Gender and Juvenile Drug Abuse: A General Strain Theory Perspective

Abstract

This study is a partial test of Robert Agnew's (2006) general strain theory. The sample consists of 39,879 juveniles between the ages of 10 and 17 from a metropolitan area in Texas with more than 5 million people. Logistic regression is used to determine the effect of living situation on drug offenders, drug recidivists, and juvenile court case outcome when race, abuse, sex, and mental health problems are controlled. Gender-specific analysis is used to test L. Broidy and R. Agnew's (1997) hypothesis that girls and boys react differently to strain. Results show partial support for the influence of a strained living situation on drug offenders, drug recidivists, and case outcome. Support is found for the hypothesis that boys' and girls' experiences with strain differ.

KEYWORDS:

• drug use
• gender
• general strain theory
• juvenile delinquency
• living situation

Notes

Note: Data in parentheses are frequencies; otherwise, they are percentages.

Note: ^a Reference category is two-parent living situation. ^b Reference category is White.

*p < .05, **p < .01, ***p < .001.

Note: ^a Reference category is two-parent living situation. ^b Reference category is White.

*p < .05, **p < .01, ***p < .001.