The 130th Annual Meeting of APHA

Abstract #42044

Ying-Chih Chuang, PhD¹, Susan T. Ennett, PhD², Karl E. Bauman, PhD², and Vangie A. Foshee, PhD². (1) Stanford Center for Research in Disease Prevention, Stanford University, 1000 Welch Road, Palo Alto, CA 94304, (650)724-5192, yingchih@stanford.edu, (2) Health Behavior and Health Education, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, CB#7400 Rosenau Hall, School of Public Health-UNC CH, Chapel Hill, NC 27599-7400

This study examined how neighborhoods influence adolescent substance use through parents and peers. Traditionally, parent and peer influences have been the two major focuses in research about adolescent substance use. It has been suggested that to fully understand the nature of adolescent substance use, studies need to go beyond interpersonal influences and consider how different social settings may exert influence. This study extends the interpersonal focus by including neighborhood influences in the etiology of adolescent substance use. This study uses structural equation models to describe the interrelationships among neighborhood characteristics, parental closeness, parental monitoring, parent substance use, peer substance use, and adolescent cigarette and alcohol use. The data for this study were obtained from a nation-wide study designed to determine whether a family-directed intervention prevented adolescent tobacco and alcohol use. The residential addresses of 959 adolescents 12 to 14 years of age were matched with 1990 Census tracts to provide neighborhood characteristics. We found that neighborhoods have indirect effects on adolescent cigarette and alcohol use through parental and peer characteristics. For adolescent cigarette use, lower SES neighborhoods are associated with higher parental monitoring, which in turn is associated with adolescent cigarette use. For adolescent alcohol use, higher SES neighborhoods are associated with higher parent drinking. Lower SES neighborhoods are associated with higher parental monitoring and higher peer drinking. Parent drinking, parental monitoring, and peer drinking each in turn has an influence on adolescent alcohol use. The findings are discussed in the context of theory, methods, and future research.

Learning Objectives:

• Describe the interrelationship among neighborhoods, parents, peers, and adolescent substance use
• Assess the mediating effects of parental and peer characteristics between neighborhoods and adolescent substance use by using structural equation modeling

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.