Poor Health, Strain, and Substance Use

    Authors

    J. A. Ford

    Comments

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    Abbreviated Journal Title

    Deviant Behav.

    Keywords

    FACE-TO-FACE; DRUG-USE; MENTAL-ILLNESS; ALCOHOL-CONSUMPTION; PHYSICAL; DISORDERS; NEGATIVE EMOTIONS; COLLEGE-STUDENTS; STREET YOUTH; DELINQUENCY; GENDER; Psychology, Social; Sociology

    Abstract

    Agnew's general strain theory is widely recognized as one of the most prominent explanations of crime and deviance. Recently, scholars have conceptualized poor health as a type of strain that is related to both offending and substance use. The current research builds on this by examining data from the 2011 National Survey on Drug Use and Health and focuses on adult respondents. An index of poor health that included eighteen different diseases or conditions that were diagnosed by a doctor in the past year and a more general measure of overall health were created to measure health strain. Results from logistic regression models showed that health strain increased risk of psychological distress and that psychological distress significantly increased the risk of various types of substance use. These findings add to the growing literature on the relationship between poor health and crime/deviance and suggest that more research is needed.

    Journal Title

    Deviant Behavior

    Volume

    35

    Issue/Number

    8

    Publication Date

    1-1-2014

    Document Type

    Article

    Language

    English

    First Page

    654

    Last Page

    667

    WOS Identifier

    WOS:000334720500004

    ISSN

    0163-9625

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