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Objective: Adolescent alcohol involvement may increase risk for young-adult depression; however, findings are mixed and important questions remain unanswered. Because alcohol involvement among teens is multidimensional, this study examined the extent to which four different adolescent alcohol dimensions (i.e., frequency of alcohol use, quantity of consumption, frequency of heavy episodic drinking, and frequency of problem use) were predictive of young-adult major depressive disorder (MDD). Method: Participants in this prospective longitudinal study, which extended from age 11 to age 22, were 429 rural teens (including 222 girls) and their families. Self-reports of each dimension of adolescent alcohol involvement were obtained at ages 16 and 18. Depression diagnoses were obtained at age 22, using a structured interview. Analyses included adolescent depressed mood, measured via self-report at ages 16 and 18. Data were analyzed using confirmatory factor analysis and structural equation modeling. Results: The multidimensional nature of adolescent alcohol involvement was best represented by a first-order problem-use factor and a second-order alcohol-intake factor comprised of quantity, frequency, and heavy drinking. After controlling for gender and depressed mood, adolescent problem use, but not alcohol intake, was a significant positive predictor of young-adult MDD. Conclusions: Findings help clarify the link between alcohol involvement and depression and suggest that harm-reduction strategies may help prevent later mood disorders. (J. Stud. Alcohol Drugs 69: 275-285, 2008), ALCOHOL INVOLVEMENT IS COMMON among teens, especially during late adolescence. In 2005, 75% of high school seniors reported having consumed alcohol at some point in their lifetimes (Johnston et al., [...]

Analyses first examined the developmental course of intimate partner violence (IPV), beginning with trajectories of youth violence. We then examined potential mediators of prior youth violence trajectories in models predicting later IPV perpetration as an outcome. Potential mediators include risks associated with the individual (e.g., current alcohol and drug use and mental health diagnosis), characteristics of a perpetrator's partner (e.g., use of alcohol/drugs and history of antisocial behavior), and aspects of the surrounding community (e.g., neighborhood norms favorable to violence and drug use). Data are from the Seattle Social Development Project, a longitudinal study of over 800 individuals followed from elementary school to young adulthood (age 24). Findings suggest that both chronic and late-increaser patterns of youth violence elevated the likelihood of later IPV perpetration. Partial mediation effects of the relation between youth violence and IPV were found for variables related to one's partner and the surrounding community. Individual characteristics of the perpetrator were not uniquely predictive of IPV when measured as a risk index and modeled along with other risk factors. Findings indicate that the risk of IPV could be lessened by addressing earlier forms of violence and by intervening to reduce risks within and across domains of influence. Keywords: intimate partner violence; youth violence; predictors; trajectories

Analyses investigated several competing hypotheses about developmental pathways from childhood physical abuse and early aggression to intimate partner violence (IPV) for young adult males and females at age 24. Potential intervening variables included: adolescent violence (age 15 to 18), negative emotionality at age 21, and quality of one's relationship with an intimate partner at age 24. At the bivariate level, nearly all variables were associated in the expected directions. However, tests of possible intervening variables revealed only a few significant results. For males, a strong direct effect of abuse on later partner violence was maintained in each model. For females, the quality of one's relationship with an intimate partner did appear to mediate the effect of childhood abuse on later violence to a partner, raising the possibility of gender differences in developmental pathways linking abuse to IPV. Implications with regard to prevention are discussed.

This article identifies gender, ethnicity, academic achievement, and antisocial behavior as predictors of violent behavior in adults. Topics include childhood behavior, social status, and drug use.

The purpose of this paper is to analyze (1) the response rates of a study that surveyed white and minority populations in Southern California, (2) the effectiveness of follow-up calling on reducing non-response with associated processing times for different outcomes, (3) the differences, if any, in response rates between trained students and professional interviewers, and {4) the impact of new technology on non-response and sample processing in general. This particular project provides an ideal opportunity to shed new light on these questions because few large-scale studies of this type are performed in the region and because frequent follow-up attempts were made to households until either the interview was obtained or the study was halted.

The social development model is a general theory of human behavior that seeks to explain antisocial behaviors through specification of predictive developmental relationships. It incorporates the effects of empirical predictors ('risk factors' and 'protective factors') for antisocial behavior and attempts to synthesize the most strongly supported propositions of control theory, social learning theory, and differential association theory. This article examines the power of social development model constructs measured at ages 9 to 10 and 13 to 14 to predict drug use at ages 17 to 18. The sample of 590 is from the longitudinal panel of the Seattle Social Development Project, which in 1985 sampled fifth grade students from high crime neighborhoods in Seattle, Washington. Structural equation modeling techniques were used to examine the fit of the model to the data. Although all but one path coefficient were significant and in the expected direction, the model did not fit the data as well as expected (CFI = .87). We next specified second-order factors for each path to capture the substantial common variance in the constructs' opportunities, involvement, and rewards. This model fit the data well (CFI = .90). We conclude that the social development model provides an acceptable fit to predict drug use at ages 17 to 18. Implications for the temporal nature of key constructs and for prevention are discussed.

Introduction: Reducing cigarette use is a major public health goal in the United States. Questions remain, however, about the potential for the social environment in the adult years-particularly in the 30s and beyond-to influence cigarette use. This study tested pathways hypothesized by the social development model to understand the extent to which social environmental factors at age 33 (eg, involvement with smokers or with physically active people) contribute to changes in cigarette use from age 30 to age 39. Both combustible and electronic cigarette use were investigated.Methods: Data were from the Seattle Social Development Project, a longitudinal study of 808 diverse participants with high retention. Self-reports assessed social developmental constructs, combustible and electronic cigarette use, and demographic measures across survey waves.Results: At age 30, 32% of the sample reported past-month cigarette use. Using structural equation modeling, results showed high stability in cigarette use from age 30 to 39. After accounting for this stability, cigarette-using social environments at age 33 predicted personal beliefs or norms about smoking (eg, acceptability and social costs), which in turn predicted combustible cigarette use at age 39. Cigarette-using environments, however, directly predicted electronic cigarette use at age 39, with no significant role for beliefs about smoking.Conclusions: Cigarette use was highly stable across the 30s, but social environmental factors provided significant partial mediation of this stability. Pathways were different for combustible and electronic cigarette use, however, with personal smoking norms playing an important role for the former but not the latter.Implications: This study addresses the need for longitudinal investigation of social mechanisms and cigarette use in the 30s. Findings reinforce efforts to prevent the uptake of cigarettes prior to the 30s because, once started, smoking is highly stable. But social environmental factors remain viable intervention targets in the 30s to disrupt this stability. Addressing personal norms about smoking's acceptability and social costs is likely a promising approach for combustible cigarette use. Electronic cigarettes, however, present a new challenge in that many perceived social costs of cigarette use do not readily translate to this relatively recent technology. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Lower socioeconomic status (SES) has been associated with higher rates of smoking. Few longitudinal studies have examined indicators of SES at both the neighborhood- and individual-level over time in conjunction with proximal risk factors of cigarette smoking.Purpose: To examine associations of time-varying measures of SES, demographic factors, and proximal risk factors for smoking net of average trajectories of smoking behavior from ages 30 to 39 in a community sample.Methods: Data from the Seattle Social Development Project (N = 752), a theory-driven longitudinal study originating in Seattle, WA, were used to estimate trajectories of smoking from age 30 to 39. Time-varying measures of neighborhood poverty, coworker smoking, partner smoking, depression, anxiety, education, income, marital status, and parenthood were associated with smoking over time using latent growth curve modeling.Results: Results indicated that living in higher poverty neighborhoods was uniquely associated with a greater likelihood of smoking net of average trajectories of smoking from age 30 to 39, gender and race/ethnicity, time-varying measures of SES and demographics, and time-varying measures of proximal risk factors for smoking.Conclusions: Living in higher poverty neighborhoods presents a unique risk for smoking among adults aged 30 to 39 above and beyond multiple aspects of SES and other potential mechanisms relating SES to smoking. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: This study was conducted to investigate the ability of the social development model (SDM) to predict alcohol misuse at age 16 and to investigate the ability of the SDM to mediate the effects of alcohol use at age 14 on alcohol misuse at age 16. Method: The sample of 807 (411 males) is from the longitudinal panel of the Seattle Social Development Project which, in 1985, surveyed all consenting fifth-grade students from 18 elementary schools serving high-crime neighborhoods in Seattle, Washington. Alcohol use was measured at age 14, predictors of alcohol misuse were measured at age 15 and alcohol misuse was measured at age 16. Structural equation modeling was used to examine the fit of the model to the data. Results: All factor loadings were highly significant and the measurement model achieved a good fit with the data (Comparative Fit Index [CFI] = 0.93). A second-order structural model fit the data well (CFI = 0.91) and also explained 45% of the variance in alcohol misuse at age 16. The SDM partially and significantly mediated the direct effect of age-14 alcohol use on age-16 alcohol misuse. Conclusions: The risk and protective processes specified by the SDM serve as potential targets for the prevention or reduction of adolescent alcohol misuse. (J Stud. Alcohol 62:179-189, 2001), MOST 10TH-GRADE STUDENTS have tried alcohol, and roughly one third report a recent episode of heavy drinking (Johnston et al., 1997). Research has identified multiple predictors of adolescent alcohol misuse, [...]

This study used yearly data from 808 males and females from the Seattle Social Development Project to explore the associations between alcohol use and interpersonal aggression from early to late adolescence. Nested structural equation modeling was used. With stability effects and cross-sectional correlations controlled, the authors examined the cross-lagged effects from alcohol use to interpersonal aggression, as well as those from interpersonal aggression to alcohol use. The data indicated a reciprocal effect of interpersonal aggression and alcohol use in later adolescence. Sex of the subject did not significantly moderate the observed relationships. When shared risk factors for alcohol use and interpersonal aggression were controlled, the relationships were not seriously attenuated. Although the results suggested that reducing one behavior will probably not have a long-term impact on the other, early prevention efforts aimed at shared risk factors may reduce both contemporaneously.

This study used data from the Seattle Social Development Project (SSDP) to compare social developmental mechanisms predictive of violence at age 18 for youth who initiated violence in childhood and those who initiated violence during adolescence. The SSDP is a theory-guided longitudinal study of youth development and behavior, which has followed a panel of children since they entered the fifth grade in 1985. A multiple-group structural equation modeling approach was used to test relationships among social development model constructs hypothesized to predict violence and other forms of antisocial behavior. Analyses revealed that during adolescence, socialization pathways leading to violence at age 18 were similar for those who initiated violence in childhood and those who initiated violence in adolescence, suggesting that during adolescence, the same preventive interventions may be effective for individuals in both groups.

Objectives. To examine the mechanisms of the association between age of sexual initiation and adult health. Methods. Data from the Seattle Social Development Project (n = 808), in Seattle, Washington, included outcomes when participants were in their 30s (2005–2014): substance use disorders, depression, poor health, and obesity. Sexual consequence mediators included sexually transmitted infection, adolescent pregnancy, and a high number of sexual partners. We used linear logistic regression to model main effect and mediated associations. Results. Age of sexual initiation was related to nicotine and marijuana disorders, physical health, and obesity, but not alcohol disorder or depression. Mediated association with nicotine disorder was not significant; association with marijuana disorder was reduced; significant relationships with poor health and obesity remained. Conclusions. The relationship between age of sexual initiation and substance use was largely explained by consequences of sexual behavior. Earlier sexual initiation was linked to poorer physical health outcomes, though the nature of the association remains unclear. Public Health Implications. Prevention approaches need to address multiple risk factors and emphasize contraceptive methods to avoid sexual consequences. For physical health outcomes, broad prevention approaches, including addressing early sexual initiation, may be effective. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There is broad agreement that neighborhood contexts are important for adolescent development, but there is less consensus about their association with adolescent smoking and alcohol use. Few studies have examined associations between neighborhood socioeconomic contexts and smoking and alcohol use while also accounting for differences in family and peer risk factors for substance use. Data drawn from the Seattle Social Development Project (N = 808), a gender-balanced (female = 49%), multiethnic, theory-driven longitudinal study originating in Seattle, WA, were used to estimate trajectories of smoking and alcohol use from 5th to 9th grade. Time-varying measures of neighborhood socioeconomic, family, and peer factors were associated with smoking and alcohol use at each wave after accounting for average growth in smoking and alcohol use over time and demographic differences. Results indicated that living in more socioeconomically disadvantaged neighborhoods, lower family income, lower family general functioning, more permissive family smoking environments, and affiliation with deviant peers were independently associated with increased smoking. Lower family functioning, more permissive family alcohol use environments, and deviant peers were independently associated with increased alcohol use. The effect of neighborhood disadvantage on smoking was mediated by family income and deviant peers while the effect of neighborhood disadvantage on alcohol use was mediated by deviant peers alone. Family functioning and family substance use did not mediate associations between neighborhood disadvantage and smoking or alcohol use. The results highlight the importance of neighborhood, family, and peer factors in early adolescent smoking and alcohol use. Future studies should examine the unique association of neighborhood disadvantage with adolescent smoking net of family socioeconomics, functioning, and substance use, as well as peer affiliations. Better understanding of the role of contextual factors in early adolescent smoking and alcohol use can help bolster efforts to prevent both short and long harms from substance use. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]