A LATENT CLASS GROWTH MODEL OF RURAL ADOLESCENT DRINKING: AN EXAMINATION OF THE ANTECEDENTS TO AND YOUNG ADULT CONSEQUENCES OF ADOLESCENT ALCOHOL USE TRAJECTORIES
Open Access
- Author:
- Henry, Kimberly Lynn
- Graduate Program:
- Biobehavioral Health
- Degree:
- Doctor of Philosophy
- Document Type:
- Dissertation
- Date of Defense:
- October 07, 2002
- Committee Members:
- John Walter Graham, Committee Member
Scott M Hofer, Committee Member
Lori Bechtel, Committee Member
Judith R Vicary, Committee Chair/Co-Chair - Keywords:
- adolescent alcohol use
rural youth
young adult substance use - Abstract:
- The current investigation applies latent class growth analysis to define the multiple developmental pathways of change in adolescent drinking behavior (drinking to intoxication) from age 14 to age 18 among a sample of 629 rural-dwelling individuals. The subjects’ adolescent drinking was represented by six overall patterns: chronic weekly (6.50% of the sample), consistent monthly (16.75%), rapid increasers (11.11%), decreasers (5.92%), normative users (25.28%), and non-abusers (34.28%). Both the antecedents and consequences of the trajectories were examined. Four antecedents were considered, including early onset intoxication (first intoxication by age 13), engagement in delinquent behavior at age 13, gender, and family history of alcohol and other drug (AOD) problems. The synergistic effect of the antecedents and the trajectory classes were investigated to explore their ability to predict young adult substance use, including intoxication, drug use, and alcohol-related consequences. The investigation elucidated the following findings: 1. Males were more likely to engage in delinquent acts at age 13, but no more likely to have experienced their first intoxication by age 13 than females. Males were less likely to have reported a family history of AOD problems. 2. Male and female adolescents who experienced their first intoxication by age 13 were more likely to have a family member with an AOD problem. In addition, males with a family member with an AOD problem were more likely to engage in frequent delinquent behavior at age 13. 3. Adolescents who experienced their first intoxication by age 13 were more likely to drink to intoxication throughout adolescence. 4. Adolescents who experienced their first intoxication by age 13 were more likely to use illicit drugs and forget where they were or what they did due to alcohol abuse in young adulthood. Early onset intoxication did not have a direct effect on young adult intoxication, frequent hangovers, nor getting into trouble with police due to alcohol abuse. 5. A six-class LCGM described the patterns of drinking to intoxication from age 14 to age 18 in the sample. The following classes emerged: chronic high, consistent monthly, rapid increaser, decreaser, normative user, and non-abuser. 6. No significant differences between the non-abusers and normative users were observed with respect to the covariates (early onset intoxication, delinquency at age 13, gender, and family history of AOD). 7. Members of the chronic high, consistent monthly, and the decreasing classes were more likely to have experienced their first intoxication by age 13 than the members of the non-abusing class. 8. Members of the chronic high, rapid increasing, and decreasing classes reported more delinquent acts at age 13 than members of the non-abusing class. 9. Members of the chronic high, consistent monthly, and the rapid increasing classes were more likely to be male than the members of the non-abusing class. 10. Gender had a direct effect on the young adult outcomes (intoxication, forgetting where one was or what one did as a result of alcohol abuse, and alcohol-induced trouble with the police) after controlling for the adolescent alcohol use trajectory. 11. The normative user class members were more likely to drink to intoxication, use drugs, and experience hangovers in young adulthood than members of the non-abusing class. 12. Members of the consistent monthly and rapid increasing classes were more likely to drink to intoxication, use illicit drugs, and experience hangovers than members of the low-use group (aggregate of the normative user and non-abusing classes). 13. Members of the chronic high class were more likely to experience all five of the negative young adult outcomes (drink to intoxication, use illicit drugs, experience hangovers, forget where he/she was or what he/she did as a result of alcohol abuse, and experience alcohol induced trouble with the police) than members of the low-use group. 14. Students who were abusing alcohol at ages 13 and 14, but proceeded to cease use in later adolescence were no more likely than the low-use group to abuse substances in young adulthood.