Social influences on adolescent substance use.
OBJECTIVE
To assess the overtime relationships between adolescent and peer substance use and parenting practices.


METHODS
Five times from sixth to ninth grade, students (n=2453) in 7 middle schools reported smoking, drinking, and marijuana use; the number of substance-using friends; and parent practices. Relationships were assessed using latent growth curve modeling.


RESULTS
Adolescent substance use predicted the growth in substance-using friends, and substance-using friends predicted adolescent use, except for smoking. The negative over-time relationship between parenting practices and adolescent substance use was mediated by the growth in the number of substance-using friends.


CONCLUSIONS
The results are consistent with both selection and socialization effects and provide evidence of the protective effects of positive parenting practices.
Simons-Morton
Bruce
B
Prevention Research Branch, Division of Statistics, Epidemiology, and Prevention Research, National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, Bethesda, MD, 20892-7510, USA. mortonb@mail.nih.gov
D000293:Adolescent; D000428:Alcohol Drinking / Q000453:epidemiology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D016487:Parenting; D011584:Psychology; D012907:Smoking / Q000453:epidemiology; D012931:Social Environment; D019966:Substance-Related Disorders / Q000453:epidemiology*; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires