Adolescent Perceptions of Their Family System, Parents' Behavior, Self-Esteem, and Family Life Satisfaction in Relation to Their Substance Use

• NCJ Number: 204382
• Journal: Journal of Child & Adolescent Substance Abuse Volume: 13 Issue: 2 Dated: 2003 Pages: 29-59
• Author(s): Carolyn S. Henry; Linda C. Robinson; Stephan M. Wilson
• Date Published: 2003
• Length: 31 pages
• Publication Format: Article
• Publication Type: Report (Study/Research)
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America
• Note: An earlier version of this article was presented at the 1993 National Council on Family Relations Annual Conference, Baltimore, MD.

Annotation

A path model was used to determine any relationships between a sample of adolescents' substance abuse and their perceptions of family system characteristics and parental behaviors, together with self-reports of self-esteem and family life satisfaction as well as demographic factors.

Abstract

The study subjects were a subsample (n=214) of high school students (grades 10-12) who participated in a larger study of parent-adolescent relations that involved the completion of a self-report questionnaire during 1 class session in 2 high schools. The questionnaire collected data on the variables of interest for the current analysis. The study found that parental substance use was directly related to adolescent substance use, and family coherence was indirectly related to adolescent substance use through parental support. Gender of adolescent, family hardiness, and parental substance use were each indirectly related to adolescent substance use through the following paths: school to gender to parental support to adolescent substance use, school to family hardiness to parental support to adolescent substance use, and school to parental substance use to parental support to adolescent substance use. Within the path model, no connection was found between substance abuse and the individual qualities of adolescent self-esteem or adolescent family life satisfaction. Consistent with previous theoretical and empirical studies that show both selected family system and selected parental behaviors related to adolescent substance use, the current findings show a direct relationship between parental support and adolescent substance use. Beyond the importance of parental support, the results show that factors within the broader family system are important in understanding how the family may contribute to variation in adolescent substance use. The findings support the trend in adolescent substance abuse prevention and treatment that emphasizes family interventions. 2 tables, 70 references, and appended Adolescent Substance Use Indicator