Year: 2022
Type: article
Study design: Observational Study
Abstract: BACKGROUND: Psychoactive substance use is a transient behavior among many adolescents and diminishes as they mature, but some engage in heavy forms of substance use, which increases their risk of health and behavioral challenges. A consistent predictor of substance use among youth is family structure, with adolescents living in single-parent, stepparent, or no-parent families at higher risk than others of several forms of substance use. The objective of this research was to investigate whether unstructured socializing mediated the association between family structure and heavy alcohol or substance use. METHODS: = 65,737) were used to test the hypothesis using a generalized structural equation model and tests of mediation. RESULTS: The analysis furnished clear support for a mediation effect among adolescents living with a single parent but less support among those living with a stepparent or neither parent. CONCLUSION: The association between living in a single-parent household and heavy alcohol or other substance use was mediated largely by time spent outside the home with friends in unsupervised activities. Additional research that uses longitudinal data and more nuanced measures of family structure is needed to validate this finding.
Author: John P. Hoffmann
Institution: Brigham Young University
Language: English
Subfield: Epidemiology
Field: Medicine
Domain: Health Sciences
Open Access status: gold
Estimated APC paid: $2,618
OpenAlex ID: W4286209744