Personal Values as a Mediator of Relations Between Perceived Parental Support and Control and Youth Substance Use.

BACKGROUND: Tobacco and marijuana smoking are very popular in adolescence and there is a high rate of comorbidity between them, even in young adulthood. Parental support and control may hinder involvement in the use of these substances by promoting conventional values among adolescents. OBJECTIVES: The present study investigates the relations between family functioning (parental support and control) and psychoactive substance use (tobacco and marijuana smoking) and determines whether these relationships are mediated by personal values (in terms of disapproval of deviance and beliefs about the importance of school, health and religion). METHODS: 175 Italian late adolescents (17 to 20 years old) participated in this two-wave longitudinal study. Data were collected at school through an anonymous questionnaire. RESULTS: Greater parental control and support were directly associated with lower adolescent tobacco and marijuana use; adolescent acceptance of conventional values mediated the association between parenting and adolescent marijuana use. CONCLUSION: Findings emphasize the influence of family relationships throughout adolescence. The transmission of conventional values to adolescents may be a critical mechanism through which parenting protects adolescents from substance use, especially marijuana use.

Family functioning's contributions to values and group participation in Italian late adolescents: a longitudinal study.

This longitudinal study aimed to investigate the contributions of family functioning (in terms of support and control) to the development of civic engagement in term of personal values (i.e., values related to health, school, religion, and disapproval of deviance) as well as participation in groups that pursue cultural, religious-volunteer, and sport goals. The study controlled for sociodemographic factors, such as parental level of education and integrity of the family. Two waves of data were collected among 175 Italian late adolescents at a one-year interval. Hierarchical regression analyses showed that the average level of parental support positively related to both health value and religion value; increased parental control positively related to health value and disapproval of deviance; and average levels of both parental support and control positively related to religious-volunteer group. However, increased parental support negatively related to participation in a cultural group. The discussion focused on the important role of the family in current Italian society for youth socialization in regard to civic engagement.