Family, religious, school and peer influences on adolescent alcohol use: a longitudinal study.
OBJECTIVE
In this study, the cross-temporal relationship between family social support and adolescent alcohol use was examined. A primary aim was to investigate the mechanisms through which family social support affects drinking among youth. Another aim was to examine reciprocal relationships among the study variables.


METHODS
Four-wave (with 6-month intervals) panel survey data collected from 840 middle adolescent boys (n = 443) and girls (n = 397) attending a suburban school district in western New York were analyzed using structural equation modeling with maximum likelihood estimation.


RESULTS
Analyses revealed that family social support was indirectly associated with decreased alcohol consumption among the respondents, primarily through variables measuring religiosity, school grades and peer alcohol use. In addition, adolescent alcohol use was directly associated with subsequent increases in peer alcohol use and later decreases in school performance. Results also showed that receiving good grades in school predicted moderate increases in family social support.


CONCLUSIONS
The findings of this study are discussed in terms of the interrelationships that exist among multiple socializing influences and alcohol use among adolescents.
Department of Psychology, University of Alabama at Birmingham, 35294-1170, USA.
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Mason
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Windle
D000293:Adolescent; D000428:Alcohol Drinking / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000517:prevention & control; D005190:Family / Q000523:psychology*; D006801:Humans; D007398:Interpersonal Relations; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D008297:Male; D009518:New York / Q000453:epidemiology; D010379:Peer Group; D012069:Religion and Psychology; D012574:Schools; D012944:Social Support