News of the week

Week 2/2008: Drinking together, but for personal enjoyment

Urban residents facing urban problems

Today, teenagers explain their substance use with reference to their own personal pleasure, rather than peer influence. This was revealed in Riia Palmqvist's doctoral dissertation in social psychology.

“Previously, adolescents would say that they drank alcohol or smoked because their friends did,” says Palmqvist. “Now the going explanation is that it makes them feel good, and that it gives pleasure.”

She compared the responses of 14- to 16-year-old school pupils from 1984 with those given by eighth graders in 1999. Palmqvist argues that the shift in focus from the influence of friends to personal pleasure may well be a reflection of the general phenomenon of justifying things on more individual grounds than before.

Alcohol is, however, still consumed in groups. “Young people of this age seldom drink alone, unless they have a real problem with alcohol,” Palmqvist says.

Other things examined in the 1999 sample included the link between substance use and personal body image, relationships with friends, and the quality of communication with parents.“If a person has a slightly negative view of his or her looks, this could be seen in substance use behaviour," says Palmqvist.

Both cigarette and alcohol consumption was greater with people who have a negative body image. Of the eighth graders, girls were generally less satisfied with their appearance than boys. A distant relationship with parents would, in turn, substantially increase the risk of smoking for girls.

Palmqvist would like to see new ways of educating teenagers about substance use. Teens are a very heterogeneous group in terms of substance use, and this should be taken in to account in the educational method. “They are, after all, already well aware of the dangers.”

Palmqvist’s doctoral dissertation Just say no – The influence of personal goals, beliefs, psychological adjustment, and parental relationship in drug use by adolescents will be publicly examined at the Faculty of Social Sciences on 12 January 2008.

Text: Kyösti Niemel
Picture: Maisa Puranen
www.helsinki.fi/digitalcommunications

Translation: Valtasana Oy