Contextual factors in substance use: A study of suburban and inner-city adolescents

Abstract

Objectives in this research were to examine contextual differences in correlates of substance use among high school students. The focus was on two broad categories of adjustment indices: personal psychopathology (internalizing and externalizing problems) and behaviors reflecting social competence (academic achievement, teacher-rated classroom behaviors, and peer acceptance or rejection). Associations between drug use and each of these constructs were examined in two sociodemographically disparate groups: teens from affluent, suburban families (n = 264), and low socioeconomic status adolescents from inner-city settings (n = 224). Results indicated that suburban youth reported significantly higher levels of substance use than inner-city youth. In addition, their substance use was more strongly linked with subjectively perceived maladjustment indices. Comparable negative associations involving grades and teacher-rated behaviors were found in both groups, and among suburban males only, substance use showed robust positive associations with acceptance by peers. Results are discussed in terms of developmental perspectives on adolescent deviance, contextual socializing forces, and implications for preventive interventions and treatment.Substance use among American adolescents has remained at alarmingly high levels across the last several decades (Johnston, O'Malley, & Bachman, 1998). Epidemiological research indicates that after years of general decline, use of alcohol, nicotine, marijuana, and other drugs by teens escalated around 1990, and has yet to resume a significant downward trend (McMahon & Luthar, in press).Feelings of subjective inner distress are frequently implicated in adolescents' use of substances, as indicated by the frequent co-occurrence of chemical dependency disorders with other psychiatric diagnoses (Anthony, Warner, & Kessler, 1994; Warner, Kessler, Hughs, Anthony, & Nelson, 1995). Among youth in treatment for substance abuse, researchers have established that between 25 and 50% have at least one comorbid psychiatric diagnosis of a major depressive disorder (Bukstein, Glancy, & Kaminer, 1992;Deykin, Buka, & Zeena, 1992;Stowell & Estroff, 1992).Aside from affective disorders, anxiety disorders constitute another category of disturbed affect potentially implicated in adolescent substance use, although evidence in this regard has been less consistent. Results of a recent epidemiological study showed that whereas depression in youth served as a risk factor for substance use, anxiety symptoms did not (Costello, Erkanli, Federman, & Angold, in press). By contrast, Christie et al. (1988) reported a doubling of risk for subsequent drug use disorder in young adults who had an earlier disorder in either the anxiety or depressive categories. Daily cigarette smoking has also been found to be linked with an increased risk for anxiety disorders (Kandel et al., 1997), and the use of street drugs was reported to be a significant factor in discriminating between high-versus low-anxiety adolescents (Bern...

The Culture of Affluence: Psychological Costs of Material Wealth

“…By the 12th grade, on the other hand, high-SES youth reported the highest rate of several drugs, including marijuana, inhalants, and tranquilizers. Regarding correlates of drug use, Way, Stauber, Nakkula, and London (1994) found, as did Luthar and D'Avanzo (1999), that high-SES youth (but not their inner-city counterparts) often used substances in efforts to alleviate emotional distress. Similarly, Cooper (1994) noted that among adolescent boys in general, more so than girls, alcohol use is often tied to social conformity motives such as drinking to fit in with a crowd, and Feldman, Rosenthal, Brown, and Canning (1995) showed that popular preadolescent boys were among those most prone to partying and heavy drinking later as high school students.…”

“…Second, findings suggested that the teenage peer group might actively endorse substance use among suburban boys. High substance use was linked to their popularity with peers, and this association remained significant despite statistical controls in regression equations for various possible confounds, including both internalizing and externalizing problems (Luthar & D'Avanzo, 1999).…”

“…Among affluent (but not inner-city) youth, substance use was significantly linked with depressive and anxiety symptoms, suggesting efforts at self-medication (Luthar & D'Avanzo, 1999). These findings are of particular concern as substance use of this negative affect subtype shows relatively high continuity over time (e.g., Zucker, Fitzgerald, & Moses, 1995).…”

“…These issues were examined in a cross-sectional study involving sixth and seventh graders in another high-SES community, similar to that studied by Luthar and D'Avanzo (1999). Again, the group was predominantly Caucasian; median annual family income in the town sampled was more than $125,000.…”

“…With regard to isolation, sociological research has shown that junior high students from upper-income families are often alone at home for several hours a week, as parents believe that this promotes self-sufficiency (Hochschild, 1997). At an emotional level, similarly, isolation may often derive from the erosion of family time together because of the demands of affluent parents' career obligations and the children's many after-school activities (Luthar & D'Avanzo, 1999,Rosenfeld & Wise, 2000Shafran, 1992).…”