Perceived Parental and Peer Disapproval Toward Substances: Influences on Adolescent Decision-Making

J Primary Prevent (2008) 29:465477 DOI 10.1007/s10935-008-0156-6

ORIGINAL PAPER

Thomas M. Sawyer John F. Stevenson

Published online: 15 November 2008 Springer Science+Business Media, LLC 2008

Abstract This study investigated the relative inuence of perceived parent and peer disapproval for using drugs on youth intentions to use drugs. In a cross-sectional design, sixth and eighth grade students (N = 1,649) completed surveys that included measures of parent disapproval, peer disapproval, and intentions to use drugs in the future. Parent inuences were more salient for sixth graders, whereas peer inuences were predominant for eighth graders. Peer disapproval was significantly evident in the sixth grade sample, as was parent disapproval in the eighth grade sample. Additionally, girls drug use intentions were higher than were boys. These ndings suggest that parents can have a robust protective role over and above peer inuences and that girls intentions to use substances deserve increased attention. Editors Strategic Implications: These ndings, if replicated, should help practitioners develop developmentally appropriate strategies and programs for substance use prevention.

Keywords Parent/peer disapproval Drug use intentions

Drug use decision-making Substance abuse prevention

Introduction

Over the past twenty years, there have been signicant achievements in drug abuse prevention. Despite this success, drug use among American adolescents remains a leading preventable health risk. The most recent data reveal that 29% of eighth graders and more than half (53%) of 12th graders have tried an illicit drug (Johnston et al. 2007). One of the most inuential innovations in substance abuse prevention

T. M. Sawyer (&) J. F. Stevenson

Community Research and Services Team, University of Rhode Island, The Shepard Building Room 236, 80 Washington Street, Providence, RI 02903, USAe-mail: [email protected]

Perceived Parental and Peer Disapproval Toward Substances: Inuences on Adolescent Decision-Making

123

466 J Primary Prevent (2008) 29:465477

theory has been the use of the risk-resiliency paradigm as a context for understanding adolescent problems (Hawkins et al. 1992). Although many factors have been found to contribute to adolescent drug use (Hawkins et al. 1992; Jessor and Jessor 1977; Newcomb and Felix-Ortiz 1992), peer and parental factors have been shown to be especially important both theoretically and empirically in predicting adolescent drug use initiation.

Few studies, however, have addressed how different age groups perceive parent and peer disapproval of drug use...