Self-control, peers, and adolescent substance use: an international analysis

Abstract

Background

Adolescent substance use continues to be a global concern. Research has shown that two consistent predictors of this behavior are self-control and peer substance use. The objective of this study was to determine if these two variables interact to affect the frequency of substance use among young people.

Methods

The analysis utilized three years of data from the Second International Self-Report Delinquency study (2005-2007) (ISRD-2), which gathered information from youth, ages 12-17, residing in 30 nations (n = 72,206). Illicit substance use included cannabis, ecstasy, stimulants, and other substances. A zero-inflated negative binomial model that adjusts for selection effects was estimated to predict the frequency of substance use.

Results

The results showed that adolescents with low self-control who associated with substance using peers tended to be the most frequent substance users. Yet, youth with higher levels of selfcontrol were likely to report no or low frequency use regardless of the number of their friends who used illicit substances.

Conclusions

Self-control affects substance use among adolescents and can attenuate the influence of peer substance use. Research using longitudinal data is needed to disentangle changes in self-control, peer substance use, and one’s own substance use.

KEYWORDS:

• Heavy substance use
• self-control
• substance using peers
• adolescents

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Funding

The author(s) reported there is no funding associated with the work featured in this article.