RUcore Resource Object
RUcore Resource Object
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Uniform TitleEvidence of harm perception, peer use, and tolerance for peer use as mediators between coping style and substance use among urban adolescents
NameChiong, Angela S. (author), Bry, Brenna (chair), Fagley, Nancy (internal member), Johnson, Valerie (internal member), Kelly, Shalonda (internal member), Rutgers University, Graduate School - New Brunswick,
Degree Date2008-01
Date Created2008
SubjectPsychology,
Substance abuse,
Youth--Substance use,
Teenagers--Drug abuse,
Peer pressure in adolescence
DescriptionResearch has provided strong evidence to support the existence of a relationship between adolescent coping styles and substance use. One area of research that has been overlooked however, is testing whether precursors of substance use serve as mediators between coping styles and substance use. The purpose of this study was to test whether the relationship between coping styles and adolescent substance use may be mediated by known proximal precursors of substance use. One hundred twenty-eight ninth graders attending an urban school participated in our study. Most of the participants were of ethnic minority descent (41% African American, 46.1% Latino/Hispanic). Scales used to measure coping styles, precursors of substance use, and substance use were derived via principal component analyses and included the following: coping via problem solving, coping via reliance on caretaker, coping via substance use, perception of harm from substance use, positive alcohol/marijuana expectancies, negative alcohol/marijuana expectancies, friends' use and tolerance for it, and substance use/intentions to use. Multiple regression analyses indicated that harm perception partially mediates the relationship between coping via reliance on caretaker and substance use/intentions to use. Higher reliance on caretaker to cope was associated with lower perception of harm from substances, which in turn, was associated with greater use and intentions to use. Multiple regression analyses also indicated that friends' use and tolerance for it partially mediates the relationship between coping via substance use and substance use/intentions to use. Frequent use of coping via substance use was associated with higher levels of peer use and tolerance for it, which in turn, was associated with greater use and intentions to use. Consistent with previous research, we also found that coping via substance use accounted for a significant amount of the variance in substance use and intentions to use. Implications for further research are discussed.
NoteM.S.
NoteIncludes bibliographical references (p. 40-43).
Genretheses
Persistent URLhttp://hdl.rutgers.edu/1782.2/rucore10001600001.ETD.17127
LanguageEnglish
CollectionGraduate School - New Brunswick Electronic Theses and Dissertations
Organization NameRutgers, The State University of New Jersey
RightsThe author owns the copyright to this work.