Do parents still matter? Parent and peer influences on alcohol involvement among recent high school graduates

Using the Preparation Phase of the Multiphase Optimization Strategy to Design an Antiextremism Program in Bahrain: Formative and Pilot Research

BACKGROUND

Extremism continues to raise concerns about conflict and violent attacks that can lead to deaths, injuries, trauma, and stress. Adolescents are especially vulnerable to radicalization by extremists. Given its location in a region that often experiences extremism, Bahrain developed 4 peaceful coexistence lessons and 4 antiextremism lessons to be implemented as part of their Drug Abuse Resistance Education (D.A.R.E.) program.

OBJECTIVE

The aim of this study is to report the results of the preparation phase of the multiphase optimization strategy (MOST) to develop a peaceful coexistence program and an antiextremism program implemented by D.A.R.E. officers in Bahrain.

METHODS

We developed conceptual models for the peaceful coexistence and antiextremism programs, indicating which mediators each lesson should target, the proximal outcomes that should be shaped by these mediators, and the distal and ultimate outcomes that the intervention should change. We recruited 20 middle schools to pilot test our research protocol, survey measures, and the existing intervention lessons. A total of 854 seventh and ninth grade students completed a pretest survey, 4 peaceful coexistence intervention lessons, and an immediate posttest survey; and a total of 495 ninth grade students completed the pretest survey, 4 antiextremism lessons, and an immediate posttest survey. A series of 3-level models, nesting students within classrooms within schools, tested mean differences from pretest to posttest.

RESULTS

Pilot test results indicated that most measures had adequate reliability and provided promising evidence that the existing lessons could change some of the targeted mediators and proximal outcomes. Specifically, students who completed the peaceful coexistence lessons reported significant changes in 5 targeted mediating variables (eg, injunctive norms about intolerance, P<.001) and 3 proximal outcomes [eg, social skills empathy (P=.008); tolerance beliefs (P=.041)]. Students who completed the antiextremism lessons reported significant changes in 3 targeted mediators [eg, self-efficacy to use resistance skills themselves (P<.001)], and 1 proximal outcome (ie, social skills empathy, P<.001).

CONCLUSIONS

An effective antiextremism program has the potential to protect youth from radicalization and increase peaceful coexistence. We used the preparation phase of MOST to (1) develop a conceptual model, (2) identify the 4 lessons in each program as the components we will evaluate in the optimization phase of MOST, (3) pilot test the existing lessons, our newly developed measures, and research protocol, and (4) determine that our optimization objective will be all effective components. We will use these results to revise the existing lessons and conduct optimization trials to evaluate the efficacy of the individual lessons.

Detecting and Understanding Social Influence During Drinking Situations: Protocol for a Bluetooth-Based Sensor Feasibility and Acceptability Study

BACKGROUND

High-risk alcohol consumption among young adults frequently occurs in the presence of peers who are also drinking. A high-risk drinking situation may consist of particular social network members who have a primary association with drinking. Fine-grained approaches such as ecological momentary assessment (EMA) are growing in popularity for studying real-time social influence, but studies using these approaches exclusively rely on participant self-report. Passive indicators of peer presence using Bluetooth-based technology to detect real-time interactions have the potential to assist in the development of just-in-time interventions.

OBJECTIVE

This study seeks to examine the feasibility and acceptability of using a Bluetooth-based sensor and smartphone app to measure social contact in real-world drinking situations.

METHODS

Young adults (N=20) who drink heavily and report social drinking will be recruited from the community to participate in a 3-week EMA study. Using a social network interview, index participants will identify and recruit 3 of their friends to carry a Bluetooth beacon. Participants will complete a series of EMA reports on their own personal Android devices including random reports; morning reports; first-drink reports; and signal-contingent reports, which are triggered following the detection of a beacon carried by a peer participant. EMA will assess alcohol use and characteristics of the social environment, including who is nearby and who is drinking. For items about peer proximity and peer drinking, a customized peer list will be presented to participants. Feedback about the study protocol will be ascertained through weekly contact with both index and peer participants, followed by a qualitative interview at the end of the study. We will examine the feasibility and acceptability of recruitment, enrollment of participants and peers, and retention. Feasibility will be determined using indexes of eligibility, enrollment, and recruitment. Acceptability will be determined through participant enrollment and retention, protocol compliance, and participant-reported measures of acceptability. Feasibility and acceptability for peer participants will be informed by enrollment rates, latency to enrollment, compliance with carrying the beacon, and self-reported reasons for compliance or noncompliance with beacon procedures. Finally, EMA data about peer proximity and peer drinking will support the validity of the peer selection process.

RESULTS

Participant recruitment began in February 2023, and enrollment was completed in December 2023. Results will be reported in 2025.

CONCLUSIONS

The protocol allows us to examine the feasibility and acceptability of a Bluetooth-based sensor for the detection of social contact between index participants and their friends, including social interactions during real-world drinking situations. Data from this study will inform just-in-time adaptive interventions seeking to address drinking in the natural environment by providing personalized feedback about a high-risk social context and alerting an individual that they are in a potentially unsafe situation.

INTERNATIONAL REGISTERED REPORT IDENTIFIER (IRRID)

DERR1-10.2196/50650.

Motivation to Abstain from Drinking as a Moderator of Associations Between Parent and Offspring Problem Drinking

OBJECTIVE

Motivational processes are key factors in the development and maintenance of problem drinking and include motivation to drink as well as motivation to abstain from drinking. Although motivation to drink has been widely studied, little research has considered motivation to abstain from drinking. The current study addresses this gap in research by exploring the role of motivation to abstain from drinking based on dispositional risk, fear of negative consequences, religious and family constraints, and indifference to alcohol in associations between mother and father problem drinking and the problem drinking of college students.

METHOD

Data were collected from 337 U.S. college students (77.2% female, 86% White) who reported on their exposure to mother and father problem drinking, their own problem drinking, and their motivation to abstain from drinking for several reasons.

RESULTS

Findings supported the protective role of motivation to abstain from drinking based on fear of negative consequences of drinking. Persons exposed to parental problem drinking who had low motivation to abstain from alcohol based on dispositional risk were vulnerable to the intergenerational transmission of problem drinking. In addition, motivation to abstain from drinking based religious or family constraints was associated with lower problem drinking regardless of exposure to parental problem drinking.

CONCLUSIONS

Conviction-related motivation may be a powerful motivation to abstain from drinking, including among persons at risk due to parental problem drinking.

Active tracking measures: Providing targets for youth alcohol use and health behavior interventions

This study seeks to use examine the utility of recently published, developmentally informed measures of parental active tracking for work on youth health behaviors. Information on parental active tracking and health behaviors were collected in six independent survey studies (n's = 157-408). A series of empirical questions regarding parental active tracking were examined. The recently published measures of parental active tracking in high school and college were shown to have sufficient internal consistency, to be well described by single latent factors, to be empirically distinct from helicopter parenting, to be inconsistently linked with youth risk behaviors, and to demonstrate closer linkages with youth substance use when accounting for parental motivations for tracking. The measures of parental active tracking employed provide face valid, psychometrically sound, and empirically supported indices for use examining parental influences during adolescence and young adulthood.

An examination of the associations between depressive symptoms, perceived parental discipline, alcohol use, and drinking-related consequences during the first year of college: A moderated mediation model

Background

Depression is prevalent among adolescents and young adults and is associated with experiencing increased negative alcohol-related consequences; thus, it is imperative to identify malleable protective factors for alcohol risks in young adults experiencing elevated depressive symptoms. The current study longitudinally explored the effects of perceived parental alcohol-related discipline on the relationship between depressive symptoms, alcohol use, and negative drinking consequences during the transition into college.

Methods

Incoming college students (N = 272, 63.2% female) completed web-based surveys before (July, T1) and after (October, T2) the transition into college and reported depressive symptoms, perceived alcohol-related discipline, alcohol use, and consequences of drinking experienced in the past 30 days.

Results

The moderated mediation model revealed that at above average perceptions of alcohol-related discipline, depressive symptoms were negatively associated with alcohol use, which in turn was associated with experiencing fewer negative consequences of drinking.

Limitations

The current study did not measure a diagnosis of major depressive disorder, and therefore our results may differ among clinical populations. In addition, we did not measure other parenting constructs shown to protect students with elevated levels of depressive symptoms from experiencing consequences (i.e., monitoring).

Conclusions

The present findings suggest perceptions of parental alcohol-related discipline measured here (e.g., having a privilege taken away, being scolded or grounded) can be protective against alcohol risks among college students experiencing above average depressive symptoms. Parent-based alcohol interventions administered prior to matriculation should encourage parents of depressed students to clearly communicate consequences for drinking to their child.

Taking alcohol from one's parents' home without permission as a risk factor for greater alcohol and marijuana use during the transition into college

While adolescents and underage emerging adults typically obtain alcohol from social sources (e.g., parents, friends, parties), taking alcohol from the home without permission is not well understood. The current study investigated plausible individual characteristics associated with taking alcohol from one's parents' home without permission and associations between taking alcohol and drinking, alcohol consequences, and marijuana use. Two cohorts of alcohol-experienced underage emerging adults (N = 562) completed a web-based survey pre-college matriculation. Participants reported sources of alcohol (friend, mother, father, party, took it from home); drinking; consequences; marijuana use (ever and past 30 days); age of alcohol initiation; symptoms of depression, anxiety, and stress; parental modeling of drinking; and demographic information. Results revealed that taking alcohol was significantly associated with several of the measures examined here (e.g., having obtained alcohol from friends, parents, and parties; earlier age of alcohol initiation; parental modeling of alcohol). Having taken alcohol from the home without permission and obtained it from friends were uniquely associated with increased odds of typical weekly drinking, consequences, and marijuana use in the past 30 days when controlling for all other variables assessed in this study (including drinking, in the consequences and marijuana models). Parent-based interventions targeting adolescents and emerging adults should inform parents of the risks associated with taking alcohol from the home and obtaining it from friends. Further, parents should also be informed that supplying their adolescent with alcohol or modeling drinking may increase the likelihood that they take alcohol from their home.

Adolescent (mis)perceptions of peer alcohol posts on social media: Prospective associations with alcohol attitudes and use

BACKGROUND

Social media is a central context in which teens interact with their peers, creating opportunities for them to view, post, and engage with alcohol content. Because adolescent peer interactions largely occur on social media, perceptions of peer alcohol content posting may act as potent risk factors for adolescent alcohol use. Accordingly, the preregistered aims of this study were to (1) compare perceived friend, typical person, and an adolescent's own posting of alcohol content to social media and (2) examine how these perceptions prospectively relate to alcohol willingness, expectancies, and use after accounting for offline perceived peer alcohol use.

METHODS

This longitudinal study included 435 adolescents (Mage  = 16.91) in 11th (48%) and 12th grade (52%). Participants completed measures of alcohol content social media posts, perceived peer alcohol use, willingness to drink alcohol, alcohol expectancies, and alcohol use at two time points, 3 months apart.

RESULTS

Consistent with preregistered hypotheses, adolescents reported that 60.3% of the typical person their age and 30.6% of their friends post alcohol content on social media. By contrast, only 7% of participants reported that they themselves posted such content to social media. After accounting for offline perceived peer drinking norms, neither perceived friend nor typical person alcohol content social media posts were prospectively associated with willingness to drink or positive or negative alcohol expectancies. Perceived friend alcohol content posts were prospectively positively associated with past 30-day alcohol consumption even after controlling for offline perceived peer drinking norms.

CONCLUSIONS

Adolescents misperceived the frequency of alcohol-related posting to social media among their peers, and perceptions of friend alcohol content posts prospectively predicted alcohol use. Given the results from the current study and the ubiquity of social media among adolescents, prevention efforts may benefit from addressing misperceptions of alcohol-related posting to social media.

Socio-ecological Resilience Relates to Lower Internalizing Symptoms among Adolescents during the Strictest Period of COVID-19 Lockdown in Perú

The COVID-19 pandemic has touched the lives of adolescents around the world. This short-term longitudinal, observational study followed 1,334 adolescents (11–17 yo) to investigate whether social-ecological resilience relates to intra- and inter-personal resources and/or the caregiver relationship relates to changes in internalizing symptoms during five stressful weeks of COVID-19 lockdown in Perú. In this work, we contextualize social-ecological resilience in relation to culturally-relevant personal and caregiver resources that youth can use to adapt to stressful situations. We found that adolescents who reported higher levels of personal, caregiver, and overall resilience had lower levels of anxiety and depressive symptoms at week six. We also find that personal, caregiver, and overall resilience moderated the change in anxiety symptoms from week 6 to week 11 of lockdown in 2020. Our findings underscore the importance of social-ecological resilience related to both intra/interpersonal resources and the caregiver relationship for minimizing the harmful impacts of COVID-19 on adolescent internalizing symptoms.

The Role of Physical Education in Preventing Unhealthy Lifestyles in Immigrant Adolescents

In recent years, migratory phenomena have changed the composition of Spanish society. There are many studies that explore the healthy habits of young adolescents, but few focus on young immigrants. The purpose of this study is to examine the causal relationships between certain factors that influence the health of immigrant youth and sports. The sample consisted of 173 students enrolled in secondary education in the city of Cuenca. The structural model confirms the relationship between the latent variables and sports. Specifically, we obtained a positive influence of an active lifestyle (regular physical activity and exercise) and a negative influence for the remaining variables (alcohol consumption, unhealthy foods, self-medication and tobacco consumption in the family). Physical education should promote healthy lifestyles; greater coordination between physical education and other subjects involved in education and the promotion of health are necessary because we consider that this task is not exclusive to physical education.

Parent-child Communication, Social Norms, and the Development of Cyber Aggression in Early Adolescence

To understand the development of cyber aggression during adolescence, it is important to consider the temporal variability of its potential predictors. This study uses a four-wave survey to investigate how changes in peer norms, parental norms, and parental communication are associated with two-year trajectories of online peer aggression. The sample includes 1521 Swiss middle school students (M_age T1 = 11.54, SD = 0.40; 48% female). The results showed that over time a better parental communication quality and anti-aggression norms predicted lower rates and slower development of cyber aggression. Moreover, parental variables emerged as a quite stable deterrent of aggressive conduct. Although entrance into adolescence is characterized by the rise of peer influence, results from this study suggest that parents maintain an important protective role.

Young Swiss men's risky single-occasion drinking: Identifying those who do not respond to stricter alcohol policy environments

BACKGROUND

Previous research has demonstrated a preventive effect of the alcohol policy environment on alcohol consumption. However, little is known about the heterogeneity of this effect. Our aim was to examine the extent of heterogeneity in the relationship between the strictness of alcohol policy environments and heavy drinking and to identify potential moderators of the relationship.

METHODS

Cross-sectional data from 5986 young Swiss men participating in the cohort study on substance use risk factors (C-SURF) were analysed. The primary outcome was self-reported risky single-occasion drinking in the past 12 months (RSOD, defined as 6 standard drinks or more on a single occasion at least monthly). A previously-used index of alcohol policy environment strictness across Swiss cantons was analysed in conjunction with 21 potential moderator variables. Random forest machine learning captured high-dimensional interaction effects, while individual conditional expectations captured the heterogeneity induced by the interaction effects and identified moderators.

RESULTS

Predicted subject-specific absolute risk reductions in RSOD risk ranged from 16.8% to - 4.2%, indicating considerable heterogeneity. Sensation seeking and antisocial personality disorder (ASPD) were major moderators that reduced the preventive relationship between stricter alcohol policy environments and RSOD risk. They also were associated with the paradoxical observation that some individuals displayed increased RSOD risk in stricter alcohol policy environments.

CONCLUSION

Whereas stricter alcohol policy environments were associated with reduced average RSOD risk, additionally addressing the risk conveyed by sensation seeking and ASPD would deliver an interlocking prevention mix against young Swiss men's RSOD.

A parent-based intervention for reducing high-risk social media cognitions, alcohol use, and negative consequences among adolescents: Protocol for a randomized controlled pilot study (Preprint)

Background

The prevalence of adolescent alcohol use continues to be a public health concern. Although adolescents spend an increasing amount of time with their friends, parents remain an important source of support and continue to play a key role in the lives of their adolescents. Extensive research in this area has resulted in parent-based intervention (PBI) efforts to prevent or reduce adolescent alcohol use. However, one major limitation of PBIs is that they do not currently consider the large role that social media plays in adolescents’ lives and in relation to their alcohol use. We will add to the literature by developing and refining a web-based PBI designed to reduce both high-risk social media cognitions and alcohol use among adolescents.

Objective

The central goal of the proposed study is to develop, refine, and pilot a web-based PBI to reduce both high-risk social media cognitions and alcohol use among adolescents.

Methods

A total of 100 parent-teen dyads will be randomly assigned to one of the following 2 conditions: intervention or control. Parents in the intervention group will be given access to the web-based PBI and suggestions for working through the PBI modules with their teens. The parent-teen dyads will fill out 3 questionnaires: a baseline questionnaire, 1-month questionnaire, and 6-month questionnaire.

Results

Recruitment and enrollment will begin in August 2022. Upon completion of the intervention trial, we will examine the feasibility, acceptability, and preliminary effect sizes of the newly developed web-based PBI.

Conclusions

This study has the potential to open doors for future studies examining the clinical implications of an efficacious web-based PBI to reduce alcohol use and high-risk cognitions about alcohol displays on social media.

Trial Registration

ClinicalTrials.gov NCT04333966; https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT04333966

International Registered Report Identifier (IRRID)

PRR1-10.2196/38543

Early life stress and substance use disorders: The critical role of adolescent substance use

Early life stress (ELS) is a well-established risk factor for many psychiatric and medical disorders, including substance use disorders (SUDs). The relationship between ELS and SUDs is complex and there are likely multiple pathways from ELS to adverse substance use outcomes. The association between ELS and substance use emerges in adolescence. Adolescence is a critical period in development during which substance exposure markedly increases risk for SUDs. Therefore, this review focuses on the literature supporting the hypothesis that ELS increases risk for the development of SUDs through its influence on adolescent substance use. We discuss studies substantiating the role of ELS in adolescent substance use and explore how internalizing and externalizing psychopathology may be antecedents of substance use in adolescence. We examine clinical work suggesting ELS sculpts the Hypothalamic-Pituitary-Adrenal (HPA) Axis and developing brain-particularly subcortical brain regions that underlie stress response, mesocorticolimbic brain systems associated with reward sensitivity, and prefrontal regions that underlie executive control-in a way that increases risk for adolescent substance use and SUDs. We further explore how substance use during adolescence alters structure and function of these same systems, and how brain changes following ELS and adolescent substance use may independently, additively, or interactively contribute to risk for addiction. We conclude by discussing how the current literature can inform interventions aimed at reducing risk for SUDs in individuals with a history of ELS.

Connectedness, Self-Esteem, and Prosocial Behaviors Protect Adolescent Mental Health Following Social Isolation: A Systematic Review

Societal trends and COVID-19 quarantines have increased the number of adolescents experiencing social isolation, placing them at heightened risk for mental health issues. The aim of this review is to explore protective factors that might mitigate psychological harm in the presence of social isolation. A systematic literature review was conducted using Fink's step-by-step process. Four library databases were searched, and results were reported using PRISMA. Of the 246 studies reviewed, 12 studies were retained following the quality assessment. The sample includes 14,064 participants from USA, Australia, and Europe, ranging from 10-19 years old. Social connectedness (ie., family connectedness, school connectedness, social support), self-esteem, and prosocial behaviors were the most common protective factors to social isolation. Additional factors such as self-efficacy, optimism, and ethnic identity are discussed. Implications for future research are recommended, including the need to explore spiritual, biological, and sociocultural factors influencing social connectedness and mental health in adolescents.

Does parental permissiveness toward cigarette smoking and alcohol use influence illicit drug use among adolescents? A longitudinal study in seven European countries

PURPOSE

Adolescents' perceptions of parental norms may influence their substance use. The relationship between parental norms toward cigarette and alcohol use, and the use of illicit substances among their adolescent children is not sufficiently investigated. The purpose of this study was to analyze this relationship, including gender differences, using longitudinal data from a large population-based study.

METHODS

The present study analyzed longitudinal data from 3171 12- to 14-year-old students in 7 European countries allocated to the control arm of the European Drug Addiction Prevention trial. The impact of parental permissiveness toward cigarettes and alcohol use reported by the students at baseline on illicit drug use at 6-month follow-up was analyzed through multilevel logistic regression models, stratified by gender. Whether adolescents' own use of cigarette and alcohol mediated the association between parental norms and illicit drug use was tested through mediation models.

RESULTS

Parental permissive norms toward cigarette smoking and alcohol use at baseline predicted adolescents' illicit drug use at follow-up. The association was stronger among boys than among girls and was mediated by adolescents' own cigarette and alcohol use.

CONCLUSION

Perceived parental permissiveness toward the use of legal drugs predicted adolescents' use of illicit drugs, especially among boys. Parents should be made aware of the importance of norm setting, and supported in conveying clear messages of disapproval of all substances.

Evaluating Non-response Bias in a Parent-Based College Alcohol Intervention

Background: The purpose of this study was to address a dearth in the literature on non-response bias in parent-based interventions (PBIs) by investigating parenting constructs that might be associated with whether a parent volunteers to participate in a no-incentive college drinking PBI. Method: Incoming first-year students (N = 386) completed an online questionnaire that included items assessing plausible predictors of participation in a PBI (students' drinking, perceptions of parents' harm-reduction and zero-tolerance alcohol communication, whether parents allowed alcohol, and changes in parents' alcohol rules). Four months later, all parents of first-year students at the study university were invited to join the PBI, which was described as a resource guide to teach them how to help their student navigate the college transition and prepare them for life at their university. Results: Parents who signed up for the intervention used greater harm-reduction communication than those who did not sign up, were more likely to have allowed alcohol use, and signing up was significantly associated with student reports that fathers became less strict toward drinking after high school. Students' drinking and zero-tolerance communication did not significantly differ between the groups. Conclusion: Results indicate that non-response bias can be an issue when utilizing a real-world, non-RCT recruitment approach to invite parents into a PBI (i.e., non-incentivized, inviting all parents). Findings suggest that more comprehensive recruitment strategies may be required to increase parent diversity in PBIs.

Exposure to Parental Alcohol Use Is Associated with Adolescent Drinking Even When Accounting for Alcohol Exposure of Best Friend and Peers

AIMS

To further disentangle the role of exposure to drinking of role models (parents, peers, best friends) in the development of young adolescent alcohol use, the current study examined (a) whether parent's alcohol use exposure was associated with alcohol use outcomes among adolescents and (b) whether this association remained significant when including best friend and peer drinking exposure.

METHODS

A longitudinal study followed 765 adolescents from the Netherlands over 3 years. Adolescents (45.6% male, Mage = 11.78, standard deviation = 0.49 at baseline) completed questionnaires every 6 months, resulting in seven measurement waves. Adolescents reported their own alcohol use and exposure to parental, best friend and peers drinking.

RESULTS

Multilevel regression analyses indicated that parental alcohol use exposure was positively associated with a higher likelihood of adolescent alcohol use in the past 6 months, drinking in the last month and binge drinking in the last month. These associations remained significant when including exposure to peer and best friend's alcohol use, also when controlling for alcohol use at the previous timepoint (i.e. change in drinking). These associations were also consistent for boys and girls.

CONCLUSIONS

Throughout early adolescence, parental alcohol exposure matters for their offspring's alcohol use, independently of whether peers or their best friend expose them to alcohol or not. Parental alcohol exposure should be considered in prevention efforts to further decrease the number of adolescents that engage in early alcohol use and binge drinking.

Mechanisms Underlying Associations between Media Alcohol Exposure, Parenting, and Early Adolescent Drinking: A Moderated Sequential Mediation Model

Exposure to alcohol content in the media, especially in movies, is a demonstrated risk factor for adolescent alcohol use. This paper examines processes underlying this association and whether parenting mitigates such harms. A mediational model of parental restriction of mature media (W1), alcohol content exposure (W2), alcohol expectancies, peer norms (W3), and alcohol outcomes (W4) was tested using annual assessments from a study of adolescent drinking (N = 879; 52% female; 21% Non-White; 12% Hispanic). When restrictions are not in place, adolescents report greater exposure to alcohol content, leading to higher perceived peer drinking. Parental monitoring did not buffer the link between exposure and peer norms. Parental media restriction and perceptions about peers comprise mechanisms by which alcohol-saturated media influences youth drinking.

What game we are playing: the psychosocial context of problem gambling, problem gaming and poor well-being among Italian high school students

Gambling and gaming are not infrequent among adolescents and preventing low-risk youth from becoming at-risk appears to be a priority of public health strategies. Greater scrutiny of the risk and protective factors in the relationships and community of young people appears crucial in steering prevention initiatives adequately. This study aimed to explore the role of the qualities of relational networks (i.e. family functioning, perceived social and class support), family and peer approval and view of the social environment in predicting problem gambling, problem gaming and overall well-being among adolescents. High-school students aged 14-18 years (N: 595; female: 68,7%) completed a survey including the target variables. A multivariate multiple regression analysis was performed to examine the role of socio-demographic characteristics and psychosocial predictors on gaming, gambling, and well-being. Multivariate multiple regressions identify a common core underpinning problem gambling, gaming and poor well-being but also the distinct roles of psychosocial variables: being male, with low parental monitoring, and an anomic view of the social environment all predict problem gambling and gaming, which were also found to be associated. Low social support predicts problem gambling but not problem gaming; poor family functioning predicts problem gaming but not problem gambling. All the target psychosocial variables, except approval of gambling, predict poor well-being. On the whole the findings suggest the need to look more closely at the way adolescents, their system of activity and their culture participate in constructing the meaning of gambling and gaming activities and their impact on adolescents' well-being, so that future studies and strategies can more effectively examine the relational dynamics in which problem gambling and gaming develop.

Adolescent income and binge drinking initiation: prospective evidence from the MyLife study

BACKGROUND AND AIMS

No previous studies have examined the prospective association between disposable income and binge-drinking initiation among adolescents. We aimed to examine whether there is such an association and, if so, whether it is robust to confounders, uniform across individual characteristics and linear versus non-linear.

DESIGN

Prospective study of adolescents from 32 middle schools, stratified according to geographic location, urban and rural locations and standard of living. Adolescents were assessed in 2017 (T1) and 1 year later (T2).

SETTING

Norway.

PARTICIPANTS

A nation-wide sample of 1845 adolescents (mean age 13.5 years, 44% boys) with no binge-drinking experience at T1.

MEASUREMENTS

Data were collected on binge drinking at T1 and T2. Data on disposable income and on a range of demographic, individual and family factors were collected at T1.

FINDINGS

Overall, 7.2% initiated binge drinking between T1 and T2. Logistic regression showed that the crude linear effect of disposable income on binge drinking initiation was substantial, and only slightly attenuated in the fully adjusted model including all putative confounders [odds ratio (OR) = 1.19, 95% confidence interval (CI) = 1.08, 1.31, P < 0.001]. However, interaction analyses showed disposable income to be negatively related to binge drinking initiation for adolescents who had experienced light drinking at T1 (OR = 0.66, 95% CI = 0.49, 0.89, P = 0.006) or who had seen their mothers intoxicated [OR = 0.62, 95% CI = 0.39, 0.99, P = 0.043).

CONCLUSION

Norwegian adolescents with higher disposable income have a greater risk of subsequent binge drinking initiation than those with lower disposable income. Each additional 100 NOK (≈ €10) of weekly income increased the risk of binge drinking initiation in the following year by approximately 20%.

Exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis of the parental rules toward adolescent drinking questionnaire: Two factors are better than the original one

The parental rules toward drinking questionnaire (PRQ; Van der Vorst et al., 2005) assesses strictness toward adolescent drinking situations. The aim of the current study was to address a gap in the literature on the psychometric testing and evaluation of the factor structure of the PRQ. The current sample consisted of Dutch adolescents (N = 2922) who participated in a randomized control trial with three intervention groups (parent, student, and parent + student) and a control. PRQ and frequency of alcohol use (past month and year) were measured at baseline (T1) and 12 months later (T2). Results from Exploratory and Confirmatory Factor Analyses revealed two reliable factors: (a) rules about normative drinking situations and (b) rules about non-normative drinking situations (both αs ≥ 0.88). Regression analyses conducted to examine the prospective effects of the interventions revealed that both parent conditions predicted increases in strictness toward normative drinking situations relative to the control condition, while only the parent + student condition affected the original PRQ (single factor). Further, the normative subscale predicted increases in drinking (past month and year), as did the original PRQ. Significant effects with the normative subscale indicate that rules toward these drinking situations are ones that account for the effects in the original PRQ, and that the original PRQ can mask effects. The results illustrate that the PRQ is multidimensional. The effects of the normative subscale suggest that intervention efforts should focus on preventing drinking situations that parents normally permit their adolescents to engage in.

Do Parents Still Matter? The Impact of Parents and Peers on Adolescent Electronic Cigarette Use

PURPOSE

Vaping among adolescents has reached epidemic levels. Identifying factors associated with electronic cigarette (e-cigarette) use initiation could inform prevention programming. This study examined whether parental attitudes toward e-cigarettes impacted adolescent e-cigarette use intentions, positive expectancies of use, and actual use when accounting for adolescent attitudes and peer norms. Parents' negative attitudes toward e-cigarettes were expected to reduce teen e-cigarette use intentions. Low e-cigarette use intentions were expected to mediate the association between parental attitudes and teen e-cigarette use. Peer norms were expected to be associated with positive expectancies. Positive expectancies were expected to mediate the association between peer norms and teen e-cigarette use.

METHODS

A sample of e-cigarette naïve adolescents (n = 176, aged 14-17 years, 52% female, 82% Latinx/Hispanic) and their parents were assessed. Parents and adolescents rated harm associated with e-cigarette use. Adolescents reported their perceptions of peer e-cigarette norms, intentions, positive expectancies, and e-cigarette use. Cross-sectional models were estimated for e-cigarette use intentions and positive expectancies. Prospective mediation models (n = 142) characterized pathways to e-cigarette use.

RESULTS

Parents' attitudes toward e-cigarettes were associated with weaker intentions. Intentions mediated the association between parental attitudes and e-cigarette use. Adolescents reporting favorable e-cigarette peer norms endorsed more positive expectancies. Positive expectancies did not mediate the association between peer norms and e-cigarette use.

CONCLUSIONS

Parents actively shape adolescent e-cigarette use even when accounting for peer norms and adolescent attitudes. Involving parents in prevention programming may help reduce vaping among teens. These associations should be examined with a larger and more diverse sample.

Resisting Unwanted Sexual and Social Advances: Perspectives of College Women and Men

This study examines college men's (N = 635) and women's (N = 650) reports of women's resistance against unwanted sexual and social advances. Men completed surveys to assess (a) initiation of unwanted sexual contact with a female partner, (b) initiation of unwanted sexual intercourse with a female partner, (c) sexual situations where a female partner decided she did not want to proceed, (d) encouraging a woman to drink when they were aware that the woman did not want to, and (e) attempting to take a woman to an isolated location against her will. Women completed corresponding questionnaires regarding the receipt of such unwanted advances, the outcome of the situation, and the resistance tactics utilized. Many men (5%-46%) and women (15%-38%) initiated or experienced, respectively, at least one of the five unwanted sexual or social advances. Unwanted sexual and social advances most often stopped as a result of women's verbal and physical resistance. Few advances (0%-8%) stopped as a result of bystander intervention. In addition to decreasing men's likelihood of engaging in unwanted sexual and social advances, these data highlight the importance of educating women on the effectiveness of verbal and physical resistance tactics, and increasing the frequency of prosocial bystander action on college campuses.

Parental active tracking measures and health behaviors during high school and college

Objective: This study developed and tested new measures of youth perceptions of parental active efforts to track their activities during adolescence and college. Participants and Methods: Between March and October 2016, a sample of 314 college students aged 18-25 completed a survey including their perceptions of their parent's active tracking efforts during high school and college. Items were then analyzed, and internally consistent measures were derived. Results: The new measures demonstrated significant convergent validity with the three sources of parental knowledge constructs (parental solicitation, parental control, and youth disclosure). Greater perceived parental active tracking efforts during adolescence and in college were associated with better health behaviors in both time periods. Conclusions: The newly derived measures represent appropriate and predictive indices of parental tracking behaviors during adolescence and college, designed specifically with these populations in mind, to be used in pre-intervention and intervention work with parents.

The Impact of Parental Factors on Physical Aggression Perpetration among Turkish Urban Adolescents: The Mediating Role of Beliefs Supporting Aggression

This study investigated parental factors and beliefs supporting aggression as predictors of physical aggression by adolescents. The participants were 2,443 junior high school students from Ankara, Turkey, who completed measures of parental support for aggression, family conflict, parental monitoring, beliefs supporting aggression, and physical aggression. The findings showed both direct and indirect effects of parental factors on physical aggression through beliefs supporting aggression. Furthermore, a multigroup model comparison indicated invariance of the structural relationships among variables in the model across gender and that the hypothesized structural model was a close fit for both the girl and the boy data. The findings suggest that it might be beneficial to consider beliefs supporting aggression and parental factors as risk factors when designing interventions to target physical aggression among adolescents.

Parents' Cannabis-Related Attitudes and Emerging Adult Offspring Cannabis Use: Testing the Mediating Effect of Perceived Parental Approval

Background: Contrary to parental alcohol use and expectancies work, little is known about how parent's cannabis use (CU) and expectancies influence offspring CU. This is a notable gap in the literature given increasing acceptability and use of cannabis, especially among emerging adults (EA). Moreover, limited work has tested mechanisms of transmission of risk from these parent factors. This study addresses these gaps by testing prospective associations of parental CU and expectancies with offspring CU and CU problems, and perceived parental approval of offspring CU as a potential mediator. Method: A community sample of 314 EA and caregiver dyads completed three annual assessments (mean age = 19.13). The sample was 54% female and majority White/non-Hispanic (76%). Caregivers reported on their cannabis expectancies and use, and EA reported on their CU, CU-related problems, and perceived parental approval of CU. Results: Longitudinal structural equation modeling supported a mediated pathway such that high parental positive cannabis expectancies were associated with perceived parental approval of CU, which in turn, predicted increases in EA CU and CU problems. Parental negative expectancies had a significant indirect effect but in the opposite direction. Indirect effects were found above and beyond parental CU, which was not associated with offspring CU. Conclusions: This is the first study to test prospective indirect effects of parental cannabis expectancies on offspring CU. Findings suggest parents' attitudes, even in the absence of parental use, confer risk for offspring use by shaping perceived acceptance of CU, suggesting parental expectancies as targets for parent-based CU interventions.

Meet the parents: Parental interactions, social influences, and college drinking

Previous research suggests that, even in college, parents influence the alcohol consumption of their children directly and indirectly through peers. However, research has not tested whether face-to-face interactions with parents buffer students against social influences on drinking. In the current study, 1168 undergraduate students selected 5 people they contact regularly and then completed a 30-day daily diary reporting on interactions with those people and drinking behavior. The 401 students who selected a parent drank less and less often than those who did not select a parent as a frequent contact. In addition, on evenings when these students had met with their parents, they drank less alcohol and the association between others' drinking and participant drinking was weakened. This adds to evidence suggesting that parents continue to influence emerging adults after they have left home and may be helpful in informing future intervention efforts.

The Prospective Effects of Parents' and Friends' Approval of Drinking on Simultaneous Alcohol and Marijuana Use during College

Background: Recent reports indicate that simultaneous alcohol and marijuana (SAM) use is a growing health concern among college students. As SAM use consists of both alcohol and marijuana, risk factors associated with either can serve as plausible targets by prevention efforts to reduce SAM use. Objectives: To explore this, the current study investigated the direct and indirect effects of two established risk factors for drinking on SAM use: perceived parental permissiveness toward drinking and friends' approval toward drinking (injunctive norms). Method: Incoming first-year students (N = 470) reported parental permissiveness, injunctive norms, alcohol use, and SAM use at baseline (T1) and 5 months later (T2). SAM use was assessed again 15 months post-baseline (T3). Path analysis was conducted to examine whether T2 variables mediated relationships between T1 variables and T3 SAM use. Results: Results revealed that T2 student alcohol use mediated the effects of T1 parental permissiveness, injunctive norms, and alcohol use on T3 SAM use. Conclusions/Importance: Findings from this study extend research on SAM use by identifying perceived parental permissiveness and injunctive drinking norms as risk factors for SAM use through their effects on alcohol use. Based on these findings, it is plausible that parent-based interventions and interventions targeting peer injunctive norms during the first year of college could be used to effectively prevent or reduce SAM use.

Alcohol-Specific Communication and Emerging Adult Offspring's Perceived Parental Approval and Drinking in the Context of Parent Alcohol Expectancies

BACKGROUND

There are mixed findings in the literature regarding the association between parental alcohol communication and offspring alcohol use. To clarify this association, this study tested a prospective mediated moderation model in which the association between parental communication about the risks of alcohol use and emerging adult offspring drinking was mediated by offspring perceived parental approval of drinking. Parental alcohol expectancies and use were tested as moderators of the link between communication and perceived approval.

METHOD

The community sample of 378 emerging adult and caregiver dyads completed 3 annual assessments (first assessment mean age = 19.13). The sample was 54% female and majority White/non-Hispanic (76%). Caregivers reported on their own alcohol expectancies and use, and emerging adult offspring reported on parental communication of alcohol risks, perceived parental approval of drinking, and their own alcohol use. Multilevel modeling was used to test hypotheses.

RESULTS

Mediated moderation was largely supported. More frequent communication about the risks of drinking was prospectively associated with low levels of perceived parental approval of alcohol use, which in turn was associated with low levels of offspring drinking. This pathway depended on parental alcohol expectancies.

CONCLUSIONS

Findings suggest that including mediators (e.g., perceived approval of drinking) helps to clarify the mixed literature on parental communication about alcohol and that parental attitudes about alcohol can impact the effectiveness with which parents convey the risk of alcohol to offspring.

Investigating the efficacy of a self-directed parenting intervention to reduce risky behaviors among college students: Study protocol for a multi-arm hybrid type 2 randomized control trial

BACKGROUND

Early adulthood is a critical developmental period when many youth transition from living at home to the relative autonomy of college. This transition results in increased opportunity for positive growth and identity development - and for risky substance use and sexual behaviors. Parents continue to influence young adult behavior even from a distance; however, few studies have rigorously tested parent-college student interventions.

METHODS

This multi-arm hybrid type 2 trial tests the short- and long-term efficacy of a self-directed handbook for parents of first-year college students. In the summer before college, parent-student dyads are randomly assigned to one of three conditions: control, Parent Handbook, or Parent Handbook Plus. Handbook parents receive encouragement via phone calls to read the handbook and complete activities with their student before leaving for college. Handbook Plus parents also receive booster messages targeted at risky or stressful times. Participants complete surveys of intervention-targeted knowledge, attitudes, and behaviors at baseline and four months after baseline. Students complete three additional surveys at nine, 16, and 21 months after baseline. Dyads in the intervention conditions also reported on handbook utilization, perceived usefulness, and engagement with intervention materials.

DISCUSSION

Self-directed family interventions may be a feasible strategy for involving parents of college students. This trial aimed to determine: 1) the efficacy of a self-directed handbook intervention for parents of first-year college students, including whether the addition of periodic booster messages enhanced efficacy; and 2) how variations in handbook utilization, perceived usefulness, and engagement were linked to student outcomes.

Linking Mother and Offspring Depressive Symptoms: The mediating role of child appearance contingent self-worth

BACKGROUND

Adolescents exposed to maternal depression are more vulnerable to depressive symptoms. Less is known on the mediating role of children's self-worth construction processes, particularly those related to physical appearance. This study proposes and tests appearance contingent self-worth (ACSW) as a mediator linking depressive symptoms across generations.

METHODS

Our sample included 1,420 participants of the Great Smoky Mountain Study. Offspring depressive symptoms were prospectively assessed with DSM-IV for both the adolescent period (13-16) and adulthood period (19-26). Maternal depression was screened with the Short Mood and Feelings Questionnaire when the child was 13-16 years old. We used gender-stratified structural equation model in which offspring ACSW in adolescence and adulthood were specified as mediators linking maternal depression and offspring depressive symptoms in adolescence and adulthood, respectively. Mediation was tested using bias-corrected bootstrapped standard errors.

RESULTS

ACSW is associated with higher levels of depressive symptoms in both adolescent and adult females and males, but the link between maternal depressive symptoms and ACSW is only significant among females. ACSW partially mediates the effects of maternal depressive symptoms on adolescent and adult depressive symptoms in girls.

LIMITATIONS

Measurement of maternal depression was not based on diagnosis. Generalizability is limited due to the regional sample.

CONCLUSION

Our findings provide evidence that daughters of depressed mothers may stake their self-worth on body image, which may partially explain some of their higher susceptibility to depression.

"It's business as usual": adolescents perspectives on the ban of alcohol sachets towards reduction in under age alcohol use in Malawi

BACKGROUND

Alcohol contributes to poor health, social and economic outcomes among adolescents. In Malawi, alcohol consumption among young people significantly increased after the introduction of alcohol sachets. A government ban on the sale of alcohol sachets affected in 2012 aimed to reduce prevalence of alcohol among users. We explored adolescents perceptions regarding the effectiveness of the ban towards reducing alcohol consumption among the under aged in the country.

METHODS

Using a descriptive phenomenological school-based approach, we recruited 44 school-going adolescents, 15-17 year olds using snow ball sampling and conducted 12 individual semi-structured interviews and four group discussions differentiated by sex. We sought a waiver from College of Medicine Ethics Committee (COMREC) to obtain verbal consent from adolescents. All interviews and discussions were digitally recorded and simultaneously transcribed and translated verbatim into English. Data management and analysis was done manually using thematic approach.

RESULTS

Aggressive packaging, and marketing tendencies and lack of restrictive measures in Malawi have rendered the ban ineffective through increased affordability and availability to different income population groups and the underage. Results indicate that even though adolescents perceive the ban as a significant step towards reducing under age alcohol use, personality and drinking motives precede any interventions. Adolescents emphasized on strong personality as a significant factor for reduced alcohol intake or abstinence.

CONCLUSIONS

We recommend strict alcohol policy and enforcement regarding packaging, pricing, positive role modelling by parents and enhanced adolescent personality development through schools and families.

Revisiting the Empirical Status of Social Learning Theory on Substance Use: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

Background: Despite ample empirical research testing components of Akers' Social Learning Theory (SLT) on substance use, no research to date has attempted to synthesize the empirical evidence. Objectives: The purpose of this article is to synthesize prior research that has examined the utility of SLT for predicting specific types of substance use, both legal and illegal. Methods: Using a systematic review and meta-analysis, the current study estimated the effect size results from 83 primary studies published between 1974 and 2018 that had empirically tested concepts of Akers' SLT regarding substance use. In addition, moderator analyses examined variations in effect sizes across measurement constructs and among specific types of substance use. Results: Results indicated medium-sized weighted mean effect size estimates for SLT in relation to substance use. Regarding conceptualization of SLT, measures of Differential Association produced the strongest effect size estimates. Moderator analyses also revealed that mean effect size estimates were largest for soft drugs, for studies conducted in the context of the United States, and for adult samples. Conclusions: The authors conclude that SLT constructs may be better suited for explaining soft drug use than hard drug use. Given the relatively sparse primary research that has controlled for temporal ordering, collected data from multiple differential associates, or considered opportunity effects, caution in the interpretation of synthesis results is warranted.

Determinants of harmful use of alcohol among urban slum dwelling adults in Kenya

BACKGROUND

Harmful alcohol use is a public health problem associated with negative health and socio-economic impacts. However, patterns and dynamics of alcohol use among slum-dwellers in Kenya are poorly understood.

OBJECTIVE

To establish determinants of harmful alcohol use among adults in an urban slum setting in Kenya.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

Cross-sectional study involving a consecutively selected sample (N=215) from Githurai, in Nairobi. A pre-tested questionnaire that captured data on socio-demographics, drinking patterns, type, reasons, initiator, and support system.

RESULTS

Of the respondents, those above 31 years, married, separated/divorced/widowed, of high education, earning above 50 USD, and from dysfunctional families consumed more alcohol. Low earners consumed (p < 0.05) unrecorded while high earners drank (p< 0.001) recorded alcohol. Adults from families with a drinking father and sibling consumed more alcohol (p=0.001). Single, low educational attainment/earners, and those in dysfunctional families (p <0.05) drank due to stress and reported alcohol-related problems. Young, unmarried, and casual laborers were introduced (p < 0.05) to alcohol by friends.

CONCLUSION

Socio-demographic, economic, familial, social interactions, and stress are associated with harmful alcohol use among adults from slums calling for interventions targeting these factors.

The Effect of Parental Phubbing on Teenager's Mobile Phone Dependency Behaviors: The Mediation Role of Subjective Norm and Dependency Intention

PURPOSE

The aims of this study were to examine (a) the effects of parental phubbing on teenagers' mobile phone dependency and (b) the mediating roles of subjective norm and dependent intention of underlying this relationship.

METHODS

We recruited 605 middle school students in Beijing, China and they completed the parental phubbing behaviors, subjective norm, dependency intention, and mobile phone dependency behavior questionnaires.

RESULTS

The results of the structure equation modeling revealed that parental phubbing behaviors significantly increased teenager's mobile phone dependency behaviors in two indirect ways. First, parental phubbing reinforced teenagers' mobile phone dependency intention, which in turn increased the likelihood of mobile phone dependency. Second, parental phubbing enhanced the tendency of parental mobile phone dependence norm perceived by teenagers, and thus reinforced their mobile phone dependency intention, ultimately increasing mobile phone dependency.

CONCLUSION

We concluded that parental phubbing is a significant indicator of teenager mobile phone dependency and that mobile phone dependency intention plays a mediation role between them. In addition, the perceived parental mobile phone dependency norm played a mediation role between parental phubbing and mobile phone dependency intention and indirectly influenced the level of mobile phone dependency behaviors through the mediation effect of mobile phone dependency intention.

Age-varying associations of parental knowledge and antisocial peer behavior with adolescent substance use

Antisocial peer behavior and low parental knowledge of adolescents' activities are key interpersonal risk factors for adolescent substance use. However, how the magnitude of associations between these risk factors and substance use may vary across adolescence remains less well understood. The present study examined the age-varying associations of parental knowledge and antisocial peer behavior with adolescents' substance use (i.e., cigarette use, drunkenness, and marijuana use) using time-varying effect modeling. Using data from the Promoting School-Community-University Partnerships to Enhance Resilience (PROSPER) study, the final sample consists of 8,222 adolescents, followed from Grade 6 to Grade 12 (age 11 to age 18.9), including those who newly joined the schools at the targeted grade levels. Results showed that low parental knowledge and antisocial peer behavior were significantly associated with the use of each of the three substances across the majority of adolescence. The magnitude of the associations between substance use and both risk factors decreased across age, except between peer risk and marijuana use. Further, there was a significant interaction between parent and peer risk factors such that low parental knowledge was less strongly associated with substance use at higher levels of antisocial peer behavior. Findings highlighted early adolescence as an important period to target parent and peer prevention and interventions for reducing early substance use. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2020 APA, all rights reserved).

U.S. College Students' Social Network Characteristics and Perceived Social Exclusion: A Comparison Between Drinkers and Nondrinkers Based on Past-Month Alcohol Use

OBJECTIVE

There is a general perception on college campuses that alcohol use is normative. However, nondrinking students account for 40% of the U.S. college population. With much of the literature focusing on intervening among drinkers, there has been less of a focus on understanding the nondrinker college experience. The current study has two aims: to describe the social network differences between nondrinkers and drinkers in a college setting, and to assess perceived social exclusion among nondrinkers.

METHOD

First-year U.S. college students (n = 1,342; 55.3% female; 47.7% non-Hispanic White) were participants in a larger study examining a social network of one college class and network associations with alcohol use. Alcohol use, sociocentric and egocentric network ties were assessed, as were experiences of social exclusion related to nondrinking.

RESULTS

Drinking homophily based on past-month use was found; students tended to associate with others with a similar drinking status. Compared with drinkers, nondrinkers received fewer network nominations within the first-year network and made more nominations outside the first-year network. Nondrinkers' perceived social exclusion was positively related to the number of drinkers in their social networks, such that those with more drinkers in their network reported more social exclusion.

CONCLUSIONS

College students' past-month drinking status in the first semester of college is related to their network position and perception of social exclusion. Nondrinking students who are part of a nondrinking community are less likely to feel socially excluded. Improving our understanding of the nondrinker college experience should improve support services for these students.

Mind the Gap: Bridging the Divide Between Current Binge Drinking Prevention and the Needs of Hispanic Underage Emerging Adults

In this article, we highlight the urgent public health need for prevention of heavy episodic drinking among underage Hispanic emerging adults in the USA. We outline the current state of binge drinking prevention programming and contrast it with the unique cultural, social, and developmental realities of this population using an ecodevelopmental framework (Szapocznik and Coatsworth 1999). Finally, we advance specific recommendations for the development and delivery of culturally tailored, multisystemic binge drinking prevention programs for underage Hispanic emerging adults.

[Interdisciplinary multimodal inpatient pain treatment for young adults : Influence of autonomy on effectiveness]

BACKGROUND

Emerging adulthood between the ages of 18 and 25 are vulnerable years that offer many opportunities and simultaneously represent huge challenges for autonomy and identity development. Chronic pain in this vulnerable stage of life is associated with long-term negative consequences. So far, knowledge regarding the effectiveness of treatment offers for this patient group is scarce.

OBJECTIVE

The aim of this study is to examine the effectiveness of a multimodal inpatient pain therapy for young adults with chronic pain. In addition, the change and influence of the autonomy development will be investigated.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

The present longitudinal study examined the effectiveness of a 3-week multimodal inpatient pain treatment in young adults with chronic pain. Three-month follow-up data from 74 patients aged 18-25 years (75.7% female) were included in the study. Standardized questionnaires were used to investigate pain characteristics, pain-associated and emotional impairments quality of life, and various facets of autonomy.

RESULTS

The results show that pain-related and emotional impairments are significantly reduced after therapy. Furthermore, there is a significant improvement in the quality of life and resilience. The increased quality of life and reduced pain-related and emotional impairment are associated with a gain of autonomy convictions.

DISCUSSION

Multimodal inpatient pain treatment seems to be effective during emerging adulthood. Autonomy convictions seem to be an important starting point for therapeutic success and have a modulating importance in terms of positive changes in emotional impairment and quality of live. Therefore, this aspect should be considered when pain treatment offers are developed for this age group.

Child Maltreatment, Relationship with Father, Peer Substance Use, and Adolescent Marijuana Use

This longitudinal prospective study examined the relationship between child maltreatment as per reports to child protective services (CPS) and adolescent self-reported marijuana use, and the association between relationships with mothers and fathers and use of marijuana. The association between relationships with parents early in childhood (ages 6-8 years) and during adolescence with adolescent marijuana use were also probed. Another aim examined whether relationships with parents moderated the link between child maltreatment and youth marijuana use. The sample included 702 high risk adolescents from the Longitudinal Studies of Child Abuse and Neglect (LONGSCAN), a consortium of 5 studies related to maltreatment. Children were recruited at age 4 or 6 years together with their primary caregiver. Some were recruited due to their risk for child maltreatment, others were already involved with CPS, and children in one site had been placed in foster care. Logistic regression analysis was performed using youth self-report of marijuana use as the criterion variable and child maltreatment and the relationships with parents as predictor variables, controlling for youths' perceptions of peer substance use and parental monitoring, parental substance use, race/ethnicity, sex and study site. Approximately half the youth had used marijuana. Most of them described quite positive relationships with their mothers and fathers. Participant marijuana Use was associated with a poorer quality of relationship with mother during adolescence, and with peer and parental substance use. A better relationship with father, but not mother, during adolescence attenuated the connection between Child Maltreatment and youth Marijuana Use.

Association between sex, race/ethnicity, season, day of week, and alcohol use and related risks in college student athletes and nonathletes

Objective: To examine personal and social constructs (eg, sex, race) and external influences (ie, competition schedules) that are associated with the pattern and amount of alcohol consumption by student athletes compared to nonathletes. Participants: Students (n = 2,984; 57% female, 61% white, 16% athlete) on a single campus were surveyed in Fall 2011 and Spring 2012. Methods: Anonymous surveys included demographics, alcohol use, and related problems. Results: Student athletes consumed more alcohol than nonathletes, with male and white athletes posing the highest levels of risk for heavy consumption. Expanded examination of in- and out-of-season athletes found out-of-season athletes drink more frequently and more per occasion than their in-season peers. Athletes were more likely than nonathletes to drink on specific days of the week and daily patterns differed between in- and out-of-season athletes. Conclusions: The risk of athlete status is moderated by sex, race, season, and day of the week.

Development and Validation of a Parent-Based Program for Preventing Gaming Disorder: The Game Over Intervention

Since the inclusion of gaming disorder in the fifth edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-5) as a condition for further study, there has been an increasing consensus that problematic gaming can be detrimental to mental health, yet efforts in preventing such problems from emerging have been limited. To address this gap, we developed the Game Over Intervention (GOI), a parent-based program designed based on the frameworks of ecological systems theory and self-determination theory. This study aimed to test the efficacy of the new program using the method of a randomized controlled trial, with the control condition being a program for effective learning. Participants were the parents of upper primary school students, with 163 (77% women; M_age = 42.70) and 199 (83% women; M_age = 41.82) partaking in the intervention and the control conditions, respectively. Participants rated their children’s gaming time, exposure to violent video games, and symptoms of gaming disorder at three time points: baseline, one week after intervention, and three months after intervention. The results indicate a general reduction in these three criteria across the three-month period. Our study provides tentative evidence demonstrating the effectiveness of the GOI in mitigating some gaming-related problems.

Physical and psychosocial factors associated with psychostimulant use in a nationally representative sample of French adolescents: Specificities of cocaine, amphetamine, and ecstasy use

PURPOSE

Patterns of psychostimulant (PST) use, psychological and physical factors, and family relationships were investigated in a nationally representative sample of adolescents. The differences between users of cocaine (Cc), ecstasy/MDMA, and amphetamine (EA) were analyzed, taking into account gender differences.

METHODS

Substance use, psychological factors (lifetime suicide attempts, suicidal thoughts in the previous year, visits to a mental health professional), physical factors (health and body shape perceptions (BSP), body mass index (BMI)), and family relationships (existence of disagreements with parents, relationships with mother and father) were investigated in 26,351 17-year-old French adolescents.

RESULTS

Lifetime suicidal behavior was strongly associated with EA use only. Suicidal ideation in the previous year was associated with Cc use among both boys and girls and associated with EA use among girls. Compared to Cc users, more EA users were overweight, while more Cc users were underweight compared to EA users. BSP, BMI, and EA use were related in girls only. Having a good or very good relationship with both mother and father was negatively associated with Cc use in boys and girls. Girls who had a good or very good relationship with their fathers seemed to be less prone to use EA. Boys with a good or very good relationship with their mothers seemed to be less prone to use EA.

CONCLUSION

The results of the present study could serve as a basis for prevention and harm reduction strategies/programs targeting youth use and for the adaptation of these strategies/programs according to substance and gender.

Adolescents' Social Norms across Family, Peer, and School Settings: Linking Social Norm Profiles to Adolescent Risky Health Behaviors

Social norms around adolescent risky health behaviors have been often studied in separate developmental settings (e.g., family norms, peer norms), and little is known regarding the overall patterns of social norms across contexts and how they influence adolescent risky health behaviors. This study explored profiles of social norms around risky health behaviors across family, peer, and school settings, using data from 11,086 adolescents (50% female; 49% White, 22% Black, 18% Latinx, 8% Asian American, 3% other race/ethnicities) in the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent to Adult Health. Five profiles of social norms around risky health behaviors emerged. Only a small portion of the sample experienced either congruent-restrictive (6%) or congruent-permissive (10%) social norms across settings. The majority experienced incongruent social norms, including the developmentally normative-low risk (39%), developmentally normative-high risk (40%), and resilient (5%) profiles. Adolescents with the congruent-restrictive profile and developmentally normative-low risk profiles exhibited the least risky health behaviors over time, followed by those with the resilient profile, and adolescents with the developmentally normative-high risk and the congruent-permissive profile exhibited the greatest risky health behaviors over time. Each profile was associated with unique developmental, socio-demographic, and psychosocial characteristics. The findings highlighted the complexity of social norms across contexts and the developmental versus risky natures of these social norm profiles.