A test of biosocial models of adolescent cigarette and alcohol involvement.

V. Foshee, S.T. Ennett, K.E. Bauman, D.A. Granger, T. Benefield, C. Suchindran, A.M. Hussong, K.J. Karriker-Jaffe & R.H. DuRant, Journal of Early Adolescence, v.27, n.1, 2007, pp.4-39.

The interactions between biological variables (hormone levels, pubertal status and pubertal timing) and social context variables (family context, peer context, perceived school context and neighbourhood context) were examined as predictors of early adolescent involvement with alcohol and cigarettes in this American study. The study sample consisted of 409 adolescents in Grades 6 and 8 (aged 11-14 years, 51.3% male) at a middle school in North Carolina, USA. Hormone levels were measured via saliva samples, while all other biological variables, context variables and cigarette and alcohol involvement were measured through student-completed self-reported questionnaires. Results indicated that biosocial models which included both the biological and contextual variables and their interactions 'explained significantly more variance in adolescent cigarette and alcohol involvement than did models including only the main effects of the biological and contextual variables'. These findings suggest that 'studies examining biological influences on adolescent problem behaviours should not ignore the possibilities that those influences vary by context,' and that, similarly, those studying social influences 'should not ignore biological variables'.