Abstract
ABSTRACT Background This paper builds on the results from the study: Illicit drug use in English adolescent students – results of a cumulative mediation analyses. The study sets out to specify the most significant social learning (SL) pathways for each of the ages, regions, and gender. Methods Mediation analyses of a secondary dataset: Smoking Drinking Drug Use Survey 2016 (N = 12,051) on adolescents aged 11–15 years. Results The most important SL pathway to drug use for boys was imitation of friends and for girls it was having the “perception” that fellow peers were consuming drugs. Positive attitudes to glue was a strong SL pathway at ages 11 and 12 but not for ages 13–15 years. In the Northern parts of England positive attitudes to cannabis and in the Southern regions peer association were the strongest SL pathways to drug use. Conclusion The results are of relevance to policy because they confirm that drug use is a learnt behaviour and that this learnt behaviour varies for gender, region and specific ages.
Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callDisclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
