The evaluation of two first-grade preventive interventions on childhood aggression and adolescent marijuana use: a latent transition longitudinal mixture model

Childhood Aggressive Behavior and Adolescent Substance Use Initiation

BACKGROUND

Drug and alcohol use before the age of 14 is associated with adverse outcomes over the life course. While previous studies have identified numerous sociodemographic characteristics associated with youth substance use initiation, few have examined the relationship between behavioral characteristics, such as childhood aggression, and substance use initiation in adolescence.

METHODS

This longitudinal study consisted of 2985 children from the Future of Families and Child Wellbeing Study. Aggression was measured using primary caregiver report when the children were about the age of 9 and cigarette, alcohol, and marijuana use was measured using the child report when the children were age 9 and age 15. Separate multivariable Poisson regression models were fitted for each substance use initiation outcome.

RESULTS

Childhood aggression was positively associated with the initiation of cigarette and marijuana use in adolescence (aRR = 2.3 [95% CI = 1.5,3.4] and aRR = 1.3 [95% CI = 1.1,1.6], respectively). Childhood aggression was not associated with adolescent alcohol use initiation (aRR = 1.2 [95% CI = 0.9,1.5]).

CONCLUSIONS

The presence of aggressive behavior in childhood was associated with the initiation of cigarette and marijuana use in adolescence. These results may be used to identify children at higher risk of cigarette and marijuana use, who may benefit from additional monitoring for substance use initiation.

Adolescent cannabis and tobacco use are associated with opioid use in young adulthood-12-year longitudinal study in an urban cohort

BACKGROUND AND AIMS

Cannabis, tobacco and alcohol use are prevalent among youth in the United States and may be risk factors for opioid use. The current study aimed at investigating associations between developmental trajectories of cannabis, tobacco and alcohol use in adolescence and opioid use in young adulthood in an urban cohort over the span of 12 years.

DESIGN

Cohort study of adolescents originally recruited for a randomized prevention trial with yearly assessments into young adulthood.

SETTING

Nine urban elementary schools in Baltimore, MD in the United States.

PARTICIPANTS

Participants (n = 583, 86.8% African American, 54.7% male) were originally recruited as first grade students.

MEASUREMENTS

Cannabis, tobacco and alcohol use were assessed annually from ages 14-18 years and opioid use from ages 19-26. Socio-demographics were assessed at age 6. Intervention status was also randomly assigned at age 6. Gender, race, free/reduced-priced lunch and intervention status were included as covariates in individual and sequential growth models.

FINDINGS

There were significant positive associations between the cannabis use intercept at age 14 and the opioid use intercept at age 19 (beta = 1.43; P = 0.028), the tobacco use intercept at age 14 and the opioid use intercept at age 19 (beta = 0.82; P = 0.042). Specifically, more frequent use of cannabis or tobacco at age 14 was associated with more frequent use of opioids at age 19.

CONCLUSIONS

Cannabis and tobacco use in early adolescence may be risk factors for opioid use in young adulthood among African Americans living in urban areas.

Pathways Between a Polygenic Score for Educational Attainment and Higher Educational Attainment in an African American Sample

We investigated the extent to which performance on standardized achievement tests, executive function (EF), and aggression in childhood and adolescence accounted for the relationship between a polygenic score for educational attainment (EA PGS) and years of education in a community sample of African Americans. Participants (N = 402; 49.9% female) were initially recruited for an elementary school-based prevention trial in a Mid-Atlantic city and followed into adulthood. In first and twelfth grade, participants completed math and reading standardized tests and teachers reported on participants' aggression and EF, specifically impulsivity and concentration problems. At age 20, participants reported on their years of education and post-secondary degrees attained and their genotype was assayed from blood or buccal swabs. An EA PGS was created using results from a large-scale GWAS on EA. A higher EA PGS was associated with higher education indirectly via adolescent achievement. No other mediating mechanisms were significant. Adolescent academic achievement is thus one mechanism through which polygenic propensity for EA influences post-secondary education among urban, African American youth.

Changes in Depression and Positive Mental Health Among Youth in a Healthy Relationships Program

Mental health promotion programming in schools and community settings is an important part of a comprehensive mental health strategy. The goal of this study was to identify and explore meaningful classes of youth based on their pre- and post-intervention depression symptoms scores with 722 youth involved in a 15-week healthy relationships and mental health promotion program. We utilized latent class growth analysis to identify depression class trajectories, controlling for group clustering effects. A three-class solution identified high decreasing, moderate stable, and low stable trajectories. Gender, age, and reported experience of bullying victimization predicted trajectory class membership. The low stable class trajectory was associated with the highest positive mental health, followed by the moderate stable and the high decreasing trajectories. These results suggest that youth with the highest depression scores showed significant improvement in symptomatology over the course of the program.

What's New in Addiction Prevention in Young People: A Literature Review of the Last Years of Research

Rationale: Addiction prevention is a major public health problem, particularly concerning young people. Despite the consensus that primary prevention is essential, the evaluation of its impact is questioned.

Objective: The objective of this paper is to assess the latest knowledge of addiction prevention programs for young people.

Method: Review a collection of research articles using a keyword-based search on three databases: Pubmed, Eric, and PsycInfo. The research was carried out using three groups of keywords and the eligibility study was completed using two criteria: articles published between 2010 and 2017, and articles in refereed journals.

Results: Of a total of 13,720 articles in the three databases, 32 studies were included in the review and listed in a grid with five themes: authors, type of population, total population, addictive behavior, and results. Four categories were created based on the objective of the studies: the evaluation of prevention strategies, the study of risk factors for consumption, the prevalence study and other subjects studied. The analysis of the corpus was used to establish a list of risk factors to be taken into consideration in future interventions and research. A list of key elements for performing effective interventions and future research is also proposed.

Conclusion: The understanding of the prevention strategies implementation process is discussed as a central element for future research, which will combine stakeholders and researchers. The complexity of the situations and the multifactorial aspects of addiction prevention in young people require a multidisciplinary approach involving the various stakeholders and researchers.

Postpartum Domestic Violence in Homes With Young Children: The Role of Maternal and Paternal Drinking

There has been limited investigation of mothers' drinking patterns and their experience of domestic abuse while parenting young children, especially in the context of co-resident fathers' drinking. Using data representative of the 2001 U.S. birth cohort, the authors conducted longitudinal latent class analyses of maternal drinking over four perinatal time points as predictors of maternal victimization at 2 years postpartum due to intimate partner violence. Women classified as higher risk drinkers over the study period faced significantly increased risk of physical abuse while parenting a 2-year-old child. Among non-drinking mothers, paternal binge drinking signaled additional risk, with clinical and programmatic implications.

Understanding School Truancy: Risk–Need Latent Profiles of Adolescents

Washington state requires school districts to file court petitions on students with excessive unexcused absences resulting in thousands of youth becoming involved in the court system. Once in the system, decisions are made about the level of risk each youth has for maladaptive behaviors. The Washington Assessment of the Risks and Needs of Students was created to assist youth service providers, courts, and schools to identify an adolescent’s needs for social, emotional, or educational intervention. However, the profile-based decisions advocated for by test developers lack empirical justification. This study employed latent profile analysis to examine risk and needs profiles of adolescents based on the Washington Assessment of the Risks and Needs of Students assessment. Profiles were developed to aid understanding of behaviors associated with school truancy, and examined across outcome variables (e.g., suspensions, arrests) to evaluate evidence in support of predictive claims. Results suggest distinct profiles that differ on important outcomes.

Prenatal, perinatal, and adolescent exposure to marijuana: Relationships with aggressive behavior

This manuscript reviews research exploring the relationship between prenatal, perinatal, and adolescent exposure to marijuana and aggressive behavior, including physical aggression. Areas of inquiry include animal research, as well as human research, on prenatal exposure and on marijuana use during adolescence. Potential psychosocial and psychopharmacological mechanisms are identified, as well as relevant confounds. The prenatal marijuana exposure literature provides minimal support for a direct relationship with aggressive behavior in childhood. The adolescent use literature suggests a marginal (at best) association between acute intoxication and aggressive behavior, and an association between chronic use and aggressive behavior heavily influenced by demographic variables, rather than direct, psychopharmacological mechanisms. Cannabis withdrawal symptoms also may include aggression and anger, but there is little evidence to suggest that these effects are large or specific to withdrawal from marijuana compared to other substances. This review will offer recommendations for clinical care and public policy, as well as important questions for future research.

Maternal patterns of postpartum alcohol consumption by age: a longitudinal analysis of adult urban mothers

The purpose of this study is to investigate a) longitudinal patterns of maternal postpartum alcohol use as well as its variation by maternal age at child birth and b) within maternal age groups, the association between other maternal characteristics and alcohol use patterns for the purposes of informed prevention design. Study sample consists of 3397 mothers from the Fragile Families and Child Wellbeing Study representing medium and large US urban areas. Maternal drinking and binge drinking were measured at child age 1, 3, and 5 years. We conducted separate longitudinal latent class analysis within each of the three pre-determined maternal age groups (ages 20-25, n = 1717; ages 26-35, n = 1367; ages 36+, n = 313). Results revealed different class structures for maternal age groups. While two classes (NB [non-binge]-drinkers and LL [low-level]-drinkers) were identified for mothers in each age group, a third class (binge drinkers) was separately distinguished for the two older age groups. Whereas binge drinking rates appear to remain stable over the 5 years postdelivery for mothers who gave birth in their early twenties, mothers ages 26 and older increasingly engaged in binge drinking over time, surpassing the binge drinking behavior of younger mothers. Depression significantly increases the odds of being a NB-drinker for the 20-25 age group and that of being a binge drinker for the 36+ age group, whereas smoking during pregnancy is associated with subsequent binge drinking only for mothers ages 20-25. Findings highlight the importance of distinguishing risk factors by maternal age groups for drinking while parenting a young child, to inform the design of intervention strategies tailored to mothers of particular ages.

Women’s longitudinal smoking patterns from preconception through child’s kindergarten entry: profiles of biological mothers of a 2001 US birth cohort

To identify longitudinal patterns of women’s smoking during the pre-conception, perinatal, and early parenting period and describe risk factors distinguishing the different profiles. We conducted longitudinal latent class analysis of maternal smoking status over a 6–7 year period in a sample of 8,650 biological mothers of the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study-Birth Cohort, nationally representative of US births in 2001. Five latent classes were identified: pregnancy-inspired quitters (4.3 %), delayed initiators (5.1 %), persistent smokers (8.5 %), temporary quitters (10.4 %), and nonsmokers (71.7 %). These classes were distinguished by age, race/ethnicity, education, poverty status, marital status, parity, drinking behavior, and depression. For example, when compared to those with college degrees, those with less than a high school degree were at least five times as likely to be in the delayed initiator, temporary quitter, or persistent smoker classes (vs. the nonsmoker class). Heterogeneous longitudinal smoking patterns indicate the need for both prevention messages and cessation treatment continuing past parturition, tailored to fit individual profiles in order to achieve better health outcomes for both mothers and children.

Youth aggressive/disruptive behavior trajectories and subsequent gambling among urban male youth

This study examines the association between aggressive/disruptive behavior development in two distinct developmental periods-childhood (i.e., Grades 1-3) and early adolescence (i.e., Grades 6-10)-and subsequent gambling behavior in late adolescence up to age 20. The sample consists of 310 urban males of predominately minority and low socioeconomic status followed from first grade to late adolescence. Separate general growth mixture models were estimated to explore the heterogeneity in aggressive/disruptive behavior development in the aforementioned two periods. Three distinct behavior trajectories were identified for each period: a chronic high, a moderate increasing, and a low increasing class for childhood, and a chronic high, a moderate increasing, followed by decreasing and a low stable class for early adolescence. There was no association between childhood behavior trajectories and gambling involvement. Males with a moderate behavior trajectory in adolescence where two times more likely to gamble compared to those in the low stable class (OR = 1.89, 95% CI = 1.11, 3.24). Those with chronic high trajectories during either childhood or early adolescence (OR = 2.60, 95% CI = 1.06, 6.38; OR = 3.19, 95% CI = 1.18, 8.64, respectively) were more likely to be at-risk/problem gamblers than those in the low class. Aggressive/disruptive behavior development in childhood and early adolescence is associated with gambling and gambling problems in late adolescence among urban male youth. Preventing childhood and youth aggressive/disruptive behavior may be effective to prevent youth problem gambling.