Developmental trajectories of marijuana use from adolescence to adulthood: personality and social role outcomes

Longitudinal trajectories of marijuana use from adolescence into adulthood were examined for adverse life-course outcomes among African-Americans and Puerto Ricans. Data for marijuana use were analyzed at four points in time and on participants' personality attributes, work functioning, and partner relations in adulthood using growth mixture modeling. Each of the three marijuana-use trajectory groups (maturing-out, late-onset, and chronic marijuana-users) had greater adverse life-course outcomes than a nonuse or low-use trajectory group. The chronic marijuana-use trajectory group was highly associated with criminal behavior and partners' marijuana use in adulthood. Treatment programs for marijuana use should also directly address common adverse life-course outcomes users may already be experiencing.     

Evaluation of a cognitive‐behavioral intervention for high‐ and medium‐risk probationers

Reducing recidivism is a central goal of treatment programs for offenders. Preliminary evidence suggests that cognitive‐behavioral group interventions based on the National Institute of Corrections curriculum (Bush, Glick, & Taymans, 1997) may be effective in reducing recidivism rates among adult probationers. We evaluated the effectiveness of a program based on this curriculum among 167 high‐ and medium‐risk probationers assigned to this program and a comparison group of 120 high‐ and medium‐risk probationers matched on age and number of prior criminal charges. Improvements over prior studies included use of survival analytic methods and propensity score matching, a longer follow‐up interval, and examination of treatment effectiveness within ethnic groups. Relative to the comparison group, treatment group probationers were more likely to complete probation satisfactorily and survive longer before rearrest. Moreover, supplementary analyses suggested that ethnicity was associated with differences in intervention effectiveness. Treatment was predictive of lower recidivism rates among European Americans and African Americans but was less effective among Latino American probationers.     

Intergenerational Transmission of Risks for Problem Behavior

The intergenerational transmission of risk factors for problem behaviors was examined across three generations. Two hundred fifty-four 2-year-old toddlers, one or two of their parents, and one grandmother of each toddler were studied. Grandmothers and parents were individually interviewed. Data were analyzed for the male and female toddlers combined. Correlations and hierarchical multiple regression analyses were performed. Findings indicate that the grandmother–parent relationship, parental personality attributes, marital harmony, and drug use and the parent–toddler relationship, predict the toddlers' behavior. The investigation provides evidence for a longitudinal, intergenerational process whereby the grandmother–parent relationship and the parents' personality and behavioral attributes are transmitted across generations through their association with the parent–child relationship.     

Sequential Tree Analysis of Work Stressors: Exploring Score Profiles in the Context of the Stressor-Stress Relationship

In recent years concerns about whether the different measures of work stressors provide adequate information on the stressors themselves have led a number of reviewers to suggest that old constructs should be reconsidered and alternative approaches to measurement considered. One such alternative approach would be to consider the relationship between different work stressors in terms of score profiles and whether different score profiles emerge at different levels of tension. Sequential tree analysis was used to segment or split a sample into homogeneous subgroups reflecting the stressor or combination of stressors that reflected different levels of tension. The visual display that emerged from this analysis suggests that: (1) when considering the relationship between stressors and tension it is important to recognize that while absolute levels of work stressors scores may be low this is no reason to assume that the stressor-tension relationship will be correspondingly low; and (2) although individuals may report the same overall score for a work stressor, their experience of that stressor may be quite different. Finally, these results point to the need to consider the impact that generalizing work stressor scores may have on intervention strategies.     

Leading God’s People: Perceptions of Influence Among African–American Pastors

Journal of Religion and Health - Religious leaders, particularly African–American pastors, are believed to play a key role in addressing health disparities. Despite the role...     

Growing up in a Violent Society: Longitudinal Predictors of Violence in Colombian Adolescents

Although violence and homicide are more prevalent in Colombia, South America than the US, the role of psychosocial factors in the violent behavior of Colombian adolescents remains unclear. The aim of this longitudinal study was to examine the interrelation of domains of personality, familial, peer, and ecological variables associated with violence in a community sample of adolescents from various self-reported ethnic groups in Colombia. The sample consisted of 1,151 male adolescents selected from three Colombian cities. The participants were surveyed using structured interviews at two points in time over a 2-year interval. Data were collected concerning adolescent personal attributes, family characteristics, peer, and ecological factors, including drug availability and the prevalence of violence in the community. The dependent variable was the self-reported frequency of the adolescent’s violent behavior. The results supported a model in which violent behavior was correlated independently over time with a number of risk factors from several domains. Evidence for the hypothesized mediated effects of the familial monitoring and bonding domain, the peer domain, the ecological domain, and prior victimization related to personal attributes and contemporaneous violence and the adolescent’s violent behavior 2 years later was also found. The findings suggest the use of specific intervention procedures with adolescents to prevent their subsequent violent behavior.     

Maternal Psychiatric Disorders, Parenting, and Maternal Behavior in the Home During the Child Rearing Years

Data from the Children in the Community Study, a community-based longitudinal study, were used to investigate associations between maternal psychiatric disorders and child-rearing behaviors. Maternal psychiatric symptoms and behavior in the home were assessed in 782 families during the childhood and adolescence of the offspring. Maternal anxiety, depressive, disruptive, personality, and substance use disorders were independently associated with current and subsequent parenting difficulties and other problems in the home during the child rearing years, after co-occurring disorders and offspring behavior problems were controlled statistically. Maternal personality disorders were most consistently associated with problems in the home during the child rearing years. Less than 1 of 3 mothers with disorders reported having received treatment. Those who received treatment were significantly less likely to experience multiple difficulties in the home during the child rearing years. These findings suggest that maternal psychiatric disorder may be an important determinant of problematic maternal behavior in the home during the child rearing years. Improved recognition and treatment of maternal psychiatric disorders may help to reduce the amount of maladaptive parenting behavior that many youths might otherwise be likely to experience.     

The Effects of Parental Tobacco and Marijuana Use and Personality Attributes on Child Rearing in African-American and Puerto Rican Young Adults

We assessed the effect of the interrelationship of mothers’ and fathers’ tobacco and marijuana use with their personality attributes on some of their child rearing behaviors. We used a longitudinal design to analyze the data of 258 males and females who were seen four times over a 13-year period from early adolescence through young adult parenthood. Thirty-one percent of the multiple regression analyses revealed significant interactions between the effect of tobacco or marijuana use and a personality attribute on child rearing. The majority of these significant interactions suggested that protective personality characteristics were offset by substance use risks resulting in less adequate child rearing. If these results are substantiated in an experimental intervention, it suggests that having resilient personality attributes does not protect against the negative effects of tobacco or marijuana use on child rearing.