Citation

Morojele NK, Brook JS. Addict. Behav. 2005; 31(7): 1163-1176.

Affiliation

Alcohol and Drug Abuse Research Unit, Medical Research Council, Private Bag X385, Pretoria 0001, South Africa.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2005, Elsevier Publishing)

DOI

10.1016/j.addbeh.2005.09.009

PMID

16253426

Abstract

The aims of the study were to examine the relationship between multiple victimisation and drug use, and the role of drug use and other intra-personal, peer, parental and environmental factors in predicting multiple victimisation among adolescents in South Africa. A cross-sectional design was employed. The participants comprised 1474 male and female adolescents aged between 12 and 17 years, from Durban and Cape Town. They completed questionnaire measures assessing demographic characteristics; self, peer and parental drug use; self and peer delinquency; parental child-centredness and rules; and community drug availability and exposure to violence on television. A measure of multiple victimisation assessed whether or not the respondents had experienced two or more different types of violence in their lifetime. There was a significant association between frequency of tobacco, alcohol and marijuana use and multiple victimisation. Significant predictors of multiple victimisation in multiple logistic regression analyses were variables within intra-personal, peer, parental and environmental domains. Victimisation prevention programmes in South Africa should be comprehensive and target adolescents' drug use as well as their other psychosocial risk factors.