Suchergebnisse

This study examines transitions in alcohol, cigarette, and marijuana use and alcohol- and marijuana-related problems from late adolescence through young adulthood. Men and women who attend college are compared to their peers who do not to determine if the situational/socialization effects of college are unique during this developmental period. Prospective data from a community sample were collected at ages 18, 21, and 30 years. ANOVAs revealed that 18 year olds who transition out of high school, regardless of college status, reported higher levels of substance use than their peers who were still in high school. In addition, nonstudents compared to college students reported higher levels of cigarette and marijuana use in adolescence, emerging adulthood, and young adulthood and higher levels of alcohol- and marijuana-related problems in adolescence and young adulthood. Latent growth curve analyses revealed that college status was related to lower levels of alcohol and marijuana problems at age 18, greater increases from ages 18 to 21, and greater decreases from ages 21 to 30 even after controlling for level and growth in use. Overall, the findings suggest that nonstudents may be a more important target group than college students for drug use prevention efforts during emerging adulthood.

We tested a theoretical model that posited direct and Interactive relationships between personality and environment as predictive of problem drug use. Hierarchical regression analyses were performed on data from a nonclinical sample of males and females first tested in adolescence and followed into young adulthood. In main effects analyses, cross-sectional models for marijuana and a composite of "harder" drugs strongly supported our theoretical perspective: several environmental and personality variables significantly predicted concurrent problem use. Longitudinal analyses produced mixed results, with either smaller numbers of significant personality/environment predictors or personality predictors dropping out completely. Peer drug use and depression best predicted problem "hard" drug use, while motivations to use with others and disinhibition best predicted problem marijuana use. Personality/peer group interactions were significant both cross-sectionally and longitudinally, indicating that membership in a problem-using social network enhanced the predictive ability of, or helped bring to fruition, several personality predisposers.

This study examined the association of alcohol use with the persistence and desistance of serious violent offending among African American and Caucasian young men from adolescence into emerging adulthood. Five violence groups were defined: nonviolent, late‐onsetters, desisters, persisters, and one‐time offenders. We examined alcohol use trajectories for these groups spanning 12 through 24/25 years of age using a four‐piecewise linear growth model s 12–14, 14–18, 18–21, and 21–24/25 years of age. The persisters and desisters reported the highest levels of drinking at 13 years of age. From 14 to 18 years old, however, the late‐onsetters showed a higher rate of increase in drinking, compared with the persisters and desisters. Starting at 18 years of age, the desisters' drinking trajectory started to resemble that of the nonviolent group, who showed the highest rate of increase in drinking during emerging adulthood. By 24/25 years of age, the persisters could not be distinguished from the late‐onsetters, but they were lower than the nonviolent and one‐timer groups in terms of their drinking. At 24/25 years old, the desisters were not significantly different from the other violence groups, although they seemed most similar to the nonviolent and one‐timer groups. We found no evidence that the association between drinking and violence differed for African Americans and Caucasians. The findings suggest that yearly changes in alcohol use could provide important clues for preventing violent offending.

The widespread belief that illicit drugs are closely associated with crime has contributed to America's "War on Drugs" and attendant increases in arrests, convictions, and prison populations. However, the links between alcohol and crime have received less attention from policy makers and the public despite consistent evidence that alcohol is more likely than other drugs to be associated with violence. This study explores the relationship between alcohol and cocaine use and crime from 1989–1998, based on findings from the Drug Use Forecasting/Arrestee Drug and Alcohol Monitoring Program and the Uniform Crime Reports Program. We examine correlations among cocaine use, alcohol use, property crime, and violent crime at the city level to determine if there is a consistent pattern across cities over time. The analyses show a wide variation across cities in the links between both alcohol and cocaine use and violent and property crime rates over the 10-year period. However, the association between the annual rates of alcohol use and violent crime is stronger than that of alcohol use and property crime. These associations for alcohol remain in multivariate analyses, including statistical controls for temporal autocorrelation, SES, and heroin use. Cocaine use, in contrast, is not closely associated with either property or violent crime rates in the multivariate analyses. The findings suggest that to reduce violent crime rates, policy makers need to focus on addressing the contribution of alcohol. Furthermore, given the variation found across sites, efforts to reduce the drug/alcohol-crime links need to be tailored to local patterns and problems.

We investigated profiles of cannabis use motives among current cannabis-consuming college students. Then we assessed profile differences in demographic characteristics, social contexts of use, regulatory environment, alcohol use, negative affect, negative consequences, and cannabis use. Participants ( N = 1, 213) were from three universities in states with different cannabis legislation. Six profiles emerged: Low Motives, Low to Moderate Enhance, High Enhance, High Enhance & Social + Moderate Expand, High Enhance & Cope, and High Motives. Profiles differed in social contexts of use, sex, alcohol use, negative affect, and regulatory environment. Profiles endorsing high and multiple motives had higher cannabis use and negative consequences, relative to profiles with low or fewer motives. Profiles characterized by high avoidance motives (i.e., coping) had the highest cannabis use and consequences. Interventions targeting types and intensity of motives for cannabis-use may help reduce use and related consequences among college students who use cannabis.

This study examined how substance use trajectories from ages 15 to 23 in a community sample ( N = 921) were related to educational pathways. Rates of heavy drinking converged across different paths, but starting college at a 2-year college before transferring to a 4-year college was related to later increase in drinking after high school. Higher future educational attainment was negatively associated with high school marijuana use, but marijuana use increased after high school for individuals who went to 4-year colleges compared with those who did not. Noncollege youth had the highest rates of daily cigarette smoking throughout adolescence and early adulthood, whereas college dropouts had higher rates of smoking than college students who did not drop out. The findings support the need for universal prevention for early adult heavy drinking, addressing increases in drinking and marijuana use in 4-year colleges and targeting marijuana use and cigarette smoking interventions at noncollege youth and college dropouts.