Similarities in Adolescent Siblings’ Substance Use: Testing Competing Pathways of Influence

Keywords

substance abuse, sibling to sibling relationship, sibling influence

Abstract

An accumulating body of work indicates that siblings uniquely infl uence each other’s alcohol and substance use behaviors during adolescence. The mechanisms underlying these associations, however, are unknown because most studies have not measured sibling infl uence processes. The present study addressed this gap by exploring the links between multiple infl uence processes and sibling similarities in alcohol and substance use. Method: The sample included one parent and two adolescent siblings (earlier born age: M = 17.17 years, SD = 0.94; later born age: M = 14.52 years, SD = 1.27) from 326 families. Data were collected via telephone interviews with parents and the two siblings. Results: A series of logistic regressions revealed that, after parents’ and peers’ use as well as other variables including parenting was statistically controlled for, older siblings’ alcohol and other substance use was positively associated with younger siblings’ patterns of use. Furthermore, sibling modeling and shared friends were signifi cant moderators of these associations. For adolescents’ alcohol use, the links between sibling modeling and shared peer networks were interactive, such that the associations between modeling and similarity in alcohol use were stronger when siblings shared friends. Conclusions: Future research should continue to investigate the ways in which siblings infl uence each other because such processes are emerging targets for intervention and prevention efforts. (J. Stud. Alcohol Drugs, 74, 104–113, 2013)

Original Publication Citation

Whiteman, S. D., Jensen, A. C., & Maggs, J. L. (2013). Similarities in adolescent siblings' substance use: Testing competing pathways of influence. Journal of Studies on Alcohol and Drugs, 74, 104-113.

Document Type

Peer-Reviewed Article

Publication Date

2013-1

Permanent URL

http://hdl.lib.byu.edu/1877/5488

Publisher

Journal Study of Alcohol and Drugs

Language

English

College

Family, Home, and Social Sciences

Department

Family Life

University Standing at Time of Publication

Full Professor

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