The Effects of Youth Social Withdrawal on Alcohol, Cigarette, and Illicit Drug Use

• In Event: 068 - Regular Session. Changing Nature and Impact of Substance Use among Youth and Young Adults

Abstract

Socially withdrawn youth largely do not engage in social interaction or social activities when placed in peer settings. Isolative behavior among youth has been linked to cigarette, alcohol, and marijuana use, all of which are considered “risky” behaviors. Although these studies have provided interesting insight into the link between withdrawal and risk-taking, researchers continually overlook the multidimensionality of social withdrawal and the potential dynamic effect different forms of withdrawal have on tobacco, alcohol, and illicit drug use. Furthermore, most studies of adolescent risk-taking and social withdrawal rely on non-representative, cross sectional data that do not allow for the examination of the long effect of social withdrawal on risk-taking behavior. Using the rich peer network data and repeated measures for alcohol, cigarette, and illicit drug use from Waves I-III of the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health, we examined the extent to which different forms of social withdrawal influence alcohol, cigarette, and illicit drug use from adolescence to early adulthood. We found that different forms of withdrawal have a unique relationship with risky behavior engagement. One the one hand, our results suggest that provisionally withdrawn youth are at an increased risk for alcohol, cigarette, and illicit drug use, while on the other hand, absolutely withdrawn and actively withdrawn youth have an aversion to risk-taking behavior. Our results highlight the inter-complexities of social withdrawal and various behaviors associated with each form of withdrawal.

Authors

• Michael David Nino, University of North Texas

• Tianji Cai, University of Macau