New approaches to studying problem behaviors: A comparison of methods for modeling longitudinal, categorical adolescent drinking data.

Analyzing problem-behavior trajectories can be difficult. The data are generally categorical and often quite skewed, violating distributional assumptions of standard normal-theory statistical models. In this article, the authors present several currently available modeling options, all of which make appropriate distributional assumptions for the observed categorical data. Three are based on the generalized linear model: a hierarchical generalized linear model, a growth mixture model, and a latent class growth analysis. They also describe a longitudinal latent class analysis, which requires fewer assumptions than the first 3. Finally, they illustrate all of the models using actual longitudinal adolescent alcohol-use data. They guide the reader through the model-selection process, comparing the results in terms of convergence properties, fit and residuals, parsimony, and interpretability. Advances in computing and statistical software have made the tools for these types of analyses readily accessible to most researchers. Using appropriate models for categorical data will lead to more accurate and reliable results, and their application in real data settings could contribute to substantive advancements in the field of development and the science of prevention. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Interactions between self-reported alcohol outcome expectancies and cognitive functioning in the prediction of alcohol use and associated problems: A further examination.

A recent debate regarding the theoretical distinction between explicit and implicit cognitive processes relevant to alcohol-related behaviors was strongly shaped by empirical findings from dual-process models (Moss & Albery, 2009; Wiers & Stacy, 2010; Moss & Albery, 2010). Specifically, as part of a broader discussion, Wiers & Stacy (2010) contended that alcohol-related behaviors are better predicted by self-reported alcohol expectancies for individuals with good executive control and verbal abilities relative to those without such abilities. The purpose of the current paper is to further test whether self-reported alcohol outcome expectancies are moderated by measures of cognitive functioning. Using multiple indices of alcohol use, alcohol-related consequences, self-reported alcohol outcome expectancies, and cognitive functioning, both cross-sectional and longitudinal analyses were conducted in a prospective sample of 489 individuals at varying risk for alcohol use disorders. Results from a series of regression analyses testing interactions between self-reported alcohol expectancies and cognitive functioning showed minimal support for the hypothesized pattern discussed by Wiers and Stacy, 2010 regarding self-reported alcohol outcome expectancies. The overall rates of significance were consistent with Type I error rates and a substantial proportion of the significant interactions were inconsistent with previous findings. Thus, the conclusion that cognitive measures consistently moderate the relation between self-reported alcohol expectancies and alcohol use and outcomes should be tempered. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)     

Parental attachment, parental control, and early development of alcohol use: A longitudinal study.

The authors explored the predictive influence of both parental attachment and parental control on early onset of alcohol consumption in adolescence by use of a longitudinal sample of 1,012 young adolescents. Whether the relationship between parental control and adolescents' drinking is moderated by parental attachment was also examined. Consistent with other studies, attachment and strict control were cross-sectionally related to adolescents' alcohol use at all 3 measurements. However, the longitudinal results of structural equation modeling analyses suggest that a good attachment relationship between parent and child does not prevent adolescents from drinking. In addition, strict control was related to lower engagement in alcohol use. Furthermore, with regard to the moderating effect, parental attachment did not moderate longitudinally the association between parental control and an early development of alcohol use. Implications for further research are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Positive alcohol expectancies partially mediate the relation between delinquent behavior and alcohol use: Generalizability across age, sex, and race in a cohort of 85,000 Iowa schoolchildren.

The extent to which positive alcohol expectancies mediated the association between delinquency and alcohol use, as well as whether age, sex, or race moderated this mediational relation, was examined in a population-based sample of Iowa schoolchildren (N = 85,301) from the 6th, 8th, and 11th grades. Positive alcohol expectancies were found to partially mediate the association between delinquency and alcohol use (alcohol use initiation, past-month drinking, and past-month binge drinking) across the full sample and in each age, sex, and racial subgroup. Evidence for moderated mediation was found for age and race but not for sex, which suggests that the magnitude of the relations among delinquency, positive alcohol expectancies, and alcohol involvement is different in younger versus older children and White, African American, Native American, Asian, and Hispanic youths but is similar in boys versus girls. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Overconfidence effects in category learning: A comparison of connectionist and exemplar memory models.

Exemplar and connectionist models were compared on their ability to predict overconfidence effects in category learning data. In the standard task, participants learned to classify hypothetical patients with particular symptom patterns into disease categories and reported confidence judgments in the form of probabilities. The connectionist model asserts that classifications and confidence are based on the strength of learned associations between symptoms and diseases. The exemplar retrieval model (ERM) proposes that people learn by storing examples and that their judgments are often based on the first example they happen to retrieve. Experiments 1 and 2 established that overconfidence increases when the classification step of the process is bypassed. Experiments 2 and 3 showed that a direct instruction to retrieve many exemplars reduces overconfidence. Only the ERM predicted the major qualitative phenomena exhibited in these experiments. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Coping mediates the relationship between posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms and alcohol use in homeless, ethnically diverse women: A preliminary study.

Homeless women are at increased risk for problematic alcohol use and posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). While coping motives have been shown to mediate the relationship between PTSD symptoms and alcohol problems in victims of sexual assault and domestic violence, it is unknown whether this relationship is evident in other trauma-exposed populations. The focus of this study was to examine whether drinking to cope mediated the relationship between PTSD symptoms and current alcohol use in a group of homeless, ethnically diverse women. Twenty-three women were recruited from local shelters in a southwestern community and asked to complete measures assessing their current alcohol use, drinking motives, and PTSD symptoms. Results revealed that drinking to cope mediated the relationship between PTSD symptoms and current alcohol use. This finding supports the theory that homeless women may benefit from treatment interventions that address both their substance use and trauma issues. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)