NCJ Number
219211
Journal
Journal of Youth and Adolescence Volume: 36 Issue: 5 Dated: July 2007 Pages: 697-710
Date Published
July 2007
Length
14 pages
Annotation
This study analyzed the effects of adolescent time use on heavy alcohol use, cigarette smoking, illicit drug use, delinquency, and sexual activity.
Abstract
Results indicated that the two factors most predictive of adolescent problem behaviors were family time and peer time. Specifically, family time emerged as a protective factor against all five problem behaviors under analysis while peer time emerged as a significant risk factor for all five problem behaviors. Family time, however, did not appear to buffer the relationship between unsupervised peer time and problem behaviors. These findings are consistent with both social control theory and the routine activity perspective. The results suggest that social policies that encourage parents and adolescents to spent social time together in the company of other adults and adolescents may facilitate the prevention of substance abuse, delinquency, and risky sexual behavior in older adolescents. Future research is needed to understand why higher levels of deviance seem to be associated with time spent alone/relaxing. Data were drawn from the responses of 606 adolescents to wave 3 of a 6-wave longitudinal study that focused on the development of alcohol misuse and related problem behaviors. Participants were recruited from western New York using random-digit-dialing telephone sampling procedures. Participants completed face-to-face interviews regarding their alcohol use patterns, engagement in delinquency, sexual activity, sociodemographic characteristics, and time spent on a variety of activities, including homework, extracurricular activities, sports time, alone time, paid work, housework, television watching, and variables measuring family time and peer time. Hierarchical regression models were used to analyze the data. Tables, references