A Growth Curve Analysis of Stress and Adolescent Drug Use

Abstract

The purpose of this paper is to describe and examine one pathway by which adolescent drug use increases during early and mid-adolescence. It draws upon recent research on adolescent stress, drug use, and family processes to describe an important stage of the life course. A chief principle underlying the proposed pathway is that the cumulative effect of stressful life experiences over time can lead to a steeper escalation of drug use in adolescence. Furthermore, based on previous stress research, we propose that this effect may be moderated by factors such as sex, income, family attachment, self-esteem, and mastery. Using 4 years of panel data from the Family Health Study (n = 651 adolescents ages 11-14 during Year 1), we estimate a hierarchical growth curve model that examines the time-varying effects of stressful life events and peer relations on drug use. The results indicate that experiencing a high number of life events over time is related to a significant "growth" of drug use, even after controlling for "growth" due to age or peer relations. In addition, this relationship is moderated by family attachment; high levels of attachment serve to diminish this growth significantly.

Subjective Strains, Conditioning Factors, and Juvenile Delinquency: General Strain Theory in Taiwan

“…This view-that stress is critical-is consistent with studies from the scholarly literature (Compas and Wagner 1991;Hoffmann et al 2000). As Colten and Gore (1991, p. 1) have stated ".... the concept of stress is an important tool for organizing research seeking to understand development during the adolescent years.…”

Delayed effects of chronic variable stress during peripubertal‐juvenile period on hippocampal morphology and on cognitive and stress axis functions in rats

“…Strikingly, there are overwhelming data from human studies linking the cumulative impact of stressful life events that are unpredictable and long lasting during the juvenile years to behavioral abnormalities later on (Hoffmann and Su, 1998;Hoffmann et al, 2000). In this study, we asked whether chronic, variable stress during the previously uninvestigated peripubertal and juvenile periods leads to readily reversible effects or to more sustained effects in hippocampal structure (specifically, hippocampal principal cell layers) lasting into adulthood.…”

Adolescents' attachment and coping with stress

“…It is widely acknowledged that adolescence is a stressful time for many youth and that these stresses can potentially lead to serious disorders such as substance abuse, affective disorders, violence, eating disorders, sexual acting out, and a variety of other psychiatric conditions (Harvey & Spigner, 1995;Hoffman, Cerbone, & Su, 2000). Rather than sudden and severe trauma, family breakups, or culturally related stresses associated with poverty, the most frequent and prominent stresses faced by adolescents are considered "generic stresses" (Compas, Oroson, & Grant, 1993).…”