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The Longitudinal Relationship between Employment and Substance Use among At-Risk Adolescents
Karen Chan Osilla*, Jeremy NV Miles, Sarah B Hunter and Elizabeth J DAmico
RAND Corporation, 1776 Main Street, Santa Monica, CA 90407-2138, USA
- *Corresponding Author:
- Karen Chan Osilla
RAND Corporation, 1776 Main Street
Santa Monica, CA 90407-2138, USA
Tel: 310-393-0411
E-mail: karenc@rand.org
Received Date: March 17, 2015; Accepted Date: April 17, 2015; Published Date: April 23, 2015
Citation: Osilla KC, Miles NVJ, Hunter SB, DAmico EJ (2015) The Longitudinal Relationship between Employment and Substance Use among At-Risk Adolescents. J Child Adolesc Behav 3:202. doi:10.4172/2375-4494.1000202
Copyright: © 2015 Osilla KC, et al. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.
Abstract
This paper explores the longitudinal association between employment and alcohol/other drug (AOD) use and consequences among an at-risk youth sample with a first-time AOD offense. This study extends previous research by examining the effects of more stable employment over time. Participants were adolescents referred to a diversion program (N=193) for a first-time AOD offense. Mean age were 16.6 (SD=1.1), 67% of the sample were male; and 45% Hispanic or Latino/a, 45% white; 10% other. We examined work intensity at program intake with AOD use, AOD-related consequences and risky social environment 180 days after the first survey. Greater work intensity was associated with greater peak drinks per occasion 180 days later and time spent around teens who use alcohol and marijuana; when controlling for age, gender, and race/ethnicity, work intensity was only associated with increased contact with teens who use marijuana. Work stability was not found to be associated with AOD-related use, outcomes, or reports of a risky social environment. Understanding how employment uniquely affects at-risk youth can help us determine policies and practices that may be needed to monitor the amount of time teens work.
