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The 130th Annual Meeting of APHA |
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The 130th Annual Meeting of APHA |
Itzhak Yanovitzky, PhD, Department of Communication, Rutgers University, 4 Huntington Street, New Brunswick, NJ 08901-1071, (732)-932-7500 ext. 8123, iy@scils.rutgers.edu
Adolescents’ drug expectancies are shaped through information received from multiple sources including the mass media, educational programs, and parents. Of these sources, discussions with peers about drugs may be the most influential given the centrality of peers’ opinions and behaviors to the adolescent’s own behavior. The current study’s main goal is to identify factors that may be predictive of pro-drug discussions with peers as well as elements that may moderate the contribution of such discussions to actual drug use. Particular attention was given to the way sensation seeking (as a personality trait) and association with deviant peers contribute to pro-drug discussions with peers and, subsequently, to actual drug use. The results of analyzing cross-sectional data from the evaluation of the National Youth Anti-Drug Media Campaign provided evidence that sensation seeking tendencies, in addition to directly increasing the likelihood of marijuana use, contributed to this likelihood indirectly by serving as the primary motivation for adolescents’ association with deviant peers and having pro-drug discussions with friends. Several structural and social factors (family relationships, adult supervision, school attendance, and involvement in normative social activities) were found to decrease the likelihood of marijuana use. The theoretical and practical implications of these findings to the design of health communication interventions are discussed.
Learning Objectives:
Keywords: Adolescent Health, Drug Abuse
Presenting author's disclosure statement:
I do not have any significant financial interest/arrangement or affiliation with any organization/institution whose products or services are being discussed in this session.