Family and Peer-Individual Risk/Protective Factors for Unique and Co-Occurring Substance Consumption and Delinquent Behavior in Colombian Adolescents

Introduction: Extant literature reports a significant co-occurrence of substance consumption and delinquent behaviors. Subsequently, it is also postulated that risk and protective factors are shared by the two behaviors. The purpose of this study is to explore whether family and peer-individual risk and protective factors are similarly associated with unique and co-occurring substance consumption and delinquent behaviors. 

Method: A sample of 1,599 public school students of a community from the north of Bogotá, Colombia, between the ages of 11 and 19 completed a Spanish-language version of Communities That Care Youth Survey, an instrument that measures risk and protective factors known to be related to adolescent drug consumption and delinquent behaviors. The sample was classified into three groups according to observed behavior occurrence at the individual level: 1) only drug consumption 2) only delinquent behavior, and 3) both behaviors. Indexes of co-occurrence, drug consumption, and antisocial behaviors were calculated creating continuous variables for each behavior. 

Results: Linear regressions were conducted for each group using its corresponding index as Dependent Variables and risk and protective factors as Independent Variable, plus several controls like age and gender. It was found that the influence of family and peer-individual risk factors on behaviors changed when the two behaviors co-occur compared to when they occur in isolation. Most of the peer-individual risk factors were associated with either one of the behaviors or their co-occurrence, whereas only one family-level risk factor predicted delinquent behavior. Regarding protective factors, only prosocial involvement predicted the presence of delinquent behavior. Other protective factors did not affect the presence of these behaviors.

Conclusions: We found that risk and protective factors seem to operate in distinct ways for drug consumption and delinquent behaviors when they occur separately. When both behaviors occur, risk factors are related to the co-occurrence and should not be inferred that the same factors will be in place when only one behavior is observed.