Problem Behavior Theory and Adolescent Health : The Collected Works of Richard Jessor, Volume 2

624 Pages·2017·7.92 MB·English

by  Richard Jessor (auth.)

Advancing Responsible Adolescent Development
Richard Jessor
Problem
Behavior Theory
and Adolescent
Health
The Collected Works of Richard Jessor,
Volume 2
Advancing Responsible Adolescent Development
Series Editor
Roger J.R. Levesque
Indiana University, Bloomington, IN, USA
More information about this series at http://www.springer.com/series/7284
Richard Jessor
Problem Behavior Theory
and Adolescent Health
The Collected Works of Richard Jessor,
Volume 2
Richard Jessor
Institute of Behavioral Science
University of Colorado Boulder
Boulder, CO, USA
ISSN 2195-089X ISSN 2195-0903 (electronic)
Advancing Responsible Adolescent Development
ISBN 978-3-319-51348-5 ISBN 978-3-319-51349-2 (eBook)
DOI 10.1007/978-3-319-51349-2
Library of Congress Control Number: 2016946354
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For
Kim & Tom
&
In Memory of Lee
Preface
This second volume in the three-volume series of my Collected Works has brought
together selected publications from a corpus of work over the past half century that
has deepened understanding of adolescent health and of the various factors that can
compromise or enhance it. As the introductory chapter seeks to make clear, the
modern concept of health encompasses far more than biology alone and is inextri-
cably a psychosocial notion as well. Understanding the health of adolescents and
young adults from a psychosocial perspective requires a grasp on their behavior, the
social context in which their lives are played out, and the trajectory of the life course
that is being pursued. It is these latter psychosocial aspects that have made the appli-
cation of Problem Behavior Theory germane for research to advance understanding
of adolescent health.
The life stage of adolescence happens to be that segment of the larger life course
in which nearly all of the behaviors of interest in this volume are first initiated and
the stage in which the determinants of those behaviors are established or consoli-
dated. In that respect, it constitutes a developmental demarcation that is of overrid-
ing importance, not only in its implications for health during adolescence itself, but
for the fact that what constitutes health in adolescence has reverberating conse-
quences for health in young adulthood and across the later life course.
Although a large number of different health-related behaviors are addressed in
the various chapters that follow, it is not intended to be an exhaustive list. What
constitutes health-compromising or health-enhancing behavior is not simply inher-
ent in the behaviors themselves but depends in many cases on the social or personal
meanings they have or the functions they serve at a particular time in history or at a
particular stage of the life course. The meaning of marijuana use, for example, has
changed markedly in recent years, from an illegal behavior engaging in which was
often an expression of opposition to established authority, to a legal behavior recog-
nized for its medicinal benefits in many states and now acceptable even for recre-
ational purposes in several states. As another example, underage alcohol use has a
different meaning and function and elicits a different societal response than alcohol
use in adulthood. In addition, technological developments can create new health-
related behaviors, e.g., excessive engagement with social media and cyber bullying.
vii
viii Preface
It is also the case that particular health-related behaviors can generate prominent
public concern at different historical times and elicit strong societal reactions that
can intensify the health impact of those behaviors—teenage pregnancy, drunk driv-
ing, and opiate use as examples. Rather than exhaustiveness, the selections in this
volume exemplify the impact that a particular subset of behaviors can have on varia-
tion in adolescent health.
The diversity of the health-related behaviors dealt with in this volume is notable,
unprotected sexual intercourse and risky driving as just two examples of difference.
What is important to emphasize—and it is the overriding contribution of the vol-
ume—is that, despite such diversity, all these behaviors yield to the very same
explanatory account, namely, the account provided by the risk and protective factor
constructs of Problem Behavior Theory. The explanatory role of Problem Behavior
Theory is what animates all of the studies reported in the chapters in this book.
In the Preface to Volume I of my Collected Works, The Origins and Development
of Problem Behavior Theory, I sought to acknowledge those to whom I am indebted
for this cumulative body of theory-guided scholarship. Let me repeat here my
indebtedness to all of my students, many of whose names are attached to chapters in
this and the earlier volume, and many of whom have gone on to their own careers of
scholarly inquiry. My indebtedness extends also to my colleagues whose ideas and
hard work have been an enormous and enduring contribution, especially Dr. Lee
Jessor early on, and Drs. John E. Donovan and Frances M. Costa in the later years,
along with Mark Turbin.
I am also indebted to Dr. David Hamburg for encouraging me to engage with the
problem of adolescent health in 1978 and for subsequently inviting me to serve on
the Carnegie Council on Adolescent Development, a position that broadened my
perspective and deepened my understanding of the adolescent life stage. My years
involved with the WHO/NIAAA cross-national research project in Zambia, Mexico,
and Scotland, and with the W.T. Grant Foundation-funded Denver/Beijing cross-
national, comparative study enlarged my awareness of adolescence in the develop-
ing world. That awareness was extended by subsequent collaborations with
colleagues (now friends) at the African Population and Health Research Center in
Nairobi in research on young people in the city’s surrounding slums. And my mem-
bership on the National Research Council’s Panel on Transitions to Adulthood in
Developing Countries, under the superb leadership of Cynthia B. Lloyd, provided
an extraordinary opportunity to learn more about the changes and challenges facing
youth in the nonindustrialized, globalizing world. It has been this fortunate back-
ground in cross-national inquiry that helped to reveal the explanatory generality that
psychosocial theory—in this case Problem Behavior Theory—can provide about
adolescent health across the most diverse of national and societal contexts.
I want also to recognize the exceptional dedication and commitment of Lindy
Shultz and Nancy Thorwardson to this publication endeavor. I am deeply grateful
for their efforts, and it could not have been successful without them. I am also grate-
ful for the extensive of Elisa Elvove.
Preface ix
Preparing this volume, and the preceding one, has provided me the opportunity
to reflect on more than a half century of systematic inquiry about young people
across the globe—their experiences, their achievements and setbacks, and the tra-
jectory of their lives. I am indebted to all of them for their participation in my
research, indeed, for making my scholarly work possible, and, along the way, for
inspiring me with their promise and potential.
Finally, I am indebted to my wife, Jane Menken, whose academic accomplish-
ments have been a model to emulate and whose love has supported my own efforts
in that regard.
Boulder, CO Richard Jessor
Contents
1 Introduction to the Volume .................................................................... 1
Richard Jessor
Toward a Broader Concept of Health ........................................................ 1
The Emergence of the Concept of Behavioral Health .............................. 3
The Meanings or Functions of Health-Compromising Behavior.............. 3
The Covariation of Health-Compromising Behavior ................................ 4
The Contribution of Psychosocial Theory to Adolescent Health ............. 5
Understanding Behavioral Health Development ...................................... 6
Continuity of Health-Related Psychosocial
and Behavioral Development .................................................................... 7
The Direction of Psychosocial and Behavioral Development:
From Unconventionality Within Adolescence Toward Conventionality
in Young Adulthood .................................................................................. 8
Some Final Comments .............................................................................. 9
References ................................................................................................. 10
Part I Health-Related Problem Behaviors: Drinking
and Problem Drinking
2 Predicting the Initiation of Alcohol Use ................................................ 15
Richard Jessor, Mary I. Collins, and Shirley L. Jessor
Method ...................................................................................................... 17
Subjects ................................................................................................. 17
Procedure .............................................................................................. 17
Establishment of Drinker-Status Groups .............................................. 18
Measures ............................................................................................... 19
Personality Measures ............................................................................ 20
Perceived Social Environment Measures .............................................. 21
Behavior Measures ................................................................................ 21
Summary of Method and Hypotheses ................................................... 22
xi
xii Contents
Results ....................................................................................................... 22
Testing Hypothesis One ........................................................................ 22
Testing Hypothesis Two ........................................................................ 26
Discussion and Conclusions ..................................................................... 28
References ................................................................................................. 31
3 Alcohol Use and Adolescent Development ............................................ 33
Richard Jessor and Shirley L. Jessor
Method ...................................................................................................... 36
Subjects ................................................................................................. 36
Procedure .............................................................................................. 37
The Abstainer-Drinker Transition Groups ............................................ 38
Measurement of the Variables in the Theoretical Framework .............. 39
Results ....................................................................................................... 40
Prediction of the Onset of Drinking ...................................................... 41
Onset of Drinking and Development during Adolescence .................... 45
Onset of Drinking and the Prevalence of Other Behaviors ................... 49
Discussion ................................................................................................. 51
References ................................................................................................. 53
4 Adolescent and Young Adult Problem Drinking .................................. 55
John E. Donovan, Richard Jessor, and Lee Jessor
Method ...................................................................................................... 57
Overall Design of the Study .................................................................. 57
Description of the Participants .............................................................. 58
Measurement of Variables in Problem Behavior Theory ...................... 58
Establishment of Drinking Status ......................................................... 58
Results ....................................................................................................... 61
Continuity of Problem Drinking Between Adolescence
and Young Adulthood ........................................................................... 61
Adolescent Psychosocial Antecedents of Problem Drinking
in Young Adulthood .............................................................................. 64
Predicting Young-Adult Problem Drinking Among Adolescent
Problem Drinkers .................................................................................. 70
Predicting Young-Adult Problem Drinking Among Adolescent
Nonproblem Drinkers ........................................................................... 73
Discussion ................................................................................................. 73
References ................................................................................................. 77
5 Explaining Adolescent Problem Drinking ............................................ 81
Richard Jessor
Introduction ............................................................................................... 81
A Brief Overview of Problem Behavior Theory ....................................... 82
The Design of the Research ...................................................................... 84
The Prevalence of Adolescent Problem Drinking ..................................... 86