Citation

Lowe SR, Acevedo BP, Griffin KW, Botvin GJ. J. Drug Iss. 2013; 43(1): 103-118.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2013, Florida State University, School of Criminology and Criminal Justice)

DOI

10.1177/0022042612462221

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

We explored changes in self-management skills and substance use from 7th to 11th grade in a multiwave study of predominantly minority adolescents (N = 1,756). Using latent growth curve analysis, we found that substance use significantly increased, whereas self-management skills significantly decreased. In a parallel process model, we found that participants who reported higher self-management skills in the 7th grade had smaller increases in substance use. Participants who had larger decreases in self-management skills tended to have greater increases in substance use. We also explored the influence of grades and gender and found that (a) participants with higher grades at baseline had lower initial substance use, higher initial self-management skills, and smaller increases in substance use, and (b) male participants had greater increases in substance use. These results suggest that the provision of self-management skills may be an effective strategy for preventing substance-use initiation and escalation during adolescence.

Language: en