What did we learn from the CONTEXT study?
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Dr. Susan Ennett: We were interested in looking at various risky behavior outcomes for adolescents and those were alcohol, tobacco, marijuana, substance use more generally, violence -- whether it was dating violence or violence towards peers -- that was certainly part of it. Mental health, some educational outcomes... My colleague, Dr. Robert Faris, had a whole array of behaviors that can put adolescents at risk for just negative outcomes. We were interested in looking at those behaviors developmentally. So from early adolescence at about age 12 or 6th grade, which was the beginning of middle school through high school. That was the the period covered. Development was a really big part of it. Kids initiate and get into trouble and get out of trouble.
In terms of trying to understand those behaviors, we wanted to look at the multiple settings or contexts or environments that adolescents live in. So that was their families, their friends, their larger peer networks in schools setting and their neighborhoods. So getting all of those multiple contexts and then analytically, our interest was, how do we describe those contexts in a very comprehensive, holistic way with many different sort of qualities and attributes measured. Then looking at both within any single context, like peer networks. What were attributes of the peer network that might contribute to development of bullying or aggression among adolescents? Alcohol, tobacco use, etc. But then a larger purpose was looking at "how do all those contexts relate?" We really want to understand adolescence in the context of families, peers, schools, and neighborhoods all together.
