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U.S. Trends in Adolescent Substance Use and Conduct Problems and Their Relation to Trends in Unstructured In-Person Socializing With Peers
- Source :
- Journal of Adolescent Health, 69(3), 432. Elsevier USA, J Adolesc Health
- Publication Year :
- 2021
- Publisher :
- Elsevier BV, 2021.
-
Abstract
- Purpose This study examined whether national trends in unstructured in-person socializing with peers (i.e., socializing without goals or supervision) among adolescents could help explain recent declines in adolescent risk behaviors (e.g., substance use, fighting, theft). Methods The sample contained of 44,842 U.S. 12th-grade students (aged 17–18 years) from the Monitoring the Future survey (years 1999–2017). Analyses examined (1) prevalence trends, (2) latent factor structure of risk behaviors and unstructured in-person socializing, and (3) whether trends in the unstructured in-person socializing factor accounted for the relationship between time (i.e., survey year) and the risk behavior factor. Results Adolescent risk behaviors and unstructured in-person socializing declined by approximately 30% in the U.S., and both formed coherent latent factors. After adjusting for sociodemographics, declines in unstructured in-person socializing accounted for approximately 86% of declines in risk behaviors. Conclusions The prevalence of risk behaviors and unstructured in-person socializing behaviors declined among U.S. 12th graders from 1999 to 2017. It is unknown whether such effects are directly causal and/or influenced by unmeasured variables. However, the results provide evidence that national declines in unstructured in-person socializing are a likely component of the explanation for national declines in adolescent risk behaviors.
- Subjects :
- Substance abuse
Multivariate modeling
medicine.medical_specialty
Adolescent
Substance-Related Disorders
Epidemiology
Factor structure
Article
Peer Group
03 medical and health sciences
Risk-Taking
0302 clinical medicine
Adolescent substance
030225 pediatrics
Juvenile delinquency
medicine
Humans
030212 general & internal medicine
National trends
Social Behavior
Delinquency
Risk behavior
Public Health, Environmental and Occupational Health
medicine.disease
Psychiatry and Mental health
Adolescent Behavior
Pediatrics, Perinatology and Child Health
Unstructured socializing
Monitoring the Future
Psychology
Demography
Subjects
Details
- ISSN :
- 1054139X
- Volume :
- 69
- Database :
- OpenAIRE
- Journal :
- Journal of Adolescent Health
- Accession number :
- edsair.doi.dedup.....a1829d9b41e7452d3671a8e660cce742