Perceived control in adolescent substance use: Concurrent and longitudinalanalyses

A sample of 9th-grade students (1,293 individuals, 51% girls) attending com pulsory schools in Reykjavik, Iceland, was surveyed and followed up 3 years later. The relationship between perceived control and substance use is exa mined concurrently at age 14 for experimentation with tobacco and alcohol a nd longitudinally (14-17 years of age) for daily smoking, heavy drinking, a nd illicit drug use. Taking into account sociodemographic characteristics ( family structure, socioeconomic status, and gender) and parental and peer u se, the results of concurrent analyses indicate that adolescents who expres sed more personal control were less likely to have smoked and to have had a drink at age 14. Longitudinal analyses showed that perceived control at ag e 14 predicted both daily smoking and illicit drug use among girls at age 1 7 but not among boys. Conversely, perceived control did not predict heavy d rinking among adolescents.