Hong Kong children's posited "vulnerability" to social influence on substance abuse.
A survey of 2,051 pupils between Grade 4 and Grade 7 in 2003 showed that social influence or encouragement to substance use was a significant determinant of substance use risk, controlling for prior substance use and other backgrounds. Contextual stress or unhappiness among parents, classmates, and other people around operated jointly with social influence to promote substance use risk. This finding accords with a dovetail model about the extra influence due to the joining of force and receptivity to the force. Further research is necessary to corroborate the present findings obtained from a place and a time.
Cheung
Chau-Kiu
CK
Department of Applied Social Studies, CityUniversity of Hong Kong, Tat Chee Avenue, Kowloon, Hong Kong, China. ssjacky@cityu.edu.hk
Tse
John Wing-Ling
JW