Childhood risk factors and adolescent drug and alcohol abuse

American Indian Adolescent Drug Use and Socialization Characteristics

The socialization variables of family strength, religious identification, school adjustment, family sanctions against drug use and peer associations correlate with youth drug abuse. A path model testing the relationships between these variables among Anglo youths has shown that peer drug associations mediate the influence of the other factors and that with minor exceptions peers are likely to be the dominating force in youth drug abuse. The current study applied the same path model to a group of American Indian youths and the findings were replicated with two important exceptions. Peer drug associations, although still dominant in the model, were not as highly correlated with drug use for Indian youths, and family sanctions against drugs had a direct influence on drug use in addition to an indirect influence. Differences in family dynamics among American Indian youths may account for the findings; they may associate more with and learn about drug use from same-aged siblings and other relatives in the extended family, and they may have a greater number of adult family figures to apply sanctions against drug use.

Community Influence on Youth's Use of Inhalants and Other Legal Products to Get High in Rural Alaska

This study examines the use of inhalants and other harmful legal products (HLPs) to get high among pre-adolescents in frontier Alaska communities. Community factors that may influence use of HLPs are highlighted. This study uses secondary data from two NIH studies in 19 Alaska communities. A hierarchal generalized linear modeling technique was used to model community level effects on HLP use. The results show that lifetime use was reported by 18% of the pre-adolescents. Pre-adolescents in "dry" communities (with laws restricting alcohol use) had much higher lifetime and past 30-day HLP use. The results suggest that additional study of the relationship between use of HLPs and local laws governing availability is warranted.

Multidimensional self-esteem and alcohol use among Mexican American and White non-Latino adolescents: concurrent and prospective effects

Self-esteem was evaluated among Mexican American and White non-Latino adolescents. Three dimensions of self-esteem-(a) self-confidence, (b) competence, and (c) social acceptance-were assessed for concurrent and longitudinal relationships to alcohol use. Various concurrent relationships were found between dimensions of self-esteem and alcohol use. Only 1 prospective effect was found, among Mexican American female adolescents, indicating that prior poor self-confidence predicts higher levels of alcohol use.

A longitudinal study of developmental trajectories to young adult cigarette smoking

This study examined smoking trajectories between adolescence and adulthood in an African American cohort followed prospectively from first grade to age 32. We classified non-smokers, former smokers, current smokers/late adopters (initiated after age 18), and current smokers/early adopters (initiated before age 17). Results show that almost half of the population were currently smoking. Multiple logistic regression analyses showed that non-smokers differed most from the three smoking groups on social integration. Non-smokers were less likely to have left home before the age of 18, to have had more drug use parental supervision as an adolescent, to have moved less, and to attend church more frequently as an adult. Those current smokers who initiated early differed from the non-smokers and also from the former smokers and the current smokers who adopted smoking after the age of 18; they were more likely to be rated as aggressive or both shy and aggressive by their first grade teachers and to have drug problems as adults. Current smokers were less likely to attend church as adults than the non-smokers and former smokers. Neither mother's smoking or lifetime depression was related to smoking. The findings elucidate the contribution of factors over the life course that have an impact on smoking initiation, continuation, and cessation. They highlight the importance of targeting African American children and adolescents for prevention despite the fact that African American youth have the lowest rates of smoking across all ethnic groups. Possible interventions could be aimed at early aggressive behavior, parental supervision and monitoring, and other social integration efforts.

Substance use disorders in young adults with and without LD: predictive and concurrent relationships

This article reports on young people with and without learning disabilities (LD) and substance use disorders (SUD). Participants were assessed for LD at ages 12 and 19 and for SUD and psychiatric disorders at age 19. Participants with LD at ages 12 and 19 were more likely to develop an SUD or a psychiatric disorder compared to participants without consistent LD. Participants with LD at age 19 were more likely to have a concurrent SUD or psychiatric disorder compared to those without LD at age 19, while participants with LD at age 12 showed only a trend toward increased rates of SUD at age 19 when compared to participants without LD at age 12. Participants with and without LD did not differ in substance use, consumption levels, or onset history. In a multivariate model, adolescent LD was associated with a three-fold increased risk for SUD after behavioral problems and family structure had entered the model. Although these results provide some support for the notion that adolescents with LD are at increased risk for SUD, LD also appears to confer a general risk for adverse outcomes.

Problem-Behavior Theory and the Explanation of Adolescent Marijuana Use

Problem-Behavior Theory was developed by Richard Jessor and Shirley Jessor almost 30 years ago. The theory is a social-psychological framework focused on the explanation of variation in adolescents' involvement in behaviors that are socially defined as a problem and as undesirable by the norms of conventional society and that elicit some form of social sanctions. Problem behaviors of interest have included underage drinking, problem drinking, marijuana use, other illicit drug use, delinquent behavior, and precocious sexual behavior. Research conducted in the 1970s demonstrated that the theory could account for approximately 50% of the variance in marijuana use in both local and national sample studies. The present analyses sought to determine whether the theory continues to be relevant for the explanation of illicit drug use among contemporary American youth. Both cross-sectional and longitudinal analyses of multiple datasets collected over a 20-year period confirm its enduring validity.

Protective and risk predictors in the development of drug use

The authors examined the relationship of two dimensions of the theory of social development--vulnerability (predictors, risk factors) and protectivity--in two samples, schoolchildren aged ten to fifteen years and addictive drug users. On the basis of the Hirschi model of protective factors, they found that the most important protective factors (attachment, commitment, involvement, belief) act against substance use. A surprising finding was that among the predictors of the addicts some forms of escape from the family act against the development of drug use, that is, they can be regarded as a protective predictor. The findings of the study draw attention to the complexity of the vulnerability-protectivity relationship and to the need for further research.