Predictors of Drinking Behaviour Among Adolescents and Young Adults: A New Psychosocial Control Perspective

Abstract

Based on common cause conceptualisations of problem behaviour, we examined whether a revised psychosocial control theory of adolescent delinquency could explain problem drinking among a non-clinical convenience sample of adolescents and young adults. A sample of 329 Australian secondary school students (adolescent age groups 13-14 and 15-17, 50.6% female) and 334 Australian university students (age groups 18-20 and 21-24, 68.4% female) in Canberra, Australia participated in an online survey comprising self-reported problem drinking and psychosocial control measures. The revised psychosocial model explained variance in problem drinking with large effect sizes in all four age cohorts. Peer risktaking behaviours significantly predicted problem drinking across all age cohorts, and impulsivity was more influential than sensation seeking. While the findings partially support a revised psychosocial control model, psychosocial control risk factors need to be considered along with the broader sociocultural context. This is particularly important in Australia where drinking is often considered normative within universities and the general community.

Maternal and Paternal Bonding and Self-Esteem as Predictors of Psychological Distress Among Male and Female Adolescents

“…Design and Procedure The current study employed a cross-sectional design and received ethics approval from the appropriate ethical boards prior to commencing. This research was part of a larger project exploring psychological and social control variables with internalising and externalising problems among adolescents and young adults (see Curcio, Mak, & George, 2016). An online survey was used to collect responses from secondary school students (aged from 13 to 17 years) from two government and two independent high schools and colleges within Canberra, Australia (approximately 2,000 students in total).…”