The Contribution of Internal Resources, External Resources, and Emotional Distress to Use of Drugs and Alcohol Among Israeli Jewish Urban Adolescents

Abstract

The contribution of selected background variables (age, gender), internal resources (mastery, emotional maturity), external resources (parental and peer support), and emotional distress to alcohol and drug use among 160 Israeli Jewish urban high school students were examined. Analyzing the variables with hierarchical regression, emotional distress contributed most significantly to both alcohol and drug use, and the contribution of age was somewhat less significant for both of them. Emotional distress also contributed indirectly to drug use through an interaction with one's sense of mastery. Gender, internal resources, and external resources contributed differentially to alcohol and drug use. Whereas gender and internal resources contributed only to drug use, external resources contributed only to alcohol use. Specifically, peer support contributed positively to alcohol use whereas parental support contributed negatively. The discussion provides explanations for these research findings and their implications, and the research's limitations are noted.

Keywords :

• adolescents
• internal resources
• external resources
• emotional distress
• substance use

THE AUTHORS

Racheli Lipschitz-Elhawi, Ph.D., is a Lecturer at the School of Social Work, Bar-Ilan University, Israel, and a social worker at Geha Mental Health Center. Her areas of interest include: Population at risk: youth, and terminally ill; mental health patients. Integrates in her work- clinical experience with research.

Professor Haya Itzhaky, PhD., is the Head of Ph.D. Program at the School of Social Work, Bar-Ilan University, Ramat Gan, Israel. Her areas of interest include: Community work: special populations: psychosocial factors and rehabilitation; the theory of empowerment; the human and the social environment; social work with paraprofessionals; drug addicts. Social work supervision: theories of adult learning; empowerment of workers, professional training system in universities; supervisor-supervisee relations: administrative, psychological and educational aspects.