Health Education Research Advance Access originally published online on June 28, 2006
Health Education Research 2007 22(1):81-94; doi:10.1093/her/cyl050
Association of substance-use behaviours and their social-cognitive determinants in secondary school students
1 Research Group for Stress, Health, and Well-being, University of Leuven, Leuven, Belgium
2 Cooperative Liaison University of LeuvenFree Centres for Educational Guidance, Cooperative Liaison, Brussels, Belgium
* Correspondence to: A. Victoir. E-mail: An.Victoir{at}psy.kuleuven.be
In two samples of Flemish secondary school students, co-occurrence of different types of substance use was observed: smoking was associated with marijuana use in Sample 1 (n = 597) and alcohol consumption in Sample 2 (n = 403). It was investigated whether social-cognitive determinants of these behaviours were also associated. Low to medium correlations were observed. Confirmatory factor analyses showed that a model with general social-cognitive factors (across different substances) did not have adequate fit. Substance use was mainly associated with variables referring to the specific substance under consideration, with the exception of self-efficacy in buying and smoking cigarettes; this factor was linked not only to smoking but also to alcohol and marijuana use. Adolescents who regularly used two substances generally held positions on social-cognitive scales that were more unfavourable than those who only used one substance. In order to change determinants of use, substance-specific cognitions and skills may be important targets.