Adolescent Sibling Associations among Alcohol, Cannabis, and Sexual Risk Behavior: A Test of Interdependence

Abstract

Background: Although siblings are conceptualized as a salient social influence during adolescence, few studies have examined how adolescent siblings influence each other's substance use and risky sexual behavior. Objectives: In this study, we investigated the influence of alcohol use days, cannabis use days, and cannabis and alcohol co-use days on the sexual risk behavior of siblings while accounting for dyadic influence. Methods: At the baseline visit for a randomized controlled trial for adolescents referred due to parents' concerns about their substance use ("referred adolescents"; n=99; Mage=15.95; 38.38% female), we assessed alcohol and cannabis use days as well as sexual risk behavior of the referred adolescents and their sibling (Mage=15.03; 51.52% female). We computed the number of days in the 30 days prior to the baseline that alcohol and cannabis use occurred on the same day. Using a cross-sectional actor partner interdependence model, we tested two models of how adolescents' substance use is associated with their own ("actor effect") and their siblings' ("partner effect") sexual risk behavior-one model for alcohol and cannabis use, and one model for daily co-use. Results: For referred adolescents and their siblings, within an individual, greater alcohol, cannabis, and daily co-use was significantly associated with sexual risk behavior (actor effects). Furthermore, more sibling co-use days was positively associated with referred adolescent sexual risk behavior (partner effect), representing interdependence. Conclusion: These findings confirm the influence siblings have on one another's risky behavior in adolescence and have implications for prevention and intervention efforts for adolescent substance use.

Intermittent hypoxia-induced enhancement of sociability and working memory associates with CNTNAP2 upregulation

“…Adolescents are susceptible to social and physical stress. Adolescents with siblings addicted to alcohol and drugs tend to have imitative behavior ( Thomas et al, 2022 ). Adolescent rats suffering from induced physical and psychological stress exhibited spatial memory impairment, reduced anxiety, and increased reactive oxygen species (ROS) levels ( Mousavi et al, 2019 ).…”

Influencia de los factores de vulnerabilidad al VIH/sida sobre comportamientos sexuales de riesgo en adolescentes

“…Asimismo, se reportó aumento de los CSR cuando las parejas adolescentes tiene relaciones sexuales por amor, resultado parecido se reportó en el estudio sobre amigos con beneficios y sexo casual (Soriano-Ayala & García-Serrán, 2019). Además, se reportó que el consumo de alcohol incrementa los CSR, resultado que también fue reportado en el estudio que asoció el consumo de alcohol con el CSR en adolescentes (Thomas et al, 2022). Y el incremento de los CSR por el número de parejas sexuales es un resultado consistente con el estudio sobre búsqueda de parejas en línea y comportamientos sexuales (Pravosud et al, 2022).…”

Effects of Sibship Size and Birth Order on Sexual and Reproductive Health among Sexually Active Young People in China

“…As family is a critical context for young people to learn norms and behaviors of SRH, some studies have also paid attention to the relationship between family and SRH, such as the role of parents [ 21 , 22 , 23 ]. However, only limited studies supported the sibling effect, such as birth order [ 24 , 25 ], older siblings [ 26 ], or sibling similarity [ 27 , 28 ], and with mixed conclusions.…”