Attitudes, Social Choices and Substance Use

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Abstract
This research investigated the effects of four conditions on attitudes and social choices regarding substance use, i.e., involvement with smoking, drinking, and drugs. Three conditions, the treatment dimension, consisted of the presentation of negative evaluations, legal consequences, and physical consequences of substance use, and the remaining condition, a stratification variable, comprised the social reasoning ability of the subjects. The data, produced by 160 students in the 4th and 11th grades, were analyzed in a repeated-measures design which included the treatments, stratification, and the repeated variable, retention. The results indicated, generally, that young children's attitudes and social choices were more negative than those of adolescents and also showed greater resistance to change. Surprisingly, legal threats to drinking produced greater positive attitudes toward drinking among adolescents and were more effective than physical punishment in this respect for all students. Of importance was the outcome that over time, all students made more favorable social choices for substance use with the exception that young children's social choices for drinking remained negative. Because of the significant interactions which occurred, many of the results can be explained in terms of differences in both social reasoning ability and developmental levels. Implications for practitioners and researchers are discussed.

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