Substance Abuse in Junior Secondary School Students in Hong Kong

Abstract

Based on three waves of longitudinal data collected from 2,667 secondary school students over the junior secondary school years, the prevalence of substance abuse behaviors among Hong Kong adolescents and the sociodemographic, familial, and psychosocial correlates of adolescent substance abuse were examined in the study. Results showed that drug use in the areas of smoking, drinking, and organ solvent deserves our attention. Results also showed that socioeconomic status as well as family conflicts and communication predicted adolescent substance abuse. At the same time, positive youth development attributes were negatively associated with adolescent substance abuse. The contributions of family functioning and positive youth development to the reduction of adolescent substance abuse are discussed.KeywordsAdolescent substance abuseEconomic disadvantageFamily functioningLongitudinal studyPositive youth development