The Mediating and Moderating Effects of Parent and Peer Influences Upon Drug Use Among African American Adolescents

Abstract

This study recruited 567 African American youth (mean age = 15.27 years; 65.1% girls) to examine the role of parent and peer contexts on drug use among African American adolescents. Data were collected on demographics, drug refusal efficacy, drug use, and various psychosocial factors including family and peer factors. When controlling for age and gender, parental monitoring and peer risky behavior completely mediated the relationship between parental attitudes toward drug use and drug refusal efficacy and partially mediated the relationship between parental attitudes toward drug use and current alcohol use. Only peer risky behavior mediated the relationships between parental attitudes toward drug use and current tobacco and marijuana use. Results also revealed several salient moderating relationships. Implications for prevention programs are provided and include strengthening current parenting skills and focusing efforts on fostering the motheradolescent relationship.

Direct and Indirect Effects of Maternal and Peer Influences on Sexual Intention among Urban African American and Hispanic Females

“…This is consistent with other findings (Clark et al 2012; Deptula et al 2010; Fasula and Miller 2006) and should dispel the popular misconception among parents that talking about sex will lead to youth engaging in sex (Wilson et al 2010). The belief that sexual risk communication leads to sexual engagement among adolescents is likely more correlational than causal.…”

Moderators of the association between peer and target adolescent substance use

“…The role of parental monitoring as a moderator of the link between peer association and substance use has been supported in cross-sectional studies (e.g., Bergh, Hagquist, & Starrin, 2011;Bobakova et al, 2012;Clark, Belgrave, & Abell, 2012;Kiesner, Poulin, & Dishion, 2010;Mason, Cauce, Gonzales, & Hiraga, 1994;Nash et al, 2005;Wood, Read, Mitchell, & Brand, 2004). Findings by Warr (1993) suggest that, in the case of delinquency including alcohol and cannabis use, week-end time spent with one's family may significantly reduce the influence exerted by deviant peers on substance use.…”

“…Only two studies suggested that peer association may be greater in male as opposed to female adolescents who associate with delinquent and substance-using peers, as reported by teachers (Mrug & Windle, 2009) or the targets (Clark, Belgrave & Abell, 2012), and one study suggested that peer association may be greater in female adolescents associating with peers that use alcohol (Anderson, et al, 2011). In this last study though, a significant three-way interaction between gender, anxiety and peer association was found: highly anxious boys who had alcohol using friends reported the highest binge drinking rates in the last month.…”

“…Furthermore, both extraversion and a combination of impulsivity and sensation seeking were found to moderate the degree of peer association on drug use (Knyazev, Slobodskaya, Kharchenko, & Wilson, 2004). The link between peer association and adolescent substance use was found to be moderated by several other individual characteristics such as expectations about one's future (e.g., academic, professional and general optimism about the future; MacNeil, Kaufman, Dressler, & LeCroy, 1999), refusal assertiveness (e.g., the ability to refuse assertively someone's proposition; Epstein & Botvin, 2002), drug and alcohol refusal efficacy (Clark, Belgrave & Abell, 2012) and behavioral regulation (Wills, Pokhrel, Morehouse, & Fenster, 2011). Furthermore, identity commitment (including information on: future occupation, religion, politics, relationships, family, friends, dating partners, sex roles, and personal values; Dumas, Ellis & Wolfe, 2012), and adolescents' propensity to fantasize while listening to music (e.g., imagining that they were playing the music, or used the music to dream about being in a different place; Miranda, Gaudreau, Morizot, & Fallu, 2012) were two other factors which moderated the link between peer association and adolescent substance use.…”

“…However, Denault & Poulin (2012) did not find a significant interaction between association with deviant peers and degree of adult supervision during activities with peers on target substance use frequency. Parental attitude toward substance use has also been studied as a potential moderator of peer association on target substance use by Clark, Belgrave, & Abell (2012), but this interaction also did not reach significance.…”