Stress and Drug Use from Adolescence to Young Adulthood: A Life-Course Perspective

• In Event: Explaining Drug and Alcohol Use in Adolescence and Emerging Adulthood

Abstract

This study uses General Strain Theory (GST) and studies of the stress process to describe and examine one potential pathway of the escalation and de-escalation of illicit drug use from adolescence and young adulthood. In particular, the time-varying consequences for drug use of persistent or increasing levels of strain are addressed using data from the Family Health Study, an eight-year longitudinal data set (n = 840). The results indicate that there is a positive association between experiencing one type of strain—stressful life events—and involvement in illicit drug use during this period of the life-course. However, the impact of stressful life events on this behavior is diminished among young adults. Moreover, drug using peers reduce the age-specific effects of stressful life events, thus suggesting that peers play a central role in the association between strain and drug use. Implications of the results for theory and policy are discussed.

Author

• John P. Hoffmann, University of South Carolina