NCJ Number
178356
Journal
Substance Use and Misuse Volume: 34 Issue: 9 Dated: 1999 Pages: 1261-1280
Date Published
1999
Length
20 pages
Annotation
This study explored the extent to which pub-going by older adolescents in the Netherlands is related to transitions marking the adoption of more adult behaviors, social integration, and psychosocial well-being.
Abstract
Study data were obtained from a longitudinal study on predictors of smoking and drinking behavior among Dutch secondary school children. The study began in 1989 with a sample of 1,454 students from first and second grades. This paper focuses on the subjects when they reached late adolescence; therefore, data from the third measurement were used for analysis. The sample consisted of 478 girls (50 percent) and 480 boys with an average age of 17.4 years. Independent variables were sex, age, level of education, church attendance, origin of the father, and quantity and frequency of cigarette use and alcohol consumption. The questionnaire focused on the frequency with which respondents visited public drinking places, transition markers, social integration, psychosocial well-being, and alcohol consumption. The analysis focused on the relation between pub-going and indicators of social integration, maturation, and psychosocial well-being. Adolescents who went to pubs and discos had more friends, more often had a best same-sex friend, spent more time with their friends, had more satisfying contacts with friends, and experienced feelings of loneliness less often. They were also more likely to be involved in a romantic relationship, to have a job, and to place less emphasis on educational aspirations. No differences were found on levels of stress and self-esteem between pub visitors and nonvisitors. The implications of these outcomes for further research and prevention policies are discussed. 6 tables, 5 notes, and 44 references