Cognitive Predictors of Children's Attitudes Toward Alcohol and Cocaine

• NCJ Number: 201718
• Journal: Journal of Child & Adolescent Substance Abuse Volume: 12 Issue: 3 Dated: 2003 Pages: 19-44
• Author(s): Lisa J. Bridges; Carol K. Sigelman; Albert B. Brewster; Diane B. Leach; Keisha L. Mack; Cheryl S. Rinehart; Alberto G. Sorongon
• Date Published: 2003
• Length: 26 pages
• Grant Number(s): RO1 DA10578
• Sponsoring Agency: National Institute on Drug Abuse
• Publication Format: Article
• Publication Type: Report (Study/Research)
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America

Annotation

This article discusses age-related differences in elementary school-age children’s attitudes toward and intentions to use both alcohol and cocaine.

Abstract

This study explored the cognitive underpinnings of attitudes and intentions, asking which of a number of beliefs and understandings best predict attitudes and intentions. The cognitive predictors examined were basic familiarity with alcohol and cocaine, expectancies regarding the immediate behavioral and psychological effects of their use, beliefs about their long-term effects on health, and causal understanding of their effects on behavior. Participants were 217 children ranging in age from 6 to 12 and attending 2 Catholic parochial schools, chosen because of their locations in an ethnically diverse suburban community. Results show that, as they got older, children increasingly reported familiarity with both alcohol and cocaine and understood that their effects were in large part brain-mediated rather than due to a drug’s direct effects on peripheral parts of the body, such as the arms and legs. Although older children were also more likely than younger children to endorse positive expectancy statements about both alcohol and cocaine, negative expectancies prevailed at all ages and did not weaken with age. False beliefs about the long-term effects of alcohol (though not cocaine) became less common with age. It was found that anti-drug attitudes and intentions softened with age for alcohol but hardened with age for cocaine. Messages regarding cocaine were unambiguously negative for the majority of children. While the knowledge, belief, and understanding variables examined were associated with attitudes toward cocaine use, none of the cognitive predictors, alone or in combination, were directly associated with children’s self-reported intentions to use alcohol or cocaine. It may be beneficial to supplement drug prevention efforts with an approach that aims to influence children’s attitudes by targeting general knowledge about the drug, knowledge of the drug’s long-term effects, and causal understanding of how the drug alters functioning. 1 figure, 3 tables, 2 notes, 34 references