Susceptibility to Peer Pressure, Self-Esteem, and Health Locus of Control as Correlates of Adolescent Substance Abuse

TLDR

The study administered questionnaires to 2,589 fifth‑ and sixth‑grade students in a school‑based alcohol misuse prevention program, assessing substance use, intentions, and problems, and measuring susceptibility to peer pressure, self‑esteem, and health locus of control through 45 items that were factor‑analyzed separately in two randomly assigned groups. Six reliable factors were identified, and indices for peer‑pressure susceptibility, self‑esteem, and internal health locus of control were negatively associated with substance use, misuse, and intentions, with the peer‑pressure index showing the strongest correlations and highest internal consistency, informing the design of school‑based prevention programs.

Abstract

As part of a school-based alcohol misuse prevention study, questionnaires were ad ministered to 2,589 fifth and sixth grade students to determine levels of use of alcohol, marijuana, and cigarettes, intentions to use these substances, and problems resulting from alcohol misuse. The questionnaire also included 45 items concerning susceptibil ity to peer pressure, self-esteem, and health locus of control. These 45 items were factor analyzed separately for two groups formed by random assignment. Six factors were identified which were both internally consistent and replicable, and indices were constructed. The indices measuring susceptibility to peer pressure, self-esteem, and internal health locus of control were significantly and negatively correlated with most of the substance use, misuse, and intention items, and an external health locus of con trol index was not significantly related to most of the substance use, misuse, and inten tion items. The "Susceptibility to Peer Pressure" index correlated more highly with the adolescent substance use, misuse, and intention items than the self-esteem or the health locus of control indices, and it had the highest alpha coefficient. Implications for the design of school-based substance abuse prevention programs are discussed.