Effects of Early Alcohol Use on Adolescents' Relations With Peers and Self-esteem: Patterns Over Time

• NCJ Number: 121517
• Journal: Adolescence Volume: 24 Issue: 96 Dated: (Winter 1989) Pages: 837-849
• Author(s): K M Thompson
• Date Published: 1989
• Length: 13 pages
• Sale Source: National Institute of Justice/; NCJRS Photocopy Services
• Publication Format: Article
• Publication Type: Research (Applied/Empirical)
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America

Annotation

Strain or problem-solving models posit that deviance persists because it enhances youths' psychosocial properties and is therefore functional for adolescents.

Abstract

However, empirical tests of this assumption have been limited to determining whether a moderately social activity like delinquency produces time-ordered changes in self-esteem. This research examines whether a highly social activity like alcohol use improves adolescents' relations with peers and self-esteem over time. The results of a four-year panel study show that the effects of early alcohol use are limited to enhancing peer relations only among adolescents who use alcohol in order to be part of the group. Early alcohol consumption also has a delayed effect on boosting self-esteem, but this effect is restricted to youths who equate drinking with sophistication. The lack of generality of these findings and how the psychological functions of drinking might cancel these effects are discussed. (Author abstract)