Does diversity matter? The need for longitudinal research on adolescent alcohol and drug use trajectories

Gene-environment transactions between peer cigarette use, parental supervision, and Chinese adolescent cigarette smoking initiation

INTRODUCTION

The initiation and continued use of tobacco products constitute an ongoing source of preventable disease that continues to pose a significant risk to global adolescent health. Scarce research has sought to explore the influences of two well-known environmental risk factors, parental supervision and peer cigarette use, on genetic and environmental contributions to adolescent cigarette use, especially in non-Western populations.

METHODS

Following 602 Chinese twin pairs (52% female, N = 1204) from early to middle adolescence at two-time points (Mage = 12 and 15) from 2006 to 2009 and using multivariate biometric modeling, this study examined gene-environment interplay (i.e., gene-environment correlation and interaction) between perceived parental supervision, peer cigarette use, and adolescent cigarette smoking initiation.

RESULTS

From early to middle adolescence, genetic influences on cigarette smoking initiation became more pronounced, whereas shared environmental influences that promote similarity between family members diminished. Genetic factors primarily explained the links between parental supervision and cigarette smoking initiation in mid-adolescence. Peer cigarette use displayed stronger associations with and moderating potential in adolescent cigarette smoking initiation than parental supervision. High levels of peer cigarette use amplified genetic risk for cigarette smoking initiation in mid-adolescence.

CONCLUSIONS

Chinese adolescent cigarette smoking initiation involves dynamic gene-environment transactions primarily with peer processes over development. Mid-adolescence constitutes a developmental period wherein underlying genetic risk for cigarette smoking initiation is particularly sensitive to peer influences. Targeted interventions aimed at reducing Chinese adolescent cigarette smoking initiation should focus on peer processes during this developmental period.

Correlates of Alcohol Use Likelihood for Latino Immigrant Youth in an Emerging Context

Using a three-wave prospective longitudinal design spanning 3 years, we assessed alcohol use likelihood trajectories and their correlates among a community sample of Latino immigrant adolescents in the emerging immigrant context of Western Oregon. Results from growth mixture modeling revealed two distinct classes: lower risk youth who reported little likelihood of alcohol use but whose trajectory was increasing, and higher risk youth who reported higher likelihood of alcohol use and whose trajectory was stable. We found significant differences between the two classes such that lower risk youth reported greater levels of Latino cultural orientation and parental monitoring, whereas higher risk youth reported greater levels of family cultural stress and delinquency. Results are discussed in terms of prior research and theory.

Cannabis-Related Perceptions as Mediators of the Association Between Trait Impulsivity and Cannabis Outcomes

OBJECTIVE

Normative perceptions have been shown to mediate the effect of personality traits on cannabis outcomes. We examined descriptive norms, injunctive norms, and the role of cannabis in college life as possible mediators of the association between impulsivity-related traits (i.e., negative urgency, positive urgency, sensation seeking, perseverance, and premeditation) and cannabis outcomes (i.e., frequency of cannabis use and negative consequences) among college students from five countries.

METHOD

A total of 1,175 college students (United States, n = 698; Argentina, n = 153; Spain, n = 178; Uruguay, n = 79; and Netherlands, n = 67) who were also cannabis users (i.e., reported cannabis use at least once within the previous month) completed an online survey. We used path analysis to test whether the proposed double-mediated paths (impulsivity-like traits→perceived cannabis norms→cannabis use frequency→negative cannabis-related consequences) were invariant across countries/cultures.

RESULTS

Cannabis-related perceptions, particularly college cannabis beliefs and injunctive norms, significantly mediated the association between impulsivity and cannabis outcomes. Two significant double-mediated paths, which were invariant across sex and countries, were found: (a) higher positive urgency→higher endorsement of internalized norms→higher cannabis use frequency→more negative cannabis-related consequences and (b) higher sensation seeking→higher endorsement of injunctive norms→higher cannabis use frequency→more negative cannabis-related consequences.

CONCLUSIONS

The study corroborates previous findings on normative perceptions mediating the effects of impulsivity-like traits on cannabis outcomes and suggests that these processes may operate similarly among college student cannabis users in different legal and cultural contexts. The findings highlight the need to address internalized norms and suggest these normative perceptions may be a good intervention candidate to reduce cannabis use/consequences.

Social Influences on Drinking Trajectories From Adolescence to Young Adulthood in an Urban Minority Sample

OBJECTIVE

Research on the heterogeneity in drinking patterns of urban minorities within a socioecological framework is rare. The purpose of this study was to explore multiple, distinct patterns of drinking from adolescence to young adulthood in a sample of urban minority youth and to examine the influence of neighborhood, family, and peers on these trajectories.

METHOD

Data are from a longitudinal study of 584 (56% male) primarily Black (87%) youth who were first sampled in childhood based on their residence in low-income neighborhoods in Baltimore City and followed up annually through age 26. Data were analyzed using group-based trajectory modeling and multinomial logistic regression.

RESULTS

Modeling revealed six trajectories from ages 14 to 26: abstainer, experimenter, adult increasing, young adult increasing, adolescent limited, and adolescent increasing. Neighborhood disadvantage was a risk factor for drinking regardless of the timing of onset. Perceptions of availability, peer drinking, and parental approval for drinking were risk factors for underage drinking trajectories, whereas parental supervision was a significant protective factor. Positive social activities in neighborhoods was protective against increased drinking, whereas a decline in perceptions of peer drinking was associated with adolescent-limited drinking.

CONCLUSIONS

Our findings uniquely highlight the importance of developing interventions involving parents for urban minority youth for whom family is particularly relevant in deterring underage drinking. Perhaps most importantly, our data suggest that interventions that support positive social activities in disadvantaged neighborhoods are protective against adolescent drinking and altering perceptions of peer drinking may reduce adolescent drinking among low-income, urban minority youth.

Consequences of alcohol use, and its association with psychological distress, sensitivity to emotional contagion and age of onset of alcohol use, in Uruguayan youth with or without college degree

Psychological distress can promote alcohol consumption during emerging adulthood. Still unknown is, however, how predisposition to emotional contagion alters psychological distress, and how these phenomena are affected by level of education. The present study analyzed the effect of psychological distress, age of first contact with alcohol (early, late), and predisposition to emotional contagion on alcohol-induced negative consequences and on the volume of alcohol consumed during the last year. We also described alcohol-use behaviors as a function of sex, maximum level of education and age of first contact with alcohol, in 1505 youth from Uruguay (18-30 years). A survey measured alcohol use (Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test and ad-hoc questionnaire), negative consequences of alcohol use [young adult alcohol consequences questionnaire (YAACQ)], psychological distress (Kessler scale) and proclivity to emotional contagion (Doherty Emotional contagion scale). The patterns of alcohol use were greater in men vs. women and in those featuring an early age of first alcohol use, yet similar in college and non-college graduates. Early drinkers had greater levels of psychological distress than late-onset drinkers. There was a significant bivariate and multiple correlation between psychological distress and the number of negative consequences of alcohol experienced during the last year, which remained significant even after controlling for total volume of alcohol consumed. Significant associations emerged between YAACQ scores and frequency of heavy episodic or binge drinking, and between psychological distress and emotional contagion, but not between emotional contagion and any of the remaining variables. Psychological distress was not significantly correlated with heavy episodic or binge drinking. The study indicates that, during adolescence and youth, psychological distress is associated with experiencing negative consequences of alcohol consumption. The study also suggested that greater levels of psychological distress may underlie the facilitating effect of an early age of drinking onset upon alcohol drinking patterns.

Cross-cultural examination of the Big Five Personality Trait Short Questionnaire: Measurement invariance testing and associations with mental health

The present study examined the measurement invariance of the Big Five Personality Trait Short Questionnaire (BFPTSQ) across language (Spanish and English), Spanish-speaking country of origin (Argentina and Spain) and gender groups (female and male). Evidence of criterion-related validity was examined via associations (i.e., correlations) between the BFPTSQ domains and a wide variety of mental health outcomes. College students (n = 2158) from the USA (n = 1117 [63.21% female]), Argentina (n = 353 [65.72% female]) and Spain (n = 688 [66.86% female]) completed an online survey. Of the tested models, an Exploratory Structural Equation Model (ESEM) fit the data best. Multigroup ESEM and ESEM-within-CFA generally supported the measurement invariance of the questionnaire across groups. Internalizing symptomatology, rumination and low happiness were related mainly to low emotional stability across countries, while low agreeableness and low conscientiousness were related chiefly to externalizing symptomology (i.e., antisocial behavior and drug outcomes). Some correlational differences arose across countries and are discussed. Our findings generally support the BFPTSQ as an adequate measure to assess the Big Five personality domains in Spanish- and English-speaking young adults.

ELSA cohort 2014: association of age of first drink and progression from first drink to drunkenness on alcohol outcomes in Argentinean college freshmen

Background: College freshman are at-risk for hazardous alcohol drinking and for experiencing alcohol-related negative consequences. This is exacerbated in those featuring an early age of first alcohol use or of first drunkenness. It remains unclear which of these milestones is more strongly associated with alcohol outcomes. Objective: We examined, in Argentinean college drinkers (n = 4088; 43% men; racially and ethnically homogeneous), the association of age at drinking onset and progression to drunkenness (drunkenness naïve [Drunk-Naïve]; No-Delay [same age of first alcohol use and first alcohol intoxication]; one year of delay between age of first alcohol use and first alcohol intoxication; ≥2years of delay) on several alcohol outcomes. Methods: A survey measured substance use, age at drinking and drunkenness onset and alcohol-related consequences. Results: Alcohol consumption per drinking occasion was significantly greater in men than in women. An early drinking onset (alcohol use before age 13) and lifetime drunkenness independently exacerbated alcohol consumption per drinking occasion and during the last year. In men, Early-Onset was associated with a greater number of alcohol-related consequences when the delay between Early-Onset and the first drunkenness episode was 1 or ≥2 years yet did not significantly alter the number of negative consequences in Drunk-naïve or No-delay drinkers. In women, Early-Onset significantly enhanced the number of negative consequences when the delay was two years, but not when the delay was one-year or in Drunk-naïve or No-delay drinkers. Conclusions: The window between the first contact with alcohol and the first episode of drunkenness is a critical period to reduce alcohol-related problems.

Social Influences on Drinking Trajectories From Adolescence to Young Adulthood in an Urban Minority Sample

OBJECTIVE

Research on the heterogeneity in drinking patterns of urban minorities within a socioecological framework is rare. The purpose of this study was to explore multiple, distinct patterns of drinking from adolescence to young adulthood in a sample of urban minority youth and to examine the influence of neighborhood, family, and peers on these trajectories.

METHOD

Data are from a longitudinal study of 584 (56% male) primarily Black (87%) youth who were first sampled in childhood based on their residence in low-income neighborhoods in Baltimore City and followed up annually through age 26. Data were analyzed using group-based trajectory modeling and multinomial logistic regression.

RESULTS

Modeling revealed six trajectories from ages 14 to 26: abstainer, experimenter, adult increasing, young adult increasing, adolescent limited, and adolescent increasing. Neighborhood disadvantage was a risk factor for drinking regardless of the timing of onset. Perceptions of availability, peer drinking, and parental approval for drinking were risk factors for underage drinking trajectories, whereas parental supervision was a significant protective factor. Positive social activities in neighborhoods was protective against increased drinking, whereas a decline in perceptions of peer drinking was associated with adolescent-limited drinking.

CONCLUSIONS

Our findings uniquely highlight the importance of developing interventions involving parents for urban minority youth for whom family is particularly relevant in deterring underage drinking. Perhaps most importantly, our data suggest that interventions that support positive social activities in disadvantaged neighborhoods are protective against adolescent drinking and altering perceptions of peer drinking may reduce adolescent drinking among low-income, urban minority youth.

The Indirect Effect of Ethnic Identity on Marijuana Use Through School Engagement: An African American High School Sample

BACKGROUND

African American marijuana use is associated with many negative social, emotional, and health-related consequences. Of significance, over recent years this population has shown an increase in use. In the literature, ethnic identity and school engagement are prominent protective factors against substance use.

OBJECTIVE

This study will examine how these protective factors are related, specifically whether ethnic identity mitigates risk through school engagement to reduce marijuana use.

METHOD

A path analysis was conducted with 437 African American high school students (41% male) from Midwestern schools to examine the role of school engagement in the relationship between ethnic identity and marijuana use.

RESULTS

The results revealed that students high in ethnic identity have higher school engagement, which lessens their frequency of marijuana use. Therefore, ethnic identity reduces marijuana use by increasing student's school engagement. Conclusions/Importance: The results offer a clearer picture of how ethnic identity and school engagement protect against marijuana use. The results also present insight into how to protect students who are low in ethnic identity.

Patterns of Partner and Nonpartner Violence Among High-Risk Youth

PURPOSE

Perpetration of violent behavior begins to increase in adolescence and peaks in young adulthood (e.g., age 18-29) before decreasing by the early 30s. Considerable variability in reported perpetration, targets, and severity of violence suggests youth may change their violent behavior patterns over time.

METHODS

We use latent transition analysis to describe profiles of violent behavior against partners and nonpartners in an at-risk sample of young adults (N = 599; 59% male; 61% African-American) over a period of 2 years.

RESULTS

A four-class solution provided the best fit to the data, with classes corresponding to (1) nonviolent behavior (48.3% of the sample); (2) violent only toward nonpartners (22.3%); (3) violent only toward partners (16.0%); and (4) violent toward nonpartners and partners (13.4%). Participants' sex, race, age, previous violent injury, antisocial behavior, alcohol dependence, and possession of firearms were associated with baseline class membership.

CONCLUSIONS

Implications for prevention are discussed.

Gender differences in trajectories of alcohol use from ages 13 to 33 across Latina/o ethnic groups

BACKGROUND

Research examining alcohol use trajectories among Latina/os is scarce. Further, prior findings on alcohol use by ethnic group and gender is mixed. The purpose of this study was twofold: (a.) to examine developmental trajectories for two types of alcohol (drunkenness and heavy drinking) use across four Latina/o ethnic groups (Cubans, Puerto Ricans, Central/South American, and Mexican Americans) and, (b.) to examine the role of gender and ethnicity in developmental trajectories of drunkenness and heavy drinking among Latina/os.

METHODS

Data were drawn from Waves I-IV of the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent to Adult Health. The sample consisted of 1670 Latina/os that were followed from adolescence into adulthood. Multi-level logistic regression models were used to estimate drunkenness and heavy drinking trajectories and trajectories by gender.

RESULTS

indicate that, for all four ethnic groups examined, the probability of drunkenness and heavy drinking gradually increased in adolescence, peaked in "emerging adulthood", and decreased as they transitioned into adulthood. Findings also show divergent age trajectories by gender, but patterns varied across ethnicity and alcohol use outcome.

CONCLUSIONS

Key findings from this study demonstrate that among Latina/os, there are critical developmental periods for reported drunkenness and heavy drinking in the last 12 months, and that ethnicity and gender play substantial roles in the development of hazardous alcohol use over the life course.

Alcohol and marijuana use trajectories in a diverse longitudinal sample of adolescents: examining use patterns from age 11 to 17 years

AIMS

We tested race/ethnic differences in alcohol and marijuana (AM) trajectories (comprising an intercept term, reflecting overall probability of use, and a slope term, reflecting change in probability of use) during adolescence, whether AM use trajectories predicted high school outcomes, and whether outcomes differed by race/ethnicity after controlling for trajectory of AM use.

DESIGN

This longitudinal study involved 6509 youth from 16 middle schools in Southern California surveyed from age 11.5 (2008) to age 17 (2015) years; all surveys assessed AM use, and the final survey also examined high school outcomes.

SETTING

Youth completed five surveys in middle school and two on-line surveys in high school.

PARTICIPANTS

The sample was 50% male and 80% non-white.

MEASUREMENTS

Intercept (at 2.75 years post-baseline) and slope of AM use were examined as outcomes for race/ethnic differences. AM use trajectories were examined as predictors of academic performance and unpreparedness, social functioning, mental and physical health and delinquency.

FINDINGS

We found differences in trajectories of use by race/ethnicity, with white youth reporting a higher overall intercept of alcohol use compared to all other groups (versus Asian P < 0.001, black P = 0.001, multi-ethnic P = 0.008). Overall, examination of trajectories of use showed that adolescents with a higher alcohol use intercept term reported greater academic unpreparedness (P < 0.001) and delinquency (P < 0.001) at wave 7 in high school. In addition, youth with a higher intercept for marijuana use reported greater academic unpreparedness (P < 0.001) and delinquency (P < 0.001), and poorer academic performance (P = 0.032) and mental health (P = 0.002) in high school. At wave 7, compared to white youth, Hispanic and multi-ethnic youth reported poorer academic performance (P < 0.001 and P = 0.034, respectively); Asian, black and Hispanic youth reported higher academic unpreparedness (P < 0.001, P = 0.019, and P = 0.001); and Asian youth and multi-ethnic youth reported poorer physical health (P = 0.012 and P = 0.018) controlling for AM use.

CONCLUSIONS

Greater AM use was associated with worse functioning in high school for all youth. After controlling for AM use, non-white youth reported worse outcomes in high school for academics and health.

Measurement invariance of alcohol instruments with Hispanic youth

INTRODUCTION

Despite their widespread use across clinical and research settings, no study has yet investigated the fit of several standard alcohol measures for Hispanic youth, including those used to assess motivation to change, self-efficacy, peer norms, and problem drinking. This study thus served to address this gap by evaluating measurement invariance with substance-using youth.

METHODS

We enrolled a large sample of regular substance-using youth who were involved with the justice system (N=368; 72.9% male; 76.9% Hispanic; M age=16.17years). Similar to the broader Hispanic population of the southwest United States (U.S.), Hispanic youth in the sample were on average 3.5th generation (with at least 1 foreign-born grand-parent). Following standard administration and scoring procedures, all youth completed measures of motivation to change (e.g., readiness rulers, intentions to change), self-efficacy (e.g., drink refusal in social situations), peer norms (e.g., peer norms for substance use), and problem drinking (e.g., substance use quantity/frequency; Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test; Rutgers Alcohol Problems Index; Timeline FollowBack). Measurement equivalence was evaluated via multiple group confirmatory factor analysis.

RESULTS

Our results indicated that each measure evaluated herein worked equally well for Hispanic and Caucasian youth. We found measurement invariance at every level tested.

CONCLUSIONS

This study supports the validity and future use of these important and widely-used alcohol use measures for high-risk substance-using Hispanic youth. Further, given the representativeness of this sample within the southwestern U.S., these results show promise for generalizability to U.S.-born Hispanic youth within this geographic region.