Back to Annual Meeting Page		American Public Health Association 133rd Annual Meeting & Exposition December 10-14, 2005 Philadelphia, PA

Abstract #118058

Olivia Silber Ashley, DrPH¹, Jonathan L. Blitstein, PhD², Michael Penne, MPH³, Karl Bauman, PhD¹, and Joseph Gfroerer, BA⁴. (1) Health, Social, and Economics Research, RTI International, PO Box 12194, Research Triangle Park, NC 27709, (919) 541-6427, osilber@rti.org, (2) Center for Health Promotion Research, RTI International, PO Box 12194, Research Triangle Park, NC 27709, (3) Statistics Research Division, RTI International, PO Box 12194, Research Triangle Park, NC 27709, (4) Office of Applied Studies, Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, 5600 Fisher's Lane, Room 16-105, Rockville, MD 20857

Parental involvement is an important factor in decreasing the risk of adolescent substance use that may show effects through its influence on school behavior. In particular, adolescents engaged in school-based activities spend less unsupervised time after school and are more likely to meet pro-social peers. Furthermore, little is known about whether demographic characteristics or parent substance use moderate these protective effects on adolescent substance use. This study examined relationships between parental involvement, demographic characteristics, parent substance use, and adolescent substance use. Data are from nationally representative samples of mothers (n=2,302) and fathers (n=1,563) interviewed along with their adolescents aged 12 to 17 in the 2002 National Survey on Drug Use and Health (NSDUH). Cumulative logits were used to examine influences on the lifetime number (0 to 8) of types of substances adolescents used, including alcohol, tobacco, and illicit drugs. Results among father-child pairs indicated that higher levels of parental involvement were associated with increased protection among adolescents from using more substances (OR=2.30; 95%CI = 1.52, 2.71), regardless of demographic characteristics or father binge/heavy alcohol or illicit drug use. Among mother-child pairs, the association between parental involvement and adolescent substance use was moderated by gender, such that boys (OR=1.56; 95%CI = 1.23, 1.97) were less protected than girls (OR=2.98; 95% CI = 2.26, 3.93). Participation in school-based activities mediated the relationship between parental involvement and adolescent substance use only among mother-daughter pairs (z=2.60, p=0.005). Findings suggest that parenting interventions may be especially effective in preventing substance use among adolescent females.

Learning Objectives:

• •Identify the role of parental involvement in the progression of adolescent substance use
• •Describe the relationship between parental involvement, adolescent participation in school-based activities, and substance use among boys and girls
• •Discuss implications of study results for family-focused prevention efforts aimed at reducing adolescent substance use

Keywords: Substance Abuse Prevention, Family Involvement

Presenting author's disclosure statement:
I do not have any significant financial interest/arrangement or affiliation with any organization/institution whose products or services are being discussed in this session.