Risk and Protective Self-esteem: A Mediational Role Between Family Environment and Substance Use in Adolescents

The aim of the present study is to analyse the direct and indirect relationships among quality of family environment, multidimensional self-esteem (family, academic, social and physical self-esteem) and substance use (cigarettes, alcohol and marijuana). The study participants were 414 Spanish adolescents aged 12 to 17 years old, drawn from state secondary schools. Statistical analyses were carried out using structural equation modeling and the procedure of mediation effects analysis (Holmbeck, 1997). Results showed a significant mediational effect of self-esteem on the relation between family functioning and adolescent substance use. Moreover, results showed, on the one hand, a protection effect of family and academic self-esteem and, on the other hand, a risk effect of social and physical self-esteem on substance use. Findings are discussed in relation to previous research. As a conclusion, this investigation confirms that family environment is a relevant precedent of adolescent self-evaluation and that it is necessary to adopt a multidimensional perspective when analyse the self-esteem of substance use adolescents.

Abstract licence: CC BY-NC-ND

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