Testing three pathways to substance use and delinquency among low-income African American adolescents

Abstract

Objective Mounting literature suggests that parental monitoring, risky peer norms, and future orientation correlate with illicit drug use and delinquency. However, few studies have investigated these constructs simultaneously in a single statistical model with low income African American youth. This study examined parental monitoring, peer norms and future orientation as primary pathways to drug use and delinquent behaviors in a large sample of African American urban adolescents. Methods A path model tested direct paths from peer norms, parental monitoring, and future orientation to drug use and delinquency outcomes after adjusting for potential confounders such as age, socioeconomic, and sexual orientation in a sample of 541 African American youth. Results Greater scores on measures of risky peer norms were associated with heightened risk of delinquency with an effect size that was twice in magnitude compared to the protective effects of future orientation. Regarding substance use, greater perceived risky peer norms correlated with the increased likelihood of substance use with a standardized effect size 3.33 times in magnitude compared to the protective effects of parental monitoring. Conclusions Findings from this study suggest that interventions targeting risky peer norms among adolescent African American youth may correlate with a greater impact on reductions in substance use and delinquency than exclusively targeting parental monitoring or future orientation.

Pathways linking family stress to youth delinquency and substance use: Exploring the mediating roles of self-efficacy and future orientation

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Understanding the ecological context of mental, emotional, and behavioral health problems: A person‐centered approach

“…Although variable‐oriented methods consistently demonstrate that family, neighborhood, and poverty independently contribute to risk for adverse psychosocial outcomes (Evans & Kim, ; Hartinger‐Saunders et al., ; Marotta & Voisin, ), these contexts are understood to be interactional in nature; comprehending the totality of their effects requires moving beyond variable‐oriented methods. This simultaneous consideration of these contexts advances the literature by providing evidence of the differential effects youth experience.…”

Substance use among older youth transitioning from foster care: Examining the protective effects of religious and spiritual capital

“…Second, there is some indication that adolescent males are more likely to associate with peers engaged in risky behaviours (Svensson, ). Among a community sample of African American youth, Marotta and Voisin () found that risky peer norms was a stronger predictor than parental monitoring of substances use, with those who associated more with peers who engaged in risky behaviours being more likely to report lifetime drug use. Research suggests that African American adolescent females have a lower likelihood of using alcohol as they age and are less likely to be influenced by alcohol drinking peers compared to their White female counterparts (e.g., Watt & Rogers, ).…”