The impact of mediating factors on youth social capital and substance use

Ali Unlu and Ismail Sahin

International Journal of Public Policy, 2015, vol. 11, issue 1/2/3, 110-127

Abstract: The aim of this study is to evaluate how the impact of social capital on youth behaviour varies by mediating factors and to suggest evidence-based policy interventions. The type of activities adolescents participate in, the time and type of intra-familial interactions between parents and adolescents and the type of peer groups adolescents interact with were employed as indicators of social capital. The study examined the variation in substance use among youth by age, gender, ethnicity, income level and mobility. The National Survey on Drug Use and Health 2007 was employed and structural equation modelling (SEM) was used for hypothesis testing. Findings show that there is a relationship between youth substance use and social capital. While peer influence is positively correlated with substance use, family attachment and youth activities have a negative relationship with substance use. The impact of social capital varies by age, gender, ethnicity, mobility and income level. Furthermore, those mediating factors have strong relationships with the creation of social capital.

Keywords: social capital; substance use; youth behaviour; young people; adolescents; mediating factors; age; gender; ethnicity; income level; mobility; intra-familial interactions; parents; peer groups; drug use; structural equation modelling; SEM; family attachment. (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2015
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