Drugs and Violence Among High School Adolescents
Adolescence is a period that is conductive to the adoption of deviant behaviors, including psychoactive substance use and delinquency. Whether the delinquency is lucrative or violent, this behavior has complex relationships with substance use. This study aimed to document substance use habits and delinquency among boys and girls of this high school sample. The objective was also to verify the influence of selling drugs and the type of substance used on violent crime perpetration. Finally, the goal was to verify the moderating role of sex and impulsivity in drug-violence relationships. One questionnaire on substance use habits (DEP-ADO), one on delinquency (MASPAQ), and another on impulsivity levels (Eysenck’s short version) were administered in 2014 to 1,440 youth aged 15 to 18 years. The results showed that selling drugs tending to predict the perpetration of violent crimes. The type of substance used tending to predict the perpetration of violent crimes too ; alcohol and cannabis users as well as polydrug users were more likely than non-users to have committed violent crimes. Effects of sex and impulsivity interactions were not found.