Adolescent Drug Use: Parental Involvement And Peer Influence.
“Since the beginning of history humans have searched for substances that would sustain and protect them and also act on the nervous system to produce pleasurable sensations” (Santrock, 2007). Drugs provide people with a temporary way to cope with the difficulties of life, to feel comfortable in social settings, and to feel good about whom they are. Adolescents are no different. They too use drugs to gain these temporary feelings and sensations.
“Drug abuse among young people is one of the greatest challenges of our time” (Shedler and Black, 1990). The prevalence of drug use among adolescents is a disturbing phenomenon that has been investigated for decades. When adolescents abuse drugs, their lives can be adversely affected (Jenkins & Zunguze, 1998; Wynn, Schulenberg, Kloska, & Laetz, 1997). In an effort to uncover the underlying causes of this phenomenon, researchers have highlighted peer influence as one of the key factors in determining drug use (Jenkins & Zunguze, 1998). Thus, the purpose of this paper is to analyze research articles that examine the relationship between peer influence and drug use among adolescents.
In their study, Olds and Thombs (2001) compared the implication of peer behavior and parental involvement with regards to their effects on cigarette and alcohol use among adolescents from grades seven to twelve. The hypothesis of this study is that young teenagers who engage in cigarette and alcohol use are more likely to be affected by insufficient parental involvement. In contrast, older teenagers are more likely to be influenced by their peers in their decision to use cigarettes and alcohol (Olds& Thombs, 2001).
By using questionnaires, Olds and Thombs (2001) obtained responses about the cigarette and alcohol use of the teen participants. The study indicated that most students, regardless of the grade level, engaged in cigarette and alcohol use in order to imitate their close friends and “fit in” with the...
View Full Essay