Strategies for characterizing complex phenotypes and environments: general and specific family environmental predictors of young adult tobacco dependence, alcohol use disorder, and co-occurring problems

Progression of Comorbid Depression and Substance Use among Racially Diverse Adults

Comorbidity of depression and substance abuse is common and a major public health burden. Studies of this form of comorbidity in racial and ethnic minoritized (REM) populations are minimal and have mixed findings. The present study examined the effect of general risk factors (family bonding, supervision, involvement, peer delinquency), depression risk factors (caregiver depression), and substance use risk factors (adult family members, sibling, and peer substance use) in early adolescence (~ ages 13-14) on comorbid depression and substance use in later adolescence (~ ages 15-17) and adulthood (~ ages 29-31) and continuity in comorbidity from adolescence to adulthood. Longitudinal data on 1000 Black (n = 680) Hispanic (n = 170) and White (n = 150) individuals came from the Rochester Youth Development Study. Participants were interviewed 14 times over 17 years beginning in 1988. General risk factors predicted comorbidity across racial/ethnic groups. Substance specific risk predicted comorbidity among Black and Hispanic individuals whereas depression specific risk was predictive among White individuals. Adolescent comorbidity predicted comorbidity in adulthood across race. These findings highlight the importance of substance use intervention for racial and ethnic minoritized individuals and mental health risk factors in Whites. The continuity of comorbidity from adolescence to adulthood highlights the importance of targeting adolescents for intervention to prevent long-term manifestation of this form of comorbidity and its associated consequences.

Associations of attention problems and family context in childhood and adolescence with young adult daily smoking: General and smoking-specific family contexts

BACKGROUND

The potential heterogeneity in daily smoking across young adulthood has been relatively understudied. Relatedly, the unique and joint associations of earlier risk factors with young adults' daily smoking largely remain unknown. To address these gaps, this work identified subgroups of daily smoking trajectories during young adulthood and linked them to earlier attention problems and smoking-specific and general family context.

METHODS

Data came from the Seattle Social Development Project, a longitudinal study following a community sample (N = 808). Participants' daily smoking was measured from ages 21-33. Earlier attention problems were assessed at ages 14-16 and 18. Earlier smoking-specific and general family factors were assessed at ages 10-16 and 18.

RESULTS

Growth mixture models produced four profiles: chronic daily smokers, increasers, decreasers, and no-daily smokers. Results from multinomial logistic regressions revealed that earlier attention problems and smoking-specific family factors may contribute to daily smoking in the early 20 s, whereas earlier general family context provided protection for trajectories of daily smoking characterized by changes in the late 20 s and early 30 s DISCUSSION: Selective prevention strategies that expand people's repertoire of healthy options to address attention problems might be helpful, considering the possibility of using tobacco as means to mitigate attention problems. Our findings also highlight the importance of nurturing earlier general family context, a relatively overlooked dimension in smoking prevention efforts, to facilitate young adult smokers' desistence from daily smoking, particularly those who have attention problems in adolescence.

Simultaneous use of marijuana and alcohol: Potential prevention targets among young adults who use alcohol

Simultaneous alcohol and marijuana use (SAM) such that their effects overlap has emerged as a behavior that is riskier than using either substance separately. It has been associated with high-risk binge drinking and driving while intoxicated during young adulthood, and it has been demonstrated to cause greater physical and mental impairment than use of alcohol or marijuana separately. To identify intervention and prevention targets specific to SAM, we examined the relationships between alcohol- and marijuana-specific beliefs and attitudes (risk factors) and self-reported SAM compared to non-simultaneous co-use (CAM) and alcohol use only in the past 30 days in a sample of young adults (n = 1,023, mean age = 23.17; SD = 0.43). Of those who reported drinking alcohol in the past 30 days, 20.7% reported SAM, 12.6% reported CAM, and 66.6% reported using only alcohol. Results from multinomial logistic regression analyses indicated that some marijuana-specific risk factors (e.g., belief that it is not at all wrong for someone their age to use marijuana) differentiated SAM or CAM from alcohol use only, but alcohol-specific risk factors generally did not. However, the perceptions that parents approved of their using marijuana or frequently drinking heavily were associated with a greater likelihood of SAM compared to CAM (OR ranged from 2.25 to 3.53). Findings point to the salience of individuals' attitudes and beliefs around marijuana use and their perception of parental approval of heavy drinking and marijuana use as potential targets for prevention programs targeting risk reduction among young adults.

Neighborhood Structural Factors and Proximal Risk for Youth Substance Use

This study examined associations of neighborhood structural factors (census-based measures, socioeconomic disadvantage, and residential stability); self-reported measures of general and substance use-specific risk factors across neighborhood, school, peer, and family domains; and sociodemographic factors with substance use among 9th grade students. Data drawn from the Seattle Social Development Project, a theory-driven longitudinal study originating in Seattle, WA, were used to estimate associations between risk factors and past month cigarette smoking, binge drinking, marijuana use, and polysubstance use among students (N = 766). Results of logistic regression models adjusting for neighborhood clustering and including all domains of risk factors simultaneously indicated that neighborhood socioeconomic disadvantage was associated with a significantly higher likelihood of cigarette smoking, binge drinking, and polysubstance use, but not marijuana use. In fully controlled models, substance use-specific risk factors across neighborhood, school, peer, and family domains were also associated with increased likelihood of substance use and results differed by the outcome considered. Results highlight substance-specific risk factors as an intervention target for reducing youth substance use and suggest that further research is needed examining mechanisms linking neighborhood socioeconomic disadvantage and youth substance use.

Intersection of familial risk and environmental social control on high-risk drinking and alcohol dependence in a US national sample of adults

BACKGROUND

Effects of a family history of alcoholism may be moderated by area-level social control factors. We examine whether increased neighborhood alcohol availability (low social control environment) or increased presence of religious adherents in the county (high social control environment) interact with family history in relation to alcohol outcomes.

METHODS

Weighted data from 12,686 adult drinkers (51% male; mean age 44; 80% White, 9% Black, 11% Hispanic) in three US National Alcohol Surveys were linked with data on area-level off-premise alcohol availability and adherence to religions with strong prohibitions against drinking. Family history density had four levels (family history negative, extended family only, first-degree relative(s) only, high family density). Dichotomous outcomes were past-year high-risk drinking and alcohol dependence. Logistic regression models with interaction terms assessed whether associations of family history with alcohol outcomes differed significantly by area-level social control. Stratified models assessed differences by sex and by race/ethnicity.

RESULTS

In the full sample, effects of first-degree relatives and high family density on high-risk drinking strengthened as alcohol availability increased. This was replicated in the subsample of women and suggested in relation to dependence among men and Black drinkers. For White drinkers, higher religious social control reduced effects of first-degree relatives on high-risk drinking.

CONCLUSIONS

Low social control-in particular, greater density of off-premise alcohol outlets-appears to exacerbate effects of a family history of alcoholism on high-risk drinking. Policy makers should consider differential benefits of decreasing alcohol availability for people from high-risk families to reduce high-risk drinking and alcohol problems.

Optimizing Assessment of Risk and Protection for Diverse Adolescent Outcomes: Do Risk and Protective Factors for Delinquency and Substance Use Also Predict Risky Sexual Behavior?

Assessments of youth risk and protective factors (RPFs) for substance use, delinquency, and violence have been used by communities to identify priorities and target them with prevention interventions. These same RPFs may also predict other youth problems. This study examined the strength and consistency of relationships of 41 ecological RPFs that predict antisocial behavior and substance use with sexual behavior outcomes in a sample of 2150 urban youth in 10th and 12th grade. After adjusting for controls, findings identify significant associations among the majority of community, school, family, peer, and individual risk factors, and family, peer, and individual protective factors, with sexual behavior outcomes, specifying unique associations among multiple factors with risky sex relative to both safe sex and not being sexually active. Prevention programming that targets common predictors for multiple problems may address a broad array of outcomes, including sexual health risk behaviors.

Exposure to sexually explicit media in early adolescence is related to risky sexual behavior in emerging adulthood

Background

Sexually explicit media exposure during early adolescence has been found to be associated with risky sexual behavior. However, previous study suffered from methodological issue, such as selection bias. Furthermore, little is known about the effect of multi-modality sexually explicit media exposure on risky sexual behavior, and how this relationship can be applied to non-western societies.

Objectives

This study aimed to improve upon previous studies by using instrumental variable estimation. In addition, this study also included multi-modality of sexually explicit media and three risky sexual behavior measure from a sample of Taiwanese adolescents.

Methods

Participants were recruited from a prospective longitudinal study (Taiwan Youth Project). All were in 7^th grade (mean age = 13.3) when the study was initiated in 2000. Sexually explicit media exposure, including ever-exposure and number of modalities exposed to, was measured in wave 2 (8^th grade). Risky sexual behavior was measured in waves 8 (mean age = 20.3) and 10 (mean age = 24.3). A two-stage least squares regression was employed, with pubertal timing as the instrumental variable.

Results

About 50% of participants had been exposed to sexual media content by 8^th grade, from an average of one modality. Sexually explicit media exposure predicted early sexual debut, unsafe sex, and multiple sexual partners (all: p < .05). Furthermore, exposure to more media modalities increased the likelihood of risky sexual behaviors. However, only the effect on early sexual debut was gender invariant.

Conclusions

Exposure to sexually explicit media in early adolescence had a substantive relationship with risky sexual behavior in the emerging adulthood. Knowledge of this causal like effect provides a basis for building better preventive programs in early adolescence. One prominent way is early education on media literacy, and physicians themselves may need to be familiar with such content to initiate it.

Time-varying effects of family smoking and family management on adolescent daily smoking: The moderating roles of behavioral disinhibition and anxiety

BACKGROUND

Family smoking environment and family management are associated with risk of teen smoking behaviors. However, less is known about whether these associations increase or decrease in strength across adolescence, and whether there are person-environment interactions. The current study examined 1) the age-varying main effects of family smoking and family management on adolescent daily smoking from ages 12-18 and tested 2) whether behavioral disinhibition and anxiety moderated these relationships.

METHODS

Data were drawn from the Seattle Social Development Project (SSDP; N = 808), a longitudinal study examining prosocial and antisocial behavior. Analyses used time-varying effect modeling (TVEM), which tested the stability of the relationship between family smoking and family management and youth daily smoking across adolescence.

RESULTS

Greater family smoking increased the likelihood of adolescent daily smoking, whereas greater family management reduced the likelihood of daily smoking. Significant interactions between family management and youth behavioral disinhibition and anxiety during early and mid-adolescence indicated that family management was more protective for adolescents with low (compared to high) behavioral disinhibition and anxiety. The effect of family smoking was not moderated by behavioral disinhibition or anxiety.

CONCLUSIONS

Family smoking and family management are key risk and protective factors that may be targeted for adolescent smoking prevention. Our interaction results for individual differences in behavioral disinhibition and anxiety suggest that certain types of youth may respond differently to family management practices. Findings also show periods during adolescence where family-centered preventive interventions could be optimally timed to prevent or reduce persistent adolescent smoking.

Neighborhood Poverty Increases Risk for Cigarette Smoking From Age 30 to 39

BACKGROUND

Lower socioeconomic status (SES) has been associated with higher rates of smoking. Few longitudinal studies have examined indicators of SES at both the neighborhood- and individual-level over time in conjunction with proximal risk factors of cigarette smoking.

PURPOSE

To examine associations of time-varying measures of SES, demographic factors, and proximal risk factors for smoking net of average trajectories of smoking behavior from ages 30 to 39 in a community sample.

METHODS

Data from the Seattle Social Development Project (N = 752), a theory-driven longitudinal study originating in Seattle, WA, were used to estimate trajectories of smoking from age 30 to 39. Time-varying measures of neighborhood poverty, coworker smoking, partner smoking, depression, anxiety, education, income, marital status, and parenthood were associated with smoking over time using latent growth curve modeling.

RESULTS

Results indicated that living in higher poverty neighborhoods was uniquely associated with a greater likelihood of smoking net of average trajectories of smoking from age 30 to 39, gender and race/ethnicity, time-varying measures of SES and demographics, and time-varying measures of proximal risk factors for smoking.

CONCLUSIONS

Living in higher poverty neighborhoods presents a unique risk for smoking among adults aged 30 to 39 above and beyond multiple aspects of SES and other potential mechanisms relating SES to smoking.

General and Specific Predictors of Comorbid Substance Use and Internalizing Problems from Adolescence to Age 33

The current study examines the continuity in comorbidity between substance use and internalizing mental health problems from adolescence to adulthood and investigates the general and specific predictors of comorbidity across development. Participants were drawn from the Seattle Social Development Project (N = 808), a gender-balanced, ethnically diverse longitudinal panel. Structural equation modeling was used to examine risk factors for comorbid substance use and internalizing problems in family and peer social environments; substance use- and mental health-specific social environments (family tobacco, alcohol, and marijuana use; family history of depression); and individual risk factors (behavioral disinhibition). Latent factors were created for comorbid substance use and mental health problems at ages 13-14 and comorbidity of substance abuse and dependence symptoms and mental health disorder symptoms at ages 30-33 and included indicators of anxiety, depression, alcohol, tobacco, and marijuana problems. Comorbid problems in adolescence predicted later comorbidity of disorders in adulthood. In addition, family tobacco environment and behavioral disinhibition predicted adolescent comorbidity, while family history of depression was associated with adult comorbidity. Finally, family and peer substance use in adolescence predicted substance use (alcohol, tobacco, and marijuana) both in adolescence and adulthood. The pattern of results suggests that comorbidity in adolescence continues into adulthood and is predicted by both general and behavior-specific environmental experiences during adolescence. Findings clarify the etiology of comorbid internalizing and substance use problems and suggest potential preventive intervention targets in adolescence to curb the development of comorbidity in adulthood.

Nonmedical prescription opioids and pathways of drug involvement in the US: Generational differences

BACKGROUND

This study sought to specify (1) the position of nonmedical prescription opioids (NMPO) in drug initiation sequences among Millennials (1979-96), Generation X (1964-79), and Baby Boomers (1949-64) and (2) gender and racial/ethnic differences in sequences among Millennials.

METHODS

Data are from the 2013-2014 National Surveys on Drug Use and Health (n = 73,026). We identified statistically significant drug initiation sequences involving alcohol/cigarettes, marijuana, NMPO, cocaine, and heroin using a novel method distinguishing significant sequences from patterns expected only due to correlations induced by common liability among drugs.

RESULTS

Alcohol/cigarettes followed by marijuana was the most common sequence. NMPO or cocaine use after marijuana, and heroin use after NMPO or cocaine, differed by generation. Among successively younger generations, NMPO after marijuana and heroin after NMPO increased. Millennials were more likely to initiate NMPO than cocaine after marijuana; Generation X and Baby Boomers were less likely (odds ratios = 1.4;0.3;0.2). Millennials were more likely than Generation X and Baby Boomers to use heroin after NMPO (hazards ratios = 7.1;3.4;2.5). In each generation, heroin users were far more likely to start heroin after both NMPO and cocaine than either alone. Sequences were similar by gender. Fewer paths were significant among African-Americans.

CONCLUSIONS

NMPOs play a more prominent role in drug initiation sequences among Millennials than prior generations. Among Millennials, NMPO use is more likely than cocaine to follow marijuana use. In all generations, transition to heroin from NMPO significantly occurs only when both NMPO and cocaine have been used. Delineation of drug sequences suggests optimal points in development for prevention and treatment efforts.

Psychosocial Factors Related to the Intergenerational Transmission of Externalizing Behaviors in Early Midlife

BACKGROUND

To study the intergenerational transmission of externalizing behaviors.

METHODS

Participants came from a community-based random sample of residents in two upstate New York counties (N = 548). Data were collected from mothers at mean age 40 and from their children from adolescence (mean age = 14, SD = 2.8) to early midlife (mean age = 43, SD = 2.8) at seven time points. Structural equation modeling (SEM) was used to study the psychosocial factors as related to externalizing behaviors in early midlife.

RESULTS

First, maternal externalizing behaviors were indirectly associated with the offspring's externalizing behaviors through the offspring's substance use in adolescence, the offspring's partner's smoking patterns, and the offspring's marital conflict. Second, maternal cigarette smoking was indirectly associated with the offspring's externalizing behaviors through the offspring's substance use in adolescence, the offspring's partner's cigarette smoking, and the offspring's marital conflict. Third, maternal marital conflict had an indirect effect on the offspring's externalizing behaviors, mediated by offspring marital conflict.

CONCLUSIONS

The finding that externalizing behaviors can be transmitted from parent to child informs the need for family-based interventions that are appropriate to adolescents.

Neighborhood, Family, and Peer Factors Associated with Early Adolescent Smoking and Alcohol Use

There is broad agreement that neighborhood contexts are important for adolescent development, but there is less consensus about their association with adolescent smoking and alcohol use. Few studies have examined associations between neighborhood socioeconomic contexts and smoking and alcohol use while also accounting for differences in family and peer risk factors for substance use. Data drawn from the Seattle Social Development Project (N = 808), a gender-balanced (female = 49%), multiethnic, theory-driven longitudinal study originating in Seattle, WA, were used to estimate trajectories of smoking and alcohol use from 5th to 9th grade. Time-varying measures of neighborhood socioeconomic, family, and peer factors were associated with smoking and alcohol use at each wave after accounting for average growth in smoking and alcohol use over time and demographic differences. Results indicated that living in more socioeconomically disadvantaged neighborhoods, lower family income, lower family general functioning, more permissive family smoking environments, and affiliation with deviant peers were independently associated with increased smoking. Lower family functioning, more permissive family alcohol use environments, and deviant peers were independently associated with increased alcohol use. The effect of neighborhood disadvantage on smoking was mediated by family income and deviant peers while the effect of neighborhood disadvantage on alcohol use was mediated by deviant peers alone. Family functioning and family substance use did not mediate associations between neighborhood disadvantage and smoking or alcohol use. The results highlight the importance of neighborhood, family, and peer factors in early adolescent smoking and alcohol use. Future studies should examine the unique association of neighborhood disadvantage with adolescent smoking net of family socioeconomics, functioning, and substance use, as well as peer affiliations. Better understanding of the role of contextual factors in early adolescent smoking and alcohol use can help bolster efforts to prevent both short and long harms from substance use.

Understanding the interplay of individual and social-developmental factors in the progression of substance use and mental health from childhood to adulthood

This study examines the interplay between individual and social-developmental factors in the development of positive functioning, substance use problems, and mental health problems. This interplay is nested within positive and negative developmental cascades that span childhood, adolescence, the transition to adulthood, and adulthood. Data are drawn from the Seattle Social Development Project, a gender-balanced, ethnically diverse community sample of 808 participants interviewed 12 times from ages 10 to 33. Path modeling showed short- and long-term cascading effects of positive social environments, family history of depression, and substance-using social environments throughout development. Positive family social environments set a template for future partner social environment interaction and had positive influences on proximal individual functioning, both in the next developmental period and long term. Family history of depression adversely affected mental health functioning throughout adulthood. Family substance use began a cascade of substance-specific social environments across development, which was the pathway through which increasing severity of substance use problems flowed. The model also indicated that adolescent, but not adult, individual functioning influenced selection into positive social environments, and significant cross-domain effects were found in which substance-using social environments affected subsequent mental health.

A Test-Replicate Approach to Candidate Gene Research on Addiction and Externalizing Disorders: A Collaboration Across Five Longitudinal Studies

This study presents results from a collaboration across five longitudinal studies seeking to test and replicate models of gene-environment interplay in the development of substance use and externalizing disorders (SUDs, EXT). We describe an overview of our conceptual models, plan for gene-environment interplay analyses, and present main effects results evaluating six candidate genes potentially relevant to SUDs and EXT (MAOA, 5-HTTLPR, COMT, DRD2, DAT1, and DRD4). All samples included rich longitudinal and phenotypic measurements from childhood/adolescence (ages 5-13) through early adulthood (ages 25-33); sample sizes ranged from 3487 in the test sample, to ~600-1000 in the replication samples. Phenotypes included lifetime symptom counts of SUDs (nicotine, alcohol and cannabis), adult antisocial behavior, and an aggregate externalizing disorder composite. Covariates included the first 10 ancestral principal components computed using all autosomal markers in subjects across the data sets, and age at the most recent assessment. Sex, ancestry, and exposure effects were thoroughly evaluated. After correcting for multiple testing, only one significant main effect was found in the test sample, but it was not replicated. Implications for subsequent gene-environment interplay analyses are discussed.

Changes in Family Relationships among Substance Abusing Runaway Adolescents: A Comparison between Family and Individual Therapies

Eligible adolescents (12-17 years old) were recruited from a short-term crisis shelter for runaway adolescents in a large Midwestern city. Adolescents (N = 179) were randomly assigned to Ecologically-Based Family Therapy (EBFT, n = 61), the Community Reinforcement Approach (CRA, n = 57), or brief Motivational Enhancement Therapy (MET, n = 61) with the primary focus on substance abuse. A significant increase in perceived family cohesion and a significant reduction in perceived family conflict were found among all treatment conditions from baseline to the 24-month follow-up. Adolescents who received EBFT demonstrated more improvement in family cohesion after treatment than those who received CRA or MET, and more reduction in family conflict during treatment than those who received MET.

Family Functioning as a Mediator of Relations between Family History of Substance Use Disorder and Impulsivity

Impulsivity is strongly related to the development of adolescent substance use. Therefore, understanding factors that influence impulsive characteristics is important for the development of prevention and intervention programs. Intervention and prevention programs focused on factors that influence impulsive characteristics are especially important for those at particularly high risk for the expression of impulsivity - those with a family history of substance use disorder. A factor of particular interest is family functioning.

AIM

To examine family functioning as a mediator of relations between having a family history of substance use disorder and impulsivity.

METHODS

Participants included a majority Hispanic sample of pre-adolescent boys and girls (mean age 10.99, SD = .84) recruited from the community who did (FH+) and did not (FH-) have a family history of substance use disorder. FH status and the quality of family functioning were compared at the initial visit with impulsiveness assessed a year later.

RESULTS

Results showed FH+ children had worse family functioning; worse family functioning was related to higher levels of impulsivity, and higher levels of impulsivity among FH+ children were due to the influence of family functioning on levels of impulsivity. In other words, family functioning mediated relations between having a family history of substance use disorder and impulsivity.

CONCLUSION

These results indicate that higher levels of impulsivity in FH+ children are due in part to worse family functioning.

Gene-environment interplay between parent-child relationship problems and externalizing disorders in adolescence and young adulthood

BACKGROUND

Previous studies have shown that genetic risk for externalizing (EXT) disorders is greater in the context of adverse family environments during adolescence, but it is unclear whether these effects are long lasting. The current study evaluated developmental changes in gene-environment interplay in the concurrent and prospective associations between parent-child relationship problems and EXT at ages 18 and 25 years.

METHOD

The sample included 1382 twin pairs (48% male) from the Minnesota Twin Family Study, participating in assessments at ages 18 years (mean = 17.8, s.d. = 0.69 years) and 25 years (mean = 25.0, s.d. = 0.90 years). Perceptions of parent-child relationship problems were assessed using questionnaires. Structured interviews were used to assess symptoms of adult antisocial behavior and nicotine, alcohol and illicit drug dependence.

RESULTS

We detected a gene-environment interaction at age 18 years, such that the genetic influence on EXT was greater in the context of more parent-child relationship problems. This moderation effect was not present at age 25 years, nor did parent-relationship problems at age 18 years moderate genetic influence on EXT at age 25 years. Rather, common genetic influences accounted for this longitudinal association.

CONCLUSIONS

Gene-environment interaction evident in the relationship between adolescent parent-child relationship problems and EXT is both proximal and developmentally limited. Common genetic influence, rather than a gene-environment interaction, accounts for the long-term association between parent-child relationship problems at age 18 years and EXT at age 25 years. These results are consistent with a relatively pervasive importance of gene-environmental correlation in the transition from late adolescence to young adulthood.

General and substance-specific predictors of young adult nicotine dependence, alcohol use disorder, and problem behavior: replication in two samples

BACKGROUND

This paper presents two replications of a heuristic model for measuring environment in studies of gene-environment interplay in the etiology of young adult problem behaviors.

METHODS

Data were drawn from two longitudinal, U.S. studies of the etiology of substance use and related behaviors: the Raising Healthy Children study (RHC; N=1040, 47% female) and the Minnesota Twin Family Study (MTFS; N=1512, 50% female). RHC included a Pacific Northwest, school-based, community sample. MTFS included twins identified from state birth records in Minnesota. Both studies included commensurate measures of general family environment and family substance-specific environments in adolescence (RHC ages 10-18; MTFS age 18), as well as young adult nicotine dependence, alcohol and illicit drug use disorders, HIV sexual risk behavior, and antisocial behavior (RHC ages 24, 25; MTFS age 25).

RESULTS

Results from the two samples were highly consistent and largely supported the heuristic model proposed by Bailey et al. (2011). Adolescent general family environment, family smoking environment, and family drinking environment predicted shared variance in problem behaviors in young adulthood. Family smoking environment predicted unique variance in young adult nicotine dependence. Family drinking environment did not appear to predict unique variance in young adult alcohol use disorder.

CONCLUSIONS

Organizing environmental predictors and outcomes into general and substance-specific measures provides a useful way forward in modeling complex environments and phenotypes. Results suggest that programs aimed at preventing young adult problem behaviors should target general family environment and family smoking and drinking environments in adolescence.

Genetic and environmental influences on alcohol use problems: moderation by romantic partner support, but not family or friend support

BACKGROUND

High levels of various forms of social support (e.g., romantic partner, family, friend) have a buffering effect on alcohol use outcomes in both adolescents and adults. The etiological associations among these variables have not been well studied. One possibility is that social support may buffer against inherited genetic predispositions to alcohol problems. Previous work has examined gene-environment interactions (G×E) for alcohol use disorders, but never for social support in adult twins.

METHODS

In the current study, biometric modeling techniques were implemented to examine genetic and environmental components of variance of social support and alcohol use problems in a sample of 672 adult twin pairs. Using biometric moderation models that estimate G×E in the presence of gene-environment correlation (rGE), analyses examined how genetic and environmental influences on alcohol use problems varied as a function of romantic partner support, family support, and friend support.

RESULTS

Genetic and environmental components of variance for alcohol use problems varied depending on the level of romantic partner support, with greater environmental influences found at the low level of support. Family and friend support, however, failed to show moderating effects.

CONCLUSIONS

The current research has implications for expanding our understanding of what types of social support may trigger or suppress genetic and environmental influences on alcohol use problems.

Alcohol and tobacco use disorder comorbidity in young adults and the influence of romantic partner environments

BACKGROUND

Although there is considerable evidence that the development of tobacco dependence (TD) and that of alcohol use disorder (AUD) are intertwined, less is known about the comorbid development of these disorders. The present study examines tobacco dependence and alcohol use disorder comorbidity in young adulthood within the context of romantic partner relationships.

METHODS

Data were drawn from the Seattle Social Development Project, a contemporary, ethnically diverse, and gender balanced longitudinal panel including 808 participants. A typological person-centered approach was used to assign participants to four outcome groups: no disorder, tobacco dependence (TD) only, alcohol use disorder (AUD) only, and comorbid (both). Multinomial logistic regression was used to determine the association between partner general and substance-specific environments and single or dual alcohol and tobacco use disorder diagnosis in young adulthood (ages 24-33, n=628). Previous heavy alcohol and tobacco use were controlled for, as were dispositional characteristics, gender, ethnicity, adult SES, and adult depression.

RESULTS

Greater partner conflict increased the likelihood of being comorbid compared to having TD only or AUD only. Having a smoking partner increased the likelihood of being comorbid compared to having AUD only, but having a drinking partner did not significantly distinguish being comorbid from having TD only.

CONCLUSIONS

Findings demonstrated the utility of a comorbidity-based, person-centered approach and the influence of general and tobacco-specific, but not alcohol-specific, partner environments on comorbid alcohol and tobacco use disorders in young adulthood.

The effect of general and drug-specific family environments on comorbid and drug-specific problem behavior: a longitudinal examination

Previous research has shown that the development of alcohol and tobacco dependence is linked and that both are influenced by environmental and intrapersonal factors, many of which likely interact over the life course. The present study examines the effects of general and alcohol- and tobacco-specific environmental influences in the family of origin (ages 10-18) and family of cohabitation (ages 27-30) on problem behavior and alcohol- and tobacco-specific outcomes at age 33. General environmental factors include family management, conflict, bonding, and involvement. Alcohol environment includes parental alcohol use, parents' attitudes toward alcohol, and children's involvement in family drinking. Tobacco-specific environment is assessed analogously. Additionally, analyses include the effects of childhood behavioral disinhibition, initial behavior problems, and age 18 substance use. Analyses were based on 469 participants drawn from the Seattle Social Development Project (SSDP) sample. Results indicated that (a) environmental factors within the family of origin and the family of cohabitation are both important predictors of problem behavior at age 33; (b) family of cohabitation influences partially mediate the effects of family of origin environments; (c) considerable continuity exists between adolescent and adult general and tobacco (but not alcohol) environments; age 18 alcohol and tobacco use partially mediates these relationships; and (d) childhood behavioral disinhibition contributed to age 33 outcomes, over and above the effects of family of cohabitation mediators. Implications for preventive interventions are discussed.

The association between parent early adult drug use disorder and later observed parenting practices and child behavior problems: testing alternate models

This study tested the association between parent illicit drug use disorder (DUD) in early adulthood and observed parenting practices at ages 27-28 and examined the following 3 theoretically derived models explaining this link: (a) a disrupted parent adult functioning model,(b) a preexisting parent personality factor model, and (c) a disrupted adolescent family process model. Associations between study variables and child externalizing problems also were examined. Longitudinal data linking 2 generations were drawn from the Seattle Social Development Project (SSDP) and The SSDP Intergenerational Project (TIP), and included 167 parents and their 2- to 8-year-old child. Path modeling revealed that parent DUD in early adulthood predicted later observed low-skilled parenting, which was related to child externalizing problems. The preexisting parent personality factor model was supported. Parent negative emotionality accounted for the association between parent early adult DUD and later parenting practices. Parent negative emotionality also was related directly to child externalizing behavior. Limited support for the disrupted transition to adulthood model was found. The disrupted adolescent family process model was not supported. Results suggest that problem drug use that occurs early in adulthood may affect later parenting skills, independent of subsequent parent drug use. Findings highlight the importance of parent negative emotionality in influencing his or her own problem behavior, interactions with his or her child, and his or her child's problem behavior. Prevention and treatment programs targeting young adult substance use, poor parenting practices, and child behavior problems should address parent personality factors that may contribute to these behaviors.