FSU sociology professors John Taylor and Donald Lloyd, along with University of Miami professor emeritus George Warheit, studied data from a multiethnic sample of 872 boys collected over a period of nine years and concluded low self-esteem and peer approval of drug use at age 11 predicts drug dependency at age 20.
"Low self-esteem is kind of the spark plug for self-destructive behaviors, and drug use is one of these," Taylor said. "It's a fundamental need to have a good sense of self. Without it, people may become pathologically unhappy with themselves, and that can lead to some very serious problems." Children with very low self-esteem, what the researchers termed "self-derogation," were 1.6 times more likely to meet the criteria for drug dependence nine years later than other children.
Accoring to Taylor, the study shows the importance of identifying children with low self-esteem for prevention and early intervention efforts before they reach ages that are associated with initial experimentation with drugs.
"The fact that you can identify a group of people who are at risk for problematic behaviors is very important," Taylor said. "If you can intervene on a group of people before they begin drug use or embark on a cycle of addiction, that could have huge health benefits."
Taylor said a simple questionnaire such as the one the researchers used in their study could help parents and teachers identify at-risk kids.
"If you're a parent of a young child and you notice that the child has very low self-esteem, that should be a warning signal that this child needs some attention or perhaps professional counseling," he said.
The boys in the study were asked to rate the truthfulness of statements such as "In general I feel I am a failure" and "I don't like myself as much as I used to." They also rated the level of approval their close friends had for people who smoked marijuana or cigarettes, used cocaine or drank alcohol.
Early Drug Use
Some of the study's finding included:- By the time the study participants were 20 years old, nearly 64 percent had used drugs, and 10 percent of those drug users had developed a drug dependency.
- The odds of drug dependence among early drug users were 17.6 times greater than among those who had not tried drugs by age 13.
- 37 percent of those who reported using drugs at age 13 later met criteria for drug dependence compared to only 3 percent of those who had not tried drugs by 13.
Source: The study was published in the Journal of Child and Adolescent Substance Abuse. See also the FSU News Release.
