Reasons adduced by high school students for not using drugs

This investigation attempted to identify some of the reasons why high school students might decide not to use drugs, with a corresponding knowledge of why some students reject the use of drugs allowing for positive reinforcement.

Abstract

Fishbein and Ajzen's methodology can predict behaviour on the basis of questionnaire measures of attitudes toward the specific act and the subjective norms with respect to that behaviour which the individual experiences. In the present study this methodology was used to differentiate between the non-users, experimenters, occasional users and regular users of marijuana in a student population. It is argued that Fishbein's approach enables each of these groups' behaviour to be seen as a reasoned action; also discriminant analysis shows how particular evaluative beliefs and social norms interact to predict and explain the individual's drug-user status.