School Bonds and the Onset of Substance Use among Korean Youth: An Examination of Social Control Theory

Yoonsun Han, Heejoo Kim and Julie Ma
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Yoonsun Han: Department of Child Psychology and Education, Sungkyunkwan University, 25-2 Sungkyunkwan-ro, Jongno-gu, Seoul, 110-745, Korea
Heejoo Kim: Department of Child Psychology and Education, Sungkyunkwan University, 25-2 Sungkyunkwan-ro, Jongno-gu, Seoul, 110-745, Korea
Julie Ma: School of Social Work, Michigan State University, 254 Baker Hall, East Lansing, MI 48824, USA

IJERPH, 2015, vol. 12, issue 3, 1-18

Abstract: This study examined the association between school bonds and the onset of substance use among adolescents in South Korea. Based on Hirschi’s social control theory, this study tested the roles of teacher attachment, educational aspiration, extracurricular activities, and rule internalization—four elements of social bonds within the school setting—in delayed initiation of alcohol drinking and cigarette smoking. Discrete-time logistic regression was used to analyze five waves of the Korea Youth Panel Survey ( N = 3449 at baseline), a nationally representative sample of Korean youth. Stronger teacher attachment, higher educational aspiration, and higher rule internalization were correlated with delayed onset of alcohol drinking and cigarette smoking. On the other hand, participation in school extracurricular activities was positively associated with the onset of alcohol drinking, but not statistically significantly linked with the onset of cigarette smoking. These findings suggest that early prevention strategies for youth substance use should specifically target school-related factors that represent social bonds developed among youth.

Keywords: initiation of alcohol drinking; initiation of cigarette smoking; school bonds; social control theory; Korean adolescents (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2015
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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