Paternal and Peer Characteristics: Interactions and Association with Male College Students' Marijuana Use

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Abstract
This study investigated the relationships and interactions of fathers' personality/behavioral attributes, their childrearing practices, and adolescent peer influences and their associations with the adolescent sons' use of marijuana. Male college students ( N = 246) and their fathers were administered written questionnaires. Analysis indicated that paternal personality/behavioral and childrearing variables were associated with peer factors, which in turn were related to the sons' marijuana use. Certain paternal drug models were associated with the adolescents' having friends who used drugs. In addition, the sons' lack of conscious identification with their fathers was associated with a peer rather than a parental orientation. The results on father-peer interactions suggested that the peer group impact on the adolescents' marijuana use may be affected by paternal factors.