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The highs that bind: school context, social status and marijuana use
Matt Vogel1, Chris E Rees, Timothy McCuddy
1Department of Criminology and Criminal Justice, University of Missouri - St. Louis, St. Louis, MO, USA, vogelma@umsl.edu.
Journal of Youth and Adolescence
|February 11, 2015
Summary
Adolescent marijuana use is linked to peer status. School connectedness can lessen this link, suggesting school environments can reduce substance use for social standing.
Area of Science:
- Adolescent Health
- Sociology of Substance Use
- Network Analysis
Background:
- Substance use is associated with adolescent social network structures.
- Peer influence on substance use is moderated by school context.
- Mechanisms linking school structure to substance use and peer status require further investigation.
Purpose of the Study:
- To examine how school connectedness, drug culture, and network density moderate the relationship between peer status and marijuana use.
- To identify school-level factors influencing adolescent substance use.
- To understand the role of social status in adolescent marijuana consumption.
Main Methods:
- Multilevel logistic regression analysis.
- Utilized data from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent to Adult Health (N = 7,548).
- Analyzed self, peer, and parental data from 106 high schools.
Main Results:
- School connectedness significantly reduced the association between social status and marijuana use.
- Peer network status influences marijuana use, but this effect is context-dependent.
- School-level factors play a crucial role in moderating substance use behaviors.
Conclusions:
- School connectedness acts as a protective factor, diminishing the role of social status in adolescent marijuana use.
- School environments can mitigate the use of marijuana for status attainment.
- Interventions promoting school connectedness may reduce substance use among adolescents.
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