Acceptance of Drug Use Mediates Future Hard Drug Use Among At-Risk Adolescent Marijuana, Tobacco, and Alcohol Users
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Acceptance of Drug Use Mediates Future Hard Drug Use Among At-Risk Adolescent Marijuana, Tobacco, and Alcohol Users Christopher Cappelli 1
&
Susan L. Ames 2 & Bin Xie 2 & James Russell Pike 2 & Alan W. Stacy 2
Accepted: 31 August 2020 # Society for Prevention Research 2020
Abstract Alternative high school (AHS) students typically report higher levels of alcohol and other drug use compared to students attending traditional high schools. Greater use of such drugs as heroin, methamphetamines, and cocaine in this at-risk population may be driven, in part, by a greater latitude of acceptance toward substance use in general, which may accelerate the transition from gateway drugs to hard drugs. Seven hundred seventy-seven adolescents (mean age 16.6; 56% female) were recruited from alternative high schools throughout Southern California. To understand the factors that may lead AHS students to use hard drugs, a model was tested in order to determine if AHS students’ latitude of acceptance toward substance use was a mediator between the relationship of past use of gateway drugs and future use of hard drugs. Latitude of acceptance was found to be a statistically significant mediator of future hard drug use (b = 0.03, 95% confidence intervals = 0.01 to 0.05) among gateway drug users. An individual’s latitude of acceptance to various drug use behaviors may be consistent with societal norms. However, after exposure to, or use of, gateway drugs, attitudes that are more permissive toward hard drug use may be encountered, the acceptance of hard drugs may expand, and the use of hard drugs may escalate. Interventions designed to reduce the use of hard drugs among at-risk youth may be more persuasive by crafting messages that are within the latitude of acceptance of the target population and prevent the acceptance of hard drug use. Keywords Adolescence . Tobacco use . Alcohol use . Marijuana use . Latitude of acceptance . Hard drug use . Alternative high school . Social judgment theory
Introduction Adolescent substance use remains an area of major concern in public health. Early initiation of these behaviors can cause increased vulnerability to alterations in brain functioning, cognition, and behavior (Ames et al. 2013; Bava and Tapert 2010; Volkow et al. 2014). Adolescent substance use has been linked to decreased working memory capacity, poor academic performance, impaired memory function, and altered judgment and emotional functioning (Grant and Dawson 1997; Grenard et al. 2008; Hanson et al. 2014; King and Chassin 2007; Miller et al. 2007; Squeglia et al. 2009; Sussman and * Christopher Cappelli [email protected] 1
Department of Health and Human Sciences, Loyola Marymount University, 1 LMU Drive, MS 8888, Los Angeles, CA 90045, USA
2
School of Community and Global Health, Claremont Graduate University, 675 West Foothill Blvd. Suite 310, Claremont, CA 91711, USA
Ames 2001; Volkow et al. 2014). Further, the risk of becoming dependent on substances is greater among adolescents than adults (Deas et al. 2000; Sussma
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