Adolescent substance use: Preliminary examinations of school and neighborhood context

In considering the influences of microsystems on adolescent substance use, familial and peer contexts have received the most extensive attention in th e research literature. School and neighborhood settings, however, are other developmental contexts that may exert specific influences on adolescent su bstance use. In many instances, school settings are organized to provide ed ucational services to students who share similar educational abilities and behavioral repertoires. The resulting segregation of students into these se ttings may result in different school norms for substance use. Similarly, n eighborhood resources, including models for substance use and drug safes in volvement, may play an. important role in adolescent substance use. We brie fly review literature examining contextual influences on adolescent substan ce use, and present results from two preliminary studies examining the cont ribution of school and neighborhood context to adolescent substance use. In the first investigation, we examine the impact of familial, peer, and scho ol contexts on adolescent substance use. Respondents were 283 students (age s 13 to 18) from regular and special education classrooms in six schools. A lthough peer and parental contexts were important predictors of substance u se, school norms for drug use accounted for variance in adolescent use beyo nd that explained by peer and parental norms. Data from a second study of 1 14 adolescents (mean age = 15) examines neighborhood contributions to adole scent substance use. In this sample, neighborhood indices did not contribut e to our understanding of adolescent substance use. Implications for preven tion are: presented.