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Continuity and Discontinuity in Illicit Drug Use: Patterns and Antecedents

NCJ Number
163206
Journal
Journal of Drug Issues Volume: 24 Issue: 1 Dated: (1994) Pages: 75-97
Author(s)
F A Esbensen; D S Elliott
Date Published
1994
Length
23 pages
Annotation
This study used event-history analysis to test a social- learning model to identify factors associated with both the onset and discontinuity of drug use.
Abstract
Eight waves of the National Youth Survey (NYS), a panel study of a national probability sample of youth in the United States, provided 14 years (1976-89) of drug-use information for 1,172 respondents aged 11 through 30. The research was guided by an integrated theoretical perspective that has been proposed and tested by Elliott and associates (1985, 1989). Key explanatory variables in the model include differential peer group association and differential reinforcement of drug use by peers and parents, three measures of normlessness, demographic characteristics, and life-event changes (marriage and the birth of the first child). Dependent measures included three levels of drug use: alcohol, marijuana, and other illicit drugs. Findings show that once the initiation of drug use occurred, drug use was maintained for an extended time; demographic characteristics had little effect on either initiation or cessation of drug use. Variables reflective of social-learning theory were more important in accounting for initiation than cessation of drug use; and life events, such as marriage and becoming a parent, increased the odds of discontinuing drug use. 4 figures, 3 tables, 4 notes, and 37 references