Risk and Protective Factors for Substance Use Among African American High School Dropouts.

Risk and protective factors that predict substance use were investigated with 318 African American high school dropout youths who completed the 1992 follow-up of the National Educational Longitudinal Study of 1988. A conceptual model linking positive family relationships and religious involvement to youths' substance use and conventional peer affiliations through a positive life orientation was examined with structural equation modeling. Positive life orientation, which included optimism and conventional goals for the future, fully mediated the influence of family relationships on conventional peer affiliations. Religious involvement directly predicted conventional peer affiliations and positive life orientation. Conventional peer affiliations mediated the other variables' influence on substance use. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

A Controlled Study of a Cigarette Smoking Cessation Intervention for Adolescents in Substance Abuse Treatment.

Tobacco use is prevalent among youth with alcohol and other drug problems, yet this issue has received limited research and clinical attention. This study reports on a controlled evaluation of a cigarette smoking intervention with 54 adolescents in treatment for substance abuse, ages 13-18 (22% female). Participants were assessed at 4 time points. A greater proportion of participants in the treatment condition (n = 26) reported cessation attempts and point abstinence than did control participants (n = 28) at all time points. However, significant differences were found only for point abstinence at a 3-month follow-up. These findings provide initial support for the efficacy of a smoking cessation intervention delivered in the context of adolescent substance abuse treatment. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Hangover Frequency and Risk for Alcohol Use Disorders: Evidence From a Longitudinal High-Risk Study.

Data from a prospective high-risk study (N=489; 51% with a family history of alcoholism) were used to test whether family history is associated with greater hangover proneness and whether hangover is a risk factor for alcohol use disorders. Hangover was more frequent in family-history-positive participants during the college years. Persons with an alcohol diagnosis showed excess hangover before earning a diagnosis. Year 1 hangover predicted alcohol use disorders at Years 7 and 11, even when family history, sex, Year 1 diagnoses, and Year 1 drinking were statistically controlled. Several nonhangover drinking symptoms failed to predict later diagnoses. Taken together, the findings suggest a need for further research and theory on the role of hangover in the etiology of drinking problems. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Childhood ADHD and Adolescent Substance Use: An Examination of Deviant Peer Group Affiliation as a Risk Factor.

Deviant peer group affiliation was evaluated as a risk factor for substance use in adolescents with childhood attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). Results showed that deviant peer affiliation mediated the relationship between ADHD and substance use, suggesting that children with ADHD are more likely than children without ADHD to become involved with deviant peers and, as a result, more likely to use substances. Moreover, the relationship between deviant peer affiliation and substance use was stronger for adolescents with ADHD, suggesting that once they are immersed in a deviant peer group, adolescents with ADHD are more vulnerable to the negative social influences of that group. This study is the first step in identifying high-risk pathways from childhood ADHD to substance use in adolescence. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Stress and smoking in adolescence: A test of directional hypotheses.

The authors conducted a comparative test of the hypotheses that (a) stress is an etiological factor for smoking and (b) cigarette smoking causes increases in stress (A. C. Parrott, 1999). Participants were a sample of 1,364 adolescents, initially surveyed at mean age 12.4 years and followed at 3 yearly intervals. Measures of negative affect, negative life events, and cigarette smoking were obtained at all 4 assessments. Latent growth modeling showed negative affect was related to increase in smoking over time; there was no path from initial smoking to change in negative affect. Comparable results were found for negative life events, with no evidence for reverse causation. Results are discussed with respect to theoretical models of nicotine effects and implications for prevention. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Adolescent Substance Use Outcomes in the Raising Healthy Children Project: A Two-Part Latent Growth Curve Analysis.

Raising Healthy Children (RHC) is a preventive intervention designed to promote positive youth development by targeting developmentally appropriate risk and protective factors. In this study, the authors tested the efficacy of the RHC intervention on reducing adolescent alcohol, marijuana, and cigarette use. Ten public schools, which comprised 959 1st- and 2nd-grade students (54% male students, 18% minority, 28% low socioeconomic status), were matched and assigned randomly to either intervention or control conditions. A 2-part latent growth modeling strategy was used to examine change in both use-versus-nonuse and frequency-of-use outcomes while students were in Grades 6-10. Results indicated significant ( p     

Psychological and Behavioral Risk Factors for Obesity Onset in Adolescent Girls: A Prospective Study.

Because little is known about risk factors for obesity, the authors tested whether certain psychological and behavioral variables predicted future onset of obesity. The authors used data from a prospective study of 496 adolescent girls who completed a baseline assessment at age 11-15 years and 4 annual follow-ups. Self-reported dietary restraint, radical weight-control behaviors, depressive symptoms, and perceived parental obesity--but not high-fat food consumption, binge eating, or exercise frequency-predicted obesity onset. Results provide support for certain etiologic theories of obesity, including the affect regulation model. The fact that self-reported, weight-control behaviors identified girls at risk for obesity implies that high-risk youths are not engaging in effective weight-control methods and suggests the need to promote more effective strategies. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Parent-Adolescent Disagreement Regarding Psychopathology in Adolescents From the General Population as a Risk Factor for Adverse Outcome.

This study investigated whether parent-adolescent disagreement regarding adolescents' behavioral and emotional problems predicted adverse outcome. A Dutch sample of 15- to 18-year-olds was prospectively followed across a 4-year interval. The Child Behavior Checklist (CBCL: T. M. Achenbach, 1997) and Youth Self-Report (YSR; T. M. Achenbach, 1991b) were administered at initial assessment, and the following signs of poor outcome were assessed 4 years later: police/judicial contacts, expulsion from school/job, suicidal ideation, unwanted pregnancy, suicide attempts, deliberate self-harm, referral to mental health services, report of having a behavioral or emotional problem, and feeling the need for professional help without actually receiving help. Twenty CBCL syndrome scores, 23 YSR syndrome scores, and 16 discrepancy scores were significant predictors of poor outcome. It was concluded that to determine the prognosis of psychopathology in adolescents, discrepancies between informants may be important. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Risk factors for body dissatisfaction in adolescent girls: A longitudinal investigation.

Because few prospective studies have examined predictors of body dissatisfaction--an established risk factor for eating disorders--the authors tested whether a set of sociocultural, biological, interpersonal, and affective factors predicted increases in body dissatisfaction using longitudinal data from adolescent girls (N=496). Elevated adiposity, perceived pressure to be thin, thin-ideal internalization, and social support deficits predicted increases in body dissatisfaction, but early menarche, weight-related teasing, and depression did not. There was evidence of 2 distinct pathways to body dissatisfaction--1 involving pressure to be thin and 1 involving adiposity. Results support the contention that certain sociocultural, biological, and interpersonal factors increase the risk for body dissatisfaction, but suggest that other accepted risk factors are not related to this outcome. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Parental Problem Drinking and Children's Adjustment: Attachment and Family Functioning as Moderators and Mediators of Risk.

Children's perceived attachments with parents, and family cohesion and adaptability were examined as predictors, mediators, and moderators in the parental problem drinking-child outcomes link. A total of 216 6- to 12-year-olds (110 boys, 106 girls) participated. Data were obtained from children and their mothers, fathers, and teachers. A higher level of family cohesion and adaptability functioned as (a) a robust protective factor against adjustment and cognitive difficulties otherwise associated with problem drinking and (b) a mediator of adjustment problems. Children's perceptions of attachments to mothers and fathers were consistent predictors of behavioral, social, and cognitive problems and further moderated relations between problem drinking and child functioning. The results support that child-parent and family functioning variables act as either pathways and/or vulnerability and protective factors for children exposed to a high-risk environment. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Risk Factors for Partner Violence Among a National Sample of Combat Veterans.

In this study, the authors identified potential risk factors for partner violence perpetration among a subsample (n=109) of men who participated in a national study of Vietnam veterans. Partner violent (PV) men with posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) were compared with PV men without PTSD and nonviolent men with PTSD on family-of-origin variables, psychiatric problems, relationship problems, and war-zone factors. PV men with PTSD were the highest of the 3 groups on every risk factor other than childhood abuse. Group contrasts and a classification tree analysis suggest some potential markers and mechanisms for the association between PTSD and partner violence among military veterans and highlight the need for theory development in this area of inquiry. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Acculturation, Familism, Parental Monitoring, and Knowledge as Predictors of Marijuana and Inhalant Use in Adolescents.

The authors investigated relationships between marijuana and inhalant use and several cultural and demographic factors in Anglo American and Hispanic American adolescents (N=1,094). Outcome measures assessed lifetime and 30-day marijuana and inhalant use. Predictors and covariates used in logistic regression analyses were region, grade, gender, knowledge, acculturation, familism, and parental monitoring. Hispanic Americans exhibited higher usage across all measures. In this group, high acculturation was associated with low marijuana, but high inhalant, use. Across all participants, positive family relations and parental monitoring were strongly associated with attenuated marijuana use hut only among those most knowledgeable about drugs. Familism and monitoring were not associated with diminished usage among the less knowledgeable. For inhalants, monitoring combined with high knowledge or high familism was associated with diminished usage. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Good self-control as a buffering agent for adolescent substance use: An investigation in early adolescence with time-varying covariates.

This study tested the prediction that self-control would have buffering effects for adolescent substance use (tobacco, alcohol, and marijuana) with regard to 3 risk factors: family life events, adolescent life events, and peer substance use. Participants were a sample of public school students (N = 1,767) who were surveyed at 4 yearly intervals between 6th grade and 9th grade. Good self-control was assessed with multiple indicators (e.g., planning and problem solving). Results showed that the impact of all 3 risk factors on substance use was reduced among persons with higher scores on good self-control. Buffering was found in cross-sectional analyses with multiple regression and in longitudinal analyses in a latent growth model with time-varying covariates. Implications for addressing self-control in prevention programs are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Examining the differential effectiveness of a life skills program (IPSY) on alcohol use trajectories in early adolescence.

Objective: This study investigated whether a universal school-based life skills program—IPSY (Information + Psychosocial Competence = Protection)—against substance misuse exerted the same effectiveness for young adolescents (10.5–13 years) from distinct alcohol use trajectories characterized by late childhood risk factors (temperament, self-worth, social problems with peers). Method: Analyses were based on a German sample of school students (N = 1,484). A longitudinal quasi-experimental design (intervention/control) with schoolwise assignment to the respective groups was used. Data were gathered via self-report questionnaire. Two-part growth mixture modeling was applied. Results: Two prototypical trajectory classes of early alcohol use were found: a problematic group with a sharp increase in prevalence and quantity of consumed alcohol (19.7%) and a normative group with a moderate increase in both outcomes (80.3%). The problematic trajectory class was associated with several risk factors. IPSY decreased the likelihood of membership in the problematic group. Furthermore, IPSY buffered the increase in prevalence and quantity for the normative group, whereas it had no effects on these indicators for the problematic group. Concerning quantity of alcohol use, the effect size in terms of a difference in estimated means between intervention and control group at the last measurement point in the normative group was d = 0.33 (95% CI [0.21, 0.44]). Conclusions: Study findings indicate the usefulness of IPSY for reducing alcohol use especially in normative developing adolescents. However, the minority of adolescents consistently pursuing a problematic developmental pathway of alcohol use seem to be in need of earlier, more tailored treatments. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Temporal associations of cigarette smoking with social influences, academic performance, and delinquency: A four-wave longitudinal study from ages 13-23.

This study examined the temporal associations of cigarette smoking with prosmoking social influences, academic performance, and delinquency in a cohort of 6,527 adolescents surveyed at ages 13, 16, 18, and 23 years. Prosmoking peer and family influences were risk factors for future smoking throughout adolescence, with family influences perhaps also operating indirectly through the adolescent's exposure to prosmoking peers. There were reciprocal associations of youth smoking with parental approval, peer smoking, and poor grades (but not delinquency), with youth smoking emerging as a stronger antecedent than consequence of these psychosocial factors. Few gender differences in these associations were observed. Implications of these findings for efforts to prevent youth smoking are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

It Takes Two to Tango: Personal and Organizational Resilience as Predictors of Strain and Cardiovascular Disease Risk in a Work Sample.

In a cross-sectional sample of 428 employees, the job demand-control-support and effort-reward imbalance job stress models were amalgamated and expanded to include modifiable risk factors and noncontrollable genetic factors related to cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk. With structural equation modeling, the constructs of lack of job resilience, lack of personal resilience, and job demand were used to examine how employer and employee factors related to psychosomatic strain and risk indicators of CVD. Negative perception of job demand predicted perception of lack of job resilience but not lack of personal resilience. Lack of job and personal resilience predicted strain. Women reported greater strain than men. CVD risk was predicted by strain, age, sex, and family history. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Is There a General Factor in Ratings of Job Performance? A Meta-Analytic Framework for Disentangling Substantive and Error Influences.

A database integrating 90 years of empirical studies reporting intercorrelations among rated job performance dimensions was used to test the hypothesis of a general factor in job performance. After controlling for halo error and 3 other sources of measurement error, there remained a general factor in job performance ratings at the construct level accounting for 60% of total variance. Construct-level correlations among rated dimensions of job performance were substantially inflated by halo for both supervisory (33%) and peer (63%) intrarater correlations. These findings have important implications for the measurement of job performance and for theories of job performance. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Attachment at Early School Age and Developmental Risk: Examining Family Contexts and Behavior Problems of Controlling-Caregiving, Controlling-Punitive, and Behaviorally Disorganized Children.

Preschool to school-age trajectories of 242 children, including 37 with insecure-disorganized and 66 with insecure-organized attachment patterns, were examined. Child attachment and stressful life events (the latter retrospectively) were measured at ages 5-7, and mother-child interactive quality, parenting stress, marital satisfaction, and teacher-reported behavior problems were evaluated concurrently and 2 years earlier. Results indicated that all three disorganized subgroups had poorer mother-child interactive patterns and more difficult family climates than secure or insecure-organized children. The controlling-punitive group showed significant increases in maternal reports of child-related stress between preschool and school age. The controlling-caregiving group showed greater likelihood of loss of a close family member, and mothers of the insecure-other group reported lower marital satisfaction and greater likelihood of their own or a spouse's hospitalization. Controlling-punitive children had higher externalizing scores, and controlling-caregiving children higher internalizing scores, than secure children. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Inventorying stressful life events as risk factors for psychopathology: Toward resolution of the problem of intracategory variability.

An explosion of research on life events has occurred since the publication of the Holmes and Rahe checklist in 1967. Despite criticism, especially of their use in research on psychopathology, such economical inventories have remained dominant. Most of the problems of reliability and validity with traditional inventories can be traced to the intracategory variability of actual events reported in their broad checklist categories. The purposes of this review are, first, to examine how this problem has been addressed within the tradition of economical checklist approaches; second, to determine how it has been dealt with by far less widely used and far less economical labor-intensive interview and narrative-rating approaches; and, third, to assess the prospects for relatively economical, as well as reliable and valid, solutions. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

A Prospective Study of Sensation Seeking and Alcohol Use as Predictors of Sexual Risk Behaviors Among Men and Women Receiving Sexually Transmitted Infection Clinic Services.

Sensation seeking, the propensity to seek optimal stimulation and engage in risk behaviors, correlates with alcohol expectancies, which are related to alcohol use in sexual situations, potentially increasing risks for sexually transmitted infections (STIs). In the current prospective study of 313 male and 140 female STI clinic patients, path analyses showed that sensation seeking predicted unprotected intercourse 6 months later. Sensation seeking also predicted alcohol outcome expectancies, which predicted alcohol use in sexual contexts 6 months later, which in turn predicted unprotected sex. Tests for mediation showed that alcohol expectancies accounted for the association between sensation seeking and alcohol use in sexual contexts. These findings replicate previous research, with the prospective design confirming directional hypotheses and supporting causal conclusions. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)