Open AccessSelf-Perception and Relative Increases in Substance Use Problems in Early Adulthood
Author(s) -
Florence Yan,
Meghan A. Costello,
Joseph P. Allen
Publication year - 2020
Publication title -
journal of drug issues
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.359
H-Index - 54
eISSN - 1945-1369
pISSN - 0022-0426
DOI - 10.1177/0022042620941812
Subject(s) - perception , psychology , distress , substance use , developmental psychology , clinical psychology , neuroscience
This study assessed self-perception as a long-term predictor of relative changes in problems related to alcohol and marijuana use in early adulthood. Self-report questionnaires were completed by a community sample of 124 individuals in the Southeastern United States who were followed longitudinally from age 19 to age 27. More problems due to substance use at age 27 were predicted by participants' negative perceptions of their social acceptance, romantic appeal, and self-worth. Predictions remained after accounting for potential confounds including gender, income, and baseline substance use problems at age 19. Social avoidance and distress in new situations at age 19 mediated the relationship between self-perception and relative changes in substance use problems, such that increases in substance use problems from age 19 to 27 were potentially explainable by the linkage of negative self-perceptions to social avoidance and distress in new situations.