Using a high-risk community sample (N = 405), the current study examined developmental cascades among substance use, affiliation with substance use promoting peers, and academic achievement over an 18-year period and tested whether these pathways mediated the influence of parental alcoholism on adult alcohol and drug use disorders. Results showed that the influence of parental alcoholism on adult drug disorders was mediated by developmental cascades across all three domains, whereas the influence of parental alcoholism on adult alcohol disorders was mediated through affiliation with substance use promoting peers and persistence in binge drinking. Adolescent drug use had more implications for adult outcomes than did adolescent alcohol use, which was less likely to spill over into other domains of functioning. Findings indicated that adolescent risk factors had indirect rather than unique effects on adult substance use disorders, suggesting that adolescent risk is not immutable and is largely mediated by later influences.Multiple streams of evidence suggest that substance use disorders (SUDs) are best conceptualized as developmental disorders. First, there are well-documented, age-related patterns indicating substance use onset during adolescence, peaks in use and onset of SUDs in emerging adulthood (ages 18-25), and later declines or "maturing out" (Masten, Faden, Zucker, & Spear, 2008;Sher & Gotham, 1999). Second, there is clear evidence of childhood and adolescent antecedents to adult SUDs (Zucker, Donovan, Masten, Mattson, & Moss, 2008). Third, developmental role transitions and their relative timing, including completion of higher education, occupational attainment, marriage, and parenthood, are linked with substance use and SUDs Schulenberg & Maggs, 2002;Sher & Gotham, 1999). Developmentally salient patterns of consumption, context, and risk and protective mechanisms present clear evidence that SUDs are best examined with a developmental lens.According to a dynamic cascade conceptualization (Masten et al., 2005;Obradović, Burt, & Masten, 2010;Sameroff, 2000), processes associated with different domains of development may influence each other both concurrently and longitudinally. In this way, early influences may be important because they predict later, more proximal factors, which in turn affect late adolescent or adult outcomes (e.g., Dodge et al., 2009;Martel et al., 2009). These influences may cascade across multiple domains of functioning or amplify one another over time to influence adult outcomes (Schulenberg & Maslowsky, 2009 NIH-PA Author ManuscriptNIH-PA Author Manuscript NIH-PA Author ManuscriptThe current study focused on three domains of adolescent development that might contribute to the development of adult SUDs; namely, adolescent substance use, affiliation with substance use promoting peers, and poor academic achievement. These domains may increase SUD risk by amplifying one another over time either through bidirectional relations between pairs of domains, or through broader cascadin...

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This paper provides a brief summary and commentary on the growing literature and current developments related to the genetic underpinnings of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). We first briefly provide an overview of the behavioral genetic literature on PTSD, followed by a short synopsis of the substantial candidate gene literature with a focus on genes that have been meta-analyzed. We then discuss the genome-wide association studies (GWAS) that have been conducted, followed by an introduction to other molecular platforms used in PTSD genomic studies, such as epigenetic and expression approaches. We close with a discussion of developments in the field that include the creation of the PTSD workgroup of the Psychiatric Genomics Consortium, statistical advances that can be applied to GWAS data to answer questions of heritability and genetic overlap across phenotypes, and bioinformatics techniques such as gene pathway analyses which will further advance our understanding of the etiology of PTSD.

Multiple etiological models have been proposed to explain posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and alcohol use disorder (AUD) comorbidity, but the predominant model to date is the “drinking to cope” self-medication model. Despite its popularity, the self-medication model lacks rigorous empirical support related to inconsistencies and methodological limitations, particularly the failure to operationalize drinking to cope with trauma symptoms specifically. The present study sought to measure trauma-related drinking to cope (TRD) in order to provide a more specific test of the self-medication model among a representative sample of 1,896 undergraduates with a history of trauma exposure and alcohol use. Using a model-building approach in Mplus, a correlated multiple mediator model tested the association between PTSD symptoms and alcohol use problems (AUPs) through TRD and more generalized drinking to cope motives (as assessed by the coping subscale of the Drinking Motives Questionnaire; DMQ-Cope) as moderated by sex. Results indicated that, while accounting for the effects of generalized drinking to cope motives, TRD partially mediated the relation between PTSD symptoms and AUPs and that this relationship was stronger for males than for females. With the exception of moderation by sex, results were substantiated using longitudinal data. Findings were consistent with the self-medication model, suggesting that TRD motives may serve as a mechanism through which PTSD symptoms influence AUPs. TRD may serve as a more specific screening tool for AUP risk among individuals endorsing PTSD symptoms compared with the commonly used DMQ-Cope.

Using a high-risk community sample (N = 567), the current study examined risk for externalizing and internalizing problems in the children of parents with recovered and current substance use disorders (SUDs). This study also tested whether parenting mediated the relations between these variables. Results suggest that children of parents with current diagnoses were at elevated risk for externalizing and internalizing problems, but children of parents with recovered diagnoses were only at risk for externalizing problems. Perceived parental consistency of support mediated the relations between parent current SUD and child externalizing and internalizing problems. Disruption of the home environment may in part explain why children of parents with SUDs are at risk for externalizing and internalizing problems. However, even after parent SUD has remitted, children remain at risk for externalizing problems, suggesting multiple mechanisms by which parents confer risk for psychopathology.

Deviance proneness models propose a multi-level interplay in which transactions among genetic, individual, and family risk factors place children at increased risk for substance use. We examined bidirectional transactions between impulsivity and family conflict from middle childhood to adolescence and their contributions to substance use in adolescence and emerging adulthood (n = 380). Moreover, we examined children’s, mothers’ and fathers’ polygenic risk scores for behavioral undercontrol, and mothers’ and fathers’ interparental conflict and substance disorder diagnoses as predictors of these transactions. Results support a developmental cascade model in which children’s polygenic risk scores predicted greater impulsivity in middle childhood. Impulsivity in middle childhood predicted greater family conflict in late childhood, which in turn predicted greater impulsivity in late adolescence. Adolescent impulsivity subsequently predicted greater substance use in emerging adulthood. Results are discussed with respect to evocative genotype-environment correlations within developmental cascades and applications to prevention efforts.

Objective: Examine the impact of maladaptive coping style on the association between source of stress (academic, interpersonal, intrapersonal, environmental) and alcohol use (consumption, heavy episodic drinking, driving under the influence) among college students. Participants: 1,027 college students completed a survey online in April 2014. Methods: To test the mediating effects of maladaptive coping on the association between academic stress and alcohol use variables, indirect effects were examined using the PROCESS analytical framework for SPSS. Results: Maladaptive coping and academic stress were associated with alcohol use outcomes. Moreover, maladaptive coping mediated the relationship between academic stress and two of three alcohol use outcomes (consumption, heavy episodic drinking). Conclusions: Among college students, the association between academic stress and alcohol use may be driven by maladaptive coping. College students may benefit from interventions that seek to improve coping skills, potentially alleviating the burden of academic stress and decreasing problematic alcohol use.

The present study examined the potential mediating roles of executive and reactive disinhibition in predicting conduct problems, ADHD symptoms, and substance use among adolescents with and without a family history of substance use disorders. Using data from 247 high-risk adolescents, parents, and grandparents, structural equation modeling indicated that reactive disinhibition, as measured by sensation seeking, mediated the effect of familial drug use disorders on all facets of the adolescent externalizing spectrum. Executive disinhibition, as measured by response disinhibition, spatial short term memory, and “trait” impulsivity, was associated with ADHD symptoms. Moreover, although executive functioning weakness were unrelated to familial substance use disorders, adolescents with familial alcohol use disorders were at risk for “trait” impulsivity marked by a lack of planning. These results illustrate the importance of “unpacking” the broad temperament style of disinhibition and of studying the processes that underlie the commonality among facets of the externalizing spectrum and processes that that predict specific externalizing outcomes.