The Influence of Attitudes and Current Friends on Drug Use Intentions

Summary The relationship between (a) attitudes about the consequences of drug use and drug use patterns of current friends and (b) behavioral intentions for future drug use was investigated among a representative sample of all men in the general population who were between 20–30 years in 1974 (N = 2510). Assessed were the determinants of behavioral intentions for use of alcohol, cocaine, heroin, marijuana, opiates, psychedelics, sedatives, and stimulants. The results indicated a strong, significant positive relationship between (a) both attitudes and friends' use and (b) intentions to use various drugs. These two components were independent and significant predictors of behavioral intentions to use each drug. In addition, they remain relatively unchanged, substantively important, and statistically significant predictors of behavioral intentions when controlling for self-reported past drug behavior. Finally, however, they are not sufficient predictors as reported in earlier research. Instead the effect of past behavior on behavioral intentions is direct, is generally not mediated by the components of the model, and moderately enhance the model's effectiveness in accounting for behavioral intentions.