Skip to main content

Advertisement

SpringerLink
Log in

Moral Disengagement, Anticipated Social Outcomes and Adolescents’ Alcohol Use: Parallel Latent Growth Curve Analyses

  • Empirical Research
  • Published:
Journal of Youth and Adolescence Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Moral disengagement is a social cognitive process that has been extensively applied to transgressive behaviors, including delinquency, aggression and illicit substance use. However, there has been limited research on moral disengagement as it relates to underage drinking. The current study aimed to examine moral disengagement contextualized to underage drinking and its longitudinal relationship to alcohol use. Moreover, the social context in which adolescent alcohol use typically occurs was also considered, with a specific emphasis on the social sanctions, or social outcomes, that adolescents anticipate receiving from friends for their alcohol use. Adolescents were assessed across three time-points, 8 months apart. The longitudinal sample consisted of 382 (46 % female) underage drinkers (12–16 years at T1). Parallel latent growth curve analysis was used to examine the bi-directional influence of initial moral disengagement, anticipated social outcomes, and alcohol use on subsequent growth in moral disengagement, anticipated social outcomes and alcohol use. The interrelation of initial scores and growth curves was also assessed. The findings revealed that, in the binary parallel analyses, initial moral disengagement and anticipated social outcomes both significantly predicted changes in alcohol use across time. Moreover, initial anticipated social outcomes predicted changes in moral disengagement. These findings were not consistently found when all three process analyses were included in a single model. The results emphasize the impact of social context on moral disengagement and suggest that by targeting adolescents’ propensity to justify or excuse their drinking, as well as the social outcomes adolescents anticipate for being drunk, it may be possible to reduce their underage drinking.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Aas, H., & Klepp, K. (1992). Adolescents’ alcohol use and perceived norms. Scandinavian Journal of Psychology, 33, 315–325. doi:10.1111/j.1467-9450.1992.tb00920.x.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Abar, C. C., Jackson, K. M., & Wood, M. (2014). Reciprocal relations between perceived parental knowledge and adolescent substance use and delinquency: The moderating role of parent–teen relationship quality. Developmental Psychology, 50, 2176–2187. doi:10.1037/a0037463.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Acock, A. C. (2005). Working with missing values. Journal of Marriage & Family, 67, 1012–1028. doi:10.1111/j.1741-3737.2005.00191.x.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ajzen, I. (2005). Attitudes, personality and behavior (2nd ed.). Maidenhead: Open University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Allen, M., Donohue, W. A., Griffin, A., Ryan, D., & Turner, M. M. (2003). Comparing the influence of parents and peers on the first choice to use drugs. Criminal Justice and Behavior, 30, 163–186. doi:10.1177/0093854802251002.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Allen, J. P., Chango, J., Szwedo, D., Schad, M., & Marston, E. (2012). Predictors of susceptibility to peer influence regarding substance use in adolescence. Child Development, 83, 337–350. doi:10.1111/j.1467-8624.2011.01682.x.

    Article  PubMed Central  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Amaro, H., Blake, S. M., Schwartz, P. M., & Flinchbaugh, L. J. (2001). Developing theory based substance abuse prevention programs for young adolescent girls. Journal of Early Adolescence, 21, 256–293. doi:10.1177/0272431601021003002.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Anderson, K. G., & Brown, S. A. (2011). Middle school drinking: Who, where, and when. Journal of Child & Adolescent Substance Abuse, 20, 48–62. doi:10.1080/1067828X.2011.534362.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Arbeit, M. R., Johnson, S. K., Champine, R. B., Greenman, K. N., Lerner, J. V., & Lerner, R. M. (2014). Profiles of problematic behaviors across adolescence: Covariations with indicators of positive youth development. Journal of Youth and Adolescence, 43, 971–990. doi:10.1007/s10964-014-0092-0.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Arbuckle, J. L. (2012). IBM SPSS Amos 21 users guide. Crawfordville: Amos Development Corporation.

    Google Scholar 

  • Australian Institute of Health & Welfare. (2011). 2010 National Drug Strategy Household Survey (Drug Statistics Series No. 25. Cat. No. PHE 145).

  • Babor, T. F., Stephens, R. S., & Marlatt, G. A. (1987). Verbal report methods in clinical research on alcoholism: Response bias and its minimization. Journal of Studies on Alcohol, 48, 410–424.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Bahr, S. J., Hoffmann, J. P., & Yang, X. (2005). Parental and peer influences on the risk of adolescent drug use. The Journal of Primary Prevention, 26, 529–551. doi:10.100/s10935-005-0014-8.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Bandura, A. (1986). Social foundations of thought & action. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bandura, A. (2002). Selective moral disengagement in the exercise of moral agency. Journal of Moral Education, 13, 101–119. doi:10.1080/0305724022014322.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bandura, A., Barbaranelli, C., Caprara, G. V., & Pastorelli, C. (1996). Mechanisms of moral disengagement in the exercise of moral agency. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 2, 364–374. doi:10.1037/0022-3514.71.2.364.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Barchia, K., & Bussey, K. (2011). Individual and collective social cognitive influences on peer aggression: Exploring the contribution of aggression efficacy, moral disengagement, and collective efficacy. Aggressive Behavior, 37, 107–120. doi:10.1002/ab.20375.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Barriga, A. Q., & Gibbs, J. C. (1996). Measuring cognitive distortion in antisocial youth: Development and preliminary validation of the “how I think” questionnaire. Aggressive Behavior, 22, 333–345. doi:10.1002/(SICI)1098-2337(1996)22:5<333:AID-AB2>3.0.CO;2-K.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bava, S., & Tapert, S. F. (2010). Adolescent brain development and the risk for alcohol and other drug problems. Neuropsychology Review, 20, 398–413. doi:10.1007/s11065-010-9146-6.

    Article  PubMed Central  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • British Columbia Ministry of Health Services (2010). Health minds, healthy people—A ten-year plan to address mental health & substance use in British Columbia. Retrieved from http://www.health.gov.bc.ca/library/publications/year/2010/healthy_minds_healthy_people.pdf-268k-2011-12-14.

  • Browne, M. W., & Cudeck, R. (1993). Alternative ways of assessing model fit. In K. A. Bollen & J. S. Long (Eds.), Testing structural equation models (pp. 136–162). Newbury Park, CA: Sage.

    Google Scholar 

  • Cail, J., & LaBrie, J. W. (2010). Disparity between the perceived alcohol-related attitudes of parents and peers increases alcohol risk in college students. Addictive Behaviors, 35, 135–139. doi:10.1016/j.addbeh.2009.09.019.

    Article  PubMed Central  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Caprara, G. V., Fida, R., Vecchione, M., Tramontano, C., & Barbaranelli, C. (2009). Assessing civic moral disengagement: Dimensionality and construct validity. Personality and Individual Differences, 47, 504–509. doi:10.1016/j.paid.2009.04.027.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Caprara, G. V., Tisak, M. S., Alessandri, G., Fontaine, R. G., Fida, R., & Paciello, M. (2014). The contribution of moral disengagement in mediating individual tendencies toward aggression and violence. Developmental Psychology, 50, 71–85. doi:10.1037/a0034488.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Caravita, S. C. S., Sijtsema, J. J., Rambaran, J. A., & Gini, G. (2014). Peer influences on moral disengagement in late childhood and early adoelscence. Journal of Youth and Adolescence, 43, 193–207. doi:10.1007/s10964-013-9953-1.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Cheung, M. W. (2007). Comparison of methods of handling missing time-invariant covariates in latent growth models under the assumption of missing completely at random. Organizational Research Methods, 10, 609–634. doi:10.1177/1094428106295499.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Chi-mei, J. (2008). Neutralization techniques, crime decision-making and juvenile thieves. International Journal of Adolescence and Youth, 14, 251–265. doi:10.1080/02673843.2008.9748006.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Choukas-Bradley, S., Giletta, M., Neblett, E. W., & Prinstein, M. J. (2015). Ethnic differences in associations among popularity, likability, and trajectories of adolescents’ alcohol use and frequency. Child Development, 86, 519–535. doi:10.1111/cdev.12333.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Clark, D. B., & Winters, K. M. (2002). Measuring risks and outcomes in substance use disorders prevention research. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 70, 1207–1223. doi:10.1037/0022-006X.70.6.1207.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Clark, D. B., Thatcher, D. L., & Tapert, S. F. (2008). Alcohol, psychological dysregulation, and adolescent brain development. Alcoholism, Clinical and Experimental Research, 32, 375–385. doi:10.1111/j.1530-0277.2007.00601.x.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Colder, C. R., O’Connor, R. M., Read, J. P., Eiden, R. D., Lengua, L. J., Hawk, L. W., & Wieczorek, W. F. (2014). Growth trajectories of alcohol information processing and associations with escalation of drinking in early adolescence. Psychology of Addictive Behaviors, 28, 659–670. doi:10.1037/a0035271.

    Article  PubMed Central  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Collins, W. A., Maccoby, E. E., Steinburg, L., Hetherington, E. M., & Bornstein, M. H. (2000). Contemporary research on parenting: The case for nature and nurture. American Psychologist, 55, 218–232. doi:10.1037/0003-066X.55.2.218.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Connolly, E. J., Schwartz, J. A., Nedelec, J. L., Beaver, K. M., & Barnes, J. C. (2015). Different slopes for different folks: Genetic influences on growth in delinquent peer association and delinquency during adolescence. Journal of Youth and Adolescence, 44, 1413–1427. doi:10.1007/s10964-015-0299-8.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Crews, F., He, J., & Hodge, C. (2007). Adolescent cortical development: A critical period of vulnerability for addiction. Pharmacology, Biochemistry and Behavior, 86, 189–199. doi:10.1016/j.pbb.2006.12.001.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Danielsson, A., Wennberg, P., Tengstrom, A., & Romelsjo, A. (2010). Adolescent alcohol use trajectories: Predictors and subsequent problems. Addictive Behaviors, 35, 848–852. doi:10.1016/j.addbeh.2010.05.001.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Detert, J. R., Trevino, L. K., & Sweitzer, V. L. (2008). Moral disengagement in ethical decision making: A study of antecedents and outcomes. Journal of Applied Psychology, 93, 374–391. doi:10.1037/0021-9010.93.2.374.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Deutsch, A. R., Steinley, D., & Slutske, W. S. (2014). The role of gender and friends’ gender on peer socialization of adolescent drinking: A prospective multilevel social network analysis. Journal of Youth and Adolescence, 43, 1421–1435. doi:10.1007/s10964-013-0048-9.

    Article  PubMed Central  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Dodder, R. A., & Hughes, S. P. (1993). Neutralization of drinking behavior. Deviant Behavior, 14, 65–79.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Dolcini, M. M., Adler, N. E., & Ginsberg, D. (1996). Factors influencing agreement between self-reports & biological measures of smoking among adolescents. Journal of Research on Adolescence, 6, 515–542.

    Google Scholar 

  • Donaldson, L. J. (2010). Annual report of the Chief Medical Officer 2009. UK: Crown.

    Google Scholar 

  • Duncan, T. E., & Duncan, S. C. (2004). An introduction to latent growth modeling. Behavior Therapy, 35, 333–363. doi:10.1016/S0005-7894(04)80042-X.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Duncan, T. E., Tildesley, E., Duncan, S. C., & Hops, H. (1995). The consistency of family and peer influences on the development of substance use in adolescence. Addiction, 90, 1647–1660. doi:10.1111/j.1360-0443.1995.tb02835.x.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Duncan, S. C., Duncan, T. E., & Strycker, L. A. (2000). Risk and protective factors influencing adolescent problem behavior: A multivariate latent growth curve analysis. Annals of Behavioral Medicine, 22, 103–109. doi:10.1007/BF02895772.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Eaton, D. K., Kann, L., Kinchen, S., Shanklin, S., Flint, K. H., Hawkins, J., & Wechsler, H. (2012). Youth risk behavior surveillance—United States, 2011. Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report Surveillance Summary, 61(4), 1–162. doi:10.1111/j.1746-1561.2006.00127.x.

    Google Scholar 

  • Eisenberg, M. E., Toumbourou, J. W., Catalano, R. F., & Hemphill, S. A. (2014). Social norms in the development of adolescent substance use: A longitudinal analysis of the International Youth Development Study. Journal of Youth and Adolescence, 43, 1486–1497. doi:10.1007/s10964-014-0111-1.

    Article  PubMed Central  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Enders, C. K., & Bandalos, D. L. (2001). The relative performance of full information maximum likelihood estimation for missing data in structural equation models. In Educational psychology papers and publications. Paper 64. http://digitalcommons.unl.edu/edpsychpapers/64.

  • Fishbein, M., & Ajzen, I. (1975). Belief, attitude, intention and behavior: An introduction to theory and research. Reading, MA: Addison-Wesley.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ford, J. A., & Hill, T. D. (2012). Religiosity and adolescent substance use: Evidence from the national survey on drug use and health. Substance Use and Misuse, 47(787–798), 1082. doi:10.3109/6084.2012.667489.

    Google Scholar 

  • Gini, G., Pozzoli, T., & Hymel, S. (2014). Moral disengagement among children and youth: A meta-analytic review of links to aggressive behavior. Aggressive Behavior, 9999, 1–13. doi:10.1002/ab.21502.

    Google Scholar 

  • Gutman, L. M., Eccles, J. S., Peck, S., & Malanchuk, O. (2011). The influence of family relations on trajectories of cigarette and alcohol use from early to late adolescence. Journal of Adolescence, 34, 119–128. doi:10.1016/j.adolescence.2010.01.005.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Guttmannova, K., Bailey, J. A., Hill, K. G., Lee, J. O., Hawkins, J. D., Woods, M. L., & Catalano, R. F. (2011). Sensitive periods for adolescent alcohol use initiation: Predicting the lifetime occurrence and chronicity of alcohol problems in adulthood. Journal of Studies on Alcohol, 72, 221–231.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hardy, S. A., Bean, D. S., & Olsen, J. A. (2015). Moral identity and adolescent prosocial and antisocial behaviors: Interactions with moral disengagement and self-regulation. Journal of Youth and Adolescence, 44, 1542–1554. doi:10.1007/s10964-014-0172-1.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Henderson, H., Nass, L., Payne, C., Phelps, A., & Ryley, A. (2013). Smoking, drinking and drug use among young people in England in 2012. Leeds, UK: Health & Social Care Information Centre.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hibell, B., Guttormson, U., Ahlström, S., Balakireva, O., Bjarnason, T., Kokkevi, A., & Kraus, L. (2012). The 2011 ESPAD report: Substance use among students in 36 European countries. Stockholm, Sweden: The Swedish Council for Information on Alcohol and Other Drugs.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hu, L., & Bentler, P. M. (1999). Cutoff criteria for fit indexes in covariance structure analysis: Conventional criteria versus new alternatives. Structural Equation Modeling, 6, 1–55. doi:10.1080/10705519909540118.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hughes, S. P., & Dodder, R. A. (1983). Alcohol-related problems and collegiate drinking patterns. Journal of Youth and Adolescence, 12, 65–76.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Hymel, S., Schonert-Reichl, K. A., Bonanno, R. A., Vaillancourt, T., & Henderson, N. R. (2010). Bullying and morality: Understanding how good kids can behave badly. In S. R. Jimerson, S. M. Swearer, & D. L. Espelage (Eds.), Handbook of bullying in schools: An international perspective (pp. 101–118). New York: Routledge/Taylor & Francis Group.

    Google Scholar 

  • Jackson, K. (2013). Alcohol use during the transition from middle school to high school: National panel data on prevalence & moderators. Developmental Psychology,. doi:10.1037/a0031843.

    PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Jacobs, B. A., & Copes, H. (2015). Neutralization without drift: Criminal commitment among persistent offenders. British Journal of Criminology, 55, 286–302. doi:10.1093/bjc/azu100.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Jarvinen, M., & Demant, J. (2011). The normalisation of cannabis use among young people: Symbolic boundary work in focus groups. Health, Risk and Society, 13, 165–182. doi:10.1080/13698575.2011.556184.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Johnston, L. D., O’Malley, P. M., Miech, R. A., Bachman, J. G., & Schulenberg, J. E. (2015). Monitoring the future national survey results on drug use 1975–2014: Overview, key findings on adolescent drug use. Ann Arbor: Institute for Social Research, The University of Michigan.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kandel, D. B. (1978). Homophily, selection and socialization in adolescent friendships. American Journal of Sociology, 84, 427–436.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kobin, M. (2013). Making sense of risk: Young Estonians drink-driving. Drugs: Education, Prevention and Policy, 20, 473–481. doi:10.3109/09687637.2013.767319.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kristjansson, A. L., Sigfusdottir, I. D., James, J. E., Allegrante, J. P., & Helgason, A. R. (2010). Perceived parental reactions and peer respect as predictors of adolescent cigarette smoking & alcohol use. Addictive Behaviors, 35, 256–259. doi:10.1016/j.addbeh.2009.10.002.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Kumar, R., O’Malley, P. M., Johnston, L. D., Schulenberg, J. E., & Bachman, J. G. (2002). Effects of school-level norms on student substance use. Prevention Science, 3, 105–124. doi:10.1023/A:1015431300471.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Li, F., Duncan, T. E., Mcauley, E., Harmer, P., & Smolkowski, K. (2000). A Didactic example of latent curve analysis applicable to the study of aging. Journal of Aging & Health, 12, 388–425. doi:10.1177/089826430001200306.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Li, F., Duncan, T. E., Duncan, S. C., & Hops, H. (2001). Piecewise growth mixture modeling of adolescent alcohol use data. Structural Equation Modeling, 8, 175–204. doi:10.1207/S15328007SEM0802_2.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Light, J. M., Greenan, C. C., Rusby, J. C., Nies, K. M., & Snijders, T. A. B. (2013). Onset to first alcohol use in early adolescence: A network diffusion model. Journal of Research on Adolescence, 23, 487–499. doi:10.1111/jora.12064.

    Article  PubMed Central  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Lucidi, F., Zelli, A., Mallia, L., Grano, C., Russo, P. M., & Violani, C. (2008). The social-cognitive mechanisms regulating adolescents’ use of doping substances. Journal of Sports Science, 26, 447–456. doi:10.1080/02640410701579370.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mares, S. H. W., Lichtwarck-Aschoff, A., Burk, W. J., Van der Vorst, H., & Engels, R. C. M. E. (2012). Parental alcohol-specific rules and alcohol use from early adolescence to young adulthood. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 53, 798–805. doi:10.1111/j.1469-7610.2012.02533.x.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • McArdle, J. J. (1988). Dynamic but structural equation modeling of repeated measures data. In R. B. Cattell & J. Nesselroade (Eds.), Handbook of multivariate experimental psychology (2nd ed., pp. 561–614). New York: Plenum Press.

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • McAtamney, A., & Morgan, A. (2009). Key issues in antisocial behavior. In Research in Practice no. 5. Retrieved from Australian Institute of Criminology website: http://www.aic.gov.au/.

  • McBride, N., Farringdon, F., Meuleners, L., & Midford, R. (2006). School health and alcohol harm reduction project: Details of intervention development and research procedures. Perth, WA: National Drug Research Institute, Curtin University of Technology.

    Google Scholar 

  • Meredith, W., & Tisak, J. (1990). Latent curve analysis. Psychometrika, 55, 107–122. doi:10.1007/BF02294746.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mrug, S., & McCay, R. (2013). Parental and peer disapproval of alcohol use and its relationship to adolescent drinking: Age, gender, and racial differences. Psychology of Addictive Behaviors, 27, 604–614. doi:10.1037/a0031064.

    Article  PubMed Central  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Musher-Eizenman, D. R., Holub, S. C., & Arnett, M. (2003). Attitude and peer influences on adolescent substance use: The moderating effect of age, sex, and substance. Journal of Drug Education, 33, 1–23. doi:10.2190/YED0-BQA8-5RVX-95JB.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • National Health & Medical Research Council. (2009). Australian guidelines to reduce health risks from drinking alcohol. Retrieved from http://www.nhmrc.gov.au/_filesnhmrc/.

  • National Institute of Alcohol Abuse & Alcoholism. (2004/2005). Alcohol and development in youth: A multidisciplinary overview. Alcohol Research and Health, 28, 104–176. Retrieved from http://pubs.niaaa.nih.gov/publications/arh283/toc28-3.htm.

  • Newton, N. C., Havard, A., & Teesson, M. (2012). The association between moral disengagement, psychological distress, resistive self-regulatory efficacy and alcohol and cannabis use among adolescents in Sydney, Australia. Addiction Research & Theory, 20, 261–269. doi:10.3109/16066359.2011.614976.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Newton, N. C., Barrett, E. L., Swaffield, L., & Teesson, M. (2014). Risky cognitions associated with adolescent alcohol misuse: Moral disengagement, alcohol expectancies and perceived self-regulatory efficacy. Addictive Behaviors, 39, 165–172. doi:10.1016/j.addbeh.2013.09.030.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Paciello, M., Fida, R., Tramontano, C., Lupinet, C., & Caprara, G. V. (2008). Stability and change of moral disengagement and its impact on aggression and violence in late adolescence. Child Development, 79, 1288–1309. doi:10.1111/j.1467-8624.2008.01189.x.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Passini, S. (2012). The delinquency-drug relationship: The influence of social reputation and moral disengagement. Addictive Behaviors, 37, 577–579. doi:10.1016/j.addbeh.2012.01.012.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Perkins, H. W. (2003). The emergence and evolution of the social norms approach to substance abuse prevention. In H. W. Perkins (Ed.), The social norms approach to preventing school and college age substance abuse: A handbook for educators, counselors, clinicians (pp. 3–18). San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.

    Google Scholar 

  • Piacentini, M. G., Chatzidakis, A., & Banister, E. N. (2012). Making sense of drinking: The role of techniques of neutralisation and counter-neutralisation in negotiating alcohol consumption. Sociology of Health & Illness, 34, 841–857. doi:10.1111/j.1467-9566.2011.01432.x.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Pitkänen, T., Kokko, K., Lyyra, A., & Pulkkinen, L. (2008). A developmental approach to alcohol drinking behavior in adulthood: A follow-up study from age 8 to age 42. Addiction, 103(Suppl. 1), 48–68. doi:10.1111/j.1360-0443.2008.02176.x.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Quinn, C. A., & Bussey K. (2015a). The role of moral disengagement in underage drinking and heavy episodic drinking. Substance Use & Misuse. doi:10.3109/10826084.2015.1018541.

    Google Scholar 

  • Quinn, C. A., & Bussey, K. (2015b). Adolescents’ anticipated social outcomes from mother, father and peers for drinking alcohol and being drunk. Addiction & Research Theory, 23, 253–264. doi:10.3109/16066359.2015.1014346.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Reboussin, B. A., Song, E., Shrestha, A., Lohman, K. K., & Wolfson, M. (2006). A latent class analysis of underage problem drinking: Evidence from a community sample of 16–20 year olds. Drug and Alcohol Dependence, 83, 199–209. doi:10.1016/j.drugalcdep.2005.11.013.

    Article  PubMed Central  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Ribeaud, D., & Eisner, M. (2010). Are moral disengagement, neutralization techniques, and self-serving cognitions the same? Developing a unified scale of moral neutralization of aggression. International Journal of Conflict and Violence, 4, 298–315.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ryan, S. M., Jorm, A. F., & Lubman, D. I. (2010). Parenting factors associated with reduced adolescent alcohol use: A systematic review of longitudinal studies. Australian and New Zealand Journal of Psychiatry, 44, 774–783. doi:10.1080/00048674.2010.501759.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Scholes-Balog, K. E., Hemphill, S. A., Kremer, P., & Toumbourou, J. W. (2013). A longitudinal study of the reciprocal effects of alcohol use and interpersonal violence among Australian young people. Journal of Youth and Adolescence, 42, 1811–1823. doi:10.1007/s10964-013-9910-z.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Shamblen, S. R., Ringwalt, C. L., Clark, H. K., & Hanley, S. M. (2014). Alcohol use growth trajectories in young adolescence: Pathways and predictors. Journal of Child and Adolescent Substance Abuse, 23, 9–18. doi:10.1080/1067828X.2012.747906.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Shields, I. W., & Whitehall, G. C. (1994). Neutralization and delinquency among teenagers. Criminal Justice and Behavior, 21, 223–235.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Shulman, E. P., Cauffman, E., Piquero, A. R., & Fagan, J. (2011). Moral disengagement among serious juvenile offenders: A longitudinal study of the relations between morally disengaged attitudes and offending. Developmental Psychology, 47, 1619–1632. doi:10.1037/a0025404.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Sijtsema, J. J., Rambaran, J. A., Caravita, S. C. S., & Gini, G. (2014). Friendship selection and influence in bullying and defending: Effects of moral disengagement. Developmental Psychology, 50, 2093–2104. doi:10.1037/a0037145.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Simons-Morton, B. (2004). Prospective association of peer influence, school engagement, drinking expectancies, and parental expectations with drinking initiation among sixth graders. Addictive Behaviors, 29, 299–309. doi:10.1016/j.addbeh.2003.08.005.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Smith, A. M. A., & Rosenthal, D. A. (1995). Adolescents’ perceptions of their risk environment. Journal of Adolescence, 18, 229–245. doi:10.1006/jado.1995.1016.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Stanger, N., Kavussanu, M., Boardley, I. D., & Ring, C. (2013). The influence of moral disengagement and negative emotion on antisocial sport behavior. Sport, Exercise, and Performance Psychology, 2, 117–129. doi:10.1037/a0030585.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sticca, F., & Perren, S. (2015). The chicken and the egg: Longitudinal associations between moral deficits and bullying. A parallel process latent growth model. Merril Palmer Quarterly, 61, 85–100.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sykes, G. M., & Matza, D. (1957). Techniques of neutralization: A theory of delinquency. American Sociological Review, 22, 664–670.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Trucco, E. M., Colder, C. R., & Wieczorek, W. F. (2011). Vulnerability to peer influence: A moderated mediation study of early adolescent alcohol use initiation. Addictive Behaviors, 36, 729–736. doi:10.1016/j.addbeh.2011.02.008.

    Article  PubMed Central  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Tucker, J. S., Ellickson, P. L., & Klein, D. J. (2008). Growing up in a permissive household: What deters at-risk adolescents from heavy drinking? Journal of Studies on Alcohol and Drugs, 69, 528–534.

    Article  PubMed Central  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Vandenberg, R. J., & Lance, C. E. (2000). A review and synthesis of the measurement invariance literature: Suggestions, practices and recommendations for organizational research. Organizational Research Methods, 3, 4–70. doi:10.1177/109442810031002.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Vaughan, E. L., Corbin, W. R., & Fromme, K. (2009). Academic and social motives and drinking behavior. Psychology of Addictive Behaviors, 23, 564–576. doi:10.1037/a0017331.

    Article  PubMed Central  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Voogt, C. V., Larsen, H., Poelen, E. A. P., Kleinjan, M., & Engels, R. C. M. E. (2013). Longitudinal associations between descriptive and injunctive norms of youngsters and heavy drinking and problem drinking in late adolescence. Journal of Substance Use, 18, 275–287. doi:10.3109/14659891.2012.674623.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • White, V., & Bariola, E. (2012). Australian secondary school students’ use of tobacco, alcohol, and over-the-counter and illicit substances in 2011. Canberra, Australia: Drug Strategy Branch, Australian Government Department of Health and Ageing.

    Google Scholar 

  • White, A., & Hingson, R. (2013). The burden of alcohol use: Excessive alcohol consumption and related consequences among college students. Alcohol Research, 35, 201–218.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • World Health Organisation Expert Committee on Problems Related to Alcohol Consumption. (2007). Second report of WHO expert committee on problems related to alcohol consumption (WHO Technical Report Series No. 944).

Download references

Acknowledgments

Approval for this study was provided by the Macquarie University Ethics Review Committee (Human Research). We thank Alan Taylor for his consultation on the statistical analyses and Lorna Allen, Carolina Asquini, Joseph Lennon and Loretta Moore for help with data collection.

Authors Contributions

C.Q. conceived of the study, participated in its design and coordination, performed the statistical analysis and interpretation of the data and drafted the manuscript; K.B. participated in the design and interpretation of the data and helped draft the manuscript. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Psychology, Macquarie University, Sydney, Australia

    Catherine A. Quinn & Kay Bussey

  2. Centre for Youth Substance Abuse Research, Institute of Health and Biomedical Innovation (IHBI), School of Psychology and Counselling, Faculty of Health, Queensland University of Technology (QUT), Brisbane, Australia

    Catherine A. Quinn

Authors
  1. Catherine A. Quinn
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Kay Bussey
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Catherine A. Quinn.

Ethics declarations

Conflicts of interest

The authors report no conflicts of interest.

Ethical approval

All procedures performed in studies involving human participants were in accordance with the ethical standards of the institutional and/or national research committee and with the 1964 Helsinki declaration and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Quinn, C.A., Bussey, K. Moral Disengagement, Anticipated Social Outcomes and Adolescents’ Alcohol Use: Parallel Latent Growth Curve Analyses. J Youth Adolescence 44, 1854–1870 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10964-015-0345-6

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10964-015-0345-6

Keywords

Search

Navigation