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Levels and psychosocial correlates of adolescent drug use

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Abstract

Trends and patterns of adolescent drug use were examined through consideration of over 125 psychosocial correlates with drug use and nonuse. A sample of 480 urban high-school students was given personal interviews and a survey questionnaire that included several psychological scales and test batteries. A severity of drug use index was also employed in order to clarify the role of various causal factors at differential levels of drug-use severity. Study results seemed to confirm suggestions in the literature that drug use has become a normal, predictable form of behavior that accompanies adolescent development. Psychopathological factors were found to be important in cases of severe drug-using behavior. The role of current, larger social structural factors in adolescent drug use is discussed, along with the programming and policy implications that stem from the multileveled structure of drug use.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Research Department, Philadelphia Psychiatric Center, Ford Road and Monument Avenue, 19131, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

    John A. Kovach & Nita W. Glickman

Authors
  1. John A. Kovach
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  2. Nita W. Glickman
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Additional information

Received Ph.D. from American University. Research interests include adolescent drug use and the sociology of education.

Received M.P.H. from University of Pittsburgh, Graduate School of Public Health. Research interests include epidemiology of adolescent drug use.

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Kovach, J.A., Glickman, N.W. Levels and psychosocial correlates of adolescent drug use. J Youth Adolescence 15, 61–77 (1986). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02140784

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02140784

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