Self-control and jail inmates' substance misuse post-release: Mediation by friends' substance use and moderation by age

Abstract

Objective This study examined the relationship between two risk factors for substance misuse (self-control, substance using friends) and changes in jail inmates’ substance misuse from pre-incarceration to post-release. Method Participants were 485 adult jail inmates held on a felony conviction, recruited from a metropolitan county-jail situated in the mid-Atlantic region of the U.S. During incarceration, participants completed self-report assessments of pre-incarceration substance misuse and self-control. At one-year post-release, participants reported their substance misuse and proportion of substance-using friends (n=322 at follow-up). Results The relationship between self-control and changes in inmates’ substance misuse was fully mediated by association with substance-using friends. Age moderated the relationship between friends’ substance use and changes in inmates’ own misuse of marijuana and cocaine. Friends’ use was more strongly related to marijuana misuse for younger adults than for older adults. However, for cocaine misuse, this relationship was stronger for older adults than for younger adults. Self-control’s relationships with other variables were not moderated by age. Conclusions This study underscores importance of self-control’s indirect relationship (through substance-using friends) with changes in substance misuse: inmates with lower self-control were more likely to associate with substance-using friends and, in turn, had more symptoms of substance misuse 1-year post release. Results emphasize the importance of considering adult substance-users’ friend-relationships. However, age and type of substance appear important when considering the relative importance of friends’ influence.

Substance use pattern, self‐control and social network are associated with crime in a substance‐using population

“…Although there are few investigations of the association between crime and social network in substance‐using populations, a similar association has previously been found in a smaller sample . Further, social network, self‐control and substance use has been investigated in male offenders and jail inmates . The investigators concluded that the effect of self‐control on substance use is partly mediated through social bonds, such as having a substance‐using social network .…”

Drug Use, Hepatitis C, and Service Availability: Perspectives of Incarcerated Rural Women

“…The research literature, even among criminal justice samples, is limited for jail populations (Malouf, Stuewig, & Tangney, 2012; Meyer, Tangney, Stuewig, & Moore, 2013); yet jails provide ideal venues to examine the health risk behavior of vulnerable, high-risk populations, particularly in rural areas due to high turnover rates of offenders and limited services. This study utilized focus groups to better understand the perspectives of rural women of community drug use, the impact of drug use on health, and availability of services.…”

An Index and Test of Linear Moderated Mediation

“…But sometimes theory predicts that both paths are moderated, or an investigator may not have specific predictions as to which path in a mediation process is moderated or is otherwise agnostic. In that case one could, for example, allow the effect of X on M and the effect of M on Y to depend on a common moderator W. Examples in the substantive literature include Belogolovsky, Bamberger, and Bacharach (2012), Huang, Zhang, and Broniarczyk (2012), Kim andLabroo (2011), Malouf, Stuewig, andTangney (2012), and Silton et al (2011). Assuming a single mediator, such a model is represented with two equations Edwards & Lambert, 2007;Preacher et al, 2007), which can be written in equivalent form as…”