Substance use and psychological adjustment in homeless adolescents: A testof three models

Three models of adolescent substance use, the deviance-prone, affect-regula tion, and normative development models, were assessed regarding their abili ty to predict the substance use of a high-risk homeless adolescent sample w ith high rates of deviance, depression, and substance use. Hierarchical mul tiple regression analyses that included tests for curvilinear and gender in teraction effects were performed. Results supported the deviance-prone mode l most strongly, with delinquency but not aggressive behavior predicting su bstance use. The affect-regulation model received support for females but n ot for males. With respect to the normative development model, results did not indicate that moderate substance users were better off than abstainers in terms of negative affect or interpersonal relationships.