This study investigated risk and protective factors for
recreational and hard drug use in Malaysian adolescents and young adults.
Participants (n=859; M age=17.24 years, SD=2.75 years,
range=13-25 years; 59% male) were recruited from secondary schools, technical
colleges, a juvenile detention center and a national training center in
Malaysia. A version of the Communities That Care survey validated for use in
Malaysia (Razali & Kliewer, 2015) was used to assess study constructs.
One in 6 adolescents and 1 in 3 young adults reported
lifetime recreational and hard drug use, with greater use reported by males
across all drug categories. Structural equation modeling was used to determine
the strongest risk and protective factors for recreational and hard drug use.
The overall pattern of findings was similar for recreational and hard drug use.
Shared risk factors for lifetime recreational and hard drug use included
- early initiation of antisocial behavior,
- peer antisocial behavior,
- and peer reinforcement for engaging in antisocial behavior;
Shared protective factors included
- religious practices and
- opportunities for prosocial school involvement.
Multiple group analyses comparing adolescents and
young adults indicated that patterns of risk and protective factors predicting
drug use differed across these age groups. There were fewer significant
predictors of either recreational or hard drug use for young adults relative to
adolescents.
Results suggest that interventions should target multiple
microsystems (e.g., peer groups, family systems, school environments) and be
tailored to the developmental stage of the individual.
- 1No. 25, Jalan Segar 7 Taman Segar 35900 Tanjong Malim, Perak Malaysia. Electronic address: mohdrazalim@vcu.edu.
- 2Virginia Commonwealth University, United States.
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