Attachment, Adolescent Competencies, and Substance Use: Developmental Considerations in the Study of Risk Behaviors

• NCJ Number: 183557
• Journal: Substance Use and Misuse Volume: 35 Issue: 9 Dated: July 2000 Pages: 1177-1206
• Author(s): Nancy J. Bell Ph.D.; Larry F. Forthun Ph.D.; Sheh-Wei Sun Ph.D.
• Date Published: July 2000
• Length: 30 pages
• Publication Format: Article
• Publication Type: Report (Study/Research)
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America

Annotation

This article presents and tests hypotheses derived from a developmental perspective regarding linkages between adolescent-parent attachment, competencies, and juvenile drug use.

Abstract

Deviance theories based on social control highlight parental bonding as a protective factor against problem behaviors in that bonds are regarded as reflecting the adolescent’s adoption of conventional societal attitudes and values. In contrast, developmental theory and research suggest an alternative conceptualization of the linkages between family bonding and adolescent risk behaviors. This conceptualization requires the concurrent analysis of a range of adolescent competencies, as well as consideration of parent and peer contexts. This research tested the developmental perspective with data from students in a State university in a politically and religiously conservative area in the southwest. The 135 males and 335 females completed questionnaires that collected information about attitudes, values, family relationships, and various life experiences. Support for several hypotheses derived from a developmental approach that proposes three relationships. These include: (1) positive associations between adolescent-parent attachment and adolescent competencies of autonomy, peer relationship competency, and coping; (2) coherence in the pattern of negative associations between attachment/competencies and drug use problems; and (3) a disjunctive pattern of associations with drug use reflected by positive associations with peer competencies but not with parental attachment. Findings highlighted the conflicting contextual demands adolescents experience in the developmental task of achieving autonomy from adult norms while maintaining communicative relationships with both adults and peers. Findings also have implications for resiliency research. Tables, notes, author biographies, and 127 references (Author abstract modified)