Teenagers’ Substance Use by Family Influences

Abstract

Previous research has consistently found that the two main influences on teenagers’ substance use have been their parents and their peers. The influence of peers is examined in Chapters 6–9. In this chapter I examine family influences and include in this parental and sibling influences. Almost all of the teenagers in this community were living with their parents and they had numerous siblings, many of them older than the teenagers. Thus, there was at least some likelihood that the teenagers might be influenced in their substance use by their parents or their siblings. Parental influence includes the role parents play in encouraging their teenage children’s substance use and the role they play in discouraging their substance use. Siblings may play similar roles, either helping their younger siblings to use the substances or protecting them from use. This chapter begins with an introduction to the teenagers’ families. This is followed by an examination of the impact of various family variables on the teenagers’ substance use.