On the Resolution of Role Incompatibility: A Life Event History Analysis of Family Roles and Marijuana Use

Abstract

Event history analyses are applied to life and drung histories to specify the casual sequences that underlie the associations between marijuana use and family roles observed in cross-sectional data: inverse relationships with marriage and being a parent; positive relationships with separation/divorce. Role selection and role socialization account for these relationships, and both processes contribute to the resolution of potential incompatibilities between family roles and marijuana use. Role selection effects of marijuana use are reflected in postponement of marriage and parenthood and increased risk of marital dissolution. Socialization effects of family roles on marijuana use are reflected in the reduced risk of marijuana initiation after marriage among women and the increased rate of stopping marijuana use after marriage among women and after parenthood among men. Anticipatory socialization is reflected in an increased propensity to stop marijuana use before marriage among men and women and before parenthood among women.