Adolescent Substance Use in Germany and the United States: A Cross-Cultural Test of the Applicability and Generalizability of Theoretical Indicators

• NCJ Number: 226164
• Journal: European Journal of Criminology Volume: 5 Issue: 4 Dated: October 2008 Pages: 453-480
• Author(s): Tanja C. Link
• Date Published: October 2008
• Length: 28 pages
• Publication Format: Article
• Publication Type: Survey; Report (Study/Research)
• Language: English
• Country: United Kingdom

Annotation

This study used data from the 2003 waves of the Monitoring the Future (MTF) survey in the United States and the European School Survey Project on Alcohol and Other Drugs (ESPAD) conducted in Germany in order to identify and assess the relationship between theoretically grounded measures and adolescent substance use in the two countries.

Abstract

The findings show that although the use of tobacco, alcohol, and marijuana differed systematically in some aspects in the two countries, there were also consistent similarities regarding risk or protective factors; for example, despite the fact that laws concerning marijuana consumption are more lenient in Germany, the frequency of marijuana use in America was significantly higher according to adolescents’ self-reports. One conclusion suggested from these findings is that legal provisions designed to restrain adolescents from smoking marijuana may not be achieving their desired effect. The association between peer alcohol use and drunkenness in adolescents was stronger for American youth than German youth, but there were no differences regarding cigarette use. The findings imply that the underlying differences between Germany and the United States are significant only for adolescent drunkenness. Differences in substance-use behavior were also related to the structure of opportunities. The findings consistently show the significance of the perceived availability of the respective substance types in relation to the prevalence and frequency of adolescents’ substance use. Existing research suggests that availability corresponds with exposure to these substances and their consumption. Higher levels of exposure, in turn, make substance-using behavior seem less deviant and more normative among peers. The dependent variables for the analysis of the results of the two surveys were cigarette use, getting drunk, and marijuana use. The independent variables were parental bonds, school bonds, conventional activities, and perceived peer use of each substance. 5 tables and 52 references