Gender differences and similarities in the personality correlates of adolescent alcohol problems

Deviant peer affiliation mediates the prospective association from impulsivity to alcohol use in late adolescence

INTRODUCTION

Previous research has found that impulsivity and deviant peer affiliation predict alcohol use among adolescents. However, it remains unclear to what extent these risk factors predict alcohol use in conjunction with one another, and to what extent they predict over and above correlated risk factors, such as pre-existing externalizing problems and sociodemographic characteristics. The present study tested the hypothesis that deviant peer affiliation would mediate the prospective association between impulsivity and alcohol use in adolescence (ages 13-18 years), controlling for a wide range of family and child-level covariates.

METHODS

Analyses were conducted using data from 2318 participants from the Longitudinal Cohort Study of the Project on Human Development in Chicago Neighborhoods. Participants were approximately 9, 12, or 15 years of age at wave 1 of the study, with waves 2 and 3 taking place at approximately 2-year intervals. The sample composition was 50.3% male, 46.1% Hispanic, 35.6% Black, non-Hispanic, 14.4% White, non-Hispanic, and 3.9% other race/ethnicity.

RESULTS

Results from path analyses indicated that the prospective association between impulsivity and alcohol use was mediated by peer deviance, but only for the oldest (age 15) cohort.

CONCLUSIONS

Findings from the present study suggest that despite impulsivity being a dispositional characteristic, its effects on alcohol use in later adolescence are achieved through a social pathway, via affiliation with deviant peers. It further suggests that this pathway, especially the link from impulsivity to affiliation with deviant peers, may not operate until late adolescence. Findings suggest that alcohol use may be prevented or reduced among impulsive adolescents by reducing their exposure to delinquent peers.

Predictors of alcohol-related negative consequences in adolescents: A systematic review of the literature and implications for future research

OBJECTIVE

To conduct a systematic review of the literature examining risk and protective factors of alcohol related negative consequences (ARNCs) among adolescents.

METHODS

We conducted a systematic search of original empirical articles published between January 1, 1990 and June 1, 2015. The qualitative synthesis was performed using the Theory of Triadic Influence as a framework.

RESULTS

Fifty-two studies were reviewed. Intrapersonal (e.g., personality traits, drinking motives and expectancies, depression), interpersonal (e.g., parental and peer alcohol use, violence exposure) and attitudinal factors (e.g., media exposure to alcohol, religiosity) influence ARNCs. Emerging evidence of new trends contributing to ARNCs include ready mixed alcohol drinks and childhood trauma and abuse.

CONCLUSIONS

Risk factors from all domains of influence were observed. More research is needed on protective factors and how alcohol use interacts with preventive factors in predicting ARNCs. The conceptualization of negative consequences varies significantly between studies and may impact the external validity of previous research.

Childhood predictors and mid-adolescent correlates of developmental trajectories of alcohol use among male and female youth

The identification of salient risk factors for alcohol consumption among male and female adolescents is an important topic not only for etiology research but also for designing effective gender-specific alcohol prevention programs for young people. This study examined the extent to which problematic alcohol use trajectories from ages 14 to 18 among male and female youth were related to childhood predictors assessed at age 9 (i.e., impulsivity, academic self-confidence, social problems with peers), socio-demographic variables, and mid-adolescent correlates [i.e., parental use, body mass index (BMI), risky peer context, conduct problems at school, parent-child relationship, somatic complaints]. Data analysis was based on a representative German longitudinal study (1986-1995, n = 1,619, 55 % female). Using growth mixture modeling methodology, associations of childhood predictors and mid-adolescent correlates to distinctive trajectories of alcohol use were examined for males and females separately. For males, a problematic consumption trajectory was associated with poor relationships to parents in adolescence and small community size. For females, low impulsivity during childhood, high BMI, and contact with deviant peers during adolescence predicted problematic as compared to normative alcohol use trajectories. Additionally, high parental alcohol use, low parental educational background, and conduct problems at school during adolescence were common predictors of a problematic alcohol use trajectory in both genders. The results provide insights regarding differences in the gender-typical development of adolescent alcohol use as well as stress the need of gender-specific intervention components along with universal prevention strategies against problematic consumption trajectories.

The amphetamine response moderates the relationship between negative emotionality and alcohol use

BACKGROUND

Considerable evidence suggests that sensitivity to the stimulant effects of alcohol and other drugs is a risk marker for heavy or problematic use of those substances. A separate body of research implicates negative emotionality. The goal of the present study was to evaluate the independent and interactive effects of the stimulant response, assessed with an amphetamine challenge, and negative emotionality on alcohol and drug use.

METHODS

Healthy young women and men completed the Multidimensional Personality Questionnaire (MPQ) and an inventory assessing alcohol and other drug use. Subsequently, the effects of 10-mg d-amphetamine were determined in the laboratory using the Stimulant scale of the Biphasic Alcohol Effects Scale. Hierarchical regression analyses evaluated the effects of amphetamine response and the MPQ factor Negative Emotionality on measures of substance use.

RESULTS

The amphetamine response moderated relationships between negative emotionality and alcohol use: in combination with a robust amphetamine response (i.e., enhanced stimulant effects as compared with baseline), negative emotionality predicted greater alcohol consumption, more episodes of binge drinking, and more frequent intoxication in regression models. A strong stimulant response independently predicted having used an illicit drug, and there was a trend for it to predict having used alcohol. Negative emotionality alone was not associated with any measure of alcohol or drug use.

CONCLUSIONS

Consistent with the idea that emotion-based behavioral dysregulation promotes reward seeking, a high level of negative emotionality was associated with maladaptive alcohol use when it co-occurred with sensitivity to drug-based reward. The findings contribute to our understanding of how differences in personality may interact with those in drug response to affect alcohol use.

Different phenotypic and genotypic presentations in alcohol dependence: age at onset matters

OBJECTIVE

Several theoretical typology models have been proposed to classify alcoholism into more homogeneous subtypes using various criteria, for which age at onset of alcohol dependence is shared across many models. We investigated the evidence for the distinction between early- versus late-onset alcoholism by examining relevant phenotypic and genotypic variables.

METHOD

Data are from 1,248 individuals with alcohol dependence, who were interviewed to collect detailed clinical information. Early versus late onset of alcohol dependence was defined by the age at onset of 22 years. Odds ratio (OR) and Cohen's d were calculated as effect size for comparisons of clinical features between the two groups. We adjusted interviewed age and gender in logistic regression models. Case-control genetic analyses were conducted for the association between HTR1B, SLC6A4, DRD2, and OPRμ1 genes and subgroups of alcohol dependence using a sample of 530 controls screened for alcohol problems.

RESULTS

Early-onset alcoholism exhibited significantly (p < .01) different clinical characteristics from late-onset alcoholism, including higher severity in alcohol dependence symptoms (d = 0.22) and maximum drinking quantity within 24 hours (d = 0.40), more rapid progression from regular drinking to meet alcohol dependence diagnosis (d = 1.73), higher expectancies for alcohol (d = 0.22-0.47), more comorbidity with externalizing disorders (ORs = 2.8-2.9), and greater prevalence of family alcohol use problems (d = 0.26-0.43). In addition, markers in the HTR1B and OPRμ1 genes showed genetic associations with subgroups of alcohol dependence (ORs = 1.5-2.4).

CONCLUSIONS

Our findings support that subgroups of alcohol dependence defined by onset age have phenotypic and genetic differences. The early-onset subgroup had more severe features for almost every aspect we examined. Coupled with genetic association findings, age at onset of alcohol dependence may serve as a simple but important clinical marker with implications for future etiological research and intervention.

Interplay of psychosocial factors and the long-term course of adolescents with a substance use disorder

This paper examines the association of psychosocial factors and long-term drug use behaviors (year-5.5) among adolescents with a substance dependence disorder. One group received treatment with a 12-Step approach (n = 159) and one group was on a waiting list (n = 62). Four psychosocial factors (deviant behavior, peer drug environment, psychological disturbance and family estrangement), as measured by a standardized self-report questionnaire, were examined as predictors across three time points (year-1, year-4 and year-5.5). Improved outcome across time was significantly associated with decreases in deviant behavior, peer drug environment and family estrangement. However, psychological disturbance was not associated with outcome. Also, we did not find an effect on outcome as a function of age, gender and race. Youth that received treatment, as opposed to the waiting list youth, generally revealed a more favorable outcome across time. Treatment implications of the study findings are discussed.

Substance use risk across three generations: the roles of parent discipline practices and inhibitory control

This study used 3 generations and 21 years of prospective data to test models of intergenerational transmission of substance use and substance use risk. Thus, the study extends prior studies in the field that have focused predominantly on substance abuse. The association between the grandparental generation's (G1 mother and father) and the parental generation's (G2 father) alcohol use and illicit drug use was hypothesized to be mediated by G2's poor inhibitory control. Additionally, G1's poor discipline of G2 was hypothesized to be directly associated with G2's substance use as well as to partially mediate the association between G1's substance use and G2's inhibitory control. In turn, G2's substance use in late adolescence was expected to be associated with its offspring's (G3) poor inhibitory control at age 3 years. Findings partially supported the predictions and varied by substance. For alcohol use, only cross-generational associations in use were found. For illicit drugs, both poor inhibitory control and poor discipline played some mediational role in cross-generational use.

Adolescent predictors of young adult and adult alcohol involvement and dysphoria in a prospective community sample of women

The adolescent predictors of later alcohol involvement (AI), dysphoria (D), and their shared association (AD) among women have not been adequately established. Three waves of data from an ethnically diverse community sample of women, assessed over 16 years are used to study how various psychosocial factors in adolescence influenced later drinking, depression, and their shared association. Structural equation models revealed that several adolescent ecodevelopmental and social development model variables influenced their later outcome in young adulthood and adulthood. The strongest relation was between adolescent Social Conformity and adult AD (beta = -.46) over a 16-year period, emphasizing the impact of this construct. Numerous other relations were revealed. For instance, less satisfaction with school during adolescence predicted adult AI. Having a good bond to the family in adolescence predicted a lower quantity of alcohol consumed during adulthood. Lower satisfaction with "what you want to be" during adolescence predicted young adult D. Higher levels of adolescent relationship satisfaction and school satisfaction predicted less suicidal ideation as an adult. Prevention interventions focusing on increasing socially conforming attitudes and on strengthening relationships both in and out of the home during adolescence are likely to be effective in reducing aspects of AI, D, and AD for women in the general community.