Activity and Mood Temperament as Predictors of Adolescent Substance Use: Test of a Self-Regulation Mediational Model

The authors tested a mediational model of temperament dimensions and substance use with a sample of 1,826 urban adolescents, M age 12.3 years. Five scales from the Revised Dimensions of Temperament Survey (DOTS-R) were administered together with measures of substance (tobacco, alcohol, marijuana) us...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of personality and social psychology 1995-05, Vol.68 (5), p.901-916
Main Authors: Wills, Thomas Ashby, DuHamel, Kate, Vaccaro, Donato
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Activities
Activity Level
Adaptation, Psychological
Addictive behaviors
Adolescent
Adolescent Behavior
Adolescents
Adult and adolescent clinical studies
Alcohol Use
Biological and medical sciences
Child
Children & youth
Data analysis
Drug abuse
Drug Usage
Drug use
Emotional States
Emotions
Exploratory Behavior
Female
Human
Humans
Male
Marijuana
Mediation
Medical sciences
Miscellaneous
Moods
New York
Parents
Personality
Personality Traits
Predictors
Prognosis
Psychology. Psychoanalysis. Psychiatry
Psychopathology. Psychiatry
Self-Management
Self-Regulation
Social psychology
Substance abuse
Substance-Related Disorders - psychology
Surveys and Questionnaires
Temperament
Tobacco Smoking
U.S.A
Urban areas
Young people
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Description
Summary:The authors tested a mediational model of temperament dimensions and substance use with a sample of 1,826 urban adolescents, M age 12.3 years. Five scales from the Revised Dimensions of Temperament Survey (DOTS-R) were administered together with measures of substance (tobacco, alcohol, marijuana) use and measures of related variables derived from a self-regulation model. Unique contributions to substance use were found for DOTS-R dimensions of high activity level (positively related) and positive mood (inversely related). High activity level and low positive mood were also related to lower levels of parental support. Analyses, including multiple regression and structural modeling, identified generalized self-control, maladaptive coping (anger and helplessness), novelty seeking, and affiliation with peer substance users as mediating the effect of temperament on substance use, with control for effects of parental support. Parental support was inversely related to substance use through several pathways. Implications for the theory of vulnerability are discussed.
ISSN:0022-3514
1939-1315
DOI:10.1037/0022-3514.68.5.901