Parental Attitudes Toward Drug Use — Seattle Social Development Project

Abstract

The Parental Attitudes Toward Drug Use Scale is a concise instrument derived from the larger Seattle Social Development Project (SSDP). It is designed to assess the perceived level of parental disapproval regarding specific high risk behaviors related to substance use among youth. The scale utilizes a short set of questions focused on parental views concerning the use of alcohol, cigarettes, and marijuana. The resulting score serves as an indicator of a protective factor against potential adolescent delinquency and drug involvement, reflecting the powerful influence of perceived family norms on youth behavior.

Keywords

Parental attitudes, Drug use, Substance use, Seattle Social Development Project, SSDP, Risk and protective factors, High risk behavior, Adolescent, Alcohol, Tobacco, Marijuana.

Authors

The specific items and scoring methodology are associated with the research framework developed by J. David Hawkins, Richard F. Catalano, and colleagues involved in the Seattle Social Development Project. The instrument’s use in comprehensive surveys is documented by Arthur MW, Hawkins JD, Pollard JA, Catalano RF, and Baglioni AJ.

Purpose

The primary purpose of this scale is to quantify the perceived strength of parental disapproval concerning the use of common illicit and legal substances among youth. Strong parental disapproval is recognized in prevention science as a significant protective factor against the initiation and progression of substance use and related misconduct.

By measuring these perceived attitudes, researchers and prevention specialists can evaluate the effectiveness of family-based interventions and identify youth who may lack this critical protective barrier, thereby being at higher risk for engaging in high risk behavior.

Construct

This instrument measures the psychological construct of Perceived Parental Attitudes Regarding Substance Use. This construct reflects the internalized perception by the youth about how strongly their parents oppose specific drug and alcohol use behaviors. It is not a direct measure of the parents’ actual beliefs, but rather the child’s interpretation, which is highly influential in shaping adolescent behavioral choices.

The construct is foundational to social development theory, positing that clear, consistent parental expectations act as a powerful deterrent, contributing to reduced engagement in delinquency and substance abuse.

Validity

While specific psychometric data for this three-item snippet are often embedded within larger studies like the Communities That Care Youth Survey (CTCYS) or the Seattle Social Development Project, the validity of parental attitudes as a protective factor has been widely established in longitudinal research. These items demonstrate high face validity, directly inquiring about attitudes toward specific substances (alcohol, cigarettes, marijuana).

The scale contributes to predictive validity by consistently correlating higher perceived parental disapproval scores with lower rates of self-reported drug use and other adolescent problem behaviors, reinforcing its utility in risk assessment models.

Reliability

Specific internal consistency (e.g., Cronbach’s alpha) for this short, three-item scale is typically reported within the context of the larger assessment battery from which it is drawn. Given its inclusion in major longitudinal studies like the Seattle Social Development Project, the measure is assumed to meet standard criteria for acceptable reliability in measuring attitudes toward drugs. Researchers often rely on the established psychometric properties of the overall SSDP instrument set for assurance regarding the stability and consistency of these items.

Factor Analysis

The three items of this scale generally load onto a single factor representing generalized parental disapproval of substance use. Although alcohol, tobacco, and marijuana represent different classes of substances, the perceived parental attitude toward them often forms a coherent, unidimensional construct during adolescence, reflecting a general family standard regarding high-risk behavior. This single-factor structure simplifies scoring and interpretation.

Instrument

Test Type: Self-report questionnaire, derived from a longitudinal prevention study.

Format: Brief, three-item scale using a 4-point Likert scale response format.

Language Available: Primarily English (used in the Seattle Social Development Project).

Population Group: Youth and adolescents.

Age Group: Typically utilized with middle school and high school students (ages 10-18).

Population Details: Originally developed for longitudinal research focusing on prevention and intervention among diverse populations in the Seattle area.

Test Methodology: Respondents indicate how “wrong” their parents would feel it is for them to engage in specific drug use behaviors. Scoring involves summing the assigned point values (4=Very wrong, 1=Not wrong at all) and dividing by the number of items. Higher mean scores indicate stronger perceived parental opposition.

Keywords

Protective factors, Delinquency, Substance abuse prevention, Communities That Care, SSDP, Alcohol consumption, Cigarette smoking, Marijuana use, Parental monitoring.

Authors

Author ORCID Identifier: Not specified in source materials.

Affiliation Email addresses: Not specified in source materials.

Correspondence Address: Correspondence is typically directed through the primary investigators of the Seattle Social Development Project, primarily J. David Hawkins and Richard F. Catalano at the University of Washington.

Permissions & Fee and Test Year

The scale items are generally available for non-commercial research and public health purposes as they are part of publicly documented instruments like the Communities That Care Youth Survey and the CDC compendium. No specific fee is mentioned for usage. The instrument was documented extensively in research published in 2002 by Arthur et al., building upon earlier work from the SSDP initiated in the 1980s.

Reference’s

The core reference detailing the use and context of these items within a larger assessment framework is:

• Arthur MW, Hawkins JD, Pollard JA, Catalano RF, Baglioni AJ. Measuring risk and protective factors for substance use, delinquency, and other adolescent problem behaviors: the communities That Care Youth Survey. Evaluation Review 2002;26(6):575- 601.

The instrument can be found on page 302 of Measuring Violence-Related Attitudes, Behaviors, and Influences Among Youths: A Compendium of Assessment Tools. The original PDF can be downloaded here: http://www.cdc.gov/violenceprevention/pdf/YV_Compendium.pdf

An additional resource related to the Communities That Care Youth Survey is available here: http://store.samhsa.gov/shin/content/CTC020/CTC020.pdf

Items of the Parental Attitudes Toward Drug Use —Seattle Social Development Project

IMPORTANT: The following scale items must be preserved in their original language and must not be changed in any way.

How wrong do your parents feel it would be for you to …

1. Drink beer‚ wine or hard liquor (for example‚ vodka‚ whiskey or gin) regularly?
2. Smoke cigarettes?
3. Smoke marijuana?

Point values are assigned as follows:

• Very wrong = 4
• Wrong = 3
• Alittle bit wrong = 2
• Not wrong at all = 1

Point values should be summed and then divided by the total number of items. Higher scores indicate greater parental concern about drug use.