Parenting Efficacy as a Mediator and Moderator Between Violent Victimization and Substance Abuse

• In Event: The Relationship Between Substance Use and Victimization

Abstract

The present study examined the mediating and moderating mechanisms of parenting efficacy in the relationship between adolescents’ violent victimization and substance abuse. Analyses of the ADD Health public-use data (Wave-1) revealed that parenting efficacy, as a composite measure of various parenting practices, partially mediates the negative effect of adolescents’ experience of violent victimization on substance abuse. It also moderates the impact of victimization on substance abuse. The results showed that the experience of violent victimization is significantly related to the level of substance abuse, but this effect decreased when parenting efficacy was introduced. In addition, adolescents who were victims of violence but reported higher parenting efficacy exhibited lower substance abuse than those who reported lower parenting efficacy. The findings are discussed within the framework of general strain theory.

Author

• Young S. Kim, Eastern Michigan University