Thomas A. Wills, Carmella Walker, Don Mendoza, and Michael G. Ainette
Albert Einstein College of Medicine
The authors tested how behavioral and emotional self-control are related to adolescent substance (tobacco, alcohol, and marijuana) use. Data were obtained from 489 middle school students and 602 high school students. Multiple indicators were developed for each domain of self-control, and confirmatory analyses were used to test the measurement structure of latent constructs. Results showed that the domains of behavioral self-control and emotional self-control were statistically distinct, and both were related to adolescent substance use. Structural modeling analyses indicated indirect effects for self-control constructs primarily through pathways to competence and recent events. In addition, poor behavioral control had a direct effect to deviant peer affiliations, and poor emotional control had a direct effect to coping motives for substance use. The results indicate that both types of self-regulation are relevant for adolescent substance use. Implications for prevention and treatment research are discussed.
In recent years, research on adolescents has given increasing attention to the role of self-control processes for onset and escalation of substance use. This research has been influenced by theoretical articles that suggest self-control as an underlying factor in risk or protection for addictive behaviors (Khantzian, 1990; Miller & Brown, 1991). Recent studies with adolescents have shown that self-control processes are related to early onset of substance use (Wills et al., 2001) and escalation of use during adolescence (Brody & Ge, 2001; Novak & Clayton, 2001; Wills & Stoolmiller, 2002). Research with adults has also linked self-regulation measures with liability for substance abuse (Patock-Peckham, Cheong, Balhorn, & Nagoshi, 2001; Room & Leigh, 1992), which suggests the relevance of self-control processes over a larger time span.
Although these studies have helped build a body of evidence on the role of self-control in adolescent substance use, the measures that are used in this research have mostly been focused on behavioral control, such as the ability to inhibit inappropriate behavior and delay gratification in order to achieve better long-term outcomes (Barkley, 1997a; Mischel, Shoda, & Rodriguez, 1989). Parallel to this work has been a body of theory on emotional regulation, which suggests the relevance of self-control of emotion for developmental outcomes, such as competence in social functioning (e.g., Cole, Michel, & Teti, 1994; Eisenberg & Fabes,
1992; Kopp, 1989). However, there has been relatively little attention in substance-use research to the role of emotional control, although available evidence suggests that emotional regulation may be an important factor for substance use or abuse in young adulthood (Brown, Lejuez, Kahler, & Strong, 2002; Kassel, Jackson, & Unrod, 2000; Simons & Carey, 2002). Thus, we conducted the present research to study how behavioral self-control and emotional self-control are related to adolescent substance use. The following sections describe the theoretical background and methodological approach of the research.
You can continue reading the full paper here.
