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Friendship intimacy, close friend drug use, and self-medication in adolescence

Year: 2014

Type: article

Abstract: hypothesis that friendship intimacy and close-friend substance use moderate the temporal relationship between daily negative affect and subsequent substance use (i.e., self-medication). Experience sampling methodology (ESM) was employed to capture daily variations in mood and substance use, and multilevel modeling techniques were used to parse between- versus within-person differences in risk for use. Findings supported between-person hypotheses that higher levels of negative affect and lower levels of friendship intimacy predicted greater substance use, and a consistent trend indicated that friendship intimacy and close-friend drug use interact to predict substance use more generally (though not for self-medication). Risk and protective mechanisms emerged from this interaction such that the effect of friendship intimacy on adolescent use depends on the degree of close-friend drug use. More specific reformulations of the risk processes involving friendships and self-medication among younger youth are indicated.

Source: Journal of Social and Personal Relationships

DOI: 10.1177/0265407513516889

Authors: Julia M. Shadur, Andrea M. Hussong

Institutions: University of Maryland, College Park, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

Language: English

Topic: Substance Abuse Treatment and Outcomes

Subfield: Epidemiology

Field: Medicine

Domain: Health Sciences

SDG: Good health and well-being

Open Access status: green

Funders: National Institute on Drug Abuse, Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development