You have full access to this open access article. This review focused on studies including samples aged 10β The search was conducted in different databases and 43 studies meeting the criteria were finally included. The effect of moderators could be different depending on the type of substance and the stage of adolescence. Substance use prevention programs for adolescents should be ecological, specific and adapted to the stage of adolescence.
The harmful consequences of substance use in adolescence are well documented, including: poor school adjustment Carbonneau et al. The identification of risk and protective factors against substance use during adolescence is imperative to foster prevention and intervention. Relationships with peers who use substances is known to be one of the stronger risk factors for adolescent substance use. A recent meta-analysis found that peer connectedness was a strong predictor of adolescent substance use Cole et al.
Although some empirical studies have approached this issue, systematic reviews have not been conducted analyzing a wide range of substances and including all possible moderators. This theory locates the individualβagentβin the center of the model and establishes a hierarchical number of systems that impact the individual more directly or indirectly. From this theoretical approach, risk and protective factors against substance use can belong to different domains: individual e.
Peer group is defined as a set of people who interact on a level of equality and usually share elements like age or socio-economic position American Psychological Association, Relationships with peers at early stages bring many benefits, such as the promotion of empathy, cooperation or conflict management strategies Hartup, Identifying factors that protect adolescent against using substances when their peers do becomes imperative.
Adolescence should not be analyzed as a static element, but as a mutable period of life which is constantly changing. Because of this, peer influences on substance use should bear in mind possible fluctuations during adolescence. A narrative review about psychosocial factors linked to adolescent substance use brought to light that peer influences in substance during adolescence follow curvilinear progression: susceptibility to peer influences increases from adolescence onset, reaching the peak by age 14β15, and then start to decline Trucco, The author concludes that this declining is due to the maturation of specific brain areas that makes adolescents less susceptible to peer influences.
