title: The relationship between substance use and delinquency among high-school students in Cape Town, South Africa.
abstract: Research has shown a positive relationship between substance use and delinquent-type behaviours among adolescents. The aim of this study is to explore the temporal relationships between these outcomes through secondary data analysis of a longitudinal study of high-school students' risk behaviours. Two regression models were compared and gender, socioeconomic status and repeating a grade were found to be consistent predictors of delinquent-type behaviour. Alcohol (OR: 1.26, CI: 1.02-1.55, p = 0.03) and drug use (OR: 1.10, CI: 1.03-1.16, p = 0.002) in the ordinal regression models were significantly associated with delinquent-type behaviours at Time 2 only. A transition model use was then used to measure delinquent-type behaviours as predicted by the previous time period, and results indicated that gender and delinquency were predictive of delinquency. Smoking also significantly interacted with delinquent-type behaviour to increase future risk of this behaviour. The findings point to the need for intervening early with adolescents who show delinquent-type behaviour.
authors: Alcohol and Drug Abuse Research Unit, Medical Research Council, 7505 Cape Town, South Africa. tara.carney@mrc.ac.za
authors: Tara
authors: T
authors: Carney
authors: Bronwyn J
authors: BJ
authors: Myers
authors: Johann
authors: J
authors: Louw
authors: Carl
authors: C
authors: Lombard
authors: Alan J
authors: AJ
authors: Flisher
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000294:Adolescent Behavior; D041923:Adolescent Development; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007604:Juvenile Delinquency / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D016015:Logistic Models; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D008297:Male; D012737:Sex Factors; D012907:Smoking / Q000453:epidemiology; D013019:South Africa / Q000453:epidemiology; D019966:Substance-Related Disorders / Q000453:epidemiology*; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires