The family, peer influences and substance use: findings from a study of UK teenagers

Abstract

The relative importance of several family and peer variables in predicting adolescent substance use was examined using data from the UK part of the European Schools Project on Alcohol and other Drugs (ESPAD). This involved 2641 students, all born in 1983, from throughout the UK surveyed in March–June 1999. For substance use, peer influences showed the strongest associations but parental monitoring and parental attitudes to substance use were also important. Once these variables were taken into account, other variables such as being in a single parent family or the relationships with the parents showed few significant effects. Family relationships, however, assumed far greater importance in predicting variables such as the students' self‐esteem and satisfaction with their health.

• teenagers
• family
• peer influences
• self‐esteem
• health
• UK
• ESPAD