title: Adolescent marihuana use: role of parents and peers.
abstract: In order to examine the relative influence of parents and peers on marihuana use among adolescents, independent data have been obtained from adolescents, their parents, and their best school friends in a sample of secondary school students in New York State. The data indicate that drug use by peers exerts a greater influence than drug use by parents. Friends are more similar in their use of marihuana than in any other activity or attitude. Parental use of psychotropic drugs has only a small influence, mostly related to maternal use. Peer and parental influences are synergistic; the highest rates of marihuana usage are observed among adolescents whose parents and friends are drug users.
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000367:Age Factors; D001290:Attitude; D002188:Cannabis; D005006:Ethnicity; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009518:New York; D010290:Parents; D010379:Peer Group; D012067:Religion; D012737:Sex Factors; D019966:Substance-Related Disorders / Q000453:epidemiology*