The Relationship of Social Capital and Substance Use by High School Students

In order to study various components of a well-done research study, a journal article critique was written on the article entitled, "The Relationship of Social Capital and Substance Use by High School Students" by Erin M. Curran from Bowling Green State University. This article was found in the Journal of Alcohol and Drug Education (2007, June). This article was very insightful and provided the reader with adequate information and pertinent components to a well-organized and well-written research study.

Background information or the reason this study had been undertaken was located in the first paragraph of the article. Many anti-drug programs exist in the United States, but substance use among high school students continues to rise. The use of tobacco and marijuana has decreased among students but the use of other substances such as alcohol and prescription drugs have grown popular within high schools nationwide.

The problem statement in this article is not specifically written out in a brief statement. Instead, the problem is laid out within the text pertaining to the background information. The researcher is studying the problem of substance use by high school students but no evidence is given for the suspected correlation between this and social capital.

In this article, the problem documented has taken the place of the problem statement. This information is also not specific. In the methods section, data is analyzed from two different high schools but no specific problem was documented concerning these two schools. The problem documented exists within the entire United States concerning the constant rise of substance use of high school students. The researcher obtained this substance use information from the National Institute on Drug Abuse.

The researcher laid out three specific objectives for the study. These objectives were located after a discussion defining social capital and its effects on high schools students. The first objective was seeking if there was a statistically significant relationship between social capital and substance use by high school students in medium-sized, Midwestern cities. The researcher was also seeking to find what social capital predictors are the most influential to predict substance abuse in high school students. This objective was also concerned with this factor and its relationship to students in medium-sized, Midwestern cities. The final objective was discovering if there was a relationship between social capital, substance use, and the sex of the high school student. These objectives were also located promptly before the methods of the study were explained.

The literature review for this study was brief but well-informed. The researcher discussed the issue of social capital in several paragraphs giving the reader various definitions and explanations. This was very useful because the definition of social capital may be very broad or vague but the researcher attempted to narrow the focus for the reader. One paragraph in the literature review was also set aside to give a brief correlation between social capital and substance use. The literature review gave the reader a short introduction to the objectives that were given.

In this article, the researcher gave an excellent explanation discussing the various methods of the study. A survey was given to 590 students ages 14 or older who attended one of two high schools located in medium-sized, Midwestern cities. The researcher gave percentages relating to grades of the students, race, and gender.

The Youth Risk and Protective Factor Survey was given to the students. This survey was created in 2001 by a school district in response to the establishment of the Safe and Drug-Free Schools and Community Act. Before the survey was given to these schools, it was evaluated for content validity and pilot-tested. It consisted of 102 multiple choice questions including questions pertaining to risk factors and information concerning students and high-risk behavior.

In order to produce unbiased results, certain steps were taken to ensure the survey's validity while administered to the students. First, parents were notified that the survey would be given but both they and the students had the opportunity to decide if or if not the student would participate in the survey. In addition, both the parents and students were told that the survey results would remain anonymous. This would ensure real answers from the students because no consequences would arise. A basic timeline was not given for the process of survey administration, parent and student contact, or results.

The multiple regressions analyses were performed in order to interpret the results of the survey. Variables were given to factors to obtain a conclusion to this study. These results stated that a relationship did exist. The more a student's social capital increased, the more their tendency for substance abuse decreased. The variables given also concluded that the specific beneficial social capital was human capital or a student's family climate.

This study presented many limitations. The information discovered was not surprising to the audience and was most likely not surprising to the researcher. It appeared that the study was simply a confirmation of previous observations. The conclusions reached could not be solved by the researcher. It was concluded that students were less likely to participate in substance abuse if they came from a supporting or healthy family climate and this area is impossible for the school to control. The school can hold lectures and meetings for the parents but the parents must choose to come. The final limitation was that it was a small population that was surveyed. The researcher surveyed 590 students who were a large amount but not that much in comparison to the overall number of high school students in the United States.

The problem of substance use is a large problem among high school students. It is large so it is very difficult and complex. The article presented very good ideas concerning opportunities for parents to get involved with the results of the survey stating that parental support made a difference on the number of students who participated in substance use. The researcher suggested offering parents free tickets or gifts for attending information meetings. Schools must continue to seek ways that eliminate substance abuse among high school students.

References

Curran, E. (2007, June). The relationship between social capital and substance use by high school students. Journal of Alcohol and Drug Education 51(59-73). Retrieved July 23, 2007 from Academic Search Premier database.