The psychosocial etiology of adolescent drug use: a family interactional approach

The purpose of this monograph was to propose a framework, family interactional theory, for explaining the psychosocial aspects of adolescent drug use. Three themes are stressed: (a) the extension of developmental perspectives on drug use, (b) the elucidation of family (especially parental) influences leading to drug use, and (c) the exploration of factors that increase or mitigate adolescents' vulnerability to drug use. We present a developmental model with two components; the first deals with adolescent pathways to drug use, and the second incorporates childhood factors. The model was tested in two studies: one cross-sectional study of 649 college students and their fathers, and one longitudinal study of 429 children and their mothers. The subjects were given self-administered questionnaires containing scales measuring the personality, family, and peer variables outlined in the model. The results of each study supported the hypothesized model, with some differences between parental influences. We also found that individual protective factors (e.g., adolescent conventionality, parent-child attachment) could offset risk factors (e.g., peer drug use) and enhance other protective factors, resulting in less adolescent marijuana use. Implications of the findings for prevention and treatment, future research, and public policy are discussed.     

Self-concept and psychosocial adjustment in adolescence

This study analyses the relationship between a multidimensional measure of self-concept, Self-concept Form-5 Questionnaire (AF5), and a broad set of adolescents' psychosocial adjustment indicators. From the responses of 1,281 participants (53.7% females) aged 12 to 17 years ( M = 14.98 years, SD = 1.74 years), results indicated that higher self-concept scores corresponded to better psychological adjustment, good personal skills and fewer behavioral problems. Although a positive relationship between social self-concept and drug use was found, this significant relationship disappeared once the adolescent's age and sex was controlled for. These results support the idea that the self-concept is a basic theoretical construct closely related to the psychosocial adjustment in adolescence. Also this study helps explain some contradictory results reported in the literature (i.e., a positive relationship between social self-concept and drug use), by showing how the statistical control of a third variable effect (i.e., age) avoids reaching conclusions based on spurious relationships.     

The natural history of cigarette smoking from adolescence to adulthood in a midwestern community sample: multiple trajectories and their psychosocial correlates.

Previous research on the natural history of smoking has focused on overall group trajectories without considering the possibility of risk subgroup variation. To address this limitation, the authors of the present study aimed to identify subgroups with varying trajectories of smoking behavior. The authors accomplished this within a cohort-sequential study of a large community sample (N = 8,556) with measurements spanning ages 11-31. After removing 2 a priori groups (abstainers and erratics), the authors empirically identified 4 trajectory groups--early stable smokers, late stable smokers, experimenters, and quitters--and psychosocial variables from adolescence and young adulthood were significantly distinguished among them. Given recent advances in quantitative methods, it is now feasible to consider subgroups of trajectories within an overall longitudinal design.     

Procedure for the recording of psychosocial relations in adolescence

A procedure permitting more detailed recording of the complex pattern of mental processes involved in the formation of social relations between young people is presented. The content and structure of the procedure are explained and advice regarding the analysis of the result is given. Recording is based on describing external behaviour using four alternative forms of behaviour (aggressive, dominant, submissive and cooperative), motivational aspects by means of a list of motives and emotional background experiences for specific situations. The alternative forms of behaviour are more closely described, using initial results from studies involving 824 subjects.     

Experiential correlates of time alone in adolescence1

Seven hundred and fifty-three observations were collected on 25 adolescents at random times during an average week. The observations consisted of self-reports completed in response to an electronic pager. The study was aimed at the question: What is the experience of time alone like for adolescents? The results suggest a complex but consistent relationship: while aloneness is generally a negative experience, those adolescents who spend a moderate amount of time alone (about 30 percent of their waking time) tend to show better overall adjustment than adolescents who are either never alone or spend more than the optimal proportion of time alone. Alienation and average moods showed inverse linear or quadratic relationships with amount of time alone. These results are discussed in terms of the possible psycho-social functions of aloneness at the adolescent stage of the life cycle.     

Stability of personality during adolescence and its relationship to stage of drug use

The purpose of this study was to examine how stability of personality, measured at two points during adolescence, relates to adolescents' stage of drug use, measured at the second point in time. The subjects were 704 black and white high school freshmen and sophomores who participated again two years later. Results indicated that the earlier measures of personality were significantly associated with the later measures of personality, which in turn were associated with the adolescents' stage of drug use. In addition, the adolescents' personality attributes showed a fair amount of stability over the two-year span of the study.     

Deviant peer affiliations,crime and substance use: a fixed effects regression analysis

The present study was designed to assess the influence of deviant peer affiliations on crime and substance use in adolescence/young adulthood. Data were used from a 21-year longitudinal study of health, development, and adjustment of a birth cohort of 1,265 New Zealand children. Annual assessments of deviant peer affiliations were obtained for the period from age 14–21 years, together with measures of psychosocial outcomes including, violent crime, property crime, alcohol abuse, cannabis abuse, and nicotine dependence. Affiliating with deviant peers was found to be significantly associated with each of these outcomes (p < .0001). Statistical control for confounding by both fixed and time dynamic factors reduced the strength of association between deviant peer affiliations and outcome measures. Nevertheless, deviant peer affiliations remained significantly associated (p < .0001) with all outcomes. For violent/property crime, cannabis and alcohol abuse there was significant evidence of age-related variation in the strength of association with deviant peer affiliations, with deviant peer affiliations having greater influence on younger participants (14–15 years) than older participants (20–21 years). These results suggest that deviant peer affiliations are associated with increased rates of a range of adjustment problems in adolescence/young adulthood with deviant peer affiliations being most influential at younger ages.     

Suicidality in adolescence: review and legal considerations

Adolescence is a unique developmental stage in which suicidality first emerges as a public health problem. The increasing trend of teenage suicide since the 1950s has only relented in the past ten years. The risk factors for adolescent suicide, suicidal ideation, and suicide attempts and an approach to assessing the suicidal adolescent for risk of future self-harm are reviewed. Treatment consists of ensuring safety and then treating the underlying psychiatric, psychological, and interpersonal disturbances. Issues of consent, confidentiality, and malpractice actions are addressed.     

Maternal and paternal parenting during adolescence: forecasting early adult psychosocial adjustment

This study investigated the relationship of maternal and paternal parenting behavior (acceptance and firm control) during adolescence to four domains of early adult functioning (internalizing problems, externalizing problems, prosocial competence, and cognitive competence). Twenty-one females and 29 males from intact families, along with their mothers and fathers, participated. Assessments were conducted in adolescence and early adulthood, separated by approximately five and one-half years. Higher levels of maternal firm control during adolescence were associated with more secure early adult romantic attachment and lower levels of educational achievement. There were no main effects for fathers, but paternal parenting behavior interacted with maternal parenting behavior to predict both early adult romantic attachment and delinquency. Clinical implications and directions for future research are discussed.     

Moral vs. non-moral attribution in adolescence: Environmental and behavioural correlates

According to the domain theory, moral rules are universal, not contingent on rules and authority, and are activated by avoiding harm to other people. Not all individuals, however, interpret moral events in terms of domain in a similar manner. The hypotheses of the present research were: (i) a high exposure to deviant context will affect the manner in which adolescents interpret moral events and their involvement in antisocial behaviour; (ii) the moral attribution style will directly affect involvement in antisocial behaviour and mediate the relationship between deviant context and antisocial behaviour. Four hundred fifty-three adolescents completed self-report questionnaires about their involvement in antisocial behaviours, their friends' involvement, and their exposure to community violence as a witness. Moral versus non-moral attribution (MNMA) was evaluated through a questionnaire consisting of hypothetical scenarios of moral violations followed by questions related to the above-mentioned criteria. Findings, obtained testing a model, were consistent with the hypotheses. Adolescents who live in violent contexts and attend deviant friends tend to interpret moral violation in terms of non-moral domains and are more engaged in antisocial behaviours. Results are discussed with respect to the literature about normativeness of deviance and its consequences.     

The psychosocial factors of the abortion experience: a critical review

The literature on the psychosocial factors of abortion is critically reviewed. It is concluded that due to faulty methodology no general statements can be made about these factors for women receiving illegal abortions. It appears that the data showing that women receiving therapeutic abortions experienced favor- able psychological conseuqences are stronger than the data indicating negative consequences. Studies of abortion on request, which, for the most part, have been methodologically sound, indicate that the new abortion patients are mostly young, unmarried women who are not in a social position to bear and care for a child. They tend to end their pregnancies for social and economic reasons. Further, they are either not aware of or not concerned about the possibility of getting pregnant at the time of intercourse, or they have a contraceptive failure. Finally, the psychological consequences of abortion on request appear to be most1 y benign.     

Cognitive correlates of medial temporal lobe development across adolescence: a magnetic resonance imaging study

Adolescent development involves progressive changes in brain structure and cognitive function, but relatively few studies have documented the cognitive correlates of differences in structural brain volumes in this age group. We examined the relations among age, cognitive processing, and mesial temporal lobe volume in 37 children and adolescents. Participants completed a brief cognitive assessment battery and underwent volumetric structural magnetic resonance imaging. For the sample as a whole, amygdala volume correlated positively with age, and larger volumes of both the left and right amygdala were significantly associated with better performance on several cognitive tasks assessing academic skills and acquired knowledge in long-term memory. In contrast, hippocampal volumes did not correlate with adolescents' age and were less frequently correlated with cognitive performance. Amygdala volumes were most predictive of cognitive abilities in boys, whereas for girls, the volume of the hippocampus contributed more frequently to the prediction of cognitive abilities. These data suggest that measurable differences in mesial temporal volumes during adolescence are reliably associated with long-term cognitive abilities, particularly academic skills and the acquisition of intellectual knowledge, and that these relationships may differ as a function of the sex of the child.     

Psychosocial correlates of contraceptive practices during late adolescence

This article reviews the literature on psychosocial correlates of contraceptive practices among sexually active late adolescents (primarily college undergraduates). It seeks to help identify subgroups of adolescents who either do not use or misuse contraceptive means, putting them at risk for unwanted pregnancy, AIDS, and other sexually transmitted diseases. The intent is to promote further research on those variables with the most potential for predicting contraceptive behaviors, which will assist in the development and implementation of effective prevention and intervention programs.     

Inattention as a key predictor of tobacco use in adolescence

The authors examined the prediction from inattention to tobacco use among 2 cohorts (ages 7 and 13) of a community sample followed to young adulthood. Changes in self-reported tobacco use were tested with marginal transitional regression models, using parent and teacher ratings of inattention, hyperactivity-impulsivity, and other psychopathology, along with other factors, as predictors. Inattention, but not hyperactivity-impulsivity, significantly predicted adolescent tobacco use and young adult daily tobacco use. Peer substance use, parental substance use, and conduct disorder also predicted increases in tobacco use. African American ethnicity was strongly protective against later tobacco use.     

Electrophysiological changes during adolescence: A review

While psychological research has long shown that adolescence is a period of major cognitive and affective transition, recent neurophysiological research has shown that adolescence is also accompanied by observable maturational changes in the brain, both in terms of structure and neurotransmitter function. Given this situation, we would expect that there should be observable and perhaps major changes in electrocortical activity and responses. In this review, we discuss developmental reductions in EEG power and alterations in the dominant band of EEG oscillation frequency, moderated by developmental factors such as growth-related changes in grey and white matter, and in the developmental history of cognitive and sociocultural stressors. Similarly, we summarize alterations in event-related potential components reflecting stimulus processing, response monitoring, and response anticipation. We review the literature on such changes in EEG and event-related potentials during the adolescent period and summarize some of the new developments in the field as well as interpretative difficulties.     

Older sibling correlates of younger sibling drug use in the context of parent-child relations

The purpose of this study was to examine older brother correlates of younger brother drug use in the context of parental influences and younger brother personality. The sample consisted of 278 White male college students and their oldest brothers, who volunteered to answer self-administered questionnaires. Results indicated that 3 domains of influence each had an independent impact on younger brother drug use: (a) parent-younger brother relationships and parent drug use, (b) older brother-younger brother relationships and older brother drug use, and (c) younger brother personality. Modeling of nondrug use and a strong attachment relationship in the parent-younger brother and sibling dyads, as well as younger sibling traits of conventionality, had strong links to low younger brother drug use. Our findings highlight the importance of modeling and mutual parent-child attachment relationships as well as sibling relationships as they relate to the possible etiology of drug use.     

The structure of self-reported aggression, drug use, and delinquent behaviors during early adolescence

Examined the structure of self-report scales designed to assess the frequency of adolescent problem behaviors. Urban (n = 988) and rural (n = 1,895) middle school students completed the Problem Behavior Frequency Scale (Farrell, Danish, & Howard, 1992a) and measures of other relevant constructs. Confirmatory factor analyses supported a model that included specific factors related to aggression, drug use, and delinquent behaviors, and a higher order problem behavior factor. Findings did not support a distinction between physical and nonphysical aggression. Results were generally consistent across settings (i.e., urban vs. rural) and gender. Other relevant constructs, including peer pressure for drug use and attitudes favoring aggression, had both specific associations with relevant first-order factors and more general associations with the second-order factor. These findings support the construction of separate scales assessing specific domains of problem behaviors in studies of adolescents' problem behaviors.     

Neurobiological correlates of autism: a review of recent research.

This review paper integrates recent structural and functional imaging, postmortem, animal lesion, and neurochemical research about the pathophysiology of autism. An understanding of the neurobiological correlates of autism is becoming increasingly important as more children are diagnosed with the condition and funding for well-targeted interventions increases. Converging evidence suggests that autism involves abnormalities in brain volume, neurotransmitter systems, and neuronal growth. In addition, evidence firmly links autism with abnormalities in the cerebellum, the medial temporal lobe, and the frontal lobe. Potential implications of these findings and suggestions for future research are reviewed.