Drug use among young adults: the impacts of role status and social environment

Abstract

In this article we report findings from panel analyses in which we examined drug use during the first three years following high school, a period during which many young people make important transitions in social environments, primary activity, and marital status. Post-high-school drug use is highly predictable from senior year drug use; however, usage rates for alcohol, marijuana, and other illicit drugs (but not cigarettes) seem also to be influence by post-high-school living arrangements. More specifically, those who continued to live with their parents showed little or no change in their drug use; but among those who moved out of the parental home, those who married showed a decrease in use, those living with a partner of the opposite sex showed some increase in drug use, and those who entered other living arrangements (which include dormitories) also showed an increase in use. These relations were largely unaffected by the inclusion of student status, employment status, and other predictor dimensions.