NCJ Number
165032
Journal
Journal of Child and Adolescent Substance Abuse Volume: 5 Issue: 2 Dated: (1996) Pages: 17-41
Date Published
1996
Length
15 pages
Annotation
Denial and defensiveness and their relationship to juvenile drug use and other problems were examined through a 6-month tracking study that focused on 28 adolescents attending an alternative high school and diagnosed as defensive by the Adolescent Substance Battery at the beginning of the 1994-95 school year.
Abstract
The sample included 18 males and 10 females. Results revealed that these students had problems in a variety of facets of their lives; the severity of many problems was enough to completely change or diminish future plans and aspirations. The types of drug used included alcohol, marijuana, and hallucinogens. Defensiveness was highly associated with deficiencies in high school credits. Defensive males also had a high rate of legal and discipline problems. Four of the females were either pregnant or had recently given birth. Findings suggested that denial and defensiveness should be considered risk factors for drug use and behavior problems and that defensiveness be explicitly addressed in the diagnoses of females who become parents. 28 references (Author abstract modified)