Drug Use and Violence Among Adolescents: The Mediation Effect of Attitudes Supporting Violence

ABSTRACT The aim of this article is to study the impact of violent attitudes on the drug use/violent delinquency relationship. A total of 1,420 adolescents from the province of Rimini (Italy) completed a questionnaire concerning drug use, violent behaviors, and attitudes toward violence. In general, the results seem to confirm that part of the literature that suggests that people who make frequent use of drugs are also those subjects who are more frequently involved in violent behaviors. However, mediation analyses show that both soft and hard drug use have an indirect effect—mediated by attitudes of violence—on violent behaviors. The results suggest the influence of sociopsychological variables (i.e., attitudes and culture of violence) on the relationship between drug abuse and violent behavior. In planning policies to prevent violent behavior, educational and political institutions should encourage interventions addressed to the promotion of a nonviolent culture.