A growth curve analysis of stress and adolescent drug use

FRANÇAIS :
Une analyse de quatre années de données du "Family Health Study"concernant 651 adolescents âgés de 11 à 14 ans a permis d'examiner les effets à long terme de la confrontation à des événements stressants et des relations avec des pairs sur la consommation de drogue. Les résultats indiquent que la cumulation avec le temps d'un grand nombre d'événements stressants est liée à une croissance significative de l'usage de drogue même après contrôle pour augmentation de la consommation liée à l'âge ou aux relations avec les pairs. Cette relation est modérée par l'attachement familial.
ENGLISH :
The purpose of this paper is to describe and examine one pathway by which adolescent drug use increases during early and mid-adolescence. It draws upon recent research on adolescent stress, drug use, and family processes to describe an important stage of the life course. A chief principle underlying the proposed pathway is that the cumulative effect of stressful life experiences over time can lead to a steeper escalation of drug use in adolescence. Furthermore,- based on previous stress research, we propose that this effect may be moderated by factors such as sex, income, family attachment,, self-esteem, and mastery. Using 4 years of panel data from the Family Health Study (n = 651 adolescents ages 11-14 during Year 1), we estimate a hierarchical growth curve model that examines the time-varying effects of stressful life events and peer relations on drug use. The results indicate that experiencing a high number of life events over time is related to a significant "growth" of drug use, even after controlling for "growth" due to age or peer relations. In addition, this relationship is moderated by family attachment; high levels of attachment serve to diminish this growth significantly. (Author's abstract.)