Substance Use and Violent Behavior in Adolescence

• NCJ Number: 167683
• Journal: Aggression and Violent Behavior Volume: 1 Issue: 4 Dated: (Winter 1996) Pages: 375-387
• Author(s): E F Wagner
• Date Published: 1996
• Length: 13 pages
• Grant Number(s): AA07459
• Sponsoring Agency: US Dept of Health and Human Services
• Publication Format: Article
• Publication Type: Research (Applied/Empirical)
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America
• Note: Keynote presentation at the Fallon Health Care Adolescent Addictions Conference, 1994, Worcester, Massachusetts

Annotation

The relationship between substance use and violent behavior in adolescence is reviewed, and five competing models of this relationship are examined.

Abstract

The five models include: (1) substance use causes violent behavior; (2) violent behavior causes substance use; (3) reciprocal model which posits the relationship between substance use is bidirectional; (4) common cause model which posits substance use and violent behavior are both elements in a concurrent cluster of other adolescent problem behaviors; and (5) independent cause model which posits substance use and violent behavior are distinct phenomena with separate influences. The author indicates recent correlational studies support the premise that adolescent substance use and violent behavior are related but notes these studies do not offer insights on causal links. Existing literature offers only limited support for the proposition that early substance use leads to later violent and antisocial behavior. Strong support can be found in the literature, however, for the proposition that early violent behavior predicts later substance use. The reciprocal model, the common cause model, and the independent cause model have not received sufficient research attention to allow conclusive statements as to their validity. 39 references