The study, which included only boys, was recently published in an issue of the Journal of Child and Adolescent Substance Abuse. Statistics from the report show that low self-esteem and peer approval of drug use at age 11 predicted drug dependency at age 20, a conclusion reached after analyzing data from a multiethnic sampling of 872 boys in Miami-Dade County, Florida, collected over a period of nine years.
The boys were asked to gauge the truthfulness of questions such as “I’m a failure at everything” or “I don’t like myself as much as I used to.” They were also asked how their closest friends felt about drug and alcohol use.
The study indicated that kids with very low self-esteem were “1.6 times more likely to meet the criteria for drug dependence nine years later than other children.” Early drug use also indicated future dependency. The odds of drug dependence among early drug users were “17.6 times greater than among those who had not tried drugs by age 13.”
Teachers have long stressed the importance of identifying children with self-esteem issues and the results of this study show just how important it is to address apparent esteem issues before they lead to destructive behavior.
"The fact that you can identify a group of people who are at risk for problematic behaviors is very important," said FSU sociology professor John Taylor, who headed the study. "If you can intervene on a group of people before they begin drug use or embark on a cycle of addiction, that could have huge health benefits."
