NCJ Number
126985
Journal
Journal of Drug Education Volume: 20 Issue: 3 Dated: (1990) Pages: 153-162
Date Published
1990
Length
10 pages
Annotation
This paper reports on a study comparing lifestyle characteristics, particularly delinquency and drug use, of adolescents who are socially active with those of adolescents who are loners. Data from the Monitoring the Future study of high school seniors across the United States were analyzed for a 9-year period between 1976 and 1984.
Abstract
Two parameters, race and marital status, were established to classify seniors as socials or loners. An 8-item summated Index of Social Involvement was developed to address specific questions regarding time of participation in different social activities. Discriminant analysis of a single white social male as well as of a single white social female showed the social to be more involved in alcohol, drug, delinquency and truancy than the loner in both groups. The data also indicate that the absence of peer influence on the loners contributes to their more conventional lifestyle as well as to their less delinquent behavior as compared with the socials. 17 references (Author abstract modified)