Substance Use Among Young Adolescents in HIV-Affected Families: Resiliency, Peer Deviance, and Family Functioning

• NCJ Number: 209875
• Journal: Substance Use and Misuse Volume: 40 Issue: 5 Dated: 2005 Pages: 581-603
• Author(s): Andrew Rosenblum; Stephen Magura; Chunki Fong; Charles Cleland; Christine Norwood; Doris Casella; Jennifer Truell; Phyllis Curry
• Date Published: 2005
• Length: 23 pages
• Publication Format: Article
• Publication Type: Research (Applied/Empirical)
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America

Annotation

This study examined the impact of risk and protective factors on substance use among early adolescents in HIV-affected families.

Abstract

Studies of youth with HIV-infected parents in developing countries have tended to focus on sociodemographic consequences and in developed countries, particularly in the United States, research has tended to focus on the psychosocial consequences youth experience living with an HIV-infected parent. One of the greatest concerns regarding developmental outcomes for this high-risk group, as well as youth in the general population, is drug and alcohol use. This study examined the association of risk and protective factors with substance use among 77 early adolescents, aged 11 to 15, with an HIV-infected parent, who were interviewed in 2000-2001 in the South Bronx, a HIV high-prevalence area of New York. Results indicate that older age adolescents were associated with both association with deviant peers and substance use. Peer deviance and family functioning were directly associated with substance use. Affiliation with deviant peers was predicted by older age, less resiliency, and community factors. The direct association between family functioning and resiliency supports the central role of parenting for promoting child resiliency. The results emphasize the need for interventions that would address the constellation of family and peer risk and protective factors. Tables, references