To better understand the psychosocial context of adolescent substance abuse, 1,938 students in Grades 9 through 12 were anonymously surveyed regarding their level of involvement with alcohol and drugs, and their number of negative personal consequences in the past year due to substance use. Multivariate analysis of variance using grade in school as a covariate revealed that the strongest predictor of lower levels ofsubstance involvement and consequences was perceived social supportfrom thefamily. A measure of emotional autonomy was highly correlated with greater substance involvement and consequences. When autonomy was considered in the context of support (individuation), students who were high in autonomy but low in support had the highest levels of substance involvement and consequences. Autonomous students whofelt supported by theirfamilies had somewhat higher involvement with, and consequences of, substance use when compared to their less autonomous "supported" peers. Females in the study reported less substance use but the same number of negative personal consequences as did males. There was no interaction between gender and support with autonomy. These findings suggest that family support is an important context for the development of autonomy and the prevention of substance abuse and other health risk behaviors during adolescence. The findings also support the notion that successful individuation is related to advances in autonomy within the context offamily support.
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