THE INTERRELATIONSHIP BETWEEN SUBSTANCE USE AND PRECOCIOUS TRANSITIONS TO ADULT STATUSES

This study focuses on the interrelationship between premature or preco cious transitions to adult statuses and roles and the use of alcohol a nd drugs. Panel data from early adolescence to young adulthood for a s ample of youth who were at high risk for serious delinquent behavior i s used. The results indicate that use of alcohol and drugs in early ad olescence increases the risk of dropping out of school, becoming pregn ant or impregnating someone, becoming a teenage parent, and living ind ependently from parents or guardians prematurely. In turn, experiencin g these precocious transitions increases the risk of the use of alcoho l and drugs when respondents are young adults. The importance of these findings to the life course perspective generally and to interactiona l theory specifically are discussed.