Krystal Small

Professor Amy Situ-Liu

Research and Evaluation

Article Review

October 10, 2017

1. What is the main purpose of the article? What key questions is the author trying to answer?
The main purpose of this article is to understand teenage drug use and how it affects
different attachment. This article is trying to find out why teenage do drugs. It also points
out the attachment associated with parents, sibling, friends, and relatives. These different
attachments all play a major role to why teenagers use drugs and drink alcohol. The article
also discusses social learning and social control theory. They both have similar aspects.

2. What topics or key issues are reviewed in the literature review? The key topics are parents
drug use, sibling drug use, peer drug use, adult drug use, attachment to parents, and
parental monitoring. These were discussed in the article and reflected why drug use is used
amongst teenagers.

3. What is the theory being used? What does this theory say about the relationship between
the IVs and DVs?
Attachment to parents, both parents or one parent
School interactions with peers
Seeing others, besides parent using drugs or drinking alcohol; relatives.
4. What sampling method did they use? What is the sample size? Is this a good sample? A
probability sample being used. 4,230 students in 7-12 grade. The final sample was 82
percent of the total number of students enrolled in the sample classrooms at the time of the
survey. The sample ages were 12-19 with a median of 15. Overall this was a good sample
size. 4,230 students is a lot of student to conduct a survey to see what percentage of
teenagers are using drugs/alcohol and also being able to see different attachments.

What type of research design is being used? Is the degree of the internal variable high?

What are the key independent variables? How are they operationalized? Attachment to
parents is a key independent variable. Being more involve and spending more time and
talking will help teenagers make the right decisions when parents are not around.

What are the dependent variables? How are they operationalized? Parental Monitoring is a
dependent variable. If the parents know what going on with their child and who their child
associate with, the less likely they will associate themselves with friends who use drugs.
 Other relevant concepts? Siblings play a major role in children lives. If the child cant look to
their parent for guidance they will turn to their brother or sister. Siblings dont realize how
much of a role they are to their younger brother or sister. Every younger sibling always
wants to be like their bigger brother or sister. If they use drugs/alcohol the chances that the
younger sibling will use. Teenagers can only go off what they see. You always have to lead
by example.

5. What are they key findings? The more that parents are involved in their children lives, the
less likely teenagers will use drugs. Teenagers are easily influenced by the things they see
and the people who they hang around daily. If a child is in an bad environment soon or later
that child will engage itself into bad activity. The less parent involvement that children have
the more chances it gives them to make mistakes and lead down the wrong path.

6. Discussion: The things that we can do to help society is put more programs out to help the
teenagers growing up. The more positive activity that is around, the less likely teenagers will
be engaged in bad activity. The more that a person is involve in someone life, can lead them
to more opportunity.

7. Additional information
Parent involvement is the key for teenagers. No involvement the more chances teenagers
will be influenced by other teenager for using drug and or alcohol. Teenagers go off of what
they see and what they think is cool, all so they can fit in.