Psychological factors associated with drug and alcohol usage among Neighborhood Youth Corps enrollees

Administered a 31-item questionnaire designed to examine the patterns of personal use of alcohol and selected drugs to 89 male and 90 female Neighborhood Youth Corps enrollees. Peer group variables, specifically indirect social pressure, had the strongest relationship to personal use among enrollees...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Developmental psychology 1972-09, Vol.7 (2), p.119-123
Main Authors: Eisenthal, Sherman, Udin, Harriet
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Alcohol Use
Drug Usage
Drugs
Human
Peer Relations
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Summary:Administered a 31-item questionnaire designed to examine the patterns of personal use of alcohol and selected drugs to 89 male and 90 female Neighborhood Youth Corps enrollees. Peer group variables, specifically indirect social pressure, had the strongest relationship to personal use among enrollees. Perceived drug effects provided a major secondary influence. Direct social pressure was of relatively minor importance as a motivational factor. While alcohol maintained a high level of use for all ages, the other drugs followed a developmental pattern with 15-16 being a critical age of initiation. Sex differences were insignificant with respect to the extent of alcohol and drug use but were significant with respect to perceived aversive effects of the substances. The overall extent of personal use of alcohol and drugs is consistent with other research findings. (15 ref.)
ISSN:0012-1649
1939-0599
DOI:10.1037/h0033022