Direct effects and interactions of individual characteristics, peers, parents, schools, and community influences on rural adolescent substance use and school connectedness

Past research on contextual factors influencing drug use shows that protective factors in the community, school, and home all interact to influence youth drug use; however, these studies lack information about the casual pathways and interactions of protective factors and their role in preventing drug use. In particular, previous researchers focused on contextual factors influencing drug use or school connectedness. Few studies examined school connectedness as a mediator between contextual factors and drug use. This study examines the relationship between school connectedness and substance use using structural equation modeling. Data were collected using an anonymous survey administered to 1,059 middle and high-school students in rural South Georgia. Participants were primarily male (51.4%) and White (64.5%). Contextual factors negatively directly related to substance use include school connectedness, religion, refusal efficacy, social norms, and community safety (P<.05). Contextual factors positively related to school connectedness include self-control, social support, family involvement, teacher support, and community connectedness (P<.05).  School connectedness was a full mediator for the following relationships: self-control and substance use, social norms and substance use, social support and substance use, family involvement and substance use, teacher support and substance use, and community connectedness and substance use (P<.05). Moderating effects of age, race, and gender significantly influenced the interactions (p<.05). This study illustrates the importance of school connectedness when examining contextual factors influencing drug use in rural adolescents.