Examining the reciprocal relation between academic motivation and substance use: Effects of family relationships, self-esteem, and general deviance

The present study examined the reciprocal relation between academic motivation and cigarette, alcohol, and marijuana use across four annual assessments during adolescence. Data were obtained from 435 adolescents, 13 to 17 years of age at the first assessment, and their mothers. The results of generalized estimating equations (GEE) analysis suggested inverse reciprocal relations across time between academic motivation and both cigarette and marijuana use. Reciprocal relations between academic motivation and alcohol use were not found, possibly due to the normative use of this substance. The examination of mediational mechanisms, including general deviance, self-esteem and family relationships, suggested that the relation between marijuana use and, for younger adolescents, cigarette use and academic motivation is not direct but is indirect, mediated through the general deviance of the adolescent. Deviance, self-esteem, and, for the youngest adolescents, family relationships mediated the relation between academic motivation and subsequent marijuana use.