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Prevention Science
Published in: Prevention Science 2/2018

01-02-2018

School, Friends, and Substance Use: Gender Differences on the Influence of Attitudes Toward School and Close Friend Networks on Cannabis Involvement

Authors: Nikola Zaharakis, Michael J. Mason, Jeremy Mennis, John Light, Julie C. Rusby, Erika Westling, Stephanie Crewe, Brian R. Flay, Thomas Way

Published in: Prevention Science | Issue 2/2018

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Abstract

The school environment is extremely salient in young adolescents’ lives. Adolescents who have unfavorable attitudes toward school and teachers are at elevated risk for dropping out of school and engaging in behavioral health risks. Peer network health—a summation of the positive and negative behaviors in which one’s close friend group engages—may be one way by which attitudes toward school exert influence on youth substance use. Utilizing a sample of 248 primarily African-American young urban adolescents, we tested a moderated mediation model to determine if the indirect effect of attitude to school on cannabis involvement through peer network health was conditioned on gender. Attitude toward school measured at baseline was the predictor (X), peer network health measured at 6 months was the mediator (M), cannabis involvement (including use, offers to use, and refusals to use) measured at 24 months was the outcome (Y), and gender was the moderator (W). Results indicated that negative attitudes toward school were indirectly associated with increased cannabis involvement through peer network health. This relationship was not moderated by gender. Adolescents in our sample with negative attitudes toward school were more likely to receive more offers to use cannabis and to use cannabis more frequently through the perceived health behaviors of their close friends. Implications from these results point to opportunities to leverage the dynamic associations among school experiences, friends, and cannabis involvement, such as offers and use.
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Metadata
Title
School, Friends, and Substance Use: Gender Differences on the Influence of Attitudes Toward School and Close Friend Networks on Cannabis Involvement
Authors
Nikola Zaharakis
Michael J. Mason
Jeremy Mennis
John Light
Julie C. Rusby
Erika Westling
Stephanie Crewe
Brian R. Flay
Thomas Way
Publication date
01-02-2018
Publisher
Springer US
Published in
Prevention Science / Issue 2/2018
Print ISSN: 1389-4986
Electronic ISSN: 1573-6695
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1007/s11121-017-0816-y

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