The association between moral disengagement, psychological distress, resistive self-regulatory efficacy and alcohol and cannabis use among adolescents in Sydney, Australia

Objective: The current study aimed to: (i) examine the estimated proportion of young Australian’s using alcohol and cannabis, and (ii) investigate a number of individual risk factors associated with use. Method: A total of 1022 students aged between 12 and 15 years (86% male) were recruited from ten independent schools in Sydney, Australia. All participants completed a questionnaire measuring demographics, levels of moral disengagement, psychological distress, self-regulatory efficacy to resist peer pressure to engage in transgressive behaviour, and alcohol and cannabis use. Results: Approximately 85% of participants reported having ever tried alcohol in their life, 31% reported having ever had a full serve of alcohol in their life, 9% reported binge drinking in the past 3 months, and 4% reported having ever tried cannabis in their life. Logistic regression analyses revealed higher moral disengagement and lower resistive selfregulatory efficacy were independent predictors of ever having a full serve of alcohol, binge drinking in the past 3 months and ever trying cannabis. Psychological distress was not associated with alcohol or cannabis use. Conclusions: A better understanding of the factors associated with early alcohol and cannabis use may help identify groups who have difficulties controlling use and aid the development of targeted prevention strategies for reducing use and related harms.