NCJ Number
182489
Journal
Substance Use and Misuse Volume: 35 Issue: 5 Dated: 2000 Pages: 687-716
Date Published
2000
Length
30 pages
Annotation
Four years of panel data from 651 adolescents in the Family Health Study provided information on the relationship between stressful life experiences and adolescent drug use over time.
Abstract
The research took place in a large metropolitan area in the upper midwest. The study began in 1990. The research proposed that the cumulative effect of stressful life experiences over time can lead to a steeper escalation of drug use in adolescence and that factors such as gender, income, family attachment, self-esteem, and mastery can moderate this effect. The study estimated a hierarchical growth curve model that examined the time-varying effects of stressful life events and peer relationships on drug use. Results indicated that experiencing a high number of life events over time relates to a significant growth of drug use, even after controlling for growth in drug use due to age or peer relationships. In addition, family attachment moderated this relationship; high levels of attachment significantly reduced this growth in adolescent drug use. Tables, figure, notes, author photographs and biographies, appended list of variables, and 80 references (Author abstract modified)