Marijuana use from adolescence to young adulthood: multiple developmental trajectories and their associated outcomes.

This study used latent growth mixture modeling to identify discrete developmental patterns of marijuana use from early adolescence (age 13) to young adulthood (age 23) among a sample of 5,833 individuals. After the a priori removal of abstainers, 4 trajectory groups were identified: early high users, who decreased from a relatively high level of use at age 13 to a more moderate level: stable light users, who maintained a low level of use: steady increasers, who consistently increased use; and occasional light users, who began use at age 14 and used at low levels thereafter. Analyses of covariance comparing the trajectory groups on behavioral, socioeconomic, and health outcomes at age 29 revealed that abstainers consistently had the most favorable outcomes, whereas early high users consistently had the least favorable outcomes.     

Reducing the tendency to self-handicap: The effect of self-affirmation

Self-handicapping, the creating or claiming of obstacles to one’s performance to influence explanations given for subsequent outcomes, has been shown to have a host of attitudinal and behavioral consequences. Given the wide ranging impact of self-handicapping, it is important to understand the conditions under which self-handicapping is more or less likely to occur. Accordingly, the present study tested the hypothesis that people will be less likely to engage in self-handicapping if they have previously engaged in self-affirmation. The results of this study found that self-affirmation was more effective in reducing self-handicapping behavior when individuals experienced non-contingent success than when they experience contingent success. Theoretical contributions to the self-handicapping and self-affirmation literatures are discussed, as are practical implications.     

THE EFFECTS OF CHILDHOOD FAMILY STRESS ON WOMEN'S DEPRESSIVE SYMPTOMS:

This study uses a life course approach to observe the interaction between stressful childhood events and recent undesirable events to predict depressive symptoms in women. Data are from a community sample ( N = 205) of adult daughters from the Cornell Women's Roles Project, aged 26–58 years. Results indicate that women who experienced mild stressors during childhood are less likely to have depressive responses to undesirable events than are those who did not have stressful family backgrounds. This buffering influence appears to be partially mediated through a woman's belief in her control over external events. In the absence of childhood strains, a close father–daughter relationship during childhood may also teach women protective mastery skills. Overall, findings suggest that women's differing depressive responses to undesirable events follow a developmental pathway beginning with early childhood experiences. We suggest that the milder childhood stressors measured in this study stimulated an adaptive family environment from which these women were able to garner life course coping strategies.