Truancy and escalation of substance use during adolescence.
OBJECTIVE
The aim of this study was to examine the relationship between truancy and escalation of substance use during adolescence and to explore potential mechanisms of this relationship.


METHODS
Using data from the Rochester Youth Development Study, a longitudinal sample of predominantly minority youth, growth models with time-varying covariates were utilized to assess the relationship between truancy and substance use. Mediated growth models were used to examine potential mechanisms of the relationship. The analyses used five waves of panel data collected from 971 youth and their primary caregivers. Data were collected every 6 months from 1988 to 1990, spanning ages 14-16. Twenty-seven percent of the sample was female.


RESULTS
Findings indicate that truant youth engaged in more substance use, both when comparing one adolescent with another (i.e., a truant adolescent used more substances than an adolescent who was not truant) and when comparing periods of change within an adolescent (i.e., during periods when an adolescent's truancy escalated, his or her involvement in substance use escalated). Moreover, the effect of escalation of truancy on escalation of substance use was, in part, mediated by escalation of risky, unsupervised time spent with peers.


CONCLUSIONS
Truancy appears to be a robust predictor of substance use. The effect is likely to be, in part, a result of the deleterious effects of reduced school bonding and, in part, a result of the unsupervised, risky time afforded by truancy. Gaining a better understanding of how truancy may affect substance use is important for the development of prevention and intervention initiatives.
Henry
Kimberly L
KL
Department of Psychology, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, Colorado 80523-1876, USA. kim.henry@colostate.edu
Thornberry
Terence P
TP
D000041:Absenteeism; D000293:Adolescent; D000294:Adolescent Behavior / Q000523:psychology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008960:Models, Psychological; D012309:Risk-Taking; D012574:Schools; D019966:Substance-Related Disorders / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000209:etiology / Q000523:psychology*