5 - International teen trends in substance use: what’s driving them? (L5, De Looze, Ball)

Question 1

To what extent can national alcohol policies explain cross-national differences in adolescents’ alcohol use? Name four policies (Q)

Answer 1

1. Availability - how easy is it for young people to get alcohol?
2. Price - are adolescents’ more likely to drink when its cheaper?
3. Drinking context (cultural norms) - what is normal in a country when drinking?
4. Alcohol advertising - specifically aimed at young people

Question 2

How has alcohol use changes over the past two decades in the Netherlands and in other western countries? (Q)
- 90’s
- 2003
- early 21st
- 2007-2015

Answer 2

1. ‘90: normal to drink alcohol as child, growing wealth, designer drinks got introduced
2. 2003: alcohol use higher than ever
3. Early 21st century: national policies. In 2004 age 16 and 18 NIX
4. 2007-2015: alcohol specific parenting practices

Question 3

What factors, other than policy measures, can explain the fact that a broad range of risk behaviors has declined among adolescents in the last two decades? (Q)

Answer 3

(Alcohol-specific) Parental practices. Adolescents indicating that their parents definitely not allow them to drink alcohol at home. We’re not sure if this had worked.

Question 4

Why is it important to adopt an ecological model in explaining trends in young people’s risk behavior? (Q)

Answer 4

The social context of adolescents has changed. Social media became important. And also:
* an increasingly risk-averse and individualistic society;
* increasing economic inequality and polarisation;
* related changes to the symbolic meaning of risk behaviours and/or adulthood

Question 5

What are three characteristics of adolescence? (HC)

Answer 5

• Distacing from parents
• Intensifying peer contacts
• Experimentation with adult-like behaviors

Question 6

What are examples of topics in the alcohol policies ‘availability’ of alcohol? (HC)

Answer 6

• Legal alcohol purchage age
• Alcohol server ability for damages caused by actions of patrons
• Restrictions on types of alcoholic bevarages sold in retail stores
• Restrictions on density of stores selling alcoholic beverages in a given locale
• Restrictions on business hours for selling alcohol

Question 7

What are examples of topics in the alcohol policies ‘drinking context’ of alcohol? (HC)

Answer 7

• Community mobilization programs to increase public awareness of, and prevent alcohol problems
• Mandatory training of alcohol servers to prevent and manage aggression

Question 8

What are intoxication drinking cultures? (HC)

Answer 8

‘Drinking yourself insensible is not only acceptable, it is admired’. Higher rates of drunkenness, higher rates of binge drinking and is more problematic. E.g. UK, Ireland, Scandinavia.

Question 9

What are non-intoxication drinking cultures? (HC)

Answer 9

‘We drink to savour the flavours and to enhance our food’. Different expectations of alcohol use, more positive expectations, difference between boys and girls alcohol use is smaller. E.g. Portugal, France.

Question 10

What are examples of topics in the alcohol policies ‘alcohol advertizing’ of alcohol? (HC)

Answer 10

Number of different media (print, broadcast, billboards) with advertising restrictions. E.g. youth magazines, TV advertisements earlier than 9pm, billsboards (everyone can see them).

Question 11

What appears to be effective of the four alcohol policy index? (HC)

Answer 11

Availability, drinking context and price appear to be effective in reducing young peoples alcohol use. Alcohol advertisement is a small effect.

Question 12

What did the national alcohol policies in the early 21st century targeted? (HC)

Answer 12

Parents practices. Set rules, talk with your child.

Question 13

What (besides changing policies) has changed in young people’s lives? What is improving? (HC)

Answer 13

• Age at 1st sexual intercourse
• Juvenile crime
• Physical fighting
• Truancy
• Road savety

Question 14

What (besides changing policies) has changed in young people’s lives? What is NOT improving? (HC)

Answer 14

• Obesity
• Nutrition
• Physical activity
• Contraceptive use
• Mental health

Question 15

What is the unitary trend hypothesis? (HC)

Answer 15

Proposes that the declines in risk behavior are linked and have common underlying causes. Risk behaviors cluster, partially due to underlying risk and protective factors that influence risk behaviors of all kinds. Thus, changes in contextual conditions would lead to linked trends in a variety of risk behaviors.
- There is less unstructured in-person interaction with friends
- There is an increasing internet use
- General parenting factors
- Delayed initiation (=vertraagde start?)
- Pressure to succeed, increased school engagement
- Health is the new cool

Question 16

What are behavior-specific explanations, e.g. tobacco use? (HC)

Answer 16

E.g. tobacco use:
- Stricter tobacco control policies and anti-smoking campaigns
- Cultural shift in acceptability of smoking among adolescents
- Decreased tobacco use by parents
- Displacement by e-cigarettes

Question 17

What are behavior-specific explanations, e.g. alcohol use? (HC)

Answer 17

E.g. Alcohol use:
- Stricter national alcohol policies
- Decreased adolescent approval of drinking
- Stricter alcohol-specific parenting
- Decreased alcohol use by parents
- Increased immigration

Question 18

What is the cascade hypothesis (gateway theory)? (HC)

Answer 18

argues that the use of alcohol or marijuana acts as an opening for using hard drugs, such as cocaine or heroin.
- Knock-on effects
- Declining tobacco and alcohol use may have suppressed adolescents cannabis use (and perhaps other risk behaviors)
- Evidence is mixed

Question 19

What are important factors to consider when looking at substance use from an ecological model? (HC)

Answer 19

Individual, Relationship, Community and Societal.

Question 20

What are two impactfull parallel transitions since early 2000s have taken place in the daily lives of adolescents across Europe and North America? (De Looze)

Answer 20

1. Subsance use decreased substantially
2. Digital revolution took place

Question 21

What do some researchers suggest over the digital revolution and the decreasing substance use? (De Looze)

Answer 21

Some researchers suggest that the increases in electronic media communication (EMC) can partly explain the decline in adolescent substance use.

Question 22

What is the displacement hypothesis? (De Looze)

Answer 22

Electronic media communication reduces the time adolescents spend face-to-face time with peers, which in turn decreases substance use.

Question 23

What is the stimulation hypothesis? (De Looze)

Answer 23

Adolescents who are active users of electronic media communication spend more face-to-face time with friends, because internet-based communication technologies encourage communication with existing friends. Consequence: EMC may be associated with more substance use.

Question 24

What is a potential explanation for the inconsistent findings on the displacement and stimulation hypothesis? (De Looze)

Answer 24

The association between electronic media communication, face-to-face and substance use depends on the context in which studies are conducted.

Question 25

Does the study of De Looze et al. confirm the stimulation or displacement hypothesis?

Answer 25

The stimulation hypothesis, suggesting that electronic media communication overall functions as a social connector for adolescents.

Question 26

Vul in (De Looze). On a national level, declines in substance use over time were not associated with increases in …(1), while they were associated with declines in …(2).

Answer 26

1: electronic media communication
2: face-to-face

Question 27

What can be a consequence of increasingly strict parental rule-setting and monitoring on substance use? (De Looze)

Answer 27

Decrease in face to face time in the evening, which restricts children’s exposure to contexts in which substances are typically used.

Question 28

What are limitations of the study of De Looze et al.?

Answer 28

1. No causal inferences can be made (cross-sectional study design).
2. A more elaborate model of substance use should also include biological, genetic, and personality factors as well as their indicators.
3. The self-reported nature of the measures may have led to biased estimates.

Question 29

What is the ‘social ecological approach’? (Ball)

Answer 29

The idea that young people’s development and behavior are influenced by the contexts in which they grow up (e.g. youth culture, parenting norms, school environment, regulatory environment, labour market, information technology).

Question 30

What is the trend across high income countries in smoking, alcohol use and juvenile crime & binge drinking and cannabis use? (Ball)

Answer 30

Decline in prevalence of smoking, alcohol use and juvenile crime are universal. Binge drinking and cannabis use are less consistent internationally.

Question 31

Declines in risk behaviors occurred almost simultaneaously across democraphic groups. What does this say? (Ball)

Answer 31

This is suggestive of underlying environmental change(s), rather than changes in social norms or risk perceptions which tend to ‘diffuse’ gradually from one group to another.

Question 32

What does the Unitary trend hypothesis proposes? (Ball)

Answer 32

That the declines in risk behavior are linked and have common underlying causes. Risk behavior cluster, thats why changes in contextual conditions would lead to linked trends in a variety of risk behaviors.

Question 33

What does the study of Ball say about the decline in face to face socializing? (Ball)

Answer 33

That the decline in unstructured face to face socialization is an underlying factor in declines of risk behavior. Does not seem to hold in Scandinavia or NZ.

Question 34

What does the study of Ball say about the displacement and stimulation hypothesis?

Answer 34

They say that the stimulation hypothesis has more evidence. Internet users (social media particularly) are more likely to smoke and drink than those who rarely use internet.

Question 35

What does the study of Ball say about parenting and risk behaviors? (Ball)

Answer 35

General parenting factors can be an explanation for decline in risk behavior. Parents spend more time with their children and there is an increase in monitoring.

Question 36

What does the study of Ball say about autoritarian parenting? (Ball)

Answer 36

Autoritarian parenting has become less common which resulted in adolescents spending more time with family and thus less risk behaviour.

Question 37

Why then, with markers of adulthood occurring later and later in high income countries, are young people now delaying initiation into substance use and sexual activity? (Ball)

Answer 37

Twenge proposes that the symbolic meaning of adulthood may have changed, now representing to young people loss of security and ‘the end of all fun’, and hence adolescents are in less hurry to grow up.

Question 38

What helps to explain the steeper declines in risk behavior in younger adolescents relative to older teens? (Ball)

Answer 38

Delayed initiation or risk behavior.

Question 39

What does Moffitt say about the gap between puberty and adult roles? (Ball)

Answer 39

The temporal gap between puberty and achievement of adult roles leads to ‘role-lessness’ in young people, and a desire to assert autonomy via rule-breaking and ‘adult-like’ behavior such as smoking, drinking and sex.

Question 40

How is income of adolescents linked to risk behavior? (Ball)

Answer 40

Decreased income of adolescents is linked with less risk behavior because pending money is associated with an increased likelihood of risk behavior.

Question 41

Do policy change have been a major driver of youth drinking decline? (Ball)

Answer 41

No

Question 42

What is the trend of alcohol normalization among adolescents? (Ball)

Answer 42

There is normalization of non-drinking, and decreased approval of drinking. Social concerns about alcohol, and theres a change in public attitudes to alcohol.

Question 43

Is decreasd alcohol use by parents associated with a decline in adolescent alcohol use? (Ball)

Answer 43

No

Question 44

Is the increasing immigration from non-drinking cultures associated with declining adolescent drinking? (Ball)

Answer 44

No

Question 45

What does the cascade hypothesis propose? (Ball)

Answer 45

Declines in certain risk behaviors have led to declines in others due to direct or mediated causal relationships.

Question 46

What does the cascade hypothesis (supported by developmental cascade theory and gateway theory) say about cannabis and alcohol use and sexual behavior? (Ball)

Answer 46

Declining tobacco and alcohol use may have suppressed cannabis use, and declines in alcohol and cannabis use may have contributed to decreased sexual behavior in adolescents?