Correlates of Adolescent Drug Use by Gender and Geographic Location

Abstract

We examined the correlates of self-reported lifetime use of alcohol, marijuana, amphetamines, and cocaine within a sample of almost 7,000 high school sophomores in Arizona and Utah. Correlates of drug use (including parental attachment, religious attachment, educational attachment, conventional values, and drug-using friends) showed very similar patterns by gender, with some interesting differences by location. Drug-using friends are by far the best predictor of drug use for both males and females in Arizona and Utah.

The relationship between childhood depressive symptoms and problem alcohol use in early adolescence: findings from a large longitudinal population‐based study

“…These results are consistent with some [64,65] but not all earlier observations [23]. In particular, previous research has observed that low parental attachment and monitoring and an unstructured home environment are correlated more strongly with drinking among girls [66]. Finally, the observation that higher problematic alcohol use in boys may be influenced more strongly by their own and their peers' antisocial behaviour is in accordance with a recent review by Schulte et al .…”

Religiosity, religious conservatism, bonds to school, and juvenile delinquency among three categories of drug users

“…First, self-reported measures of delinquency and drug use have been found to be reliable and valid (Whitehead and Smart 1972;Single, Kandel, and Johnson 1975;Hardt and Peterson-Hardt 1977). Second, as Johnson and Marcos (1988) noted, lifetime and past-month measures yield similar results. Consequently, the use of lifetime measures should not appreciably alter the results.…”

Drug abuse risk and protective factors among black urban adolescent girls: A group-randomized trial of computer-delivered mother-daughter intervention.

“…Family-related factors disproportionately affect girls' substance use. Parental bonds are associated with lower drug use among all children, but poor attachment to parents correlates more strongly with girls' substance use than with boys' use (Johnson & Marcos, 1988). Low parental monitoring and an unstructured home environment are linked more with substance use among girls than among boys (Murray, Swan, Bewley, & Johnson, 1993).…”