A developmental approach examining social and personal correlates in relation to alcohol use over time

This study's aim was to determine the interrelationship of personality, peer, and parental domains and alcohol use over time during preadolescence and adolescence. Children and teenagers (N = 510; 9 to 18 years old) and their mothers were separately interviewed at two points in time, two years apart. The results were evaluated using multiple hierarchical regression analysis. In preadolescence, personality factors appear to serve as mediators for family and peer factors in relation to alcohol use over time whereas, in adolescence, peer and personality factors serve as mediators for family factors. Peer factors apparently become more important between preadolescence and adolescence, but parental factors do not seem to lose their importance. The theoretical implications and practical applications for alcohol education and alcohol abuse prevention programs are discussed.     

On becoming involved with drugs: modeling adolescent drug use over time.

We tested a model of the process of becoming involved with drugs during junior high. The sample included 698 students who were not using alcohol, cigarettes, or marijuana during Grade 7 (T1); the follow-up data points were 12 and 15 months later (T2 and T3). The final model, which predicted 72% of the variance in drug use at T3, provides support for hypotheses drawn from both social and cognitive theories. Weak familial and school attachments fostered use by increasing the likelihood of exposure to pro-drug social influences (drug use offers); weak bonds with school also directly affected cognitive motivations (lower resistance self-efficacy [RSE] and more positive outcome expectancies). In turn, social influences at T1 played a dominant role in initial use at T2, but cognitive motivations were also significant. At T3, prior use assumed the most prominent position. Drug-specific measures of RSE and expected use directly affected later use of that substance. The results indicate that both generic and drug-specific effects are needed to explain adolescent drug use. Implications for prevention programs are discussed.     

Effects of early alcohol use on adolescents' relations with peers and self-esteem: patterns over time

Strain or problem-solving models posit that deviance persists because it enhances youths' psychosocial properties and is therefore functional for adolescents. However, empirical tests of this assumption have been limited to determining whether a moderately social activity like delinquency produces time-ordered changes in self-esteem. This research examines whether a highly social activity like alcohol use improves adolescents' relations with peers and self-esteem over time. The results of a four-year panel study show that the effects of early alcohol use are limited to enhancing peer relations only among adolescents who use alcohol in order to be part of the group. Early alcohol consumption also has a delayed effect on boosting self-esteem, but this effect is restricted to youths who equate drinking with sophistication. The lack of generality of these findings and how the psychological functions of drinking might cancel these effects are discussed.     

Behavior consultation in a barrio high school

Behavioral consultation with a counselor was used in this study to help an English teacher in an inner-city high school deal with his students' “lackadaisical” attitude toward the completion of assignments. Over a period of weeks, the behavioral approaches that were experimented with were found to facilitate the changes that the teacher had hoped for.     

Coping tendencies and changes in athlete burnout over time

Burnout can lead to numerous negative outcomes for athletes. While we know a reasonable amount about how athlete burnout develops over time, we know comparably less about the role of coping in this process. The present study aimed to help address this issue by examining the role of coping tendencies in predicting changes in athlete burnout over a six-month period. A sample of 141 junior athletes (mean age = 17.3 years) completed measures of coping tendencies (problem-focused and avoidance coping) and burnout. Participants also completed the measure of burnout on two further occasions, three months and six months after the initial assessment. Conditional latent growth curve modelling revealed that coping tendencies predicted changes in athlete burnout over time. In this regard, avoidance coping predicted increases in athlete burnout, whereas problem-focused coping was unrelated to changes in athlete burnout. These findings provide evidence that an athlete’s tendency to use avoidance coping strategies is linked to burnout development over time.     

Correlates of illicit drug use among university students in Africa and the Caribbean

The goal of this study was to estimate the prevalence and correlates of illicit drug use (IDU) among university students from eight countries in Africa and three countries in the Caribbean. In a cross-sectional survey, data were collected from 7 017 undergraduate university students (mean age 21.1, SD = 2.7, age range of 18–30 years) from 11 countries. Overall, 17.2% and 3.5% reported infrequent (1–9 times) and frequent (10 or more times) IDU in the past 12 months. In multivariate logistic regression models, residing on or off campus on their own, living in an upper middle or high income country, current tobacco use, binge drinking, and having been in a physical fight in the past 12 months were associated with both frequent and infrequent IDU. In addition, higher intrinsic religiosity and older age was found to be protective from infrequent IDU and associated with never using illicit drugs. The influences on IDU identified may be utilised for the design and implementation of social intervention programmes to curtail IDU by college students.     

Some determinants of changes in preference over time

Results of longitudinal studies suggest that the stability of preferences varies across individuals, although it is unclear what variables account for these differences. We extended this work by conducting periodic assessments of preference for leisure activities over 3 to 6 months with 10 adults with developmental disabilities. Although previous research has collectively shown that preferences identified via repeated assessment are highly variable, our results showed that preferences were relatively stable for the majority (80%) of participants. In an attempt to identify some environmental determinants of shifts in preference, we provided extended daily access to high-preference items (preference-weakening manipulation) and paired access to low-preference items with social and edible putative reinforcers during brief sessions (preference-strengthening manipulation). Preference assessments continued over the course of these manipulations with 2 participants. Results showed that changes in preference across time could be produced systematically and suggest that naturally occurring changes in establishing operations or conditioning histories contribute to temporal shifts in preference. Implications for preference assessments, reinforcer usage, and planned attempts to change preferences are discussed.     

Validity of self-reports of alcohol and other drug use: a multitrait-multimethod assessment

Four methods (self-reported rating, self-reported intake, peer-reported rating, peer-reported intake) and multiple analytical criteria were employed to assess the construct validity of reports of three types of substance use (alcohol, marijuana, and cigarettes) in a study of 194 college students who were members of friendship pairs. The resulting multitrait-multimethod matrix was analyzed in the traditional fashion as well as with confirmatory factor analysis. Convergent and discriminant validity for the three substance use traits were quite adequate, although the validity of one measure (the peer-reported intake measure of alcohol use) may be considered inadequate according to some criteria. This study demonstrates the usefulness of multimethod assessment and confirmatory factor analysis for research on construct validity and for derivation of more accurate measures of drug use.     

Self-fulfilling prophecy effects of mothers' beliefs on children's alcohol use: accumulation, dissipation, and stability over time

This research examined whether self-fulfilling prophecy effects accumulated, dissipated, or remained stable over time in terms of 2 complementary conceptual models. Analyses of longitudinal data from 2 samples of mother-child dyads (N(1) = 487; N(2) = 288) yielded 3 main findings. First, the degree to which mothers' inaccurate beliefs assessed at a single point in time predicted children's distal alcohol use did not differ from the degree to which they predicted children's proximal alcohol use, thereby supporting a pattern of stability for the samples on average. Second, mothers' inaccurate beliefs repeatedly assessed across time had additive self-fulfilling effects on their children's subsequent alcohol use assessed at a single later point in time. Third, these additive self-fulfilling effects served to exacerbate differences in the alcohol use of children who had been consistently exposed to unfavorable versus favorable beliefs year after year. The authors discuss these findings in terms of the link between self-fulfilling prophecies and social problems.     

Clinical issues in the assessment of adolescent alcohol and other drug use

Clinicians working with adolescents are routinely faced with the issue that alcohol and other drug (AOD) involvement may be part of the clinical picture either as a primary problem or a contributing factor to other problems or disorders. Fortunately, assessment research in this area has produced several behaviorally oriented and psychometrically sound tools from which to choose for problem identification, referral and treatment of youth suspected of AOD abuse. The aim of this paper is to provide an overview of several issues related to the clinical utility of such assessment tools.     

General relations among drug use, alcohol use, and major indexes of psychopathology

Relations among measures of trait anxiety, depression, panic, somatization, alcohol use, drug use, and treatment for depression were investigated because, typically, studies (a) addressed relations among subsets of only 2 or 3 of the measures and (b) dealt almost exclusively with narrow samples of the population representing extremes on 1 or 2 of the measures. In this study, relations among all 7 measures were assessed with participants representing a wide range of scores on all the measures. The 369 participants (155 men, 214 women) were sampled from the general population. Three replications of the same study consistently yielded hypothesized positive intercorrelations among all 7 scales. Factor 1 (Anxiety-Depression) included Trait Anxiety, Depression, and Panic scales. Factor 2 (Substance Abuse) included Drug Use, Alcohol Use, Treatment for Depression, and Somatization scales. Factor 2 highlighted self-medication as a defining characteristic of somatizers and corroborated findings showing that substance abuse is often a precursor to treatment for depression-like symptoms that can be ameliorated with abstinence. Factors 1 and 2 were significantly intercorrelated (r = .41, df = 367, p < .05), showing a 17% shared variance in two common groupings of psychological dysfunction (anxiety-depression, substance abuse) in the general population. Thus, depending on socioeconomic and demographic variables, a third common form of dysfunction in the general population is represented by a combination of anxiety-depression plus substance abuse.     

Love, work, and changes in extraversion and neuroticism over time

The present study examined individual differences in change in extraversion, neuroticism, and work and relationship satisfaction. Of particular interest were the correlations between changes. Data were from the Victorian Quality of Life Panel Study (B. Headey & A. Wearing, 1989, 1992), in which an overall 1,130 individuals participated (ages 16 to 70). Respondents were assessed every 2 years from 1981 to 1989. Four major findings emerged. (a) There were significant individual differences in changes in extraversion and neuroticism. (b) Change was not limited to young adulthood. (c) Development was systematic in that increased work and relationship satisfaction was associated with decreases in neuroticism and increases in extraversion over time; on average, the magnitude of the relation between changes in work and relationship satisfaction and traits was .40. (d) Cross-lagged models indicated traits had a greater influence on role satisfaction; however, marginal support emerged for work satisfaction leading to increased extraversion. Implications of correlated change are discussed.     

Depressive symptoms over time in women partners of men with and without alcohol problems

In a sample of 202 adult women and their families, the authors examined the effects of their male partners' alcohol problems and antisociality, the women's alcohol problems and antisociality, family conflict, and offspring behavioral problems on the women's depressive symptoms over a 3-year period. The women's antisociality and alcohol problems were more strongly related to family conflict, offspring behavioral problems, and the women's depressive symptoms than were the men's antisociality and alcohol problems. The women's antisociality and family conflict most strongly predicted increases in the women's depressive symptoms over time. In addition, family conflict mediated the effects of maternal antisociality on the women's depressive symptoms.     

Designing a behavioral program for a barrio in Tegucigalpa, Honduras

Health in Housing initiated a behavioral program of education and skills training for children and adults in a community of 30,000 persons living in substandard conditions in Tegucigalpa, Honduras. To measure achievement in the long-range project, 21 families of Flor del Campo participated in a preliminary three-part survey of their (a) health, (b) housing and the environment, and (c) family history. Doctors, designers, and educators worked with Honduran personnel in the first survey. Following functional analyses of the home and surrounding environment and the physical status of the individuals living there, procedures provide the family with treatment and training for home and environment improvement. Graphic, verbal, and numerical data, incorporated into a master computerized system, record events of each family member: training programs experienced, health care delivery courses taken, medical treatments, growth of children, literacy changes, educational courses completed, kinds and amounts of foods eaten, household and building materials purchased. Ongoing functional analysis and a long-range evaluation are made of the progress of each participating individual in a family. Teams revisit each house to observe and record any changes in the physical and environmental facility and the health and life-styles, and to report any indications of new health problems or recurrences.     

Adolescents who apparently are invulnerable to drug, alcohol, and nicotine use

As part of a large survey of addictive behavior in high school students, a group of 43 girls and 34 boys was identified who denied any use of drugs, alcohol, or tobacco. These apparently invulnerable adolescents were compared to the rest of the "user" sample on the remaining items of the questionnaire. The invulnerable students reported generally better physical and mental health and academic achievement. They also indicated a significantly lower rate of similar problems in their parents.     

Cessation of alcohol and drug use among adolescents: A social learning model

This investigation tests the ability of Akers’ (1977) social learning theory of deviance to account for the cessation of alcohol or drug use among adolescents. For each of five substances, two‐group discriminant function analyses showed that social learning variables were successful in discriminating adolescents who ceased using from their counterparts who continued to use. Peer associations were generally most discriminating with normative definitions and social rewards or punishments also contributing to differentiation. Positive or negative effects of the substances as well as imitation bore little relationship to cessation. Social learning theory was as explanatory for stronger drugs as it was for alcohol and marijuana. Policy and program implications are suggested.     

Correspondence between attitudes and drinking and drug behavior: youth subculture over time

In a longitudinal study, the researcher utilized both nonparticipant observational data and quantified interview data to analyze the correspondence between attitudes of the "youth subculture" theories and overt behavioral patterns. The data were collected in an upper-middle-class, predominantly white, Southern California beach community. An initial cohort of 23 males was followed from 1971 through 1981. A separate sample of males, aged 14 to 21, was observed from the summer of 1975 through December, 1981. All subjects were interviewed at the close of the project. The interview schedule included items regarding drug use, sexual activity, employment, and school patterns as well as attitudes reflective of pleasure-seeking and deferred gratification. Subjects are classified according to degree of drug use and analyzed according to several other variables. It is found that the older cohort, analyzed qualitatively, fit the theoretical implications of the model involved both as to attitudes and behavior. However, with the end of the Vietnam War and an increased influence of the "Jesus Movement," this group did become slightly more conservative in attitudes regarding politics and religion. The heavier drug users in the later sample are similar in behavior patterns to the older cohort. However, the more recent group of heavy users express extremely conservative views regarding morality, religion and politics. Specific attitudinal measures indicate no relationship between degree of drug use and youth subculture attitudes. The attitudes measured regarding pursuit of pleasure and immediate gratification did not appear to be consistent with actual overt behavior.