Informal control networks and adolescent orientations toward alcohol use

Abstract

Utilizing panel data obtained from 345 high school sophomores, juniors, and seniors in a medium-sized community in the Pacific Northwest, this study investigated the roles parental and peer informal control structures play in predicting adolescent alcohol use and abuse. The findings suggest that the "youth world" and "adult world" control structures are predictive of adolescents' orientations toward alcohol, though generally in different directions. While the adult-world predictors tended to constrain use and abuse, those of the youth world promoted use and discouraged abstinence. Further, changes occurred in the relative importance of the parental and peer predictors across time.