The relationship of family structure to adolescent drug use, peer affiliation, and perception of peer acceptance of drug use.

This study examined the relationship of family structure to adolescent gateway drug use and peer-related factors. The sample consisted of 2,121 randomly selected students in grades 8, 10, and 12 from seventeen school districts in northeastern Ohio. Students were administered a self-report instrument containing items measuring drug use and psychosocial variables. For purposes of analysis, the dependent variables included frequency of use of five gateway drugs, degree of affiliation with drug-using peers, and perceptions of peer acceptance of drug use. Comparison groups included single-parent (both mother- and father-headed), stepparent, and intact families. Analyses were conducted separately by grade level. Significant differences were found between groups on the drug-use variables at grades 8 and 10, with adolescents from intact families reporting less frequent drug use, fewer drug-using friends, and perceptions of more peer disapproval of drug use. Interestingly, there were several statistically significant group differences on perceptions of peer acceptance of drug use and the number of drug-using friends at the 8th-grade level. The largest differences were found between the single-parent (father-headed) and intact groups, with adolescents from father-headed families showing more frequent beer and liquor consumption at the 10th-grade level.