Emotional and Psychosocial Factors Associated With Drunkenness and the Use of Tobacco and Cannabis in Adolescence: Independent or Interactive Effects?

BACKGROUND

Although previous research has examined emotional and psychosocial factors associated with substance use, there is a paucity of studies examining both at the same time, and insufficient attention has been paid to how these factors may interact.

OBJECTIVES

The aim of this study was to simultaneously examine the contributions from emotional (emotional control and depression) and psychosocial (peers' conventional behavior, peers' substance use and parent-child relationships) factors to drunkenness and the use of tobacco and cannabis in adolescence.

METHODS

Sample consisted of 1,752 adolescents aged 15 to 16 years who had participated in the 2014 edition of the WHO Health Behaviour in School-aged Children survey in Spain. Data were collected by means of anonymous online questionnaires, and hierarchical multiple regression models (with sex and age as controls and including interactions among the examined predictors) were used for statistical analysis.

RESULTS

Emotional and psychosocial factors showed significant interactive effects on substance use. Emotional control, which tended to buffer the effects of potential risk factors, and peers' substance use were consistent predictors of substance use. In contrast, the role of other factors depended on the substance under study, with depression and peers' conventional behavior being part of interactive terms for tobacco use and cannabis use only, and the quality of parent-child relationships being absent from the final model on cannabis use. Conclusions/Importance: Exploring interactions and potential substance-specific effects is fundamental to reach a better understanding of how emotional and psychosocial factors work in concert relative to substance use in adolescence.