ABSTRACT. Objective: This study examined potential explanatory mechanisms linking childhood alcohol use onset and chronicity of adult alcohol dependence by testing the following three competing hypotheses: (1) a marker hypothesis, where early onset of alcohol use may be simply a marker for other factors that have been linked to both age at initiation and adult alcohol problems; (2) a compromised development hypothesis, where early alcohol initiation may interfere with adolescent development, which can lead to later alcohol problems; and (3) an increased substance use hypothesis, where early onset of alcohol use may lead to increased substance use in adolescence and, in turn, chronic alcohol dependence. Method: Data came from a longitudinal community sample of 808 participants recruited at age 10 in 1985. Participants were followed through age 33 in 2008 with 92% retention. Results: Childhood onset of alcohol use (before age 11), when compared with initiation during adolescence, predicted an increased chronicity of adult alcohol dependence, even after accounting for the hypothesized confounds from the marker hypothesis. In addition, adolescent compromised functioning did not mediate this relationship between early alcohol use and chronicity of adult dependence (Hypothesis 2), nor did adolescent substance use (Hypothesis 3). However, compromised functioning and substance use in adolescence predicted increased chronicity of alcohol dependence in young adulthood. Conclusions: Prevention efforts as early as the elementary grades should focus on delaying the onset of alcohol use and reducing substance use in adolescence as well as improving school functioning, reducing adolescent problem behaviors, and targeting adolescent peer networks. (J. Stud. Alcohol Drugs, 73, 379-390, 2012)

The current study tested whether unemployment predicted young adults’ heavy episodic drinking, cigarette smoking, and cannabis use after taking into account individual development in substance use. Furthermore, building on the life course perspective, this study examined whether the link between unemployment and substance use among young adults differed for those who experienced low childhood SES compared to those who did not. Data for the present study came from the Seattle Social Development Project (SSDP), a panel study examining a broad range of developmental outcomes from ages 10 to 33. A life history calendar (LHC) was administered to assess substance use and unemployment status during young adulthood. Covariates included baseline symptoms of psychopathology, baseline substance use, gender, ethnicity, and adult educational attainment. Results suggest that unemployment is associated with young adults’ heavy episodic drinking and possibly cigarette use, but not cannabis use. Moreover, for all three substances, the detrimental impact of unemployment on substance use seems to be exacerbated among young adults who spent their childhood and adolescence in a lower SES household. Public health efforts that provide other viable and affordable options to cope with unemployment among young adults from low SES backgrounds are needed to address this disproportionate concentration of adverse impacts of unemployment on behavioral health.

Background The present study examines whether general and alcohol-specific peer risk factors from age 10 to 18 are associated with longitudinal patterns of adult alcohol abuse disorder symptoms from age 21 to 33. Methods Using growth mixture modeling, trajectory groups of alcohol abuse disorder symptoms from age 21 to 33 were identified. We then examined the relationships between the identified trajectory groups of alcohol abuse disorder symptoms and respondents' own , a general negative peer factor, and an alcohol-specific peer factor (having drinking peers) in adolescence using pseudo-class Wald chi-square tests and multinomial logistic regressions. Results Four different trajectory groups of alcohol abuse disorder symptoms were identified: persistor group (3%), decreaser group (23%), escalator group (3%), and a no-disorder group (71%). Bivariate Wald chi-square tests indicated that adolescent binge drinking behavior and general and alcohol-specific peer factors differentiated the adult alcohol abuse trajectory groups. Multivariate multinomial logistic regression showed that the general negative peer factors distinguished those who later persisted in alcohol abuse from those who desisted (i.e., persistor group vs. decreaser group) during young adulthood, even after adjusting for respondents' adolescent binge drinking. On the other hand, associating with drinking peers did not distinguish these trajectories. Conclusion Alcohol-specific peer influences appear to influence alcohol abuse disorder symptoms in the early 20s, while general negative peer exposure in adolescence increases in importance as a risk factor for alcohol abuse disorder symptom persistence in the late 20s and the early 30s.

ABSTRACT. Objective:Guided by a domain-specifi c cumulative risk model and an emerging notion of general and alcohol-specifi c infl uences, this study examined whether general and alcohol-specifi c infl uences from family, peer, and school contexts in childhood and adolescence differentially predict heavy episodic drinking and alcohol use disorder at two developmental periods: the transition to adulthood (age 21) and later in adulthood (age 33). Method: Data are from a longitudinal panel study (n = 808) examining the etiology of substance use problems and associated behavior problems from age 10 to age 33 in a Northwest United States urban community sample. The sample is ethnically diverse and evenly distributed by gender (51% male). Results: At age 21, alcohol problems were most consistently predicted by adolescent family alcohol and peer alcohol environments and by peer general environment, but not by general family functioning. Conversely, by age 33, alcohol problems were more consistently predicted by general poor family functioning in adolescence and not by family alcohol or any of the peer environment measures. Conclusions: Adolescent family and peer alcohol environment infl uenced alcohol problems at the transition to adulthood. However, alcohol problems later in adulthood were more strongly associated with general poor family functioning in adolescence. These results suggest that alcohol prevention efforts should involve both components designed to reduce alcohol-specifi c risk and components to improve general family and peer environments during childhood and adolescence. (J. Stud. Alcohol Drugs, 75, 684-694, 2014)

This study examined whether parental alcohol use in adolescence, adulthood, and, for mothers, during pregnancy was related to their young children's functioning in terms of their on-time development as indicated by the number of developmental areas in which children experienced delay. Observed parenting practices and family socioeconomic status were tested as potential explanatory mechanisms of these links. Data came from the surveys and videotaped observations of a community sample of 123 biological parents and their 1-5 year old children followed longitudinally. Results suggest that the negative association between parental alcohol use and children's development operates primarily through fathers' alcohol use. Additionally, father's adolescent regular alcohol use predicted the family's low SES, which in turn predicted less-skilled maternal parenting practices and children's developmental delay.