Are there differences between teens from urban and rural environments?: personality, environment and drug use

GRADO EN PSICOLOGÍA FACULTAD DE CIENCIAS DE LA SALUD TRABAJO FINAL DE GRADO - PS1048 CURSO 2023/2024 ARE THERE DIFFERENCES BETWEEN TEENS FROM URBAN AND RURAL ENVIRONMENTS?: PERSONALITY, ENVIRONMENT AND DRUG USE. AUTORA: ANA GARCÍA GARCÍA TUTORA: VERÓNICA VIDAL ARENAS RESUMEN Entre los diferentes predictores de problemas exteriorizados, como el uso de drogas y la conducta antinormativa, destacan las variables disposicionales (i.e., extraversión, amabilidad, responsabilidad), y ambientales (p.ej., amigos antinormativos y exposición a la violencia. Sin embargo, y pese a que el tipo de entorno (rural o urbano) desempeña un papel crucial en la configuración de las experiencias y los comportamientos de los adolescentes, existen escasos estudios que lo consideren como un posible factor explicativo de conductas exteriorizadas. Así, el objetivo de este estudio fue examinar cómo influye el tipo de entorno (rural vs. urbano), la exposición a la violencia, los amigos antinormativos y la personalidad en el uso de drogas y conducta antinormativa en adolescentes españoles. Participaron un total de 589 adolescentes (Edad Media = 15,04; 52,8% mujeres) de dos institutos, uno rural (Vall d’Alba) y otro urbano (Villarreal). Las medidas fueron administradas de forma presencial en los institutos en horario de tutoría. Para testar los objetivos del estudio se llevaron a cabo análisis estadísticos descriptivos, pruebas t de Student y modelos de regresión lineal con el programa SPSS. En entornos rurales, se observó una mayor frecuencia de consumo de alcohol, cannabis y tabaco, y los adolescentes reportaron más conductas antinormativas. Respecto a las variables predictoras contempladas, se observó que tanto los amigos antinormativos como el entorno, incluso tras controlar por personalidad, mostraron un efecto significativo para explicar la frecuencia de uso de drogas. Sin embargo, la conducta antinormativa fue predicha por la personalidad y los amigos antinormativos, pero no por el tipo de contexto. Lo que sugiere que la conducta antinormativa está mejor explicada por variables individuales y sociales. En general, el presente trabajo pone de manifiesto la importancia de considerar el tipo de contexto en el estudio de problemas exteriorizados en adolescentes de la región. Palabras clave: adolescentes, entorno rural, entorno urbano, personalidad, antinormativo. ABSTRACT Dispositional traits (i.e., extraversion, agreeableness, concientiousness) and enviromental variables (i.e., deviant peers, violence exposure) are well-established predictors of externalizing problems such as drug use and antinormative behaviors. However, and even though the type of enviroment (urban, rural) plays a important role in shaping teens experiences and behaviours, there are few studies that consider it as a possible explanatory factor for externalizing behaviors.Thus, the goal of the current study was to examine influences of the type of enviromental (rural vs urban), violence exposure deviant peers, and personality traits on drug use and anti-normative behavior in spanish teens. A total of 589 teens (M age = 15.04; 52.8% females) from two high school centers of urban (Vilareal) and rural (Val d’Alba) enviroments, participated in the study. Self-report assessment instruments were administered in class. Descriptive statistics, Student-t tests, and linear regression models were conducted using SPSS software to test the objectives of the study. Teens reported a higher frequency of drug use and anti-normative behaviors in rural than in urban enviroments. Both deviant peers and the type of enviroment significantly contributed to the prediction of frequency of drug use, even after controlling for personality trait measures. However, type of enviroment did not contribute to prediction of anti-normative behaviors beyond personality and deviant peers, suggesting that anti-normative behavior is best explained by individual and social factors. In general, results from this work highlight the relevance of considering the type of enviroment in the study of teens externalizing problems from distinct spanish regions. Key words: teens, rural environment, urban environment, personality, anti-normative. ARE THERE DIFFERENCES BETWEEN TEENS FROM URBAN AND RURAL ENVIRONMENTS?: PERSONALITY, ENVIROMENT AND DRUG USE. INTRODUCTION METHOD Author: Ana García García Advisor: Verónica Vidal Arenas RESULTS To examine the role of the type of surrounding (rural vs urban), other environmental variables (exposure to violence, deviant peers) and personality in drug consumption and non-normative conduct in Spanish teenagers. OBJECTIVE PROCEDURE ØQuestionnaires administered after obtaining informed consent. Each participant received a recompensation after completing study measures. ØData analyzed and coded using SPSS Statistics 25. ØStudent’s T test and effect size of the differences observed using Cohen's d (small (d >.20), medium (d >.50) or large (d >.80; Cohen, 1988). ØLinear regression. PARTICIPANTS VARIABLES/INSTRUMENTS: ØFrequency of drug use: 7-likert scale (0=never, 7= every day). ØAntinormative behavior: self report of DSM-5 criteria. ØFife-Factor model of personality; MASK-5 (Madrid-Valero et al.,2021). ØViolence exposure (Orue, I., & Calvete, E., 2010) ØDeviant peers: Devian Peer Sacale (DPS); (Gallego Moya et al.., 2019) βR² ∆R² βR² ∆R² βR² ∆R² βR² ∆R² 1 Age .292*** .098 .101 .104* .009 .013 .129** .023 .026 .001 .001 .001 Gender .100* -.053 .088* -.037 2 Extraverssion .273*** .189 .097 -.003 .027 .026 .096* .074 .059 -.127** .089 .087 Agreeableness -.043 -.059 -.109** -.226*** Conscientiousness -.180*** -.147** -.161*** -.093** Emotional Stability -.131** .003 -.004 .059 Opennes -.115* .037 .027 .107 3 Deviant peers .368*** .297 .109 .191*** .083 .058 .208*** .134 .062 .280*** .185 .096 Violence exposure -.081* .125** .114** .110** 4 Context Urban vs Rural 1=Urbano ; 2= Rural. .279*** .371 .074 .086* .088 .007 .143 .152 .019 .052 .188 .003 Despite the differences known between rural and urban areas (Ricketts et al., 1999), most of the knowledge we have about the context-mental health association derives from research conducted in urban environments (Mitchell y LaGory, 2002; Aneshensel y Sucoff, 1996; Curtis, 2007). It remains unknown whether these associations are relevant in rural surroundings. However, this information could prove useful in order to design effective strategies in the prevention of psychological problems in rural settings (Philo et al., 2003 ; Judd et al., 2002). Mean age (SD) % Female Rural; n = 204 Urban; n = 385 15.04 (1.4) 15.03 (1.39) 53.9% 52.2 % Table 1. Linear regression LOW C LOW A HIGH E ®Higher frequency of alcohol, cannabis and tobacco use, and more deviant peers were observed in rural contexts. In contrast, higher violence exposure was observed in urban contexts (Figure 1). ®Regarding with drug use, deviant peers and context type still had a significant predictive effect even accounting for personality traits (Table 1). ®However, for antinormative behavior, the strongest predictors were personality, deviant peers and violence exposure, but not context type. This suggests that this type of problem is best explained by more proximate individual and social factors (Table 1). ®Overall, the present study showed that the rural context could be a risk factor for some externalizing behaviors among adolescents. CONCLUSIONS EXTERNALIZING ANTINORMATIVE BEHAVIOUR DRUGS 1,28 0,21 0,54 0,68 17,66 5,88 2,36 0,36 1,06 0,96 15 7,43 0,1 1 10 Alcohol Cannabis Tobacco Antinormative behaviour Violence exposure Deviant peers Mean Figure 1. Comparison of means between rural and urban areas Urban Rural d= .66 d= .16 d = .28 * p < .05, ** p < .01 , *** p < .001 d = .13 d = .25 d = .24 *** *** *** ** * * REFERENCIAS Barbero, V. R., & de Albéniz, G. G. P. (2008). La variable de personalidad búsqueda de sensaciones como factor de riesgo en el consumo de drogas. International Journal of Developmental and Educational Psychology, 4(1), 169-178. http://dx.doi.org/10.17060/ijodaep.2014.n1.v1.391 Ministerio de Sanidad. (2023). 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