This study examined the combined influence of two predicting factors—low self-control and commitment to schooling—that research has shown have independent effects on substance abuse. In a sample of 598 college students, this study tested the interactive effects of these factors while controlling for other established predictors of binge drinking and drug use. Analysis showed that participants who had both low self-control and low schooling commitment had significantly higher scores on substance abuse than would be expected from the independent influences of the component factors, which suggests that the combined effects of these predictors on substance abuse have a greater influence than their direct influences.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
References
1.
AikenL.WestS. (1991) Multiple regression: testing and interpreting interactions. London: Sage.
2.
AkersR. L. (1998) Criminological theories: introduction and evaluation. (3rd ed.) Los Angeles, CA: Roxbury.
3.
ArneklevB. J.GrasmickH. G.TittleC. R.BursikR. J. (1993) Low self-control and imprudent behavior. Journal of Quantitative Criminology, 9, 225–247.
4.
BartolC. R.BartolA. M. (1998) Delinquency and justice: a psychosocial approach. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall.
5.
BunnD.CaudillS.GropperD. (1992) Crime in the classroom: an economic analysis of undergraduate student cheating behavior. Research in Economic Education, 23, 197–207.
6.
EdwardsW. J. (1996) A measurement of delinquency differences between a delinquent and nondelinquent sample: what are the implications?Adolescence, 31, 973–990.
7.
EvansT. D.CullenF. T.DunawayR. G.BurtonV. S.Jr. (1995) Religion and crime reexamined: the impact of religion, secular controls, and social ecology on adult criminality. Criminology, 33, 195–221.
8.
EvansT. D.CullenF. T.KethineniS. R. (1996) Religion, social bonds, and delinquency. Deviant Behavior, 17, 43–70.
9.
GfroererJ. C.GreenblattJ. C.WrightD. A. (1997) Substance use in the US college-age population: differences according to educational status and living arrangement. American Journal of Public Health, 87, 62–65.
10.
GibbsJ. J.GieverD. (1995) Self-control and its manifestations among university students: an empirical test of Gottfredson and Hirschi's general theory. Justice Quarterly, 12, 231–255.
11.
GoodwinL. (1992) Alcohol and drug use in fraternities and sororities. Journal of Alcohol and Drug Education, 37, 52–63.
12.
GottfredsonM.HirschiT. (1990) A general theory of crime. Stanford, CA: Stanford Univer. Press.
13.
GrasmickH. G.TittleC. R.BursikR. J.ArneklevB. J. (1993) Testing the core empirical implications of Gottfredson and Hirschi's general theory of crime. Journal of Research in Crime and Delinquency, 30, 5–29.
14.
GreenfieldT. K.RogersJ. D. (1999) Who drinks most of the alcohol in the U.S.? The policy implications. Journal of Studies on Alcohol, 60, 78–89.
15.
HirschiT. (1969) Causes of delinquency. Berkeley, CA: Univer. of California Press.
16.
HirschiT.GottfredsonM. (1993) Commentary: testing the general theory of crime. Journal of Research in Crime and Delinquency, 30, 47–54.
17.
HolcombW. R.AndersonW. P. (1983) Alcohol and multiple drug abuse in accused murderers. Psychological Reports, 52, 159–164.
18.
InabaD. S.CohenW. E. (1995) Uppers, downers, all arounders: physical and mental effects of psychoactive drugs. Ashland, OR: CNS Productions.
19.
KeaneC.MaximP. S.TeevanJ. J. (1993) Drinking and driving: self-control and gender, testing a general theory of crime. Journal of Research in Crime and Delinquency, 30, 30–46.
20.
LoeberR.EsbensenF. A.WeiherA. W. (1991) Initiation, escalation, and desistance in juvenile offending and their correlates. The Journal of Criminal Law and Criminology, 82, 36–53.
21.
PeeleS. (1984) The cultural context of psychological approaches to alcoholism. American Psychologist, 39, 1337–1351.
22.
PrattT.CullenF. (2000) The empirical status of Gottfredson and Hirschi's general theory of crime: a meta-analysis. Criminology, 38, 931–964.
23.
SnyderH. N.SickmundM. (1995) Juvenile offenders and victims: a focus on violence. Pittsburgh, PA: National Center for Juvenile Justice.
24.
Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration. (1995) Preliminary estimates from the 1994 national household survey on drug abuse. (Advance Report No. 10) Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing Office.
25.
TibbettsS. (1997) College student perceptions of utility and intentions of test cheating. Unpublished doctoral dissertation, Univer. of Maryland, College Park.
26.
TibbettsS.MyersD. (1999) Low self-control, rational choice, and student test cheating. American Journal of Criminal Justice, 23, 179–200.
27.
WebbE.KellyC. H.KamaliF. (1996) Alcohol and drug use in UK university students. The Lancet, 348, 922–926.
28.
WechslerH.DowdallG. W.DavenportA.CastilloS. (1995) Correlates of college student binge drinking. American Journal of Public Health, 85, 921–926.
29.
WechslerH.DowdallG. W.MaennerG.Gledhill-HoytJ.LeeH. (1998) Changes in binge drinking and related problems among American college students between 1993 and 1997. Journal of American College Health, 47, 57–68.
30.
WechslerH.MoeykensB.DavenportA.CastilloS.HansenJ. (1995) The adverse impact of heavy episodic drinkers on other college students. Journal of Studies on Alcohol, 56, 628–634.
31.
WoodP. B.PfefferbaumB.ArneklevB. J. (1993) Risk-taking and self-control: social psychological correlates of delinquency. Journal of Crime and Justice, 16, 111–130.
32.
WrightB. R.CaspiA.MoffittT.MiechR. A.SilvaP. A. (1999) Reconsidering the relationship between SES and delinquency: causation but not correlation. Criminology, 37, 175–194.
33.
WrightB. R.MoffittT.CaspiA. (1998) Predispositions, social environments, and crime: a model of varying effects. Paper presented at the Annual Meeting of the American Society of Criminology.
34.
WrightJ. P.CullenF. T.AgnewR. S.BrezinaT. (2001) The root of all evil: an exploratory study of money and delinquent involvement. Justice Quarterly, 18, 239–268.
