Abstract
Adolescent substance use is an increasing problem in the United States, and some researchers posit a bidirectional relation between adolescent substance use and the personality trait of impulsivity (e.g., Quinn, Stappenbeck, & Fromme, 2011). Friend substance use has been shown to be a powerful predictor of adolescent substance use, with prior research suggesting a bidirectional relation between adolescent substance use and friend substance use (e.g., Simons-Morton & Chen, 2006). Extant literature has not tested the bidirectional relation between adolescent substance use and impulsivity with longitudinal data nor has it examined this relation while considering the bidirectional relation with the social context factor of friend substance use. Using three waves of longitudinal data, we tested if there was a bidirectional relation between adolescent substance use and impulsivity while also examining the influences of friend substance use. Participants were 131 adolescents (male = 55%, mean age = 13 years at Wave 1). We tested nested models and examined whether adding equality constraints degraded the model fit using a Wald test. Results of structural equation modeling indicated that, after controlling for baseline levels of substance use, impulsivity predicted adolescent and friend substance use over time, whereas adolescent and friend substance use did not predict impulsivity. Adolescents with substance using friends were likely to increase their own substance use. The findings imply that aiming at both improving adolescents’ ability to regulate impulsivity and deterring associations with friends who are using substances is essential for prevention and intervention efforts against substance use development in adolescents.
Highlights
Given that among high school students in the United States, almost 45% have tried cigarettes, 70.8% have tried alcohol, and almost 40% have tried marijuana, drug use is Farley and Kim-Spoon becoming an increasing concern among adolescent populations [1]
Though existing literature has argued for the significant role of impulsivity in the development of adolescent substance use, to the authors’ best knowledge, it has not tested the bidirectional association between adolescent substance use and impulsivity with longitudinal data, nor has it concurrently examined this association while considering the bidirectional association with the social context factor of friend substance use
Results of general linear modeling (GLM) analysis revealed that adolescent age was a significant predictor of adolescent substance use and friend substance use (p < .001) but not a significant predictor of adolescent impulsivity (p = .78)
Summary
Given that among high school students in the United States, almost 45% have tried cigarettes, 70.8% have tried alcohol, and almost 40% have tried marijuana, drug use is. Extant literature in college students and young adults suggest that there is a bi-directional relation between increases in heavy drinking and increases in impulsivity [14], but this relation may be temporally restricted to shorter spans of time [15] These associations have not been examined in adolescents while simultaneously considering an important social context factor such as friend substance use. The present study seeks to extend the prior research by examining a longitudinal and bidirectional relation between adolescent substance use and impulsivity to examine developmental changes in the association between these variables. The present study extends prior research findings by examining the effects of impulsivity in tandem with adolescent substance use on friend substance use as well as longitudinal contributions of friend substance use to the developmental changes in impulsivity and substance use. Higher adolescent impulsivity at Wave 2 would be related to increases in adolescent substance use, friend substance use, and adolescent impulsivity at Wave 3
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Published Version
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