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Cho SB, Llaneza DC, Adkins AE, Cooke M, Kendler KS, Clark SL, Dick DM. Patterns of Substance Use Across the First Year of College and Associated Risk Factors. Front Psychiatry 2015; 6:152. [PMID: 26578984 PMCID: PMC4621385 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyt.2015.00152] [Citation(s) in RCA: 29] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/28/2015] [Accepted: 10/09/2015] [Indexed: 11/24/2022] Open
Abstract
Starting college is a major life transition. This study aims to characterize patterns of substance use across a variety of substances across the first year of college and identify associated factors. We used data from the first cohort (N = 2056, 1240 females) of the "Spit for Science" sample, a study of incoming freshmen at a large urban university. Latent transition analysis was applied to alcohol, tobacco, cannabis, and other illicit drug uses measured at the beginning of the fall semester and midway through the spring semester. Covariates across multiple domains - including personality, drinking motivations and expectancy, high school delinquency, peer deviance, stressful events, and symptoms of depression and anxiety - were included to predict the patterns of substance use and transitions between patterns across the first year. At both the fall and spring semesters, we identified three subgroups of participants with patterns of substance use characterized as: (1) use of all four substances; (2) alcohol, tobacco, and cannabis use; and (3) overall low substance use. Patterns of substance use were highly stable across the first year of college: most students maintained their class membership from fall to spring, with just 7% of participants in the initial low substance users transitioning to spring alcohol, tobacco, and cannabis users. Most of the included covariates were predictive of the initial pattern of use, but covariates related to experiences across the first year of college were more predictive of the transition from the low to alcohol, tobacco, and cannabis user groups. Our results suggest that while there is an overall increase in alcohol use across all students, college students largely maintain their patterns of substance use across the first year. Risk factors experienced during the first year may be effective targets for preventing increases in substance use.
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Affiliation(s)
- Seung Bin Cho
- Department of African American Studies, Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, VA, USA
| | - Danielle C. Llaneza
- Department of African American Studies, Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, VA, USA
| | - Amy E. Adkins
- Department of African American Studies, Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, VA, USA
| | - Megan Cooke
- Department of Psychiatry, Virginia Institute for Psychiatric and Behavioral Genetics, Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, VA, USA
| | - Kenneth S. Kendler
- Department of Psychiatry, Virginia Institute for Psychiatric and Behavioral Genetics, Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, VA, USA
| | - Shaunna L. Clark
- Department of Pharmacotherapy and Outcome Science, Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, VA, USA
| | - Danielle M. Dick
- Department of African American Studies, Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, VA, USA
- Department of Psychology, Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, VA, USA
- Department of Human and Molecular Genetics, Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, VA, USA
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Kendler KS, Myers J, Dick D. The stability and predictors of peer group deviance in university students. Soc Psychiatry Psychiatr Epidemiol 2015; 50:1463-70. [PMID: 25702166 PMCID: PMC4546573 DOI: 10.1007/s00127-015-1031-4] [Citation(s) in RCA: 13] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/09/2014] [Accepted: 02/09/2015] [Indexed: 10/24/2022]
Abstract
BACKGROUND Peer group deviance (PGD) is strongly associated with current and future externalizing behaviors. Debate remains about the degree to which this association arises from social selection. The first year of university constitutes a social experiment in which most individuals leave their home environment and recreate for themselves a new peer group. METHODS PGD was measured in newly arrived university students and then 6 and 18 months later. Other personality and family traits were also assessed. RESULTS PGD reported for high school friends at the start of university and university friends 6 months later were substantially correlated (+0.60). This correlation was only slightly diminished if restricted to students whose home was greater than 50 miles from the university. PGD was strongly predicted across three cohorts by male sex (+), extraversion (+), conscientiousness (-), a family history of alcohol use disorders (+) and depression (+), and religiosity (-).These predictors of PGD had a relatively stable impact over 18 months and, aside from sex, differed only modestly in males and females. CONCLUSIONS As individuals change social groups from high school to university, the level of PGD remains relatively stable, suggesting that individuals play a strong role in selecting peer groups with consistent characteristics. PGD is also predicted cross-sectionally and longitudinally by personality, family background and religiosity. Our results suggest that the association between personal and peer deviance is due at least in part to the effects of social selection.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kenneth S Kendler
- Virginia Institute of Psychiatric and Behavioral Genetics, Virginia Commonwealth University School of Medicine, 800 E. Leigh Street, Room 1-123, Box 980126, Richmond, VA, 23298-0126, USA.
- Department of Psychiatry, Virginia Commonwealth University School of Medicine, Richmond, VA, USA.
- Department of Human and Molecular Genetics, Virginia Commonwealth University School of Medicine, Richmond, VA, USA.
| | - John Myers
- Virginia Institute of Psychiatric and Behavioral Genetics, Virginia Commonwealth University School of Medicine, 800 E. Leigh Street, Room 1-123, Box 980126, Richmond, VA, 23298-0126, USA
- Department of Psychiatry, Virginia Commonwealth University School of Medicine, Richmond, VA, USA
| | - Danielle Dick
- Virginia Institute of Psychiatric and Behavioral Genetics, Virginia Commonwealth University School of Medicine, 800 E. Leigh Street, Room 1-123, Box 980126, Richmond, VA, 23298-0126, USA
- Department of Psychiatry, Virginia Commonwealth University School of Medicine, Richmond, VA, USA
- Department of Human and Molecular Genetics, Virginia Commonwealth University School of Medicine, Richmond, VA, USA
- Department of Psychology, Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, VA, USA
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Kendler KS, Edwards A, Myers J, Cho SB, Adkins A, Dick D. The predictive power of family history measures of alcohol and drug problems and internalizing disorders in a college population. Am J Med Genet B Neuropsychiatr Genet 2015; 168B:337-46. [PMID: 25946510 PMCID: PMC4466079 DOI: 10.1002/ajmg.b.32320] [Citation(s) in RCA: 26] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/18/2014] [Accepted: 04/15/2015] [Indexed: 11/10/2022]
Abstract
A family history (FH) of psychiatric and substance use problems is a potent risk factor for common internalizing and externalizing disorders. In a large web-based assessment of mental health in college students, we developed a brief set of screening questions for a FH of alcohol problems (AP), drug problems (DP) and depression-anxiety in four classes of relatives (father, mother, aunts/uncles/grandparents, and siblings) as reported by the student. Positive reports of a history of AP, DP, and depression-anxiety were substantially correlated within relatives. These FH measures predicted in the student, in an expected pattern, dimensions of personality and impulsivity, alcohol consumption and problems, smoking and nicotine dependence, use of illicit drugs, and symptoms of depression and anxiety. Using the mean score from the four classes of relatives was more predictive than using a familial/sporadic dichotomy. Interactions were seen between the FH of AP, DP, and depression-anxiety and peer deviance in predicting symptoms of alcohol and tobacco dependence. As the students aged, the FH of AP became a stronger predictor of alcohol problems. While we cannot directly assess the validity of these FH reports, the pattern of findings suggest that our brief screening items were able to assess, with some accuracy, the FH of substance misuse and internalizing psychiatric disorders in relatives. If correct, these measures can play an important role in the creation of developmental etiologic models for substance and internalizing psychiatric disorders which constitute one of the central goals of the overall project.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kenneth S Kendler
- Virginia Institute of Psychiatric and Behavioral Genetics, Virginia Commonwealth University School of Medicine, Richmond, Virginia
,Department of Psychiatry, Virginia Commonwealth University School of Medicine, Richmond, Virginia
,Department of Human and Molecular Genetics, Virginia Commonwealth University School of Medicine, Richmond, Virginia
,Correspondence to: Kenneth Kendler, MD, Virginia Institute for Psychiatric and Behavioral Genetics, Virginia Commonwealth University Medical School, Box 980126, 800 E. Leigh Street, Room 1-123, Richmond, VA 23298-0126.
| | - Alexis Edwards
- Virginia Institute of Psychiatric and Behavioral Genetics, Virginia Commonwealth University School of Medicine, Richmond, Virginia
,Department of Psychiatry, Virginia Commonwealth University School of Medicine, Richmond, Virginia
| | - John Myers
- Virginia Institute of Psychiatric and Behavioral Genetics, Virginia Commonwealth University School of Medicine, Richmond, Virginia
,Department of Psychiatry, Virginia Commonwealth University School of Medicine, Richmond, Virginia
| | - Seung Bin Cho
- Virginia Institute of Psychiatric and Behavioral Genetics, Virginia Commonwealth University School of Medicine, Richmond, Virginia
,Department of Psychiatry, Virginia Commonwealth University School of Medicine, Richmond, Virginia
| | - Amy Adkins
- Virginia Institute of Psychiatric and Behavioral Genetics, Virginia Commonwealth University School of Medicine, Richmond, Virginia
,Department of Psychiatry, Virginia Commonwealth University School of Medicine, Richmond, Virginia
| | - Danielle Dick
- Virginia Institute of Psychiatric and Behavioral Genetics, Virginia Commonwealth University School of Medicine, Richmond, Virginia
,Department of Psychiatry, Virginia Commonwealth University School of Medicine, Richmond, Virginia
,Department of Human and Molecular Genetics, Virginia Commonwealth University School of Medicine, Richmond, Virginia
,Department of Psychology, Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, Virginia
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Dick DM, Hancock LC. Integrating basic research with prevention/intervention to reduce risky substance use among college students. Front Psychol 2015; 6:544. [PMID: 25999878 PMCID: PMC4423347 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2015.00544] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/09/2015] [Accepted: 04/15/2015] [Indexed: 01/17/2023] Open
Abstract
Too often basic research on etiological processes that contribute to substance use outcomes is disconnected from efforts to develop prevention and intervention programming. Substance use on college campuses is an area of concern where translational efforts that bring together basic scientists and prevention/intervention practitioners have potential for high impact. We describe an effort at a large, public, urban university in the United States to bring together researchers across the campus with expertise in college behavioral health with university administration and health/wellness practitioners to address college student substance use and mental health. The project “Spit for Science” examines how genetic and environmental influences contribute to behavioral health outcomes across the college years. We argue that findings coming out of basic research can be used to develop more tailored prevention and intervention programming that incorporates both biologically and psychosocially influenced risk factors. Examples of personalized programming suggest this may be a fruitful way to advance the field and reduce risky substance use.
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Affiliation(s)
- Danielle M Dick
- Department of Psychiatry, Virginia Commonwealth University , Richmond, VA, USA ; Department of Psychology, Virginia Commonwealth University , Richmond, VA, USA ; Department of African American Studies, Virginia Commonwealth University , Richmond, VA, USA ; Department of Human and Molecular Genetics, Virginia Commonwealth University , Richmond, VA, USA
| | - Linda C Hancock
- Division of Student Affairs, Wellness Resource Center, Virginia Commonwealth University , Richmond, VA, USA
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