Correlates of early adolescent peer and personal substance use in rural northern Michigan

Abstract

Data were collected from 181 middle school students in rural northern Michigan during May 1982. Student responses concerning peer and personal use of alcohol and nicotine were analyzed. The results suggest that peer substance use is highly correlated with personal substance use, and increases significantly with age. Sexual differences were also noted. This article describes the powerful correlates between peer and personal alcohol and nicotine use (i.e., cigarette smoking), and suggests some hypotheses for this phenomenon.