Parental, Peer, School, and Neighborhood Influences on Adolescent Substance Use: Direct and Indirect Effects and Ethnic Variations

Abstract

The current study examined how contextual influences are related to adolescent substance use using an ethnically diverse sample of adolescents. A total of 5,992 adolescents (5,185 European American, 330 African American, 160 Hispanic American, 179 Asian American, and 138 Southeast Asian American) from Dane county, Wisconsin, completed surveys at school. Structural equation modeling was conducted to examine direct versus indirect effects of parental, peer, school, and neighborhood influences and differences in associations across ethnicity. Results indicated that contextual influences on adolescent substance use were both direct and indirect; the strength of associations between contextual influences and adolescent substance use varied across ethnic groups.