Teen Substance Abuse
Brianna Johnson (Behavioral Sciences)
An examination of parent-child relationships and teen substance use
What is the relationship between parent-child relationships and teen substance use? Our relationship with our parents can impact our lives for the better or the worse. To study this we analyzed a survey done by the Community that Cares. Alcohol use, marijuana use and tobacco use were determined by the respondent’s self-reported substance use within the last within their lifetime on a 7 point Likert scale that ranges from 0 times to 40 times. Parental Relationships was measured by the respondents’ feelings about how close they felt to their parents on a 4 point Likert scale ranging from no to yes. Family Conflict was measured by the respondent’s answers to whether or not there were arguments and yelling occurring in the home on a 4 point Likert scale ranging from no to yes. This study surveyed 570 students ages 12-19 in grades 7 -9 in 2008 at Northwest elementary and high schools. The hypothesis that high-quality parent-child relationships are inversely correlated with teen substance use was supported as was the hypothesis that poor parent-child relationships would be positively correlated with substance use.