A recent research by the Weill Cornell Medical College team of researchers has revealed that there are gender differences in the way teens get started with smoking, drinking and doing marijuana, also known as poly-drug abuse.
They primarily looked at how parent and peer influence can effect the drug use pattern in teenagers.
The research was conducted on 2,400 sixth and seventh graders by carrying out a confidential survey on them. The children were from the inter city schools in New York.
Peer pressure
Drug use has always been linked to the popularity quotient within a teenage peer group. For girls, friends play the most important role. If the attitude within their social circle was permissive towards poly-drug use, they are more likely to sway in the direction of abusing drugs.
With boys, the results differed a bit. Their perception about their own age group was the deciding factor for them, that is, how they perceived their age group’s reaction to smoking and other drugs. Their decision on poly-drug use was not confined to their friends only.
"If a teenager feels smoking is socially acceptable and widely practiced, they are much more likely not only to smoke, but to also drink and possibly use marijuana," says lead author Dr. Jennifer A. Epstein, assistant professor of public health in the Division of Prevention and Health Behavior at Weill Cornell Medical College. She also added, "While the differences between how boys and girls are influenced by these social factors are subtle, they could help us develop new gender-specific educational tactics for preventing these behaviors."
Genderless factors:
A few elements which were same for both the sexes also came up. When teenagers observed their friends and parents indulging in drinking or smoking, or having a lenient attitude towards the same, they reported poly-drug use more often than the control group.
Another factor was the teenager's ability to say “no”, that is, to refuse the offers.
Parental influence
Another major influence on the behavior of the teens was from their parents or guardians. Parents who were strict with their ideology against drug use, and kept a watchful eye on their children, lessened the chances of them getting into drugs.
"A parent's opinion matters. Moms and dads are critical role models and should let their attitudes against drug use be known. It's also important to keep an eye on their child's social circle, since, especially for girls, it's their friends who are so central to influencing their behavior," says Dr. Epstein. "At the same time, parents can do things that reduce their child's risk for using drugs, such as teaching them to set goals and assert themselves."
This study's significance lies in the fact that it is the first one to look at connections between smoking, drinking, and marijuana, unlike others who focused on a single drug. Also, the research has proven substantial link between teenage drug use and adult poly-drug use later in life.
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