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RELIGIOSITY, PEER ASSOCIATIONS, AND ADOLESCENT MARIJUANA USE: A PANEL STUDY OF UNDERLYING CAUSAL STRUCTURES *
Author(s) -
BURKETT STEVEN R.,
WARREN BRUCE O.
Publication year - 1987
Publication title -
criminology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 3.467
H-Index - 139
eISSN - 1745-9125
pISSN - 0011-1384
DOI - 10.1111/j.1745-9125.1987.tb00791.x
Subject(s) - religiosity , socialization , psychology , social psychology , social learning theory , peer effects , peer group , panel data , social control theory , theory of planned behavior , developmental psychology , similarity (geometry) , peer influence , panel analysis , control (management) , social influence , juvenile delinquency , statistics , mathematics , management , artificial intelligence , computer science , economics , image (mathematics)
This paper examines the relationship between the religious factor and adolescent marijuana use. Using panel data from a sample of 264 high school youth, several three‐wave, four‐variable models derived from social learning theory and social control theory are estimated. Each model specifies causal links between measures of religious attitude and predispositions (religious commitment and an act‐specific religious belief), involvement with marijuana‐using friends, and self‐reported marijuana use. The results provide evidence that the impact of religion is indirect through its influence on the variable Peer Associations. The findings also show the emergence of a direct effect of the act‐specific belief on behavior over time. This effect is interpreted to be more a function of within‐group attitude‐behavior similarity due to social selection than to socialization to peer group standards. These findings extend rather than refute previous research which fails to control for the effects of peer influences.