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The relationship between substance abuse and identity development

This research examined the relationship between substance use and identity variables. The sample consisted of 76 students undergraduate psychology students. Relationships were found between identity variables and both alcohol and marijuana usage. People with a foreclosed identity status tended to have the lowest rates of substance use, while people in the moratorium identity status tended to have the highest rates. The hypotheses that identity variables would predict substance usage above and beyond psychological adjustment, and that identity distress symptoms would predict substance use beyond other identity development variables alone, was mostly not confirmed. The strongest and most consistent predictor of substance use was age. Possible reasons for this relationship are discussed, and calls for further research into this as well as other mediators and moderators of the relationship between identity and substance use are suggested.

Identiferoai:union.ndltd.org:ucf.edu/oai:stars.library.ucf.edu:honorstheses1990-2015-2161
Date01 May 2011
CreatorsMester, Joshua J.
PublisherSTARS
Source SetsUniversity of Central Florida
LanguageEnglish
Detected LanguageEnglish
Typetext
Formatapplication/pdf
SourceHIM 1990-2015

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