Application of a General Theory of Deviant Behavior: Self-Derogation and Adolescent Drug use

The applicability of a general theory of deviant behavior to explaining drug use among junior high school students is tested using data from a three-wave panel and the results are consistent with the representation of drug use as the outcome of student's recognition of the self-devaluing implications of membership group experiences.

Abstract

The applicability of a general theory of deviant behavior to explaining drug use among junior high school students (N=3,148) is tested using data from a three-wave panel. The five-stage path model consists of eleven constructs measured at two points in time and one construct (drug use) measured at three points in time. The results of the analyses are consistent with the representation of drug use as the outcome of: (1) student's recognition of the self-devaluing implications of membership group experiences, (2) exacerbation of the self-esteem motive; and of the effects of these two concurrent processes, including decreased identification with the normative structure, increased perception of the self-enhancing potential of deviant responses, increased perception of the prevalence of drug use, and increased association with friends who use drugs.