Family and personal predictors of Marijuana use among Italian adolescents, a 1 year follow up investigation

Background: In Italy the use of certain substances such as alcohol are encouraged and even guided by the family during adolescence, while others such as marijuana are strictly prohibited. Italian adolescents are among the highest in Europe for high-risk marijuana consumption. This study investigated the one year longitudinal influence of our samples' personal (self esteem, coping self confidence) and family (strict family rule, family stress) life on lifetime marijuana use. Methods: The sample consisted of 324 youths (56% male) ranging in age from 15-20 (M = 17.29 yrs, SD = 1.61) attending different types of school in northwest Italy. Due to the clustering of students within grades and possible intra-school correlation between students, a general linear mixed model was applied in the analysis. Results: One year follow up analyses revealed that higher perceptions of strict family rules at baseline were associated with lower indications of marijuana use at one year follow up (β = -0.31, p < 0.001). Greater indications of coping self confidence were associated with greater indications of marijuana use (β = 0.31, p < 0.05). No gender differences were observed. Conclusion: This study represents among the first attempts to uncover the marijuana use determinants of Italian adolescents. While not every important explaining factor has been studied here we have attempted to look at the effects of commonly studied adolescent marijuana use determinants in Italy. Continued efforts should be made to better explain both the risk and protective factors of marijuana use among Italian adolescents.