Not everyone listens when you "just say no": Drug resistance in relational context

• Published in: Journal of Applied Communication Research Vol. 27; no. 2; pp. 120 - 138
• Main Authors: Trost, Melanie R., Langan, Emily J., Kellar-Guenther, Yvonne
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Annandale Taylor & Francis Group 01.05.1999; National Communication Association
• Subjects: Drug use; Peers; Personal relationships; Questionnaires; Secondary school students
• ISSN: 0090-9882; 1479-5752
• DOI: 10.1080/00909889909365530

The purpose of this study was to better understand the role of adolescents' personal relationships in drug offer scenarios. 2,166 junior high school students from 31 schools participated in a questionnaire study that asked them to describe a time when they had been offered drugs. Results indicate that adolescents are most frequently offered drugs by close relations (same-sex friends, romantic partners, and brothers or male cousins); moreover, offers from family members and romantic partners were particularly difficult to resist. Although simple offers were most frequent type of offer, nonverbal presentation of the drug was the most effective. Students typically resisted by saying no and leaving the situation, but these strategies were not as effective across all relational partners. Response complexity was a better predictor of resistance than offer complexity. These findings are discussed within a goals framework (Dillard, 1990) that also provides suggestions on how future intervention programs can create resistance training that is sensitive to relational factors.