Peer and parental influences on male adolescent drinking

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.

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.

Development and testing of the Youth Alcohol Norms Survey (YANS) instrument to measure youth alcohol norms and psychosocial influences

OBJECTIVES

This study aimed to develop and validate an online instrument to: (1) identify common alcohol-related social influences, norms and beliefs among adolescents; (2) clarify the process and pathways through which proalcohol norms are transmitted to adolescents; (3) describe the characteristics of social connections that contribute to the transmission of alcohol norms; and (4) identify the influence of alcohol marketing on adolescent norm development.

SETTING

The online Youth Alcohol Norms Survey (YANS) was administered in secondary schools in Western Australia PARTICIPANTS: Using a 2-week test-retest format, the YANS was administered to secondary school students (n=481, age=13-17 years, female 309, 64.2%).

PRIMARY AND SECONDARY OUTCOME MEASURES

The development of the YANS was guided by social cognitive theory and comprised a systematic multistage process including evaluation of content and face validity. A 2-week test-retest format was employed. Exploratory factor analysis was conducted to determine the underlying factor structure of the instrument. Test-retest reliability was examined using intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC) and Cohen's kappa.

RESULTS

A five-factor structure with meaningful components and robust factorial loads was identified, and the five factors were labelled as 'individual attitudes and beliefs', 'peer and community identity', 'sibling influences', 'school and community connectedness' and 'injunctive norms', respectively. The instrument demonstrated stability across the test-retest procedure (ICC=0.68-0.88, Cohen's kappa coefficient=0.69) for most variables.

CONCLUSIONS

The results support the reliability and factorial validity of this instrument. The YANS presents a promising tool, which enables comprehensive assessment of reciprocal individual, behavioural and environmental factors that influence alcohol-related norms among adolescents.

Effects of a brief, parent-focused intervention for substance using adolescents and their sibling

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the efficacy of the Family Check-up (FCU), a parent-focused brief motivational intervention, in families where parents were concerned about one adolescent's alcohol or marijuana use and the referred adolescent also had a sibling close in age. The primary goal of the FCU was to provide individualized feedback on specific parenting skills, including monitoring and supervision, limit setting, and alcohol-related communication. A total of 92 adolescents (37 female) between the ages of 12-19years of age along with a sibling (48 female) between the ages of 11-21years old, were randomized to the FCU or a psychoeducation (PE) comparison condition. Findings indicated that the FCU did not produce better effects on alcohol and other drug use outcomes than the PE condition, in either the adolescent or sibling. Brief interventions addressing parenting behaviors may not be sufficient to reduce alcohol use in adolescent drinkers not referred due to an alcohol-related incident. Future research might be conducted to explore whether brief parent interventions, such as those in the present study, could be useful as a preventive intervention for parents whose teens report low levels of substance use.

Technology-assisted intervention for parents of adolescents in residential substance use treatment: protocol of an open trial and pilot randomized trial

BACKGROUND

Adolescents in residential substance use disorder (SUD) treatment have poor outcomes post-discharge, with follow-up studies suggesting that most adolescents relapse within 90 days. Parenting practices directly influence adolescent SUD outcomes, but parents of adolescents with SUDs are difficult to engage in traditional behavioral treatments. The current study adapts and evaluates a technology-assisted intervention for parents of adolescents in residential SUD treatment. Based on pilot qualitative data with parents, adolescents, and residential staff, we augment an existing computerized intervention (Parenting Wisely; PW) with four in-person coaching sessions, personalized text messages, and an expert-moderated online parent message board. We hypothesize that parents will find enhanced PW (PW+) both feasible and acceptable, and that adolescents whose parents receive PW+ will have better post-discharge outcomes than adolescents who receive standard care (SC) only.

METHODS/DESIGN

A two phase approach is used to adapt and evaluate PW+. Phase 1 consists of an open trial with 10 parents of adolescents (age 12-17) in residential SUD treatment. Post-discharge qualitative and quantitative data from parents and adolescents will support PW+ refinement. Phase 2 is a randomized pilot trial with 60 parents testing the effectiveness of adding PW+ to SC. Adolescents and parents will complete assessments at baseline, 6-, 12-, and 24-weeks post-discharge. Primary outcomes will be measures of feasibility and acceptability. Secondary outcomes will include adolescent substance use, truancy, high-risk sexual behavior, and criminal involvement. Two parenting processes (monitoring and communication) are examined as potential mediators of change.

DISCUSSION

This study will adapt and evaluate a technology-assisted parenting intervention as a means of improving adolescent outcomes following residential SUD treatment. Results have the potential to advance the field by: addressing a high-risk population, improving parental engagement; targeting parenting practices (putative mediators of change) that have been linked to adolescent outcomes; and developing a highly disseminable approach.

Brief Family Based Intervention for Substance Abusing Adolescents

Research has shown that a lack of parental involvement in their children's activities predicts initiation and escalation of substance use. Parental monitoring and supervision, parent-child communication including communication regarding beliefs and disapproval of substance use, positive parenting, and family management strategies, have been shown to protect against adolescent substance abuse and related problems. Family and parenting approaches to preventing and intervening on adolescent substance abuse have received support in the literature. This article discusses the theoretical foundations as well as the application of the Family Check-up, a brief, family-based intervention for adolescent substance use.

Adolescent alcohol use before and after the high school transition

BACKGROUND

An important question is whether the high school (HS) entry is a critical developmental event associated with escalation of alcohol use. This study examined trajectories of adolescent alcohol use as a function of a normative developmental event-the HS entry. In addition, given that at-risk youth may be particularly vulnerable to the stress associated with this transition, we examined how these alcohol use trajectories may be shaped by a measure of early behavioral risk, early adolescent delinquency.

METHODS

Participants included 891 twelve-year-olds from the prospective National Longitudinal Survey of Youth 1997 for whom relevant longitudinal school data were available (51.2% boys; 61.4% White).

RESULTS

Alcohol use after HS entry increased at a significantly greater rate than did use during the middle school years, even after accounting for students' age at transition. In addition, early delinquency emerged as a risk factor such that differences in alcohol use existed prior to the transition. That is, children with early delinquency characteristics displayed more rapid progression in alcohol use, but this effect was evident only during middle school.

CONCLUSIONS

HS entry appears to be a critical developmental event associated with increased social risk for greater alcohol use that goes beyond the simple maturational (i.e., aging) factors. Youth with behavioral problems appears to be at greater risk in middle school, in contrast to lower risk youth for whom HS entry may be a more critical event, in part because HS may be a less restrictive environment and/or because alcohol use becomes more normative at that time. Adolescent substance use may be described as a series of distinct developmental stages that closely correspond to school transitions and suggest a critical period for targeted intervention that may differ as a function of preexisting risk.

Feasibility and acceptability of a pediatric emergency department alcohol prevention intervention for young adolescents

OBJECTIVE

The objective of this study was to determine feasibility and acceptability of a brief pediatric emergency department (PED) prevention intervention to delay/prevent initiation of alcohol use in 12-to 14-year-olds.

METHODS

Medically stable 12- to 14-year-olds presenting to the PED who were accompanied by a parent and who had not initiated alcohol use were eligible. Adolescent-parent dyads completed a computerized assessment and were randomized to either brief targeted prevention intervention (BPI) or enhanced standard care (ESC). Families randomized to BPI participated in a PED-based motivational interviewing and skill building-based session with a trained counselor. Parents randomized to BPI had telephone boosters at 1 and 3 months. Families randomized to ESC received standard care and adolescent substance use pamphlets. All dyads completed 6-month follow-up assessments to assess alcohol use-related outcomes.

RESULTS

Two hundred twenty-eight families were approached: 122 were eligible and 104 were enrolled (85%). Mean youth age was 13 (SD, 0.83) years, 51% were female, and 90% of parents were females. Of the 104 enrolled, 5 withdrew; 99 (94%) completed the assessment battery in the PED in less than 30 minutes. All BPI dyads completed the counseling session in the PED. However, only 53% of BPI parents completed the booster telephone sessions. Brief targeted prevention intervention acceptability items were rated favorably (82%-100%) by both parents and adolescents. There were no differences between BPI and ESC on substance-related outcomes, although the study was not adequately powered for this purpose because it was designed as a feasibility study.

CONCLUSIONS

A BPI in the PED is both feasible and acceptable, but phone boosters proved less feasible. Larger samples and further study are needed to identify efficacy of the BPI in delaying onset of alcohol use in teens.

The association between alcohol and tobacco use among elementary and high school students in Crete, Greece

Background

Tobacco and alcohol use during adolescence have potential long term health consequences and a possibility of future addiction.

Methods

This cross sectional study took place in 2007 among a convenience sample of 981 adolescents from public elementary and high schools in Eastern Crete, Greece. Following parental consent, an anonymous structured questionnaire including information on personal and family use of alcohol and tobacco was distributed.

Results

Among the entire study population, cigarette experimentation was found to be associated with current alcohol use, with an Adjusted Odds Ratio (aOR) of 38.8; (95%C.I: 5.33-58.2) and with having a smoker in the immediate family (aOR 10.3; 95%C.I: 3.14-34.0). Among the subset of elementary school children, cigarette smoking was strongly associated with current alcohol use aOR 9.7; (95%C.I: 2.12-44.3), while the association between smoking experimentation and sibling and parental alcohol use was statistically significant within the entire population (however not among elementary students) with an aOR of 2.76 (95%C.I: 1.24-6.15) and aOR 3.66, (95%C.I: 1.97-6.81) respectively. The elementary child’s gender was not found to be associated with cigarette experimentation among this study population.

Conclusions

Strong associations were found between alcohol use and tobacco experimentation. The potential parental influence on consequent adolescent tobacco and alcohol use was also noted. Potential community based interventions, if launched in Greece, should take the role of the Greek family into account.

Co-Twin Dependence Modifies Heritability of Abstinence and Alcohol Use: A Population-Based Study of Finnish Twins

The role of co-twin dependence (twins' closeness or reliance on the co-twin) was examined as a moderator of genetic and environmental influences on alcohol use in adolescence and early adulthood in a large longitudinal population-based study of Finnish twins (FinnTwin16). The associations between co-twin dependence and alcohol use were studied first at an individual level in adolescence (n = 3362) and early adulthood (n = 2912). Then, maximum likelihood models were fit to the two waves of data from same-sex twin pairs to assess the differences and changes in genetic and environmental influences on alcohol use (abstinence, drinking frequency, intoxication frequency); N = 1342 pairs in adolescence, and N = 1078 pairs in early adulthood. Overall, no significant associations were found between co-twin dependence and individual alcohol use. However, co-twin dependence importantly modulated genetic effects on drinking habits, especially in adolescence, but also in early adulthood. Co-twin–dependent twins reported greater similarity in their alcohol-related behavior across all alcohol-use measures at both time points, and the role of genes and environments varied according to co-twin dependence. Shared environmental factors explained most of the variation in drinking among co- twin–dependent twins in adolescence and contributed to drinking to intoxication during early adulthood. In contrast, among co-twin–independent twin pairs, genetic variance contributed significantly to all alcohol-use measures at both time-points. An interdependent sibling relationship is an important modifier of drinking habits, and it appears to reduce the impact of inherited liabilities on alcohol-related behavior especially in adolescence.

The influence of parental and peer drinking behaviors on underage drinking and driving by young men

BACKGROUND

Studies have consistently found that parental and peer drinking behaviors significantly influence adolescent drinking behavior and that adolescent drinking has a significant effect on their drinking-and-driving behavior. Building upon these studies, the present article assesses whether parental and peer drinking behaviors have direct and indirect effects on adolescent drinking and driving as well as whether they moderate the effect of adolescent drinking on their drinking-and-driving behavior.

METHODS

The assessment is conducted using data collected from the Buffalo Longitudinal Survey of Young Men (BLSYM) with Ordinary Least Squares (OLS) regression analyses.

RESULTS

The data reveal that peer drinking has direct and indirect effects on adolescent drinking-and-driving behavior when adolescent drinking behavior is controlled. It also moderates the effect of adolescent drinking behavior on their drinking and driving. However, parental drinking does not have these direct and interactive effects, although it may have an indirect effect on adolescent drinking and driving via adolescent drinking behavior.

CONCLUSIONS

These findings imply that peer drinking behavior should be considered seriously in prevention and intervention for reducing the risk of adolescent drinking-and-driving behavior.

Parental and offspring assessment of driving capability under the influence of drugs or alcohol: gender and inter-generational differences

The current study set to examine whether there are inter-generational and gender-based differences between family members self-assessing their ability to drive under normal conditions and while under the influence of either alcohol or drugs. Participants were 135 young-adults and both their parents, consisting 45 family triads, who received self-assessment questionnaires relating to their driving skills in various road scenarios. Each family triad was randomly assigned to one of three groups: either requested to base the assessments on normal driving conditions, or under the influence of either drugs or alcohol, thus forming a control group, and two experimental groups (alcohol and drugs), respectively. The findings indicate the assessments of both the alcohol and drugs groups were more severe than those of the control group. The alcohol group assessments were less strict than the drug group assessment (non-significantly). Inter-generational differences indicated that the parents' driving-skills assessments were lower than those of their offspring, corresponding with previous findings (Elkind, 1967; Finn and Bragg, 1986). A significant within-subject interaction has been found between the respondent's gender and familial relations regarding the self-assessment of driving skills: male respondents assessed better driving skills compared to the self estimates of both parents (which did not significantly differ). In contrast, female respondents' estimates did not differ from their fathers' and both fathers' and daughters' estimates were significantly higher than that of the mothers in each family.

A mentoring program for the promotion of sexual health among Korean adolescents

The purpose of this pilot study was to develop a mentoring program for the promotion of sexual health among Korean adolescents and to explore the effects of the program. A nonequivalent control group pre-test-post-test design was used. The mentoring intervention was conducted by eight nursing students who participated in the program as mentors using various methods such as formal group sessions and informal individual contacts. At the 12-week post-intervention, the interaction between time and group was statistically significant on both sexual knowledge and sexual attitude of the 17 adolescent mentees. The mentoring program demonstrated potential as a developmentally appropriate intervention for the sexual health promotion of adolescents and promises to enable nursing students to gain confidence in their professional capability.

The intergenerational transference of alcohol use behaviour from parents to offspring: a test of the cognitive model

The current study tested the model proposed by Campbell and Oei (2010), and assessed the separate components of the model to best explain the intergenerational transference of alcohol use behaviour. Results revealed an adequate fit of all three models with significant differences between the Cognitive and Behavioral Models, and the Full Cognitive Model. Results suggest that cognitions are not a direct means by which parental drinking behaviour is transferred to their offspring however the parental behaviour impacted on their children's behaviour via their alcohol cognitions.

A cognitive model for the intergenerational transference of alcohol use behavior

A family history of alcoholism has shown to be one of the greatest consistent risk factors in the intergenerational transference of alcohol problems. Whereas a large number of studies have attempted to identify the processes responsible for this interfamilial transfer, the mechanisms remain unclear. Family, twin and adoption studies, and environmental theories have resulted in a number of unanswered questions regarding the extent that these factors influence the transmission of alcohol behavior. Recently, cognitive theories have suggested that the observation of parental drinking habits contributes to the child's beliefs and expectations of alcohol's effects. A hypothesised cognitive model will be proposed suggesting that the mechanism for the transference of particular drinking styles from parent to offspring may be further explained by the transference of alcohol cognitions, in particular, alcohol expectancies and drinking refusal self-efficacy. This review focuses on research of bio/psycho/social factors that perpetuate alcohol misuse across generations, and will delineate the proposed cognitive mechanisms for the interfamilial transference of alcohol problems and discuss the implications of the proposed model.

The social ecology of adolescent alcohol misuse

A conceptual framework based on social ecology, social learning, and social control theories guided identification of social contexts, contextual attributes, and joint effects that contribute to development of adolescent alcohol misuse. Modeling of alcohol use, suggested by social learning theory, and indicators of the social bond, suggested by social control theory, were examined in the family, peer, school, and neighborhood contexts. Interactions between alcohol modeling and social bond indicators were tested within and between contexts. Data were from a longitudinal study of 6,544 students, 1,663 of their parents, and the U.S. Census. All contexts were uniquely implicated in development of alcohol misuse from ages 11 through 17 years, and most alcohol modeling effects were contingent on attributes of social bonds.

Social contexts of regular smoking in adolescence: towards a multidimensional ecological model

Using data from the Add Health, this study examined multilevel factors of adolescent smoking after controlling for the baseline smoking behavior and individual characteristics. Results showed that peer, family and school were all important life domains contextually influencing subsequent smoking behavior among adolescents. Time spent with peers, best friend smoking and household member smoking were associated with higher risk. Parent-child closeness, parental control, attending a private school and having a higher percentage of Hispanic students at school were protective factors. Significant interaction effects were found between parental control and household member smoking and between parent-child closeness and communication. None of the neighborhood- and state-level factors were significant in the final full model but they were significant in reduced models. More proximate social contexts appear to play a more direct and immediate role in adolescent smoking than macro-level factors. An ecological model incorporating multiple social systems seems more fruitful than single-system models to reveal etiology of adolescent smoking.

Rauschtrinken bei Jugendlichen

Zusammenfassung. In den letzten Jahren verbreitete sich das Rauschtrinken unter Jugendlichen in Deutschland. Als Einflussfaktoren gelten elterliches Erziehungsverhalten, Temperament, der Freundeskreis und Delinquenz, jedoch ist bislang wenig über das Zusammenwirken dieser Faktoren auf Rauschtrinken bekannt. Es werden Ergebnisse von 333 15-jährigen Jugendlichen der Mannheimer Risikokinderstudie, einer Längsschnittstudie an einer Geburtskohorte, berichtet. Etwa ein Drittel der Jugendlichen hatte bereits mindestens einmal im Leben so viel Alkohol getrunken, dass die Kriterien des Rauschtrinkens erfüllt waren. Erwartungsgemäß waren darunter mehr 15-Jährige mit ausgeprägtem Neugierverhalten und einem sozial auffälligen Freundeskreis. Unabhängig davon hatte elterliches Aufsichtsverhalten einen protektiven Effekt auf das Ausmaß des Rauschtrinkens. Neugierverhalten wies nach Kontrolle für Delinquenz, Freundeskreis und Erziehungsverhalten keinen statistisch bedeutsamen Zusammenhang zu starkem Alkoholkonsum auf. Demnach sind ein auffälliger Freundeskreis und Delinquenz mögliche Risikofaktoren für Rauschtrinken, ein positives Verhältnis zu den Eltern kann jedoch einen sowohl direkten als auch indirekten Schutzfaktor darstellen.

The moderating influence of mother-adolescent discussion on early and middle African-American adolescent sexual behavior

We examined how African-American mothers' discussions with their adolescents about sex moderated the relationship between adolescents' sex-based discussions with their friends and adolescents' involvement in sexual behaviors. The 425 African-American adolescents were 12 through 15 years of age and had participated in an HIV prevention research project with their mothers. Linear and logistic regression analyses showed that, for girls, age, discussions with friends, and the interaction between mother and friend's sex-based discussions were statistically significant predictors of sexual behaviors. These findings suggest that the level of discussion with mothers had a moderating effect on the relationship between friends' discussions about sex and a girl's involvement in sexual behaviors. Although these results were not apparent for boys, there was a strong relationship between discussions with friends about sex and sexual behaviors among boys.

Family time, parental behaviour model and the initiation of smoking and alcohol use by ten-year-old children: an epidemiological study in Kaunas, Lithuania

BACKGROUND

Family is considered to be the first and the most important child development and socialization bond. Nevertheless, parental behaviour model importance for the children, as well as family time for shared activity amount influence upon the child's health-related behaviour habit development has not been yet thoroughly examined. The aim of this paper is to indicate the advanced health-hazardous behaviour modelling possibilities in the families, as well as time spent for joint family activities, and to examine the importance of time spent for joint family activities for the smoking and alcohol use habit initiation among children.

METHODS

This research was carried out in Kaunas, Lithuania, during the school year 2004-2005. The research population consisted of 369 fifth-grade schoolchildren (211 (57.2%) boys and 158 (42.8%) girls) and 565 parents: 323 (57.2%) mothers and 242 (48.2%) fathers. The response rate was 80.7% for children; 96.1% and 90.6% for mothers and fathers correspondingly.

RESULTS

Eating a meal together was the most frequent joint family activity, whereas visiting friends or relatives together, going for a walk, or playing sports were the most infrequent joint family activities. More than two thirds (81.5%) of parents (248 (77.0%) mothers and 207 (85.9%) fathers (p < 0.05)) reported frequenting alcohol furnished parties at least once a month. About half of the surveyed fathers (50.6%) together with one fifth of the mothers (19.9%) (p < 0.001) were smokers. More frequently than girls, boys reported having tried smoking (6.6% and 23.0% respectively; p < 0.001) as well as alcohol (31.16% and 40.1% respectively; p < 0.05). Child alcohol use was associated both with paternal alcohol use, and with the time, spent in joint family activities. For instance, boys were more prone to try alcohol, if their fathers frequented alcohol furnished parties, whereas girls were more prone to try alcohol, if family members spent less time together.

CONCLUSION

Joint family activity time deficit together with frequent parental examples of smoking and alcohol use underlie the development of alcohol and smoking addictions in children to some extent. The above-mentioned issues are suggested to be widely addressed in the comprehensive family health education programs.

Gender differences in predictors of drinking behavior in adolescents

This study explored the differences in the risk factors associated with alcohol use, problem drinking, and related consequences between male and female high school students in eastern Taiwan. A total of 771 10th grade students, including 327 boys (42.4%) and 444 girls (57.6%), from four randomly selected high schools in eastern Taiwan were included in the survey. Multiple logistic regression analyses were performed. In conclusion, paternal drinking was found to be an important factor for the development of alcohol use in adolescent boys but had less impact on girls when compared with maternal drinking. Peer norms and peer relationships had greater effects on drinking behavior in female than in male adolescents. Alcohol use appeared to be much more closely related to family relationships in female than in male adolescents. In adolescent boys, deviant self-image was the real factor causing problem drinking. Therefore, preventive intervention for boys should focus on managing psychological distress and strengthening positive self-image, while correcting peer drinking norms, learning of drinking refusal self-efficacy, establishing friendships without drinking, and positive parent-child communication should be enhanced for girls.

Factors associated with alcohol consumption, problem drinking, and related consequences among high school students in Taiwan

This research evaluated the risk factors associated with alcohol consumption, problem drinking, and related consequences among high school students in Taiwan. A total of 779 10th grade students from four randomly selected high schools in eastern Taiwan were included in the survey. Survey data were self-reported by students and analyzed using logistic regression methods. The results showed that alcohol consumption and problem drinking was 2.22-2.71-fold greater in male than in female adolescents. Parents and peer groups were the determinants influencing alcohol consumption, and these influences could be enhanced particularly by the drinking behaviors of fathers and peer groups, and the relationship of students with their peer groups. The probability of developing adolescent problem drinking was fourfold greater in students whose fathers had habits of drinking. Ethnicity had a notable impact on the risk of problem drinking. The occurrence of problem drinking among indigenous adolescents was 2.98-fold higher than among Hans, indicating a diversity of biological factors, social norms, and expectation for alcohol drinking between these two ethnic groups. This study suggests that a policy for preventing alcohol abuse among high school students should start by addressing the two major associated problems: a need to earn peer group recognition, and the lack of family support among at-risk students.

What is worse? A hierarchy of family-related risk factors predicting alcohol use in adolescence

The aim of the present study was to determine if family structure, perception of excessive drinking in the family, and family bonding hold a graduated importance in predicting adolescent alcohol use and their association with peers who drink excessively. Three nested linear structural models were calculated separately for frequent and excessive drinking, based on a sample of 3,127 eighth and ninth graders in Switzerland (mean age 15.3, SD 0.8) surveyed in spring 2002 in the context of the "Health Behavior in School-Aged Children (HBSC)" study. The results confirm that the perception of excessive drinking in the family is more closely related to both frequent and excessive drinking than family structure, and family bonding is more closely related than drinking perception. Adjusting for both socio-demographic variables and the association with peers who drink excessively only slightly changed the results. To predict an association with the latter, family structure was more important than the perception of drinking, but family bonding remained the predominant predictor. The results stress the graduated importance of family-related risk factors: by listening to their children's worries, by spending their free time with them, and by providing help when needed, parents might have the possibility to actively minimize the risk of frequent and excessive drinking regardless of whether they are frequent excessive drinkers or live without a partner.

Shared predictors of youthful gambling, substance use, and delinquency

Given that gambling, alcohol misuse, other drug use, and delinquency are correlated, it is hypothesized that these problem behaviors have shared antecedents. Measures from 3 explanatory domains--sociodemographic factors (age, race, and socioeconomic status), individual factors (impulsivity and moral disengagement), and socialization factors (parental monitoring and peer delinquency)--were tested for links to problem behaviors in 2 longitudinal samples of adolescents. Black youth had lower levels of problem behaviors than Whites. Impulsivity was a significant predictor of alcohol misuse for females and delinquency for males. Moral disengagement predicted gambling for males. Parental monitoring showed a significant inverse relationship to alcohol misuse and other substance use for males. Peer delinquency showed numerous prospective paths to youth problem behaviors for both genders.

Are educational aspirations associated with the risk of alcohol use and alcohol use-related problems among adolescents?

OBJECTIVE

Using prospective data, we hypothesized that public middle school students with high educational aspirations would report less alcohol use, and alcohol use-related problems in the subsequent year.

METHODS

The participants for these analyses included students, ages 11 to 14 years old, participating in a longitudinal study in an urban sample of public schools (n = 1229). As part of the prospective annual assessments of the students, in 1992 (to) and 1993 (t1), data on educational aspirations and on alcohol use, and alcohol use-related problems were gathered. Latent variable modeling was used to assess the relationship between educational aspirations at baseline (to) and subsequent year drinking behavior (t1) in two separate models, one to examine the relationship of educational aspirations with self-reported alcohol use (model 1), and another to examine the association with alcohol use-related problems (model 2). Potential confounding by age, sex, race-ethnicity, alcohol use by peers, self-reported school performance, and neighborhood environment was held constant in each model. In addition, each model took into account the prior year report of alcohol use and alcohol use-related problems, respectively.

RESULTS

The evidence indicated that students with high aspirations were no more nor less likely to report subsequent alcohol use [beta = 0.15, 95% confidence interval (CI) = -0.19, 0.49; p = 0.38] nor alcohol use-related problems (beta = -0.009, CI = -0.07, 0.06; p = 0.80). Other characteristics were associated with alcohol use at follow-up and included race-ethnicity (being non-Black), neighborhood environment, and having friends who drink alcohol. Characteristics associated with alcohol use-related problems at the time of the follow-up interview also included race-ethnicity, peer drinking, neighborhood environment, as well as older age.

CONCLUSIONS

Findings from the current study do not support the hypothesis that educational aspirations have significant influences on alcohol consumption or drinking problems in this study population of urban, predominantly Black students. As such, this work helps to advance our understanding of suspected relationships between educational aspirations, as well as factors associated with resilience to alcohol use and the occurrence of alcohol use-related problems.

Perceived discrimination and substance use in African American parents and their children: a panel study

The relation between perceived racial discrimination and substance use was examined in a panel of 684 African American families, using the prototype-willingness model of adolescent health risk (F. X. Gibbons, M. Gerrard, & D. Lane, 2003). Discrimination was concurrently and prospectively related to use in the parents and the children (mean age=10.5 years at Wave 1). The discrimination-->use relation in the parents was mediated by distress (anxiety and depression). Among the children, the relation was mediated by distress as well as their risk cognitions (favorability of their risk images and their willingness to use) and the extent to which they reported affiliating with friends who were using substances. Each of these relations with discrimination was positive. In contrast, effective parenting was associated with less willingness and intention to use. Theoretical and applied implications of the results are discussed.

Individuation, peers, and adolescent alcohol use: a latent growth analysis

The study used latent growth modeling to investigate longitudinal relationships between individuation, peer alcohol use, and adolescent alcohol use among African American, Mexican American, and non-Hispanic White adolescents (N = 6,048) from 7th, 8th, and 9th grades over a 3-year period. Initial levels of peer alcohol use were significantly related to changes in adolescents' alcohol use, whereas initial adolescent alcohol use also significantly related to changes in peers' alcohol use, suggesting a bidirectional relationship. Higher levels of intergenerational individuation were related to smaller increases in adolescent alcohol use and higher levels of separation were related to larger increases in youth drinking. The findings were similar across ethnic groups. Implications for development of prevention and intervention programs are discussed.

Adolescent antecedents of high-risk driving behavior into young adulthood: substance use and parental influences

Driver history data, in combination with previously collected tenth-grade questionnaire data, for 4403 subjects were analyzed by Poisson regression models to identify the significant substance use and parental characteristics predicting subsequent high-risk driving of new drivers (starting at age 16) through age 23-24 years. Substance use (cigarettes, marijuana, and alcohol) reported at age 15 was shown to be an important predictor of subsequent excess risk of serious offenses and serious crashes for both men and women. In addition, negative parental influences (lenient attitudes toward young people's drinking; low monitoring, nurturance, family connectedness), were also demonstrated to increase the risk of serious offenses and serious crashes for both men and women.

Gambling and alcohol use among youth: influences of demographic, socialization, and individual factors

Gambling and alcohol use are both prevalent among youth and these behaviors may have common predictors within four domains: sociodemographic, individual/psychological, socialization (parental and peer), and other problem behavior. Data were from two household samples of youth in the Buffalo, NY area. Both studies included the same measures of alcohol consumption and gambling frequency, and comparable measures of variables in the four domains. Multivariate analyses of variance revealed that impulsivity, moral disengagement, and delinquency (adolescent or peer delinquency) predicted alcohol consumption and gambling in both studies, even after controlling for demographic factors. Parental monitoring, cigarette use, and illicit drug use predicted alcohol consumption in both studies, but did not predict gambling once the demographic and individual factors were taken into account.