The construction and testing of an interactive model for understanding alcohol misuse in middle adolescence.

A synthesis of two distinct research methods was used to investigate\ud the extent to which Rhodes & Jason's (1988) Social Stress model,\ud Olson's et.al. (1985) Family Cohesion and Adaptability theory and\ud the Self-Efficacy construct (Lawrance, 1988) were associated with\ud adolescent drinking behaviour. Two studies were carried out, one\ud qualitative and one quantitative, based on the responses of a\ud non-random sample of 60 and 238 adolescents respectively.\ud Differences between Abstainers, Drinkers and Occasional Drinkers\ud were investigated. No significant gender differences were\ud identified in both studies, in regard to drinking practices reported\ud by adolescents themselves. Analyses of the data in the qualitative\ud and quantitative study reveal that family interactional patterns,\ud locus-of-control, self-efficacy, peer drinking and peer pressure to\ud drink accounted for the differences between Drinkers, Abstainers\ud and Occasional Drinkers. In contrast, the three groups did not\ud differ significantly in self-esteem, knowledge, social anxiety.\ud social support and ability to resist pressure to drink. The findings\ud are interesting in focusing on the fact that Drinkers differ\ud significantly in a variety of measures from Occasional Drinkers and\ud not just from Abstainers. Implications for future research are\ud discussed