Understanding Heterogeneity in Associations Between Internalizing Problems and Alcohol Use Behaviors Into Early Adulthood With Developmental Behavioral Genetics
Restricted (Penn State Only)
- Author:
- Chen, Tong
- Graduate Program:
- Psychology
- Degree:
- Doctor of Philosophy
- Document Type:
- Dissertation
- Date of Defense:
- June 09, 2023
- Committee Members:
- Kristin Buss (she/her), Program Head/Chair
Jenae Neiderhiser, Chair & Dissertation Advisor
Rina Eiden, Major Field Member
Jennifer Maggs, Outside Unit & Field Member
Stephen Wilson, Major Field Member
Ashley Linden-Carmichael, Outside Field Member - Keywords:
- Behavioral problems
alcohol use behaviors
longitudinal
trajectories
genetics
Depression
Anxiety
Longitudinal
Alcohol Use
Genetics - Abstract:
- Different theories and empirical findings have suggested complicated patterns of longitudinal associations between child/adolescent internalizing problems and adolescent/early adult alcohol use behaviors. This dissertation examined possible factors contributing to the heterogeneity in longitudinal associations between internalizing problems and alcohol use behaviors, guided by the life-course perspective, the developmental psychopathology framework, and behavioral genetic approaches. The first study used a longitudinal twin/sibling study across adolescence and early adulthood to examine whether depressive and anxiety symptoms were differentially longitudinally associated with alcohol use behaviors (including alcohol initiation and alcohol use severity), controlling for the effects of antisocial behaviors on alcohol use behaviors. Results suggested that depressive symptoms were associated with delayed alcohol initiation. Depressive symptoms were associated with more severe alcohol use via shared genetic influences. However, both depressive and anxiety symptoms had negative environmental associations with alcohol use severity. The second study examined associations between developmental trajectories of emotional problems across childhood and adolescence and early adult alcohol use behaviors (including alcohol consumption and alcohol-related problems), controlling for the effects of conduct problems on alcohol use behaviors. Results suggested that emotional problems in pre-adolescence (but not changes in emotional problems across adolescence) were associated with less alcohol consumption, although only for males. Emotional problems were not associated with early adult alcohol-related problems. Emotional problems during childhood were not associated with early adult alcohol use behaviors. In most cases, findings from this dissertation suggested that internalizing problems were associated with delayed alcohol initiation and less severe alcohol use (when the effects of externalizing problems were appropriately controlled for), although there was heterogeneity contributed by the subtype of internalizing problems, developmental timing of internalizing problems, sex differences, and different indicators of alcohol use behaviors. Finally, genetically informed designs suggested that while internalizing problems may have causal influences on alcohol use behaviors under certain conditions, common genetic and environmental factors may also contribute to significant associations between internalizing problems and alcohol use behaviors. Future studies should investigate specific genetic and environmental mechanisms that may explain negative longitudinal associations between internalizing problems and alcohol use behaviors.