Maternal socialization of adolescent smoking: The intergenerational transmission of parenting and smoking.

A longitudinal multigenerational design was used to examine the intergenerational transmission of smoking and the correlated transmission of parental support and control. Whether maternal socialization of adolescent smoking (both general parenting practices and smoking-specific strategies) would predict adolescent smoking both directly and indirectly by affecting peer affiliations was tested. There was strong evidence for the intergenerational transmission of cigarette smoking and for the relation between peer smoking and adolescent smoking. Both general parenting practices and smoking-specific discussion and punishment were significantly related to adolescents' smoking, especially for adolescent-reported parenting. Support for the intergenerational transmission of parenting practices emerged only in mothers' reports of support. Results suggest expanding current peer-focused prevention efforts to include parental socialization strategies. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

A longitudinal grouping analysis of adolescent substance use escalation and de-escalation.

Although studies have explored the predictors of changes in rank ordering of adolescent substance use over time, little research has specifically examined the predictors of substance use escalation and de-escalation. The present study tested whether social influences, individual differences, and symptomatology predicted substance use escalation and de-escalation over a 9-month period in a community sample of adolescents (n?=?390). Peer substance use, negative affectivity, externalizing symptoms, and internalizing symptoms prospectively predicted substance use escalation. Only peer substance use and parental control predicted de-escalation. Results provide support for the assertion that social influences, individual differences, and symptomatology predict substance use escalation and de-escalation but suggest that the relations differ for alcohol use versus illicit substance use and for the prediction of escalation versus de-escalation. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

A longitudinal examination of the reciprocal relations between perceived parenting and adolescents' substance use and externalizing behaviors.

Although studies have found an association between adolescent problem behavior and deficits in parental support and control, questions remain concerning the causal nature of these relations. Using longitudinal data, this study explored prospective reciprocal relations between perceived parenting and adolescents' substance use and externalizing symptoms. A community sample of adolescents and their parents (N?=?441) was studied, within which half of the adolescents were at risk for problem behavior because of parental alcoholism. Covariance structural modeling revealed full reciprocal relations between adolescent substance use and levels of parental support and control. Furthermore, although adolescent externalizing behaviors prospectively predicted parental control and support, parenting was not prospectively related to externalizing symptoms. The findings support the reciprocal effects model of socialization. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Peer cluster theory, socialization characteristics, and adolescent drug use: A path analysis.

A new psychosocial model, peer cluster theory, suggests that the socialization factors that accompany adolescent development interact to produce peer clusters that encourage drug involvement or provide sanctions against drug use. These peer clusters are small, very cohesive groupings that shape a great deal of adolescent behavior, including drug use. Peer cluster theory suggests that other socialization variables, strength of the family, family sanctions against drug use, religious identification, and school adjustment influence drug use only indirectly, through their effect on peer clusters. Correlations of these socialization variables with drug use confirm the importance of socialization characteristics as underlying factors in drug use and also confirm that other socialization factors influence drug use through their effect on peer drug associations. Peer cluster theory suggest that treatment of the drug-abusing youth must alter the influence of the peer cluster or it is likely to fail. Prevention programs aimed at the family, school, or religion must also influence peer clusters, or drug use will probably not be reduced. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Family risk factors and adolescent substance use: Moderation effects for temperament dimensions.

This research tested for moderation in the relation of family risk factors (parent–child conflict, family life events, and parental substance use) to adolescent substance use (tobacco, alcohol, and marijuana). A sample of 1,810 participants was surveyed at the mean age of 11.5 years and followed with 2 yearly assessments. Temperament dimensions were assessed with the Revised Dimensions of Temperament Survey and the Emotionality, Activity, and Sociability Inventory. Multiple-group latent growth analyses indicated moderation occurred through (a) alteration of effects of parental variables on the adolescent substance use intercept and on the peer substance use intercept and slope and (b) alteration of the effect of the peer substance use intercept on the adolescent substance use slope. The impact of parental risk factors was decreased among participants with higher task attentional orientation and positive emotionality (resilience effect) and was increased among participants with higher activity level and negative emotionality (vulnerability effect). Results from self-report data were corroborated by independent teacher reports. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Relation of parental alcoholism to early adolescent substance use: A test of three mediating mechanisms.

Assessed 3 hypothesized mediating mechanisms underlying the relation between parental alcoholism and adolescent substance use. Using structural equation modeling, data obtained from a large community sample of adolescent children of alcoholics and a demographically matched comparison group were analyzed. Results suggested that parental alcoholism influenced adolescent substance use through stress and negative affect pathways, through decreased parental monitoring, and through increased temperamental emotionality (which was associated with heightened negative affect). Both negative affect and impaired parental monitoring were associated with adolescents' membership in a peer network that supported drug use behavior. The data did not support a link between parental alcoholism and temperamental sociability. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Parent?×?child socialization: Implications for the development of depressive symptoms.

A Parent?×?Child model of socialization was applied to the development of depressive symptoms. It was expected that when parents used intrusive support frequently, children engaging in negative self-evaluative processes would be more vulnerable to depressive symptoms than children engaging in positive self-evaluative processes. Children in the 5th through 7th grades took part in a 2-wave longitudinal study over 6 months. Parents' use of intrusive support was assessed using reports from children (N?=?806) and mothers (N?=?74). Children's self-evaluative processes and depressive symptoms were assessed using reports from children. The results suggest that both parents and children contribute to the development of depressive symptoms. When parental intrusive support was high, children engaging in negative self-evaluative processes experienced more depressive symptoms over time than did children engaging in positive self-evaluative processes. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Activity and mood temperament as predictors of adolescent substance use: Test of a self-regulation mediational model.

The authors tested a mediational model of temperament dimensions and substance use with a sample of 1,826 urban adolescents, M age 12.3 years. Five scales from the Revised Dimensions of Temperament Survey (DOTS—R) were administered together with measures of substance (tobacco, alcohol, marijuana) use and measures of related variables derived from a self-regulation model. Unique contributions to substance use were found for DOTS—R dimensions of high activity level (positively related) and positive mood (inversely related). High activity level and low positive mood were also related to lower levels of parental support. Analyses, including multiple regression and structural modeling, identified generalized self-control, maladaptive coping (anger and helplessness), novelty seeking, and affiliation with peer substance users as mediating the effect of temperament on substance use, with control for effects of parental support. Parental support was inversely related to substance use through several pathways. Implications for the theory of vulnerability are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Shared Predictors of Youthful Gambling, Substance Use, and Delinquency.

Given that gambling, alcohol misuse, other drug use, and delinquency are correlated, it is hypothesized that these problem behaviors have shared antecedents. Measures from 3 explanatory domains--sociodemographic factors (age, race, and socioeconomic status), individual factors (impulsivity and moral disengagement), and socialization factors (parental monitoring and peer delinquency)--were tested for links to problem behaviors in 2 longitudinal samples of adolescents. Black youth had lower levels of problem behaviors than Whites. Impulsivity was a significant predictor of alcohol misuse for females and delinquency for males. Moral disengagement predicted gambling for males. Parental monitoring showed a significant inverse relationship to alcohol misuse and other substance use for males. Peer delinquency showed numerous prospective paths to youth problem behaviors for both genders. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Implications of social supports for adolescents' education and career aspirations.

260 15–18 yr old students (grade 9–12) completed questionnaires designed to examine relations among social support, perception of future opportunity, and education and career aspirations and expectations. Path analyses showed that for both males and females, perception of opportunity predicts educational expectations, which, in turn, predict educational aspirations and career expectations. For females, peer, family and teacher supports predict perception of opportunity, whereas for males only family support is predictive of perception of opportunity. Data indicated that females perceive more teacher and peer support than do males, and that compared to their male peers, females have greater perceived future opportunity, educational aspirations and expectations, and career expectations. Both males and females indicate a greater gap between career aspirations and expectations than between education aspirations and expectations. The possible contributions of socioeconomic conditions and gendered socialization are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Pathways of risk for accelerated heavy alcohol use among adolescent children of alcoholic parents

The current study examined two questions. First, do internalizing symptoms and externalizing behavior each mediate the relations between parent psychopathology (alcoholism, antisocial personality disorder, and affective disorder) and growth in adolescent heavy alcohol use? Second, are there gender differences in these mediated pathways? Using latent curve analyses, we examined these questions in a high-risk sample of 439 families (53% children of alcoholic parents; 47% female). Collapsing across gender, adolescent-reported externalizing behavior mediated both the relation between parent alcoholism and growth in heavy alcohol use and the relation between parent antisociality and growth in heavy alcohol use. Parent-reported externalizing behavior only mediated the relation between parent antisociality and growth in heavy alcohol use in males. No support was found for internalizing symptoms as a mediator of these relations. Avenues are suggested for further exploring and integrating information about different mediating processes accounting for children of alcoholics' risk for heavy alcohol use.     

How are social support effects mediated? A test with parental support and adolescent substance use.

This research tested how the effect of parental emotional and instrumental support on substance (tobacco, alcohol, and marijuana) use in adolescents is mediated. Data were from a sample of 1,702 adolescents surveyed between the 7th and 9th grades. Parental support was inversely related to substance use, and stress-buffering interactions were found at all assessment points. Structural modeling analyses indicated the effect of support was mediated through more behavioral coping and academic competence and less tolerance for deviance and behavioral undercontrol; these mediators were related to negative life events and deviant peer affiliations. Multiple-group analyses suggested buffering effects occurred because high support reduced the effect of risk factors and increased the effect of protective factors. Implications for the theory of social support effects and resilience mechanisms are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Parental education related to adolescent stress-coping and substance use: Development of a mediational model.

This research tested the relation of socioeconomic status (SES), indexed by parental education, to stress-coping variables and substance use in a sample of 1,391 adolescents. Lower education was related to higher level of adolescent substance use, lower levels of protective factors, and higher levels of risk factors. Mediation analyses indicated that the effect of education on adolescent substance use was mediated through relationships to parental support, academic competence, behavioral competence, negative life events, and friends' substance use. Moderation analyses indicated that adolescents from lower education families were more vulnerable to risk factors but also derived more benefit from protective factors. Multiple-group analysis indicated that moderation was attributable to larger paths in the lower education group for negative events and friends' use. Implications for the relation between SES and health risk are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Psychopathology as a predictor of adolescent drug use trajectories.

The authors examined early psychopathology as a predictor of trajectories of drug use from ages 13-18 years. Six years of annual data were analyzed for 506 boys using a mixed effects polynomial growth curve model. They tested whether distinct measures of psychopathology and behavioral problems (i.e., attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder, oppositional defiant disorder, conduct disorder, depression, and violence) assessed in early adolescence could prospectively predict level and change in alcohol and marijuana use. Higher levels of all of the types of psychopathology predicted higher levels of alcohol use, and higher levels of attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder, conduct disorder, and violence predicted higher levels of marijuana use. Only conduct disorder predicted linear growth in alcohol use, and none of the measures predicted growth in marijuana use. The results suggest that drug use prevention programs should target youths with early symptoms of psychopathology. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Role of Parent Support and Peer Support in Adolescent Substance Use: A Test of Mediated Effects.

This research tested comparative effects of parent and peer support on adolescent substance use (tobacco, alcohol, and marijuana) with data from 2 assessments of a multiethnic sample of 1,826 adolescents, mean age 12.3 years. Multiple regression analyses indicated that parental support was inversely related to substance use and that peer support was positively related to substance use, as a suppression effect. Structural modeling analyses indicated that effects of support were mediated through pathways involving good self-control, poor self-control, and risk-taking tendency; parent and peer support had different patterns of relations to these mediators. The mediators had pathways to substance use through positive and negative recent events and through peer affiliations. Effects for gender and ethnicity were also noted. Mechanisms of operation for parent and peer support are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Family and individual factors associated with substance involvement and PTS symptoms among adolescents in greater New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina.

Objective: This study examined the influence of hurricane impact as well as family and individual risk factors on posttraumatic stress (PTS) symptoms and substance involvement among clinically referred adolescents affected by Hurricane Katrina. Method: A total of 80 adolescents (87% male; 13–17 years old; mean age = 15.6 years; 38% minorities) and their parents were interviewed at the adolescent's intake into substance abuse treatment, 16 to 46 months postdisaster. Independent measures included hurricane impact variables (initial loss/disruption and perceived life threat); demographic and predisaster variables (family income, gender, predisaster adolescent substance use, predisaster trauma exposure, and parental substance abuse); postdisaster family factors (parental psychopathology, family cohesion, and parental monitoring); and postdisaster adolescent delinquency. Results: Hierarchical multivariate regression analyses showed that adolescent substance involvement was associated with higher family income, lower parental monitoring (adolescent report), and more adolescent delinquency. Adolescent-reported PTS symptoms were associated with greater hurricane-related initial loss/disruption, lower family cohesion (adolescent report), and more adolescent delinquency, whereas parent-reported adolescent PTS symptoms were associated with greater parental psychopathology, lower parental monitoring (adolescent report), and lower family cohesion (parent report). Conclusions: The results suggest that hurricane impact was related only to adolescent-reported PTS. However, certain postdisaster family and individual risk factors (low family cohesion and parental monitoring, more adolescent delinquency) were associated both with adolescent substance involvement and with PTS symptoms. Identification of these factors suggests directions for future research as well as potential target areas for screening and intervention with substance-abusing adolescents after disasters. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Locating eating pathology within an empirical diagnostic taxonomy: Evidence from a community-based sample.

Existing structural models of psychopathology need to be expanded to include additional diagnostic constructs beyond mood, anxiety, substance use, and antisocial behavior disorders. The goal of this study was to locate eating disorders within a hierarchical structural model of psychopathology that is anchored by broad Internalizing and Externalizing factors. Participants were female adolescent twins (N = 1,434) from the Minnesota Twin Family Study. The authors compared the fit of 4 models in which eating disorders (a) defined their own diagnostic class, (b) represented a subclass within Internalizing, (c) formed a subclass within Externalizing, and (d) were allowed to cross-load on both Internalizing and Externalizing. In the best fitting model, eating disorders formed a subfactor within Internalizing. These findings underscore the value of developing more comprehensive empirically based models of psychopathology to increase researchers' understanding of diverse mental disorders. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Coping with perceived peer stress: Gender-specific and common pathways to symptoms of psychopathology.

This study investigated gender differences in the moderating and mediating effects of responses to stress on the association between perceived peer stress and symptoms of psychopathology. A sample of 295 middle school students (63.7% female; Mage = 12.39 years, SD = 0.99) completed self-report surveys on stress, coping, and behavioral problems. Involuntary responses to stress (e.g., physiological arousal, intrusive thoughts, impulsive action) mediated the association between perceived stress and anxiety/depression and aggression for girls and for boys. Disengagement coping (e.g., denial, avoidance) partially mediated the association between peer stress and anxiety/depression for boys and for girls. In contrast, disengagement coping mediated the association between peer stress and overt aggression for boys only. Finally, engagement coping (e.g., problem solving, emotion regulation, cognitive restructuring) buffered the indirect effect of peer stress on symptoms of psychopathology for girls only. Implications for prevention and intervention efforts are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Development of moral thought, feeling, and behavior.

Reviews the literature on moral development. The major findings discussed are as follows: (1) Moral internalization is fostered by parental affection and inductive discipline and adversely affected by power assertion. (2) Identification with parents apparently contributes to certain visible moral attributes, but not to internal moral states like guilt. (3) As children grow older, parental influence wanes, and spontaneous peer interaction tends to undermine rather than uphold parental teaching. (4) Females are more morally internalized than males, a probable by-product of sex-role socialization. (5) The pervasive effects of TV on aggression and morality have yet to be demonstrated convincingly. (6) The evidence for cognitive-conflict theory (J. Piaget, 1932; L. Kohlberg, 1969, 1973) remains equivocal. (7) Arousal of empathic distress (and arousal of guilt) contributes to helping behavior. (44 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Comparing factor structures of adolescent psychopathology.

Research on the structure of adolescent psychopathology can provide information on broad factors that underlie different forms of maladjustment in youths. Multiple studies from the literature on adult populations suggest that 2 factors, Internalizing and Externalizing, meaningfully comprise the factor structure of adult psychopathology (e.g., Krueger, 1999) and presumably represent broad vulnerability for co-occurring disorders. Though this research was partially inspired by early work with children and adolescents (e.g., Achenbach & Edelbrock, 1984), the role of substance use in these models of youth psychopathology has not been fully explored. Toward this goal, we recruited 223 youths (10–17 years of age, M = 14.2) from mental health agencies and the community. We found evidence for a 3-factor model of youth psychopathology, including Internalizing (depression, generalized anxiety), Externalizing (conduct disorder, attention deficit, oppositional defiant disorder), and Substance Use (alcohol and cannabis). The 3-factor model showed the best fit to the data relative to other factor models tested, including across subsamples of adolescents who differed on level of psychopathology (treatment vs. community samples). Implications for the structure of adolescent psychopathology, including important developmental considerations, are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)