Parental and Peer Influences on Adolescent Drug Use in Korea

Abstract

The analysis and findings reported here are from a self-report questionnaire survey of a sample of 1,035 high school students in Pusan, a metropolitan area of South Korea. Multiple regression and path analyses reveal that, for all types of drug behavior among these adolescents, the influence of parental variables was generally less than the influence of the peer variables. Even in South Korean society, where the stability and authority of the family is greater than in American society, peers have a greater influence than do parents on adolescents_ engaging in or refraining from deviant behavior. The findings conform more to the expectations of social learning theory than to those of social bonding theory, and generally replicate findings from research on adolescent drug use in the United States. Further research is clearly needed, but the findings here suggest that the social processes of substance use among adolescents and the theoretical explanations focusing on those processes are not confined to western societies.

Investigating the effects of peer association and parental influence on adolescent substance use: A study of adolescents in South Korea

“…A previous study conducted in South Korea found results consistent with those in the Unites States and other Western societies (Hwang & Akers, 2006). That study, however, had a limitation.…”

“…Consistent with the basic premise of these two theories, a large body of empirical research confirms the significant predictability of parental influence and peer relationship on juvenile substance abuse behavior (Bahr, Hawks, & Wang, 1993;Bahr, Hoffmann, & Yang, 2005;Brown, Mounts, Lamborn, & Steinberg, 1993;Dishion, Andrews, & Crosby, 1995;Dishion, Patterson, Stoolmiller, & Skinner, 1991;Fergusson, Swain-Campbell, & Horwood, 2002;Hwang & Akers, 2006;G. Lee, Akers, & Borg, 2000;Mebly, Conger, Conger, & Lorenz, 1993;Neff & Waite, 2007;Reed & Rountree, 1997;Walden, McGue, Lacono, Burt, & Elkins, 2005;Warr, 1993aWarr, , 1993b.…”

“…A sufficient number of studies have sought the answer to this question. Overall, peer influence is considered the more robust causal factor in accounting for adolescent substance use and deviant behaviors although parental influence is still an important cause (Bahr et al, 2005;Brook, Lukoff, & Whiteman, 1997;Dishion & Loeber, 1985;Hwang & Akers, 2006).…”

Determinants of tobacco use among Korean female adolescents: Longitudinal test of the theory of triadic influence

“…Previous studies have consistently reported that peer influences are generally greater than parental or family influences during adolescence (Avenevoli & Merikangas, 2003;Hwang & Akers, 2006;Kobus, 2003). The TTI model also demonstrates that the influence of peers on an adolescent's use of tobacco is greater than that of parents Flay et al, 1999).…”

A Culturally Nuanced Test of Gottfredson and Hirschi’s ‘‘General Theory’’: Dimensionality and Generalizability in Japan and the United States

“…One reason for this limitation, according to Gottfredson and Hirschi, is because theirs is a general theory that is not confined to our particular culture and scholars have assumed that there are no differences in how self-control predicts deviance across cultural and national groups. The other reason, which perhaps is more practical and veritable, is because scholars have confronted difficulties in developing measures of theoretical variables in different languages and collecting identical data at the same time in a similar setting across cultures (see also Dussich, Friday, Okada, Yamagami, & Knutden, 2001;Hwang & Akers, 2006).…”