Poster #60 - Marijuana Use Among Delaware High School Students: Associations With Positive Parenting and Low Socioeconomic Status

• In Event: 3-159 - Poster Session 12
  In Poster Session: PS 12 Section - Developmental Psychopathology

Integrative Statement

Recent results detailing admissions to substance abuse treatment reveal marijuana is the primary drug of choice for adolescents. In addition, adolescents report a declining perception of harm surrounding marijuana use (SAMHSA, 2015). Recent studies demonstrate marijuana’s harmful impacts on adolescents showing use before the age of 15 increases the odds of illicit drug use by 2.5 (Johnston et al., 2016). Additionally, marijuana abuse can produce lasting cognitive deficiencies, educational setbacks, and social problems (King, Fleming, Monahan, & Catalano, 2011; Ratner, & Johnson, 2008). Within Delaware, surveys show that 23.3% of 11th graders currently use marijuana, surpassing national estimates ranging from 21.7% (Youth Risk Behavior Survey, 2015) to 22.5% (Johnston et al., 2016; DSS, 2015). Additionally, only 34% of Delaware students polled perceived regular marijuana use as a risk, a percentage which has reduced in recent years (DSS, 2015). These data suggest that Delaware adolescents are initiating drug use at younger ages and further imply a need for increased resources addressing effective intervention strategies. As positive parenting techniques have demonstrated protective effects against adolescent substance use (Abar, Jackson, & Wood, 2014; Van et al., 2015), the current study examines associations between Delaware students’ marijuana use and their perceptions of parenting interactions. Given previous work showing that rates of marijuana use vary by socioeconomic status (SES; Leventhal & Brooks-Gunn, 2000) and positive parenting may be more protective for low-income youth (Goodman & Huang, 2002), students’ food and shelter security is also examined. The following research questions were explored: 1) Does an association exist between perceived positive parenting and marijuana use among Delaware students?; and 2) Does SES moderate this association? Theoretically based on Family Interaction Theory (Brook, Brook, Gordon, Whiteman, & Cohen, 1990), it is hypothesized that the positive parenting techniques of parental monitoring and support will be negatively associated with adolescent marijuana use, and that positive parenting may be more protective for low-SES students. Data were drawn from a sample of 11th-grade Delaware public high school students who participated in the 2017 Delaware School Survey (N=4208). Dependent variables included students’ reports of their current marijuana use (within past 30 days) and heavy marijuana use (6-9 times or more monthly). Independent variables included SES, race, gender, parental support, parental monitor, and age. Interactions included SES by support and SES by monitor.
Statistical procedures included logistic regressions analyses with an added cluster variable to account for nesting. Findings supported the hypothesis that positive parenting is protective against current marijuana use. Specifically, less parental monitoring was significantly associated with a greater likelihood of youth currently using marijuana (see Table 1). Lower levels of parental support were also associated with a greater likelihood of current marijuana use (though only at trend level). Analyses examining heavy marijuana use showed similar results, with more parental monitoring significantly decreasing the odds that youth would engage in heavy use (see Table 1). Finally, moderation models for heavy use showed a significant positive interaction of SES by parental support suggesting parental support may be more influential depending on SES.

Authors

• Natalie Marie Reed, University of Delaware
  Presenting Author

• Jennifer Carrano, University of Delaware
  Non-Presenting Author

• Robert Palkovitz, University of Delware
  Non-Presenting Author

• Valerie A. Earnshaw, University of Delaware
  Non-Presenting Author