Dimensions of moral character and drug use among rural high school students

Related major parameters of moral character (socialization and empathy) identified by Hogan (1973) to self-reported drug use in a sample of 88 rural high school students. As expected, level of socialization correlated significantly with total drugs used, frequency of marijuana use, and number of drug-related social complications. However, at variance with past research of college students, empathy did not relate to any of the drug-use variables examined. It was speculated that the implications of characterological factors for drug use may vary with age of the user.