Predicting Hallucinogen Use During Adolescence and Early Adulthood in Justice-Involved Youth Using the Dual Systems...

Area of Science:

• Psychology
• Public Health
• Criminology

Background:

• Hallucinogen use among justice-involved youth is an understudied public health issue.
• Cognitive development, specifically impulse control and sensation-seeking, may predict hallucinogen use.
• Limited research explores these predictors from a life-course perspective.

Purpose of the Study:

• To examine sensation-seeking and impulse control as predictors of hallucinogen use in justice-involved youth.
• To investigate whether age moderates the relationship between these predictors and hallucinogen use.
• To address the gap in life-course research on this topic.

Main Methods:

• Analysis of data from the Pathways to Desistance study.
• Utilized mixed-effects modeling to assess direct and moderated relationships.
• Examined sensation-seeking and impulse control as predictors of hallucinogen use, moderated by age.

Main Results:

• Lower impulse control significantly predicted a greater likelihood of hallucinogen use.
• The impact of impulse control on hallucinogen use diminished as participants aged.
• Higher sensation-seeking predicted increased hallucinogen use, though this effect was attenuated when interaction effects were considered and not moderated by age.

Conclusions:

• Interventions focusing on impulse control in juvenile correctional settings may reduce hallucinogen use.
• Findings have implications for prevention programming within juvenile justice systems.
• Results highlight the importance of considering cognitive factors in addressing substance use in justice-involved youth.