The Moderating Role of Spirituality in the Association between Stress and Substance Use among Adolescents: Differences by Gender

Adolescents are exposed to various stressors that may increase the risk for substance use. Due to the detrimental, and potentially long-lasting, effects related to substance use, it is necessary to explore more optimal coping strategies. This study explored the association between substance use and stress among male and female high school students in relation to spirituality as a moderator. To examine these relationships, the study used cross-sectional data collected from 27,874 high school students (Male?=?50.7%, Female?=?49.3%) across 58 high schools in Maryland that included an ethnically diverse sample (49% Caucasian, 30% African American) with an average age of 16 years old. Bivariate results showed differences in substance use, stress, and spirituality between male and female students. Higher rates of substance use were generally found among male students compared to female students; rates tended to be higher among female students for stress and spirituality compared to their male counterparts. Multilevel analyses indicated a positive association between stress and substance use among male and female students after adjusting for demographic and school-level factors. Both male and female students who reported turning to spiritual beliefs when experiencing problems were less likely to use substances. However, the interaction between stress and spirituality was significant for males only. These findings suggest that stress may increase the propensity for substance use and that spirituality might be a viable coping mechanism useful for helping high school students adapt to stressful circumstances and situations.     

Gender Differences in Strains Associated with Suicidal Behavior Among Adolescents

Scholars such as Durkheim and Chodorow have argued that the social strains contributing to suicide vary by sex. Specifically, it has been asserted that women relative to men either do not respond to social strain with suicide, or respond to relational but not status strains. Conversely, others assert that process differences never existed, or at the least have dissipated with increasing equality between the subgroups. Neither side has offered convincing empirical evidence for their position. This study examines social strains contributing to suicidal behavior among adolescents, by sex, to address this debate. Results clearly support the presence of process differences and delineate the specific nature of these differences. Generally, males and females are responsive to both status and relational strains. However, theoretical models suggesting males are more status oriented whereas females are more relationally dependent are supported. Results hold theoretical and interventionist implications for the contextual nature of suicide among adolescents.     

What Friends are for: The Relationships Between Body Image, Substance Use, and Peer Influence Among Finnish Adolescents

The study investigated the relationships between substance use, body image, and peer influence among Finnish adolescents. The participants (N=488, 240 boys and 248 girls), were eighth-grade high school students. The data were gathered using a questionnaire. In addition to background information, the study covered risk behaviors frequency, body satisfaction, and peer relationships. The results indicated that the levels of body satisfaction among the adolescent girls studied were lower than those among the adolescent boys. It was found that the girls engaged in more discussion with peers than the boys concerning both intimate and general matters. Moreover, having an intimate relationship with one's peers was associated with a greater tendency to drink purely in order to get drunk. However, a slightly more distant relationship with friends was associated with a greater risk for smoking. In general, dissatisfaction with one's physical appearance seemed to relate to substance use. By highlighting the relationships between adolescents’ body image, substance use, and peer influence the study gives pointers for further research, and may be suggestive in terms of the kinds of social policies that ought to be pursued in the future.MA (Educational Sciences) from the University of Turku. Research interests include substance use and the life processes of adolescents.Docent (Educational Sciences), PhD from the Karolinska Institute, Stockholm.     

Trajectories of Substance Use Among Young American Indian Adolescents: Patterns and Predictors

Substance use often begins earlier among American Indians compared to the rest of the United States, a troubling reality that puts Native youth at risk for escalating and problematic use. We need to understand more fully patterns of emergent substance use among young American Indian adolescents, risk factors associated with escalating use trajectories, and protective factors that can be parlayed into robust prevention strategies. We used growth mixture modeling with longitudinal data from middle-school students on a Northern Plains reservation (Wave 1 N = 381, M age at baseline = 12.77, 45.6 % female) to identify subgroups exhibiting different trajectories of cigarette, alcohol, and marijuana use. We explored how both risk (e.g., exposure to stressful events, deviant peers) and protective (e.g., positive parent–child relationships, cultural identity) factors were related to these trajectories. For all substances, most youth showed trajectories characterized by low rates of substance use (nonuser classes), but many also showed patterns characterized by high and/or escalating use. Across substances, exposure to stress, early puberty, and deviant peer relationships were associated with the more problematic patterns, while strong relationships with parents and prosocial peers were associated with nonuser classes. Our measures of emergent cultural identity were generally unrelated to substance use trajectory classes among these young adolescents. The findings point to the importance of early substance use prevention programs for American Indian youth that attenuate the impact of exposure to stressful events, redirect peer relationships, and foster positive parent influences. They also point to the need to explore more fully how cultural influences can be captured.     

Positive Daily Family Interactions Eliminate Gender Differences in Internalizing Symptoms Among Adolescents

By the age of 18, girls are more than twice as likely as boys to experience internalizing symptoms. Focusing upon the family, a significant factor for adolescent mental health, we examined how positive and negative daily family interactions relate to gender differences in internalizing symptoms. 681 12th grade students (54 % female) completed diary checklists each night for 2 weeks in which they indicated whether they got along with their family (positive family interactions) and argued with their family (negative family interactions). Results indicate that negative daily family interactions explain, in part, why females experience heightened internalizing symptoms. Yet, even in the face of negative family interactions, positive daily family interactions have salutatory effects, reducing females’ emotional distress and eliminating gender differences in internalizing symptoms at high levels of positive interactions. These findings underscore the importance of positive family interactions for adolescent girls’ mental health.     

Extracurricular Activity Availability and Participation and Substance Use Among American Indian Adolescents

School-based extracurricular activity involvement has been associated with lower levels of substance use among adolescents from various populations; however, these associations have only been slightly examined among American Indian (AI) adolescents. Building from various theoretical perspectives, it was hypothesized that AI adolescents’ perceived access to and the intensity (i.e., frequency) of participation in extracurricular activities would be associated with lower substance use and less engagement in risky substance use behaviors (i.e., being drunk or high at school, riding/driving with an intoxicated driver, and selling drugs). The moderating influences of sex, age, reservation residence, and metropolitan status also were examined. Data from the 2010 Arizona Youth Survey were analyzed for 5,701 8th, 10th, and 12th grade AI adolescents (49.1 % female). The expected protective effects of extracurricular participation were demonstrated, such that high levels of perceived availability and intensity of participation consistently predicted low levels of all outcomes. Some of these associations were moderated by one or more demographic factors, with unique patterns emerging for each behavior. Ultimately, the findings suggest that AI adolescents benefit from the availability of extracurricular activities and intensity of participation in them, but the degree of the effect is contingent upon other individual and contextual characteristics.     

Efficacy, Self-Derogation, and Alcohol Use Among Inner-City Adolescents: Gender Matters

Prior studies have found inconsistent relationships between measures of self-concept and adolescent alcohol use. The current study explored whether the link between various measures of self-concept and alcohol use depends on gender. In addition, earlier work suggested a focus on negative self-esteem (i.e., self-derogation) might be more useful in predicting alcohol use. Students (N = 1459) attending 22 middle and junior high schools in New York City completed surveys that included measures of efficacy, self-derogation, and alcohol use. Participants completed surveys at baseline, 1-year follow-up, and 2-year follow-up. Data collectors administered the questionnaire following a standardized protocol during a regular 40-min-class period. On the basis of a longitudinal structural equation model, lower efficacy was related to greater self-derogation a year later across gender. Increased self-derogation predicted higher alcohol use for girls but not boys. These findings are congruent with a literature highlighting the importance of negative thoughts about the self in drinking behavior for women but not men. The results suggest that the alcohol prevention approaches should include material to enhance girls' self-esteem.     

The Association Between Family Factors and Depressive Disorders in Adolescents

The main aim of this study was to examine the familial factors (parental psychopathology and attachment to parents) in depressed adolescents. Another aim was to compare level of psychosocial impairment, use of mental health services, suicidal ideation and attempt, and the clinical features of depression (e.g., severity and age of onset) among depressed adolescents with depressed parent(s) with those whose parent(s) do not have any depression. Result showed that the adolescent depression was significantly associated with an elevated rate of having a depressed mother. Perceived level of attachment to parents, as measured using the Inventory of Parent and Peer Attachment, was significantly lower among depressed adolescents than among adolescents without any psychiatric disorders. Depressed adolescents with depressed parents reported significantly higher suicidal ideation and had more recurrent depressive episodes than depressed adolescents with nondepressed parent(s). Our results imply the importance of shifting our focus from universal programs to family-based prevention and intervention programs for depression.     

Gender Differences in Posttraumatic Stress and Related Symptoms Among Inner-City Minority Youth Exposed to Community Violence

This study examined gender differences in levels of violence exposure, and in levels of posttraumatic stress (PTS) and related symptomatology in a sample of inner-city predominantly African American youth. Because such youth are at risk for exposure to chronic community violence, they are likely to experience considerable distress and clinical or subclinical levels of posttraumatic stress and related symptoms. Previous research has found that although boys are exposed to violence more frequently than are girls, girls are more likely to express posttraumatic stress and related symptoms as a result of violence exposure. Thus, we examined gender as a moderator of the relation between violence exposure and symptoms. A stronger positive association of anxiety and depression symptoms with extent of community violence exposure for girls than boys was found. It was also found that while girls do not appear to differ in their responses to witnessing violence versus being a victim of violence, boys appear to be more distressed by being a victim of violence than by witnessing violence.     

Engagement in School and Community Civic Activities Among Rural Adolescents

Involvement in civic and community activities is a core part of positive youth development. Adolescents involved in voluntary civic activities have greater academic engagement, enhanced well-being, less involvement in problem behaviors, and they are more likely to value connections to their community than those who are not involved. The current research examined involvement in school and community civic activities as well as religious youth groups among 8th and 9th graders (N = 679, 61.7% female, 85.9% White) from small, rural schools in the Midwest U.S. and linked involvement to religiosity, well-being, problem behavior, academic engagement, and perceptions of parents and peers. Half of the adolescents in the sample reported involvement in civic activities or, more commonly, in religious youth groups. Adolescents who participated in religious youth groups reported more extracurriculars, less problem behavior, higher grades and motivation, and more support from parents and friends than adolescents who did not. The most frequently reported school civic activities were student council and Future Farmers of America, and 4-H was the most popular community civic activity. Those who were involved in school- and community-based civic activities reported more religiosity, academic engagement, and positive perceptions of parents and peers than uninvolved youth. The results support and extend research on rural youth by documenting civic activities across contexts and examining how involvement is associated with positive youth development.     

The Impact of Gender and Family Processes on Mental Health and Substance Use Issues in a Sample of Court-Involved Female and Male Adolescents

Greater empirical attention directed toward gender-sensitive assessment strategies that concentrate on family-specific factors is thought to be both timely and necessary, especially with regard to outcome variables associated with mental health and substance abuse in at-risk adolescent populations. A sample of 2,646 court-involved adolescents was used to test two competing models regarding relationships among disruptive family processes, mental health (as both internalizing and externalizing problems), and substance abuse issues according to gender. The results of multiple group structural equation modeling procedures indicated that disrupted family processes were significantly associated with higher levels of internalizing problems, externalizing problems, and substance abuse in both male and female youth. For females, however, disrupted family processes were more related to internalizing problems and substance abuse than externalizing problems. Further, the relationship between disrupted family processes and substance abuse was not mediated by mental health issues, indicating a lack of support for the alternative model tested in this study. Together, the findings underscore the primacy of the family’s impact on issues related to adolescent development and well-being in tandem with the need for a more gender sensitive approach to the needs of court-involved males and females.

Gender Differences Among Adolescents in Family,and Peer Influences on Body Dissatisfaction,Weight Loss,and Binge Eating Behaviors

The present study examined perceived family and peer influences on body dissatisfaction, weight loss, and binge eating behaviors in adolescents. Three hundred and six girls aged 11 to 17 years (M = 13.66, SD = 1.12) and 297 boys aged 11 to 18 years (M = 13.89, SD = 1.13) completed a questionnaire that examined the direct influence and quality of family and peer relationships on body dissatisfaction and disordered eating. Direct influences of family and peers, rather than the quality of these relationships, predicted body dissatisfaction and disordered eating in adolescent boys and girls. Interesting differences were found between girls and boys in the nature of the influences and in the way they were expressed. In particular, parental and peer discussion and encouragement of weight loss predicted disordered eating behaviors in girls, while maternal and peer encouragement predicted binge eating and weight loss behaviors in boys. Fathers played a salient role in the expression of more severe forms of eating problems, while siblings played a small yet significant role in cognitive restraint among girls. The findings highlight gender differences in the importance of significant others in the expression of body dissatisfaction and disordered eating in adolescence.     

Predicting Substance Use and Deviant Behavior from Prosociality and Sociability in Adolescents

Journal of Youth and Adolescence - Social competence is commonly considered an important factor that impedes maladaptive development because individuals who lack adequate competence to direct or...     

Intragroup Contact and Anxiety Among Ethnic Minority Adolescents: Considering Ethnic Identity and School Diversity Transitions

Everyday interactions with same-racial/ethnic others may confer positive benefits for adolescents, but the meaning of these interactions are likely influenced by individual differences and larger structural contexts. This study examined the situation-level association between contact with same-ethnic others and anxiety symptoms among a diverse sample of 306 racial/ethnic minority adolescents (Mage = 14 years; 66 % female), based on (1) individual differences in ethnic identity centrality and (2) developmental histories of transitions in diversity between elementary, middle, and high school. The results indicated that at the level of the situation, when adolescents interacted with more same-ethnic others, they reported fewer anxiety symptoms. Further, for adolescents who had experienced a transition in school diversity, the positive benefits of contact with same-ethnic others was only conferred for those who felt that their ethnicity was very important to them. The importance of examining individual differences within larger developmental histories to understand the everyday experiences of ethnic minority adolescents are discussed.     

Evaluating the Direction of Effects in the Relationship Between Religious Versus Non-Religious Activities,Academic Success,and Substance Use

This longitudinal study tested the influence of involvement and selection hypotheses for the association between religious versus non-religious activity involvement and two salient indicators of adolescent psychosocial adjustment (substance use and academic achievement). Participants included 3,993 Canadian adolescents (49.4% girls) who were surveyed each year from grades 9–12. More frequent religious attendance (but not non-religious club involvement) in one grade predicted lower levels of substance use in the next grade. Higher levels of non-religious club involvement (but not religious service attendance) in one grade predicted higher academic achievement in the next grade, and higher academic achievement in one grade predicted more frequent non-religious club involvement in the next grade. The effects were robust, as they were invariant across grade and significant after controlling for individual, peer, and family characteristics. Most importantly, these results suggest that religious activities are not just another club, but, rather, that different developmental assets may be fostered in religious as compared to non-religious activities.     

Substance Use Attitudes among Urban Black Adolescents: The Role of Parent,Peer, and Cultural Factors

This study examined the influence of perceived parental, peer, and cultural factors on Black American adolescent attitudes toward substance use. One-hundred-eight Black American youth (grades 9–12) from economically disadvantaged urban neighborhoods of New York, completed self-report measures on: (a) parent-child involvement, parental supervision, and parent attitudes toward high risk behaviors; (b) peer bonds and peer attitudes toward high risk behaviors; and (c) ethnic identity, parental racial socialization, and extended family support. Youth disapproval of substance use was positively associated with higher perceived levels of peer and parental disapproval of high risk behaviors, parental supervision, and ethnic identity. Youth who reported parental messages about racial discrimination without balanced parental messages about racial pride and racial equality were more likely to approve substance use. Assistant Professor in the Department of Preventive Medicine and Community Health, State University of New York Downstate Medical Center. Her research interests include socio-cultural factors in the prevention of youth substance use, sexual risk, and violence. Director, Center for Ethics Education and Marie Ward Doty Professor of Psychology at Fordham University. Current research interests include research ethics with vulnerable populations, including children and adolescents.     

The Effects of Childhood and Adolescent Adversity on Substance Use Disorders and Poor Health in Early Adulthood

Childhood and adolescent adversity have been shown to predict later mental and physical health outcomes. Understanding which aspects and developmental timings of adversity are important, and the mechanisms by which they have their impact may help guide intervention approaches. A large subset of adolescents (N?=?457; Female 68.9?%) from the 10-year longitudinal Youth Emotion Project was examined to better understand the associations among childhood/adolescent adversity, substance use disorder, and later health quality. Adolescent (but not childhood) adversities were associated with poorer health in late adolescence/early adulthood, adolescent adversities were associated with subsequent onset of substance use disorder, and adolescent adversities continued to be associated with poorer health in late adolescence/early adulthood after accounting for the variance explained by substance use disorder onset. These associations were observed after statistically accounting for emotional disorders and socioeconomic status. Specific domains of adversity uniquely predicted substance use disorder and poorer health outcomes. In contrast with current recent research, our findings suggest the association between childhood/adolescent adversity and poorer health outcomes in late adolescence and emerging adulthood are not entirely accounted for by substance use disorder, suggesting efforts to curtail family-based adolescent adversity may have downstream health benefits.