Early Adolescent Substance Use/Abuse as Predictor to Employment in Adulthood: Gender Differences

• NCJ Number: 206549
• Journal: Journal of Child & Adolescent Substance Abuse Volume: 13 Issue: 4 Dated: 2004 Pages: 49-60
• Author(s): Alfred S. Friedman; Arlene Terras; Weizhong Zhu
• Date Published: 2004
• Length: 12 pages
• Publication Format: Article
• Publication Type: Report (Study/Research)
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America

Annotation

This study examined gender differences in the relationship between early adolescent substance use and subsequent vocational career performance during early adulthood.

Abstract

Only infrequently has research focused on the consequences of early adolescent substance use; the long-term consequences of early adolescent substance abuse are poorly understood. The current study utilized a longitudinal design to examine whether relatively poor employment history, up to age 37, could be predicted by the degree of substance use in early adolescence, up to age 16, in a sub-sample of 205 African-American males and a sub-sample of 220 African-American females. Data on participants were drawn from the National Collaborative Perinatal Project (NCPP) in Philadelphia; the sub-samples utilized in the current study included data on intellectual capacity, school adjustment, and educational performance as control variables, and frequency of substance use, employment history during age 26.5 and employment history for the 3-year period preceding age 37. Results of statistical analyses indicated that males reported using alcohol and being intoxicated during early adolescence more than twice as frequently as females. Rates of illicit drug use did not differ significantly between males and females. Frequency of early adolescent alcohol use and of early intoxication were predictive of a less adequate work history at age 26.5 for the males, but not for the females. Early adolescent alcohol use was not predictive of work history at age 37 for either males or females. However, greater use of illicit drugs in early adolescents was predictive of a less adequate work history for the 3-year period between age 34 and 37 for the females, but not the males. Tentative explanations include the fact that more of the male sample was employed between the ages or 23 and 26, while many more females were employed after reaching age 34, thus slightly skewing the results. Future research could focus on the impact of the relatively greater employment opportunities experienced by Black females in comparison to Black males. Tables, references