Adolescent drinking, smoking and other substance use involvement: links with perceived family life

doi:10.1006/jado.1995.1011

Journal of Adolescence

Volume 18, Issue 2, April 1995, Pages 159-177

https://doi.org/10.1006/jado.1995.1011 Get rights and content

Abstract

In this study we examined the relationship of adolescents' perceived family environment to several aspects of their self-reported alcohol use, smoking behaviour, and involvement with "hard" drugs, stimulants/sedatives, hallucinogens, cannabis, ecstasy, and solvents. A sample of 1045 secondary school pupils aged 12-16-years-old completed anonymous and confidential questionnaires. The results showed significant relationships between perceived family life and a range of self-reported adolescent drinking, smoking and other substance use involvement variable, but these relationships varied by type of substance and were also different for male and female respondents. Specifically, males who perceived "authoritarian" or "neglecting" families reported more alcohol, cigarette and stimulant/sedative substance use behaviour. On the other hand, females who perceived "warm-directive" families reported less alcohol use but were more likely to say that they would smoke to cope with a problem, and these females also tended to report more stimulant/sedative-related behaviour. On the whole, females reported less substance-related behaviour than males except for smoking — which females were more likely than males to report.

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Cited by (68)

The role of family conflict in mediating impulsivity to early substance exposure among preteens
2021, Addictive Behaviors
Citation Excerpt :
Such stress in turn heightens the likelihood of substance use among children and adolescents. Thus, family conflicts may serve as a risk factor for preteens to experiment substance use due to poor support and lack of coping strategies in a chaotic family environment (Foxcroft & Lowe, 1995). However, no studies have investigated whether and to what extent family conflicts mediate the associations between impulsivity and early substance exposure among preteens.
Preadolescence substance exposure, which increases the risk of regular substance use, has been a public health concern. Although studies found that impulsivity is a predisposing factor of early substance exposure, the pathways through which impulsivity is associated with early substance exposure remain unclear. This study examined how family conflict mediates this association among U.S. preteens as family environment plays an essential role in pre-adolescent development.
Respondents (N = 11,800, 9–10 years old) from the Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development (ABCD) Study Release 2.01 (July 2019) were included in this study. Generalized structural equation modeling was performed to investigate the mediation effects of family conflict on the associations between childhood impulsivity and early exposure to alcohol and tobacco use, controlling for covariates based on the Problem Behavior Theory.
Pre-adolescents with high impulsivity levels (≥90^th percentile) were more likely to report early alcohol and tobacco exposure (total effect: ORs = 1.49 and 1.70, respectively), where 4.13% and 12.41% of the associations, respectively, were meditated by family conflict (indirect effect: ORs = 1.02 and 1.07; Sobel test ps = 0.022 and 0.005, respectively).
Family conflict mediates the associations between childhood impulsivity and early substance exposure among preteens, with higher impulsivity leading to more severe family conflicts that are, in turn, associated with a higher likelihood of early substance exposure. To prevent preteens with high impulsivity level from early use of substances, interventions may focus on reducing family conflicts such as parenting counseling that guides parents to strengthen conflict-resolution skills and create a stable home environment for preteens.
Longitudinal associations of family functioning with body mass index in Mexican-origin adolescents living in the U.S.
2019, Preventive Medicine
Citation Excerpt :
BMIaz across the three time points was the dependent variable. Independent variables of interest included family cohesion and family conflict (Foxcroft and Lowe, 1995) assessed at the same three time points using the Family Life Questionnaire, which was validated in MATCh participants using Confirmatory Factor Analysis (Rajesh et al., 2015; Rajesh, 2011). The family cohesion subscale included four items (e.g., “In my family, we really help and support one another”; “We really get along well with each other”), and the family conflict subscale included four items (e.g., “We don't often fight in my family”; “In my family, we hardly ever lose our tempers”).
Mexican-origin adolescents have a high prevalence of obesity. Research is needed to understand how family context may shape adolescent BMI. This study examined longitudinal associations of family functioning variables with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's modified BMI z-score (BMIaz) in 1175 Mexican-origin adolescents, and explored interactions with acculturation. Adolescents (50% female, aged 11–13 y in 2005–06) were identified from an ongoing cohort study of Mexican-origin adults in Houston, TX, and were assessed three times from 2005–06 to 2010–11. In multivariate linear mixed models stratified by gender, we assessed longitudinal associations of family cohesion and family conflict with adolescent BMIaz and explored interactions with language acculturation. We disaggregated the between- (mean) and within-person (individual deviation) components of family cohesion and family conflict to assess the effects on BMIaz. Approximately one-third of adolescents were obese at baseline, and BMIaz declined during the study. In girls, higher mean family cohesion and conflict were associated with steeper declines in BMIaz. Parental linguistic acculturation modified the relationship between within-person deviation in family cohesion and BMIaz in girls, such that high parental U.S. acculturation was associated with a stronger inverse association. There were no significant associations in boys. These findings highlight the potential importance of the family context to female adolescent BMI and the promise of addressing family context in obesity-related interventions.
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U.S. breast cancer survivors (BCSs) are expected to increase to 4 million in the next 5–10 years. Cancer recurrence risk is highest among obese survivors. Inflammatory (Pro-I) biomarkers including C-reactive protein (CRP), Interleukins -3, -6, and -8 (IL-3, IL-6, IL-8), and Tumor Necrosis Factor (TNF)–α have been associated with cancer recurrence risk. Nutritional interventions aimed at reducing inflammation (INF) may contribute to reduced cancer recurrence risk, but studies have been limited to animal models. The goals of this one-year, culinary-based, pilot intervention were to: 1) decrease Pro-I biomarkers and increase anti-inflammatory (AI) cytokine, IL-10, by promoting AI food incorporation into BCS diets; and 2) examine intervention effects on cancer risk factors including body mass index (BMI) and circulating adipose stromal cells (ASCs). A total of 153 BCSs were recruited. Overweight and obese women aged 18 or older were randomized into Intervention (IG; n = 76) and Control (CG; n = 77) groups. CG received monthly nutritional brochures from the American Institute for Cancer Research. IG attended 6 monthly workshops (lectures on AI topics and chef-prepared food demonstrations), and received monthly newsletters and telephone calls incorporating Motivational Interviewing. At baseline, 6- and 12-month assessments, fasting serum was assayed for Pro-I/AI marker and ASC levels. Using R and Stata version 14 (Stata Corp, 2015), no significant differences were found between groups on baseline demographic variables. Correlations between serum cytokine levels, BMI, % body fat, ASCs, and self-reported variables are discussed.
Identifying demographic and psychosocial factors related to the escalation of smoking behavior among Mexican American adolescents
2017, Preventive Medicine
Citation Excerpt :
The responses were used to calculate the total of smokers in the household and were categorized as “0 individuals,” “1 individual,” or “2–4 individuals” in the household that smoked. Family cohesion and conflict were assessed using the Family Life Questionnaire (Rajesh et al., 2015; Foxcroft and Lowe, 1995; Foxcroft and Lowe, 1991; Rajesh, 2011), which has been validated for use in this population (Rajesh et al., 2015). Four items assessed family cohesion (e.g. “In my family we really help and support one another”) and four more assessed family conflict (e.g. “We don't often fight in my family”).
Cigarette smoking is the leading preventable cause of death in the United States; smoking in Mexican American adolescents, a rapidly growing population, remains a major concern. Factors associated with escalation or progression along the smoking trajectory have not been studied in adolescent Mexican Americans. A better understanding of escalation is needed for cancer prevention and overall health.
N = 1,328 Mexican American adolescents joined a cohort in 2005–06. At baseline participants provided demographic, acculturation and psychosocial data, and reported their smoking status using the Minnesota Smoking Index. Those that never tried a cigarette or only had a few puffs in their life were included in this study. The primary outcome of interest, escalation in smoking status, was defined as moving up the Minnesota Smoking Index by 2010–2011. The current analysis is based on 973 participants of whom 48.2% were male, mean age = 11.8 (SD = 0.8), and 26.0% were born in Mexico.
By 2010–2011, 283 (29%) escalated their smoking status and 690 (71%) remained the same. Being older (OR = 1.30; CI = 1.07–1.57), male (OR = 1.88, CI = 1.40–2.53), having higher levels of anxiety (OR = 1.03, CI = 1.02–1.05), intending to smoke (OR = 1.70, CI = 1.18–2.46), having friends who smoke (OR = 1.73, CI = 1.12–2.70) and having parents' friends who smoke (OR = 1.38, CI = 1.02–1.88) increased risk for smoking escalation. Higher levels of subjective social status (OR = 0.91, CI = 0.83–0.99) were protective against smoking escalation.
Contrasting previous work in smoking experimentation, parents' friends influence was a stronger predictor than the family household influence. Preventative interventions for Mexican American youth could address this risk factor to reduce smoking escalation.
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This meta-analysis attempts to offer an overall cumulative effect estimate of the parental style–consumer socialization relationship(s) across 73 studies examining child outcomes, including 173 unique consumer socialization dependent variables—ranging from understanding advertising practices to weight status to theft—among approximately 200,000 child respondents. This meta-analysis offers two contributions to the consumer socialization literature. It systematically confirms the influence that parental Restrictiveness (relative to Permissiveness) has on raising children adept at positively interacting—and avoiding negative interactions—with the marketplace and related environments. Also, this meta-analysis supports prior literature's depiction of the Authoritative parenting style as especially important to these positive interactions with the marketplace, in particular among older children and psychosocial-type outcomes. Finally, this research is the first to provide a comprehensive confirmation of differences in child thinking, believing, doing, choosing not to do, feeling, etc. as attributable to different parental styles.
Smoking initiation among Mexican heritage youth and the roles of family cohesion and conflict
2015, Journal of Adolescent Health
Citation Excerpt :
Specifically, participants were informed that they would be asked to provide a saliva sample and told it might be used to validate their smoking status. The main independent variables of interest, family functioning, were assessed at both baseline and follow-up using the family life questionnaire (FLQ) [23,24] scale. The factor structure of the FLQ was validated among this cohort of Mexican heritage adolescents, and the adapted scale was used in this analysis [25].
High levels of family conflict increase the risk for early smoking initiation and smoking escalation among adolescents, whereas high levels of warmth and cohesion in the family are protective against smoking initiation. However, little is known about the associations between changes in family function during adolescence on subsequent smoking initiation among Mexican heritage adolescents.
In 2005–2006, 1,328 Mexican heritage adolescents aged 11–14 years enrolled in a cohort study to examine nongenetic and genetic factors associated with cigarette experimentation. In 2008–2009, 1,154 participants completed a follow-up. Multivariate logistic regression models were computed to prospectively examine associations between smoking behavior assessed in 2008–2009 and changes in family cohesion and family conflict assessed in both 2005–2006 and 2008–2009, controlling for gender, age, and linguistic acculturation, positive outcome expectations associated with smoking, as well as friends and family smoking behavior.
Overall 21% had tried cigarettes by 2008–2009. Consistently low levels of family cohesion (odds ratio [OR] = 3.06; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.38–6.73) and decreases in family cohesion (OR = 2.36; 95% CI, 1.37–4.07), as well as consistently high levels of family conflict (OR = 1.74; 95% CI, 1.08–2.79) and increases in conflict (OR = 1.87; 95% CI, 1.19–2.94) were independent risk factors for smoking initiation among Mexican heritage youth.
Our findings suggest that family cohesion protects against adolescent smoking, whereas family conflict increases the risk for smoking. Therefore, intervention programs for adolescents and parents could focus on enhancing family bonding and closeness, which is protective against smoking initiation.

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Adolescent drinking, smoking and other substance use involvement: links with perceived family life