When Rules Meet Deviant Peer Association: Do School Drug Policies Moderate Peer Influence on Substance Use?

• In Event: Adolescent Drug Use, Education, and Peer Influence

Abstract

Despite a large body of research on the relationship between peer and individual substance use, little research has explored the social conditions that may attenuate or amplify peer influence. This study explores whether school drug policies—punitive or remedial—moderate the impact of peer substance use on adolescent substance use. The analysis employs multilevel logistic regression models using data from the 2018-2019 Secondary Code of Student Conduct and the 2019 Florida Youth Substance Abuse Survey. Findings reveal that punitive sanctions have no moderating effect. Interestingly, a required program for rule violators, one of the remedial sanctions, amplifies rather than reduces the peer effect. These findings suggest that remedial drug policies may unintentionally strengthen peer influence on substance use. Furthermore, the lack of a buffering effect from punitive drug policies provides evidence for reconsidering the reliance on these practices.

Author

• Bomi Jin, University of Florida