Age, social learning, and social bonding in adolescent substance use

We propose that social learning and social bonding theories are capable of accounting for the well-known relationship of crime and delinquency to age. Models incorporating age and variables derived from these two theories are tested with data on adolescent substance use among a large sample of Midwe st adolescents in Grades 7 through 12. Older adolescents consume more marij uana than younger adolescents, and the age-use curve is matched by the rela tionship between age and social learning variables. Differences in use by a ge are also correlated with differences in strength of social bonds by age, but to a lesser extent. The findings support the hypothesis that age varia tions in marijuana use are mediated by age-related variations in social lea rning; there is also support, although somewhat weaker, for the similar hyp othesis that social bonding variables mediate the age-marijuana use relatio nship during adolescence.