The increasing prevalence of substance use among adolescents is a growing concern across the United States today. Previous researchers have identified risk factors for substance use in the individual, peer, family, school, and community domains. With respect to the individual domain, mental health problems and problem behaviors have been postulated as explanatory variables in adolescent substance use. Although problem behaviors have been consistently identified as powerful explanatory variables in adolescent substance use, research assessing the influence of mental health problems has been equivocal. Investigators have further cited high comorbidity rates between mental health problems and problem behaviors. Therefore, researchers have recently examined the interaction effect between mental health problems and problem behaviors in relation to substance use; however, the findings have produced mixed results.
With respect to the etiology of adolescent substance use, researchers have typically investigated risk and protective factors in isolation, which has led to conflicting results over the salience of risk factors in the individual, peer, family, school, and community domains. Thus, a composite risk and protective factor approach has been proposed for investigating the etiology of substance use. The primary purpose of the present study was to examine the explanatory power of mental health problems and problem behaviors in adolescent substance use and to explore the interaction effect between mental health problems and problem behaviors. A secondary aim of the study was to identify risk and protective factors of adolescent substance use, as measured by the Primary Prevention, Awareness, Attitude, and Use Survey (PPAAUS). In addition, protective factors were examined as moderators in the relationship between risk factors and adolescent substance use.
Data used for this study came from a triennial survey completed in 2006 by the Franklin County’s Safe and Drug Free Schools Consortium of Columbus, Ohio. Hierarchical regression analysis was conducted to assess the relationship between substance use and mental health problems, problem behaviors, risk factors, and protective factors. The results revealed a significant and positive effect for problem behaviors. However, mental health problems had a negligible effect on adolescent substance use. Given that mental health problems had a negligible effect, there was no interaction effect between mental health problems and problem behaviors. Further analyses revealed several risk and protective factors for varying levels of substance use. Overall, the results revealed that as the number of risk factors increase, substance use increases.