenbrenner calls the mesosystem), within the family's social network and community (a level of analysis Bronfenbrenner calls the exosystem), and within the broader context of ethnicity (a part of what Bronfenbrenner calls the macrosystem) / focus . . . on 1 particular context of development during adolescence: the family / more specifically, we asked whether, and through what mechanisms, parents of high school-age adolescents continue to influence their children to develop in healthy ways / aimed at understanding authoritative parenting and its impact on youngster's development
the data we draw on in this chapter present several unique opportunities to study the influence of parents within a broader context / our sample was drawn from the student bodies of 9 high schools in Wisconsin and Northern California... (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
The moderating influences of family structure and parent-adolescent distress on the relationship between peer variables and drug use were examined in a predominantly African American sample of 630 10th graders at 9 urban high schools. Both peer pressure and peer drug use were significantly related to the reported frequency of drug use. The relationship between peer pressure and drug use was stronger among girls than boys, and also among adolescents in families without fathers or stepfathers. The association between peer pressure and drug use also increased as a function of the level of mother-adolescent distress among adolescents who were not Living with fathers or stepfathers. Neither gender nor family structure moderated the relationship between peer drug models and drug use. However the association between peer drug models and drug use increased as a function of the level of mother-adolescent distress.
The current study examines patterns of academic functioning and mental health in 184 middle school children and the relation of such patterns to their prior and subsequent functioning. Data were collected from children during their second, third, fourth, eighth, and ninth grade school years. Cluster analyses were used to delineate patterns of academic functioning and mental health during eighth grade. The authors examined the relation of these patterns to academic functioning and mental health 1 year later the transition to high school, and then examined the long-term developmental roots of the eighth grade patterns using data collected during elementary school years. Results indicated variegated patterns of academic and emotional functioning at eighth grade and stability in these patterns across the high school transition. Some long-term continuity was found among children showing uniformly positive or negative functioning at eighth grade. Studying child functioning across multiple domains and time periods is discussed.
Findings from school-based drug prevention interventions indicate that social skills and personal competence are an effective barrier against adolescent alcohol use. Efficacious and competent youth are hypothesized to possess skills to reduce offers for alcohol and invoke alternative strategies that offset peer pressure. To understand these developmental relations, a longitudinal model that specified effects of early alcohol use on later social skills and competence and their recursive influences was tested using data obtained from a cohort of nontreatment youth participating in a drug abuse prevention trial Social skills, personal competence, and consumption were temporally stable from the 8th through 10th grade. Early competence predicted lowered alcohol use, whereas social skills were associated with greater subsequent alcohol use. Social influence risk moderated the competence-consumption relations, underscoring the close developmental interplay between social context and intrapersonal risk. Findings are discussed in terms of cognitive-behavioral strategies to effectively reduce alcohol use.
To examine the influence of friends on adolescents' motivation to achieve in school, each of 118 8th graders was paired with a close friend. The pairs of friends were randomly assigned to either an experimental or a control condition. In the experimental condition, the friends discussed dilemmas that required them to decide between 2 actions reflecting different levels of achievement motivation. In the control condition, friends discussed topics unrelated to school. Before and after the discussions, all adolescents made decisions on the dilemmas independently. The 1st hypothesis was that discussions of the dilemmas would lead to an increase in the similarity of friends' decisions. The 2nd hypothesis was that discussions would lead to shifts toward more extreme decisions. The results supported the 1st hypothesis but not the 2nd. More harmonious discussions involving greater information exchange led to greater changes in decisions. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
The interactive effects of peer behavior and adolescents' perceptions of authoritative parenting on GPA and drug use were examined. Two samples of 500 9th–11th graders participated in a 1-yr longitudinal study, and they and their friends provided reports of respective school grades and substance use. Changes in GPA and drug use are predicted by friend's grades and drug use. However, this effect is moderated by the adolescent's report of authoritative parenting. The positive impact of having a high-achieving friend is stronger among adolescents whose parents are relatively more authoritative. The deleterious impact of having a drug-using friend is stronger among adolescents whose parents are relatively less authoritative. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
This study examined adolescents' perceptions of pedagogical caring in relation to their motivation to achieve positive social and academic outcomes in middle school. A longitudinal sample of 248 students was followed from 6th to 8th grade. Perceived caring from teachers predicted motivational outcomes, even when students' current levels of psychological distress and beliefs about personal control, as well as previous (6th grade) motivation and performance, were taken into account. Eighth-grade students characterize supportive and caring teachers along dimensions suggested by N. Noddings (1992) and models of effective parenting (D. Baumrind, 1971). Teachers who care were described as demonstrating democratic interaction styles, developing expectations for student behavior in light of individual differences, modeling a "caring" attitude toward their own work, and providing constructive feedback. The implications for understanding links between teacher behavior and student achievement are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
I consider Eccles et al.'s (1983) expectancy-value model of achievement performance and choice from a developmental perspective, by examining how recent research on the development of young children's competence beliefs, expectancies for success, subjective task values, and achievement goals can be incorporated into the model. The kinds of change in children's achievement beliefs considered include change in the factor structure of children's competence beliefs and values; change across age in the mean level of those constructs; and change in children's conceptions of ability beliefs and subjective values. I also discuss how achievement goals are conceptualized in this model, and how goals are conceived by other current motivation researchers. Changes in the nature of relations among competence beliefs, subjective task values, achievement goals, and achievement behaviors also are considered.
Using a 2-wave longitudinal design with a 6-month interval, associations were examined between substance use and emotional/behavioral adjustment among 138 inner-city ninth-grade students. Substance use was operationalized in terms of self-reported severity of problems associated with use of alcohol, marijuana, and other drugs. Adjustment was measured based on various sources including ratings by the self, by peers, and by teachers, as well as school records. Cross-sectional data indicated that drug use showed associations in expected directions with all indices of adjustment with the exception of peer-rated sociability. Longitudinal analyses indicated that high levels of drug use early in the year were related to subsequent increases in behavioral and emotional maladjustment. Early maladjustment, across different domains, conversely, was minimally associated with escalations in drug use. Results are discussed in terms of mechanisms potentially underlying prospective associations, as well as implications for interventions.
Relations among academic achievement, school bonding, school misbehavior, and cigarette use from 8th to 12th grade were examined in two national panel samples of youth ( n = 3056). A series of competing conceptual models developed a priori was tested using structural equation modeling (SEM). The findings suggest that during middle adolescence the predominant direction of influence is from school experiences to cigarette use. School misbehavior and low academic achievement contribute to increased cigarette use over time both directly and indirectly. Two-group SEM analyses involving two cohorts—gender and ethnicity—revealed that our findings are robust. In addition, comparisons between high school dropouts and nondropouts and between eighth-grade cigarette use initiators and nonusers revealed few differences in direction or magnitude of effects. Results suggest that prevention programs that attempt to reduce school misbehavior and academic failure, as well as to help students who misbehave and have difficulty in school constructively avoid negative school- and health-related outcomes, are likely to be effective in reducing adolescent cigarette use. Peer Reviewed http://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/45498/1/11121_2004_Article_223014.pdf
The authors suggest that the most promising route to effective strategies for the prevention of adolescent alcohol and other drug problems is through a risk-focused approach. This approach requires the identification of risk factors for drug abuse, identification of methods by which risk factors have been effectively addressed, and application of these methods to appropriate high-risk and general population samples in controlled studies. The authors review risk and protective factors for drug abuse, assess a number of approaches for drug abuse prevention potential with high-risk groups, and make recommendations for research and practice.
Cluster analyzed four variables: school attendance, employment, church attendance, and delinquency, to develop life-style profiles. Data from 218 African-American urban adolescents were used in the study. Five meaningful clusters were retained and subjected to criterion validity analyses using measures of spirituality, participation in a voluntary organization, self-esteem, and friend's substance use. The five clusters were then compared on cigarette, alcohol, marijuana, and hard drug use. The results suggest that a life-style that includes an adaptive compensatory behavior component may be more adaptive than a life-style that does not include compensatory behavior. For example, youths who left high school before graduation but were involved in church reported less alcohol and substance use than youths who left school and were not involved in any meaningful instrumental activity. Implications for intervention and future research on high-risk behaviors are discussed.
Studies of adolescent smoking suggest that the causes of smoking initiation may differ for Blacks and Whites.
Correlates of smoking initiation were examined among 1,277 nonsmokers, ages 12-14, who completed questionnaires in their homes. The analyses examined relationships between smoking initiation and 11 explanatory variables using logistic regression with the combined sample and with Black and White samples.
Over two years, 24 percent of Whites and 14 percent of Blacks started to smoke. Whites were more likely to start smoking at age 12 and Blacks at age 14. Having a best friend who smoked increased the odds of initiating smoking over twofold for Whites but had no effect on the odds of smoking for Blacks.
Whites initiate smoking earlier than Blacks and are more likely to be influenced by friend behavior.
Three studies are described in which measures of perceived social support from friends (PSS-Fr) and from family (PSS-Fa) were developed and validated. The PSS measures were internally consistent and appeared to measure valid constructs that were separate from each other and from network measures. PSS-Fr and PSS-Fa were both inversely related to symptoms of distress and psychopathology but the relationship was stronger for PSS-Fa. PSS-Fr was more closely related to social competence. PSS-Fa was unaffected by either positive or negative mood states (self-statements), but the reporting of PSS-Fr was lowered by negative mood states. High PSS-Fr subjects were significantly lower in trait anxiety and talked about themselves more to friends and sibs than low PSS-Fr subjects. Low PSS-Fa subjects showed marked verbal inhibition with sibs.
It is widely believed that risk factors identified in previous epidemiologic studies accurately predict adolescent drug use. Comparative studies are needed to determine how risk factors vary in prevalence, distribution, sensitivity, and pattern across the major US ethnic/racial groups.
Baseline questionnaire data from a 3-year epidemiologic study of early adolescent development and drug use were used to conduct bivariate and multivariate risk factor analyses. Respondents (n = 6760) were sixth- and seventh-grade Cuban, other Hispanic, Black, and White non-Hispanic boys in the 48 middle schools of the greater Miami (Dade County) area.
Findings indicate 5% lifetime illicit drug use, 4% lifetime inhalant use, 37% lifetime alcohol use, and 21% lifetime tobacco use, with important intergroup differences. Monotonic relationships were found between 10 risk factors and alcohol and illicit drug use. Individual risk factors were distributed disproportionately, and sensitivity and patterning of risk factors varied widely by ethnic/racial subsample.
While the cumulative prevalence of risk factors bears a monotonic relationship to drug use, ethnic/racial differences in risk factor profiles, especially for Blacks, suggest differential predictive value based on cultural differences.
Previous research has noted that schools vary in substance use prevalence rates, but explanations for school differences have received little empirical attention. We assess variability across elementary schools (N = 36) in rates of early adolescent alcohol, cigarette, and marijuana use. Characteristics of neighborhoods and schools potentially related to school prevalence rates are examined, as well as whether these characteristics have independent effects or whether neighborhood characteristics are mediated by school characteristics. Neighborhood and school characteristics were measured using student, parent, and archival data. The findings show substantial variation across schools in substance use. Attributes of neighborhoods and schools are statistically significantly related to school rates of lifetime alcohol use, lifetime cigarette use, and current cigarette use. Contrary to expectations, lifetime alcohol and cigarette use rates are higher in schools located in neighborhoods having greater social advantages as indicated by the perceptions of residents and archival data. Neighborhood effects are expressed both directly and indirectly through school characteristics. The findings are discussed in light of contagion and social disorganization theories.
Objectives in this research were to examine contextual differences in correlates of substance use among high school students. The focus was on two broad categories of adjustment indices: personal psychopathology (internalizing and externalizing problems) and behaviors reflecting social competence (academic achievement, teacher-rated classroom behaviors, and peer acceptance or rejection). Associations between drug use and each of these constructs were examined in two sociodemographically disparate groups: teens from affluent, suburban families (n = 264), and low socioeconomic status adolescents from inner-city settings (n = 224). Results indicated that suburban youth reported significantly higher levels of substance use than inner-city youth. In addition, their substance use was more strongly linked with subjectively perceived maladjustment indices. Comparable negative associations involving grades and teacher-rated behaviors were found in both groups, and among suburban males only, substance use showed robust positive associations with acceptance by peers. Results are discussed in terms of developmental perspectives on adolescent deviance, contextual socializing forces, and implications for preventive interventions and treatment.
Social-motivational processes and socialization experiences can play a critical role in students' academic success. However, the search for specific mechanisms and processes that explain these social influences on motivation is still in its inception. The purpose of this article was to begin to articulate some of these processes in the hope that more precise explanations of influence will emerge. The Ist section of the article focuses on ways in which social-motivational processes are relevant for understanding motivation to achieve academically, using goal pursuit as a case in point. Models describing complementary, developmental, and hierarchical relations among social and task-related goals and their implications for understanding student achievement are presented. Then, ways in which students' social encounters and experiences with parents, teachers, and peers might influence their adoption and internalization of socially valued goals are examined. New directions for theoretical and empirical inquiry are presented.
This study investigated the relations among 2 sociological predictors of risk for school leaving (race and social class), motivational context, and behavioral indicators of withdrawal from school in a sample of 405 7th grade students. Students completed questionnaires to assess their perceptions of the 3 aspects of their school motivational context, including the academic expectations and support of teachers and peers and the economic opportunity structure. Behavioral indicators of alienation were teachers' ratings of engagement and students' disciplinary problems. Students with more indicators of potential risk (i.e., low-income, African American, or both) were less engaged, had more disciplinary problems, and perceived their motivational contexts as more negative than students with fewer risk factors. Motivational context variables were stronger predictors of alienation than were status variables and partially mediated the relations between status indicators of potential risk and signs of alienation from school.
We examined the potential benefits and risks associated with participation in five types of activities: prosocial (church and volunteer activities), team sports, school involvement, performing arts, and academic clubs. Our sample included 1,259 mostly European American adolescents (approximately equal numbers of males and females). First, we explore the link between involvement in these activities and our indicators of positive and negative development. Involvement in prosocial activities was linked to positive educational trajectories and low rates of involvement in risky behaviors. In contrast, participation in team sports was linked to positive educational trajectories and to high rates of involvement in one risky behavior, drinking alcohol. Then, we explore two possible mediators of these associations: peer associations and activity-based identity formation. The evidence supported our hypothesis that group differences in peer associations and activity-based identities help explain activity group differences.
This article examines the influence of personal background characteristics, family involvement, and ability grouping on school commitment, which, in turn, affects the extent of students' participation in school crime, school misconduct, and school nonattendance. Observational and survey data from a sample of 754 middle school students in Grades 7 and 8 support the hypothesis that decreasing levels of school commitment are linked to increasing rates of school crime, school misconduct, and school nonattendance. Personal background, family involvement, and ability grouping help to explain the level of school commitment. Higher school commitment is associated with being female, White, in the eighth grade, and in high-ability mathematics classes. Youths with more educated mothers and youths whose parents are highly involved in their schooling are also more educationally committed. School commitment mediates much of the effects of personal background, family involvement, and ability grouping on the school delinquency measures. These findings can serve as a basis for early school-based delinquency prevention efforts.
This paper describes a comprehensive developmental approach to preventing youth crime based on the social development model, an integration of social control theory and social learning theory. The model asserts that the most important units of socialization, family, schools, peers, and community, influence behavior sequentially. Positive socialization is achieved when youths have the opportunity within each unit to be involved in conforming activities, when they develop skills necessary to be successfully involved, and when those with whom they interact consistently reward desired behaviors. These conditions should increase attachment to others, commitment to conforming behavior, and belief in the conventional order. These social bonds to conventional society inhibit association with delinquent pers and, in turn, prevent delinquent behavior. The paper describes prevention approaches consistent with the model. Rigorous evaluation of the delinquency prevention effects of these interventions is needed.
This research is based on a panel study of urban black adolescents (N = 536) with six to eight years intervening between measuring the predictors and measuring subsequent smoking initiation. Prior research with white and largely school-drawn samples has demonstrated that poor school achievement has a significant influence on smoking initiation. The same relationship held in this black youth sample, with a stronger effect noted for females than for males. Two major competing explanations of this relationship then were tested: (1) psychogenic, which postulated smoking as a means of coping with school related stress and; (2) differential socialization, which postulated smoking as an outcome of adherence to divergent social norms. Separate prediction models were tested for males and females. Psychogenic variables (worry about school performance) significantly increased females' smoking risk, but not males'. Social expectancy (perceptions of one's chances in the opportunity structure), an indicator of differential socialization, added significantly to males' risk of smoking initiation, but not females'. Neither significantly reduced the poor academic achievement-smoking link.
This study examined both the substance-specific and nonspecific, or generalized, effects of parent substance use, attitudes toward use, and behavior regarding use on adolescent initiation and maintenance of alcohol, cigarettes, and marijuana use. Data from 645 target adolescents and their parent(s) regarding their own use and parents' attitude, cautionary statements, and negative consequences were used to predict both the onset of using each substance and the transition from use to nonuse during the following year. Results indicated that not only did parents' influence specific to a given substance affect adolescent use of that same substance, but parents `nonspecific or generalized influence predicted the onset and maintenance of other substance use. Furthermore, parent modeling, attitude, cautionary statements, and consequences were all significant predictors of adolescent initiation and maintenance of substance use. Interactions of the parental influence variables with gender, age, and parents' marital status were found. Implications of these findings for intervention efforts are discussed.
The present study tested a social learning model designed to specify the nature of the associations between various constructs shown in previous research to be related to adolescent substance use. The model was tested using a sample of 61 families, each of which included a seventh grader. The results largely supported the hypothesized model. Aggressiveness, low commitment to prosocial values, and problems at school were associated with involvement in a deviant peer group. Low commitment to prosocial values and involvement with deviant peers were related to feelings of depression. Finally, involvement with deviant peers and feelings of depression interacted to increase the probability of substance use, suggesting that depressed adolescents may use substances as a form of self-medication when such behavior is supported by their peer group.
In this article, I review the diverse ways in which perceived self-efficacy contributes to cognitive development and functioning. Perceived self-efficacy exerts its influence through four major processes. They include cognitive, motivational, affective, and selection processes. There are three different levels at which perceived self-efficacy operates as an important contributor to academic development. Students' beliefs in their efficacy to regulate their own learning and to master academic activities determine their aspirations, level of motivation, and academic accomplishments. Teachers' beliefs in their personal efficacy to motivate and promote learning affect the types of learning environments they create and the level of academic progress their students achieve. Faculties' beliefs in their collective instructional efficacy contribute significantly to their schools' level of academic achievement. Student body characteristics influence school-level achievement more strongly by altering faculties' beliefs in their collective efficacy than through direct affects on school achievement.
Lifestyle, social support/stress, and well-being were used to predict frequency of alcohol, marijuana, and hard drug use among 150 urban African-American male adolescents (aged 15–19 yrs). Ss, most of whom had dropped out of school, participated in an initial interview and a follow-up interview 6 mo later. Lifestyle was a significant predictor of marijuana and hard drug use at both measurement points, and a predictor of alcohol use at 1 measurement point. Support/stress explained significant variance in alcohol use at both measurement points, and in marijuana use at 1 measurement point. Independent variance in substance use was explained by in-school status, spirituality, and life event stress. Low self-esteem predicted increased marijuana use 6 mo later. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
Family processes affecting the socioemotional functioning of children living in poor families and families experiencing economic decline are reviewed. Black children are of primary interest in the article because they experience disproportionate shares of the burden of poverty and economic loss and are at substantially higher risk than white children of experiencing attendant socioemotional problems. It is argued that (a) poverty and economic loss diminish the capacity for supportive, consistent, and involved parenting and render parents more vulnerable to the debilitating effects of negative life events, (b) a major mediator of the link between economic hardship and parenting behavior is psychological distress deriving from an excess of negative life events, undesirable chronic conditions, and the absence and disruption of marital bonds, (c) economic hardship adversely affects children's socioemotional functioning in part through its impact on the parent's behavior toward the child, and (d) father-child relations under conditions of economic hardship depend on the quality of relations between the mother and father. The extent to which psychological distress is a source of race differences in parenting behavior is considered. Finally, attention is given to the mechanisms by which parents' social networks reduce emotional strain, lessen the tendency toward punitive, coercive, and inconsistent parenting behavior, and, in turn, foster positive socioemotional development in economically deprived children.
This research analyzed the network of psychosocial influences through which efficacy beliefs affect academic achievement. Parents' sense of academic efficacy and aspirations for their children were linked to their children's scholastic achievement through their perceived academic capabilities and aspirations. Children's beliefs in their efficacy to regulate their own learning and academic attainments, in turn, contributed to scholastic achievement both independently and by promoting high academic aspirations and prosocial behavior and reducing vulnerability to feelings of futility and depression. Children's perceived social efficacy and efficacy to manage peer pressure for detrimental conduct also contributed to academic attainments but through partially different paths of affective and self-regulatory influence. The impact of perceived social efficacy was mediated through academic aspirations and a low level of depression. Perceived self-regulatory efficacy was related to academic achievement both directly and through adherence to moral self-sanctions for detrimental conduct and problem behavior that can subvert academic pursuits. Familial socioeconomic status was linked to children's academic achievement only indirectly through its effects on parental aspirations and children's prosocialness. The full set of self-efficacy, aspirational, and psychosocial factors accounted for a sizable share of the variance in academic achievement.
Research has generally concluded that adolescent depression and substance use are strongly interrelated, but has rarely considered how this relationship may vary across diverse populations. In this study, we used quantitative and qualitative methods to explore the relationships among depression and cigarette, alcohol, marijuana, and harder drug use across two culturally disparate environments: a suburban and an inner-city high school. Our sample included 164 suburban and 242 inner-city high school students. The students completed Kovacs' Children's Depression Inventory of 1985 and substance use measures derived from various sources. In-depth semistructured interviews were conducted with subjects who scored in the top 10% of the CDI (N=19) from both schools. Our quantitative findings indicated a positive association between depression and cigarette, marijuana, and harder drug use among the suburban students, and no association between depression and the use of any substances for the urban students. There were no significant differences in levels of reported depression across samples. However, with the exception of marijuana use, suburban students reported greater involvement in substance use than urban students. Our qualitative analyses suggest that across-school differences in the relationships among depression and substance use may be related to the varied meanings of depression and substance use that are informed by cultural context.
The social psychological antecedents of entry into three sequential stages of adolescent drug use, hard liquor, marihuana, and other illicit drugs, are examined in a cohort of high school students in which the population at risk for initiation into each stage could be clearly specified. The analyses are based on a two-wave panel sample of New York State public secondary students and subsamples of matched adolescent-parent and adolescent-best schoolfriend dyads. Each of four clusters of predictor variables, parental influences, peer influences, adolescent involvement in various behaviors, and adolescent beliefs and values, and single predictors within each cluster assume differential importance for each stage of drug behavior. Prior involvement in a variety of activities, such as minor delinquency and use of cigarettes, beer, and wine are most important for hard liquor use. Adolescents' beliefs and values favorable to the use of marihuana and association with marihuana-using peers are the strongest predictors of initiation into marihuana. Poor relations with parents, feelings of depression, and exposure to drug-using peers are most important for initiation into illicit drugs other than marihuana.
In this article we present a theoretical analysis of the nature and development of children's achievement task values. Our approach builds on traditional expectancy-value theory and also on a model of achievement choice developed by Eccles and her colleagues. We discuss different theoretical components of achievement values and present empirical evidence for these components. Existing work on how children's achievement values change across the elementary and secondary school years is reviewed, and hypotheses are provided for how the components of achievement values become differentiated across the school years. We discuss the work on achievement goals from the perspective of how children's achievement values could influence their goals. Suggestions are made for revising and expanding Eccles and her colleagues' expectancy-value model of achievement choice.
A social-psychological framework for the explanation of adolescent risk behavior is presented. The framework incorporates attention to both person and situational variables, and it differentiates both sets of variables into risk factors and protective factors. Risk is then considered to be a resultant reflecting the balance of risk and protection. The framework makes clear that being “at risk” for onsetting or initiating risk behaviors is an earlier developmental stage than being “at risk” for the compromising health- and life-outcomes of actually engaging in risk behaviors. The person-situation interactionist perspective that informs the framework provides an alternative to the formulation presented byArnett (1992) to account for “reckless” behavior in adolescence.
The present study examines substance use among academically successful students. The data were collected in two discrete anonymous surveys of 2,288 ninth-grade and 2,653 eleventh-grade California students, and 1,043 ninth-grade and 862 eleventh-grade students from a large suburban county. Over 70 percent of the academically successful students from both samples reported some type of drug use. These successful students were divided for comparison into three groups according to their involvement with drugs: abstainers, conventional users, and high-risk users. The analyses indicated that the negative association between drug use and academic achievement may be counter-balanced by mediating factors identified in the study. These factors included high "educational aspiration," "parent educational level," and "emotional stability."
During the past several years, there has been a renewed national concern about drug abuse, culminating in the current "war on drugs." In this review, we emphasize that even though child or teenage drug use is an individual behavior, it is embedded in a sociocultural context that strongly determines its character and manifestations. Our focus is on psychoactive substances both licit (cigarettes and alcohol) and illicit (e.g., cannabis and cocaine). We feel that it is critical to draw a distinction between use and abuse of drugs and to do so from a multidimensional perspective that includes aspects of the stimulus (drug), organism (individual), response, and consequences. Our selective review of substance use and abuse among children and adolescents covers epidemiology (patterns and extent of drug use), etiology (what generates substance use), prevention (how to limit drug use), treatment (interventions with drug users), and consequences (effects and outcomes of youthful drug use).
Little systematic information is available concerning the association between adolescent drug usage and other forms of behavior. The present study addressed this issue. Two hundred and thirty-one adolescents completed questionnaires concerning their use of drugs (alcohol, tobacco, pain-killers, marijuana, etc.). Factor analysis of endorsements of a broad range of behaviors, followed by regression analysis, indicated that sexual behavior, general delinquency, school misbehavior, social behavior and studying/reading (--) were all related to drug use. School achievement (--) and domestic behavior (--) gave lower correlations. Religious behavior did not emerge as a clear correlate.
Adolescents may be influenced both by their friends' behaviors and by the features of their friendships. To examine both types of influence, seventh and eighth graders (N = 297) were asked in the fall of a school year to report their involvement and disruption at school. The students also described the positive and negative features of their best friendships. Teachers reported on the students' involvement, disruption, and grades. These assessments were repeated in the following spring. Students whose friends in the fall described themselves as more disruptive increased in self-reported disruption during the year. Girls' self-reported disruption was more influenced by that of their very best friend than was boys'. Students whose very best friendships had more positive features increased in their self-reported involvement during the year. Students whose friendships had more negative features increased in their self-reported disruption, but only if their friendships also had many positive features. The theoretical and practical implications of these findings, and the adequacy of different methods for estimating friends' influence, were discussed.
Understanding the homogeneity of peer groups requires identification of peer groups and consideration of influence and selection processes. Few studies have identified adolescent peer groups, however, or examined how they become homogeneous. This study used social network analysis to identify peer groups (cliques), clique liaisons, and isolates among adolescents in 5 schools at 2 data collection rounds (N = 926). Cigarette smoking was the behavior of interest. Influence and selection contributed about equally to peer group smoking homogeneity. Most smokers were not peer group members, however, and selection provided more of an explanation than influence for why isolates smoke. The results suggest the importance of using social network analysis in studies of peer group influence and selection.
Empirical support for the assumption that peers are major determinants of adolescent drug use derives largely from the frequent finding that adolescents who said that their friends used drugs were at increased likelihood of using drugs themselves. It is suggested that the strong and consistent correlation in drug use by friends is at least partially due to factors other than peer influence. It is argued that social network analysis is an appropriate method for studying adolescent drug use in the context of peer groups.