Relationship Between Alcohol Use and Violent Behavior Among Urban African American Youths From Adolescence to Emerging Adulthood: A Longitudinal Study

Abstract

Objectives-We examined the developmental trajectories of alcohol use and violent behavior and the longitudinal relationship between these behaviors from adolescence to emerging adulthood.Methods-Our sample includes 649 African-American youths (49% male) followed for 8 years. Violent behavior and alcohol use were measured by asking youths the frequency of each behavior in the past 12 months using pencil-and-paper questionnaires. Growth curve analyses were conducted to identify the developmental trajectories of these two behaviors and to explore longitudinal relationship between them.Results-Violent behavior peaked in mid to late adolescence and declined thereafter, while the frequency of alcohol use increased steadily over time. These developmental trajectories varied by sex. For both males and females, early violent behavior predicted later alcohol use, and early alcohol use also predicted later violent behavior. Moreover, changes in one behavior were associated with changes in the other.Conclusions-Our results support a reciprocal relationship between alcohol use and violent behavior. Efforts to reduce one problem would be expected to reduce the other. Programs and policies aimed at reducing youth violence or alcohol use should take into account this relationship.Both alcohol use and violent behaviors are prevalent among urban adolescents and are important public health problems in the United States 1, 2 . Violent injury is the leading cause of death among African-American youth 3 . A nationwide survey of high school students found that 36% of students reported having committed violent acts in the past 12 months and 19% reported carrying a weapon in the past 30 days 4 . Among 12th grade students, two-thirds (67%) have used alcohol in the past 12 months and nearly half (45%) are current drinkers (i.e., reported Correspondence should be addressed to: Yange Xue, Ph.D., Mathematica Policy Research, Inc., 600 Alexander Park, Princeton, NJ 08540, Phone: (609) Fax: (609) 799-0005, E-mail: yxue@mathematica-mpr.com. Contributors Y. Xue completed the analyses and led the writing. M. A. Zimmerman directed the research design and supervised the implementation of the study. R. Cunningham assisted with the writing. All authors helped to conceptualize the study, interpret findings, and review drafts of the manuscript. Human Participant ProtectionThis study was approved by the University of Michigan's institutional review board. Written informed consent from the participants and passive parental consent were obtained at the beginning of each data collection. NIH Public Access NIH-PA Author ManuscriptNIH-PA Author Manuscript NIH-PA Author Manuscript using alcohol in the 30 days prior to the survey) 2 . These problems continue to receive increased attention in recent years.In general, four competing theoretical explanations are proposed for the relationship between alcohol use and violent behavior 5,6 . The first model postulates that alcohol use causes violent behavior due to psychopharmacological effects 7 or a crim...

Association Between Adolescent Drinking and Adult Violence: Evidence From a Longitudinal Study of Urban African Americans

“…Studies show that adolescent drinkers are more likely to participate in violent behavior and other types of crime in adulthood (e.g., theft, damage to property) compared with nondrinking adolescents (Anderson et al, 1999;Duncan et al, 1997;Swahn et al, 2004). Xue et al (2009), for example, found signifi cant associations between trajectories of adolescent alcohol use and trajectories of violence over 8 years in an African American sample, even after controlling for shared risk factors. In addition, Ellickson et al (2003) found that in early adulthood (age 23), early adolescent drinkers had twice the likelihood of being arrested and engaging in predatory violence, stealing, and committing a felony, compared with nondrinkers.…”

“…As described by Jessor and Jessor's problem-behavior theory (1977), shared predisposing risk factors serve to facilitate and perpetuate various forms of deviance, including both alcohol use and violent behaviors. Such shared risk factors include socioeco-nomic status, family characteristics and functioning, personal characteristics, measures of behavior problems and delinquency, academic achievement, and other drug use (Hicks et al, 2010;Swahn and Donovan, 2006;Wells et al, 2004;White et al, 1999;Xue et al, 2009). Although much of the relationship between various forms of deviance seems to be attributable to shared causes, evidence suggests that shared risk factors only partially explain the relationship between alcohol and violence (Osgood, 1998).…”

The Effect of Identity Development, Self-Esteem, Low Self-Control and Gender on Aggression in Adolescence and Emerging Adulthood

“…This result is consistent with a second hypothesis of this study. According to Xue, Zimmerman and Cunnighham (2009), aggressive behavior increases in middle to late adolescence and declines in emerging adulthood. Studies also have shown that physical aggression decreases but indirect aggression increases from childhood to adolescence (Barker, Tremblay, Nagin, Vitaro, & Lacourse, 2006;Campbell et al, 2010;Cote, Vaillancourt, Barker, Nagin & Tremblay, 2007;Underwood, Beron & Rosen, 2009;Vaillancourt, Miller, Fagbemi, Cote, & Tremblay, 2007).…”

Understanding the service needs of assault-injured, drug-using youth presenting for care in an urban emergency department

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