Influence of Early Onset of Alcohol Use on the Development of Adolescent Alcohol Problems: a Longitudinal Binational Study

Abstract

This study examined cross-national similarities in a developmental model linking early age of alcohol use onset to frequent drinking and heavy drinking and alcohol problems 1 and 2 years later in a binational sample of 13-year-old students from 2 states: Washington State, United States, and Victoria, Australia (N = 1,833). A range of individual, family, school, and peer influences were included in analyses to investigate their unique and shared contribution to development of early and more serious forms of alcohol use and harms from misuse. Data were collected annually over a 3-year period from ages 13 to 15. Analyses were conducted using multiple-group structural equation modeling. For both states, early use of alcohol predicted frequent drinking, which predicted alcohol problems. Family protective influences had no direct effects on heavy drinking, nor effects on alcohol harm in either state, whereas school protection directly reduced the risk of heavy drinking in both states. Exposure to antisocial peers and siblings predicted a higher likelihood of heavy drinking and alcohol harm for students in both Washington and Victoria. Implications for the prevention of adolescent alcohol problems are discussed.

Determining the Roles that Club Drugs, Marijuana, and Heavy Drinking Play in PrEP Medication Adherence Among Gay and Bisexual Men: Implications for Treatment and Research

“…Substance use was identified as a barrier to PrEP use among 39.4% of stimulant (i.e., crack/cocaine and methamphetamine) users and 16.4% of alcohol users in prior research, 60 and HIV-negative GBM who used substances reported the deleterious effects of alcohol and club drugs (e.g., methamphetamine) on their PrEP adherence. 61 Despite the plausibility of substance use negatively affecting PrEP adherence, published evidence remains unclear. Stimulant users were more likely to have sub-optimal levels of Tenofovir drug concentrations compared to non-users in the iPrEx open-label extension study, 62 yet researchers associated with the PATH-PrEP cohort found differences in PrEP adherence among stimulant users by the number of CAS partners reported.…”

Evaluation of a public education campaign to support parents to reduce adolescent alcohol use

“…Despite evidence of declining alcohol consumption among Australian adolescents during the past decade [1][2][3], in 2014 9% of 16 year old and 17% of 17 year old school students reported drinking at risky levels for short-term harm (5+ standard drinks on one occasion) during the previous week [2]. Adolescent drinking has been associated with a range of acute [4][5][6] and longer term harms [7][8][9] including negative impacts on the developing brain [5,7].…”

Post‐GWAS in Psychiatric Genetics: A Developmental Perspective on the “Other” Next Steps

“…Characterizing these pathways will inform our understanding of how genetic risk unfolds across time, and the nature of malleability of associated outcomes as a function of intervention. Information about genetic risk, and the intermediary behavioral phenotypes mapped to genetic risk, may prove useful in making decisions about which children are likely to be responsive to which interventions (Dick, 2017). …”