Data pertaining to self-reported substance use, reputation enhancement, self-concept and coping strategies were obtained from 1,204 Western Australian metropolitan state high school adolescents using the High School Student Activity Questionnaire. Previous research has identified low self-concept levels and inadequate coping strategies as being major contributors to adolescent substance use. The findings of the present research offer some support for this. A 4 x 2 x 3 MANOVA revealed, however, that reputation enhancement differentiated between current substance users, ex-users and non-users to a greater extent than either self-concept levels or coping strategies. Differences between male and female students, however, were identified more through self-concept and coping variables than by reputation enhancement variables. No interaction effect and no main effect for year group were present. The implications for drug education are discussed.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.