Aggressive behavior and opportunities to purchase drugs

FRANÇAIS :
Certains travaux ont déjà montré un lien entre les déviances des jeunes et l'usage postérieur de substances, et interprètent parfois cette consommation comme la révélation d'un problème plus général de troubles du comportement. Il est vraisemblable que les jeunes agressifs sont plus vulnérables et plus sensibles à l'offre de drogues, et que les plus agressifs sont environ cinq fois plus fragiles que les jeunes n'ayant pas de problèmes de comportement. Cette relation est relativisée si on prend en compte le niveau de délinquance, qui devient alors le premier facteur incriminé. En cumulant délinquance et agressivité, les jeunes sont intégrés dans un environnement où le trafic de drogues est très présent. Ils manifestent alors une véritable volonté à essayer les produits.
ENGLISH:
Robins, Kellam, and others found robust evidence linking youthful aggression and deviance to later illicit drug use. Some investigators favor the interpretation that drug use is just one manifestation or complication of a more general problem behavior syndrome or conduct disorders In this work, we test the complementary hypothesis that aggressive youth are more likely to be approached with offers to buy drugs, and found the most aggressive youths were about five times more likely to be offered drugs for purchase. However, this association was much attenuated when levels of delinquency were taken into account. In this respect, delinquent rather than aggressive behavior might be more salient. This study's evidence does not contradict previous problem behavior theories, but rather prompts new ideas about how aggression, delinquency, and drug use might be linked. One testable hypothesis is that youths with both aggression and delinquency are more likely to enter microenvironments where drug dealing is more prevalent. Or, their observable behaviors or physical appearance might function as signs of apparent willingness to try drugs. These results add to our understanding of links between aggression, delinquency, and drug use, and introduce a new line of epidemiological inquiry focused upon drug purchase opportunities. (Author's abstract.)