Marijuana is the second most commonly used substance in the US. A growing literature suggests that socially anxious individuals use marijuana to manage their symptoms in social situations, which may explain why they are also more likely to experience problems. Unfortunately, the majority of the literature is based on research conducted with adult samples or the co-occurrence of diagnoses in adolescent samples. The proposed study sought to test the link between social anxiety (SA) and proxies for ‘real-time' marijuana use behaviors (i.e., use willingness) as well as use-related problems among adolescents. Participants were 69 adolescents (15-17; 55% female) recruited from the community reporting any lifetime marijuana use. Participants were randomly assigned to a novel social rejection or neutral laboratory task and completed measures of SA, marijuana use frequency, and related problems. Consistent with adult findings, main effects of SA and experimental condition on marijuana use willingness were expected to be qualified by an interaction in which the greatest marijuana use willingness would occur among high SA youth post-rejection (H1), SA would be positively related to marijuana use problems (H2), and among adolescents in the rejection condition, marijuana use willingness would be positively correlated with use problems (H3). Only H2 was supported, highlighting areas of convergence and divergence in the role of SA and social stress on marijuana outcomes. These data stand to improve the scientific knowledge on the relative roles of SA and social stress on marijuana use within an understudied, high-risk population and help inform future intervention efforts.

published_or_final_version / Psychology / Doctoral / Doctor of Philosophy

The issue of juvenile drug abuse and criminal career continuity has become a nationwide concern in the last 3 decades. Social scientists and policymakers alike are concerned with the plausible relationship between juvenile drug abuse and adult crimes of high seriousness. This study represents an effort to examine the connection between juvenile drug abuse and criminal career continuity. This study has been conducted to examine the life course of the individual. The data came from Lyle Shannon's longitudinal study of the relationship between juvenile delinquency and adult crime in three birth cohorts from the city of Racine, Wisconsin The traditional social control approach toward reducing the likelihood of criminal career continuity is deterrence. The deterrence model asserts that people engage in certain kinds of behavior only after rational calculation of the costs versus the benefits. People who obey the law strive for the rewards of conformity and try to avoid the costs of criminal behavior. The threat of punishment increases the potential costs of breaking the law. Punishment is one sanction inducing such compliance. It must be realized, however, that deterrence does not have a linear effect across all types of offenders. The degree of deterrent effect on future criminal activity is often mitigated by the circumstances unique to an individual. The offender who is involved with drug abuse and the lifestyle that surrounds it best exemplifies this situation. This way of life diminishes the effectiveness of official deterrence techniques to an extent, because drug abuse is a biopsychosocial problem. In this study, the researcher pursued a number of concerns dealing with the question of whether juveniles who are delinquents and drug users are more likely to commit crimes as adults. The focus was on the juvenile recidivist and the juvenile drug user. The results indicate that those juveniles having a contact with the police are more likely to have a criminal career than are those who do not. Furthermore, those juveniles having a police contact for drugs are far more likely to commit crimes of high seriousness in adulthood than are those juveniles having police contact for non-drug crimes. In an analysis of sanctions, the results support the hypothesis that those juveniles receiving a sanction are less likely to commit a crime of high seriousness in adulthood than those who received no sanction. In addition, the empirical findings support the hypothesis that those juveniles receiving a sanction for a drug crime are more likely to commit an adult crime of high seriousness than are those juveniles who received a non-drug sanction. This result is likely due to the biopsycosocial nature of drug abuse. The results do not support the hypothesis that juvenile drug distributors are more likely to commit a crime of high seriousness in adulthood than are consumers. Also, the results suggest that there is no support for the hypothesis that juveniles who used hard drugs are more likely to commit adult crimes of high seriousness than are those who used marijuana only. These results suggest that once a juvenile is in the drug web, he/she becomes an active participant in a network of criminal activity.

The leading cause of death for 15-20 year olds in the United States is unintentional injury. For this population, these injuries are often caused by motor vehicle accidents, alcohol and/or drug use, or a combination thereof. Sensation seeking is an internal drive to seek exciting and novel experiences. Congruous with normative developmental processes, adolescents are more likely to have a higher psycho-physiological drive towards sensation seeking than are younger children or adults. High sensation seeking is one of the risk factors for alcohol, tobacco, and other drug (ATOD) use. Other risk factors include: lack of adult-supervised time, high negative affect, and favorable attitudes and subjective norms regarding ATOD use. Sport participation addresses many of these risk factors. Sport and extracurricular activity participation have been examined in relation to ATOD use. However, the relationship between sport and ATOD use remains somewhat equivocal. This study aimed to determine the direction of the relationship between sport participation and ATOD use, and to elucidate putative, psychosocial mediators and moderators. Students in health classes (n=239, average age 16.06)) from three high schools in one suburban, Central Texas school district were given an anonymous survey regarding ATOD use, extracurricular activities, affect, attitudes, sensation seeking, social support, and subjective norms. Regression, ANOVA, and path analysis were the statistical methods employed. Consistent with previous research, favorable attitudes and subjective norms towards ATODs had a strong, positive effect on ATOD use. Sport participation was examined as moderator in the relationship between sensation seeking and ATOD use. An interaction between sport and ATOD use with sensation seeking was supported by the data. However, mean sensation seeking on the Arnett Sensation Seeking Scale was low for this sample, compared with that of other adolescent samples. Mean ATOD use was lower for sport participants compared with all other students, but not compared with extracurricular activity participants. / text

According to Amos (1989) the use of, and the attitudes towards alcohol amongst young people in Africa is an area about which little is known but which has potentially major health implications. Neither has much been done about primary prevention in this field. The case studies which included a participatory research was conducted among three groups of people in the Clermont Township near Durban in the Natal Region. The aim of the research was to describe alcohol abuse as a social problem among the black adolescents and to compare and contrast the implementation of alcohol abuse prevention strategies that were and are used by the different groups of people in their community. The case study approach documented the work of each community. All the three groups of people who participated in the research agreed that alcohol abuse was a problem in their community. They described factors in their township which were contributory to the alcohol problems in their community and described the various cycles of negative effects and consequences to the individual, family and to the community. They agreed that in the past alcohol was not a problem in the traditional African society because of cultural and economic factors. Most interesting was the serious effects all groups described alcohol abuse amongst both teachers and the pupils in the Black education system. Each group planned, implemented and evaluated a unique alcohol preventive strategy. While the youth group maintained a strong alcohol focus with an educational programme, both the adult groups moved into the more general issues of economic empowerment. All three groups also used the participation and capacity building. The willingness to get involved, and to address the problems of the groups were remarkable. The following were the research conclusions: * Material resources were relatively available in this community. * Health professionals were available in this community, but they did not follow the Comprehensive Primary Health Care approach and were not involved in community development. * Integrated drinking seemed to be in harmony with the values of these groups and could be used in the alcohol abuse prevention. An integrative, multi-faceted and comprehensive community based partnership approach was used to the multi-causal alcohol abuse prevention programmes and strategies. This strategy was successful in involving community partners and leading to the solving of the actual problems and the development of positive health behaviours. The research revealed that the development projects needed "seed money" to initiate and to maintain. Alcohol abuse prevention can be used as a vehicle to enter a community and to engage it in a health directed partnership. / Thesis (Ph.D.)-University of Natal, 1995.

Chemical substance abuse is a major problem affecting young people of all races, in particular teenagers, not only in South Africa but globally as well. Although this phenomenon continues to be a serious condition that impacts on teenagers’ growth, learning and relationships with their parents, there is limited knowledge-based research on the experiences, challenges and coping strategies of parents living with teenagers abusing chemical substances. A qualitative research approach was employed to explore, describe and contextualize the experiences, challenges and coping strategies of parents living with teenagers abusing chemical substances in Ramotse, Hammanskraal in Gauteng Province. The researcher used purposive and snowball sampling methods to draw the sample. Data was collected through the semi-structured interviews and analysed using Tesch’s eight steps (Creswell, 2009). Data was verified against four criteria developed by Guba and Lincoln’s model to test the trustworthiness of a qualitative research study. The ethical considerations adhered to throughout this study were informed consent, anonymity, confidentiality, debriefing of participants and management of information. The findings confirm that there is lack of support for parents living with teenagers abusing chemical substance. From the findings, recommendations for policy, education, practice and future research were made. The results were disseminated by means of a written research report to management of SANCA and the participants. / Social Work / M. A. (Social Work)

The incidence and consequences of adolescent substance abuse for the health and well-being of adolescents, their significant others and society at large, have become an increasing concern. The early onset of substance use further enhances the potential for addiction, thus emphasizing the need for early identification and intervention. The literature and practice observations suggest that parental management, which includes parenting practices such as parental monitoring, clear rules about substance use and the modelling of protective, constructive behaviours, protects adolescents from the onset of substance use and interrupts the adolescent’s progression to substance abuse. This qualitative study aimed to explore and describe parental management of adolescent substance abuse in the Nelson Mandela Metropole. An exploratory- descriptive and contextual research design was employed in this study. Furthermore, non-probability purposive sampling, in conjunction with snowball sampling techniques, was employed to recruit parents who have or continue to manage their adolescents (between the ages of 13-18 years) substance abuse and the associated impact that it has of on the family in the past year. Semi-structured individual interviews were conducted with ten parents, and data collection ceased upon reaching data saturation. The generated data was analysed using thematic data analysis. The trustworthiness of the research process and the findings was enriched by engaging in a variety of data verification strategies. The following main themes emerged from the data analysis process: Participants’ perspective of adolescent substance use in their community; Participants’ experiences of their own child’s substance use; Impact of substance use on the family system; Participants’ perspective of their role in managing adolescent substance use; and, Participants’ support needs in relation to adolescent substance use. The findings contribute to a greater understanding of what parents require to effectively prevent and/or manage substance abuse by their adolescent children. The findings furthermore recommend preventive interventions at both primary and secondary level.

The current study examined the relationships among attachment styles to parent, peer, and romantic partner, ability to regulate emotion, as well as engagement in sexual behaviors and substance use. Attachment theory and previous research suggests that an individual learns how to manage emotions through the modeling of appropriate techniques and a stable sense of self-worth. These two aspects develop through a secure attachment bond with an important figure. When an individual does not have a secure attachment bond in which to practice adaptive affect regulation strategies, he/she may attempt to manage emotions through external means, such as sexual behaviors or substance use. Overall, results supported these associations, with some notable exceptions. Across attachment sources a secure attachment style was related to lower levels of psychological distress and less engagement in substance use. In contrast to the findings from earlier studies, affect regulation did not mediate the relationship between attachment and substance use, and engagement in sexual behaviors was not significantly related to either attachment style or affect regulation.

South Africa has been witnessing an escalation in drug use amongst adolescents in high school. Thus, the main question that motivated this research was: How can a psycho-educational programme, using a selected audio-visual media resource, assist teachers and parents in an effort to prevent adolescent students’ substance abuse problem behaviour? Social cognitive theory (SCT) and self-efficacy theory (SET) were used as a conceptual framework. The study explained these theories in-depth. Adolescent substance abuse was also studied as well as programmes to address this problem. This was followed by a perusal of numerous audio-visual resources for their possible incorporation into prevention programmes. The ‘Above The Influence’ (ATI) resource was selected for the psycho-educational programme which was designed for the study. The programme was put into action during seven sessions over a period of about two months, and implemented with a group of 26 Grade 10 and Grade 11 students in Pietermaritzburg, South Africa, to evaluate its relevance for adolescent substance abuse prevention. To evaluate the programme, a qualitative approach was used. The data were gathered during the programme implementation by means of in-person and online focus groups, individual interviews, written open-ended questions, observation notes and follow-up interviews some time after the programme had ended. Eleven principles were identified from the literature to evaluate the potential of the programme to be effective in preventing adolescent substance abuse. In particular the programme needed to increase adolescents’ skills related to studying, communication, peer relationships, self-efficacy, assertiveness, and drug resistance. The programme also had to employ interactive techniques and needed to address the type of drug abuse problem in the local community, for example, the ‘gateway’ substances of marijuana, alcohol and tobacco. In addition, the programme potential was evaluated in the light of SCT and SET. The findings indicated that the psycho-educational programme, using ATI as audiovisual medium, can be used very effectively by teachers to raise students’ awareness and develop particular skills that could contribute towards the prevention of adolescent substance abuse. It is recommended that the programme should be used in the long-term with repeated reinforcing sessions over time. / Psychology of Education / D. Ed. (Psychology of Education)

Substance abuse is a pervasive problem across the world. The most commonly abused substanc-es include tobacco, alcohol and dagga. In teenagers, research has found out that substance abuse is often linked to multiple factors such as scholastic problems, mental and health problems, risky sexual behaviour, accidents, crime and violence. The present study aimed to explore the level of knowledge and attitudes of teenagers towards substance abuse in an informal settlement. The target population were teenage girls and boys between the ages of 13 and 19. A mixed method approach was employed in this study. A self-administered questionnaire was designed and used to collect data. This questionnaire contained both closed and open ended questions. The Statis-tical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) was used to analyse the data. Findings show that teen-agers have adequate knowledge and appropriate attitudes towards substance abuse. However, the results also indicate that the provision of information on substance abuse remains important in shaping attitudes of young people. Interventions such as awareness campaigns, focus group discussions, education and developmental programmes that contribute to knowledge on the impact of and ways to control substance abuse are recommended / Psychology / M.A. (Psychology)