Search

Although prior studies have identified several risk factors for gun carrying, no prior longitudinal studies have examined a comprehensive set of explanatory factors together in within-individual change models or examined whether the predictors of gun carrying change across adolescence and early young adulthood. The present study fills these gaps by examining the predictive utility of several risk factors for gun carrying, and by examining whether any of the associations vary by age. The sample included 1216 young men who were arrested for the first time during adolescence (approximately 15 years old) and interviewed regularly for 5 years (until approximately 20 years old) after the first arrest. The outcome was youth-self-reported gun carrying and the risk factors included several variables consistent with various explanations for gun carrying (psychosocial maturity deficits; antisocial behavioral style; socialization; victimization). Research questions were addressed with fixed effects dynamic panel models (within-individual change models). Results showed that the most robust predictors of gun carrying were increased exposure to guns and gun-related violence and increased engagement in other antisocial and illegal behavior. The results emphasize the specific etiology of gun carrying and the potential social contagion effect of gun-related events. Overall, the study points to the need for prevention and intervention programs to specifically target the reduction of the real and perceived prevalence of gun-related events in young men’s lives.

Although firearm violence is universally recognized as a paramount public health problem in the United States, for nearly two decades a Congressional budget amendment prevented federal agencies from funding research aimed at understanding the antecedents and consequences of gun violence. Although these restrictions have been lifted in recent years, the field is struggling to overcome a considerable lapse in developmentally-informed longitudinal research on adolescent gun involvement. Some key areas in need of further investigation include: (a) examining developmental and gender differences in risk factors for adolescent gun carrying, (b) clarifying the mechanisms through which socio-economic disadvantage confers risk for engaging in adolescent gun violence, (c) identifying proximal risk and protective factors that are associated with engagement in adolescent gun violence among high risk youth, and (d) delineating the unique effect the exposure to gun violence has on adolescents’ emotional and behavioral problems. This special section was organized in an attempt to revitalize research on these issues using a diverse array of longitudinal data sets consisting of both epidemiological and juvenile justice samples. Collectively, the findings from these studies are based upon repeated assessments conducted from childhood through early adulthood, making this set of papers uniquely positioned to advance our understanding adolescent gun involvement from a developmental perspective.

The Pittsburgh Youth Study (PYS) started data collection in 1987, with three age cohorts of inner-city boys from the Pittsburgh Public School system. The youngest cohort (N = 503), the middle cohort (N = 508), and the oldest cohort (N = 506) were assessed first every 6 months, and later annually. Information was collected from participants, their parents, and their teachers. The PYS is one of the longest running longitudinal studies on delinquency and mental health in the USA. Data collection was last conducted in 2019, in the form of official criminal records. The PYS has generated numerous books, chapters, and peer-reviewed papers spanning a large number of different outcomes including delinquency, serious violence, mental health problems, and other health behaviors. Data is publicly available.

This study tested whether increases in recent and cumulative cannabis use were each associated with increases in internalizing problems from adolescence to young adulthood. Participants were boys from a community sample that was assessed annually from ~age 15–26 (N = 506). Boys reported on their cannabis use, depression symptoms, and anxiety/depression problems each year. Exposures were frequency of cannabis use in a given year (no use, < weekly use, weekly or more frequent use) and cumulative prior years of weekly cannabis use. Outcomes were depression symptoms and anxiety/depression problems in a given year. Analyses examined within-person associations between changes in exposures and outcomes over time, which eliminated “fixed” (unchanging) individual differences as potential confounds. Analyses also accounted for time-varying factors as potential confounds (other substance use, externalizing problems, subclinical psychotic symptoms). Results showed that increases in recent cannabis use and cumulative prior years of weekly cannabis use were each associated with increases in depression symptoms and anxiety/depression problems. After controlling for time-varying covariates, increases in cumulative prior years of weekly cannabis use, but not recent cannabis use, remained associated with increases in depression symptoms and anxiety/depression problems. Specifically, each additional year of prior weekly cannabis use was associated with a small increase in depression symptoms (b = 0.012, p = .005) and anxiety/depression problems (b = 0.009, p = .001). Associations did not vary systematically across time. There was also no evidence of reverse causation. As boys engaged in weekly cannabis use for more years, they showed increases in internalizing problems, suggesting the importance of preventing chronic weekly cannabis use.

Although resting heart rate is thought to be a generalizable risk factor for aggression, very little research has examined whether this relationship varies by race. We addressed this limitation using longitudinal data from the Pittsburgh Youth Study. Current data are from 197 men who participated in a teenage biosocial study (mean age = 15.7 years) and adult follow-up study (mean age = 32.1 years). Teenage resting heart rate interacted with race to predict teenage and adult aggression. The relationship between heart rate and aggression was significant in White, but not in Black males. To our knowledge, this is the first study to find that the relationship between resting heart rate and aggression is racially variant, suggesting that resting heart rate may not be a generalizable biomarker for conduct problems. At an intervention-level, findings could contribute to the development of more accurate risk assessment tools that take into account racial variance in risk factors.

Although studies have identified risk factors for adolescent handgun carrying, previous research on risk factors for carrying a handgun to school specifically is sparse. This study examines self-re...

OBJECTIVES: This study aims to examine whether periods of marijuana and other illicit drug dealing (“spells” of dealing) are associated with changes in young male offenders’ gun carrying behavior. METHODS: This paper uses 84 months of data from a sample of 479 serious juvenile male offenders who were assessed every six months for three years and then annually for four years. At each assessment, participants reported on engagement in illicit behaviors, including drug dealing and gun carrying, in each month since the prior interview. We used fixed effects models to assess within-individual changes in participants’ gun carrying immediately before, during, and right after a dealing spell, while controlling for relevant time varying confounds (e.g., gang involvement, exposure to violence). Additionally, we tested moderation by type of drug sold. RESULTS: There was a slight increase in gun carrying right before a drug dealing spell (OR = 1.3–1.4), then a more pronounced increase in gun carrying during the months of a drug dealing spell (OR = 8.0–12.8). Right after a dealing spell ends, youths’ gun carrying dropped dramatically, but remained significantly elevated relative to their baseline levels (OR = 2.6–2.8). The association between drug dealing spells and increases in gun carrying was stronger when participants dealt hard drugs (e.g., cocaine, heroin) relative to marijuana. CONCLUSIONS: These results suggest that designing and implementing programs to prevent the initiation of drug dealing and decrease involvement in drug dealing may help to substantially reduce illegal gun carrying and firearm violence among delinquent males.

The cost-effectiveness of targeted delinquency prevention programs for children depends on the accuracy of the screening process. However, screening accuracy is often poor, resulting in wasted resources and missed opportunities to avert negative outcomes. This study examined whether screening approaches based on logistic regression or machine learning algorithms can enhance accuracy relative to traditional sum-score approaches when identifying boys in the 5(th) grade (N = 1012) who would be repeatedly arrested for violent and serious crimes from ages 13 to 30. Screening algorithms were developed that incorporated facets of teacher-reported externalizing problems and other known risk factors (e.g., peer rejection). The predictive performance of these algorithms was evaluated and compared in holdout (i.e., test) data using the Area Under the Receiver Operating Curve (AUROC) and Brier Score. Both the logistic and machine learning methods yielded AUROC superior to traditional sum-score screening approaches when a broad set of risk factors for future delinquency was considered. However, this improvement was modest, and was not present when using item-level information from a composite scale assessing externalizing problems. Contrary to expectations, machine learning algorithms performed no better than simple logistic models. There was a large apparent advantage of machine learning that disappeared after appropriate cross-validation, underscoring the importance of careful evaluation of these methods. Results suggest that screening using logistic regression could improve the cost-effectiveness of targeted delinquency prevention programs in some cases, but screening using machine learning would confer no marginal benefit under currently realistic conditions.

Although previous research has established a link between early interpersonal callousness (IC) from childhood to adolescence and later antisocial behavior and psychopathic features, the majority of these studies assess more proximal outcomes (e.g., assessed in adolescence). Thus, it is unclear whether youth with early-onset chronic levels of IC will continue to have negative outcomes into adulthood (i.e., roughly 14 years after IC was assessed). The current study used data from the youngest cohort (N = 503) of the Pittsburgh Youth Study to examine how latent classes of youth with different developmental patterns of IC across a 7-year period (∼ages 8 to 15) differed in their official records of juvenile (∼ages 16-17) and young adult (∼ages 18-31) offending, as well as self-reported psychopathic features and aggression in young adulthood (∼age 29). Results indicated that after adjusting for race, early offending, and externalizing behaviors in adolescence, youth with an early-onset chronic pattern of IC had substantially elevated risk for a serious and persistent pattern of offending, particularly violent offending. However, once these covariates were included, IC class no longer significantly predicted psychopathic features in adulthood. Thus, it is possible that the stability from early patterns of IC to adult psychopathic features may have previously been overstated. Future work could examine whether interventions to reduce IC in childhood and adolescence could successfully result in improved outcomes into adulthood. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2019 APA, all rights reserved).

Background Adolescent girls who become pregnant demonstrate greater risk for substance use than same-aged peers. However, it remains unclear how risk relates to normative changes in adolescence. Few studies have examined adolescent substance use changes before, during, and after pregnancy and considered how pregnancy outcomes (childbirth, miscarriage, abortion) differentially influence substance use changes. The present study examined associations between different adolescent pregnancy outcomes and within-person changes in substance use from prepregnancy to postpregnancy. Methods Participants included 2,450 girls (52% Black) oversampled from low-income urban neighborhoods in Pittsburgh, PA. Participants self-reported pregnancy outcomes and substance use frequency (alcohol, cigarette, marijuana) annually from ages 11-20. Fixed effects regressions focused on first births, first miscarriages, and first abortions occurring from ages 12-19 to test the associations between pregnancy outcomes and within-individual changes in substance use from prepregnancy to postpregnancy. By design, models controlled for all potential time-stable confounds, and models included age and subsequent pregnancies as time-varying covariates. Results Consistent with prior studies, girls who became pregnant (20%) reported greater early risk for substance use problems than never-pregnant adolescents, including earlier age of onset and more regular marijuana and cigarette use. Childbirth predicted a 26%-51% within-individual reduction in alcohol, marijuana, and cigarette use that remained significantly lower than prepregnancy levels after childbirth. Alcohol and marijuana use decreased (32%-47%) after miscarriage. Abortion was not associated with long-term changes in substance use; however, marijuana and cigarette use gradually increased (44%-46%) in the years leading up to the year of and after abortion, respectively, before returning to prepregnancy levels. Conclusions Findings highlight important differences in adolescent substance use patterns based on pregnancy outcome. For pregnant adolescents with heightened pre-existing risk for substance use, pregnancy may be a window of opportunity for substance use screening and behavioral intervention.

OBJECTIVE: We examined whether childhood socioeconomic disadvantage was associated with adolescent gun violence, and whether early symptoms of conduct disorder and/or exposure to delinquent peers accounted for the linkage. METHOD: Participants were 503 predominately Black and White boys who were recruited in first grade from Pittsburgh public schools. Multi-informant assessments were conducted regularly from age ~7 to ~20. A latent socioeconomic disadvantage factor was estimated with census-tract and parent-reported data when boys were ~7.5. Latent growth curve models assessed parent/teacher-reported conduct problems and youth-reported peer delinquency from age ~7.5 to ~10. The outcome was youth-reported engagement in gun violence by about age 20. We also controlled for race. Analyses examined whether the association between childhood socioeconomic disadvantage and adolescent gun violence was mediated through early conduct problems and/or increased exposure to delinquent peers. RESULTS: Childhood socioeconomic disadvantage was associated with adolescent gun violence, and some of this effect was mediated through peer delinquency and conduct problems. Specifically, childhood socioeconomic disadvantage was associated with greater affiliation with delinquent peers in early childhood, and early peer delinquency promoted a greater increase in conduct problems across childhood, and these conduct problems, in turn, led to an increased risk for adolescent gun violence. CONCLUSION: This study found that early socioeconomic disadvantage was directly and indirectly related to adolescent gun violence. Results suggest that interventions that aim to reduce conduct problems and deviant peer group affiliation in childhood might be important windows of opportunity for reducing gun violence in impoverished neighborhoods.

Gun violence takes a significant toll on adolescents in the United States, and there is a lack of longitudinal research on perceptual factors that drive gun carrying. Notably, there is no information on the relationship between perception of gun accessibility and gun carrying. Using data collected between 2000 and 2006 in the Pathways to Desistance Study, we examine the effects of perceived access to guns in a sample of adolescent offenders. A generalized estimating equations approach tested the effect of perceived gun access along with other known risk factors for gun carrying across time. Even after adjusting for these other risk factors, perceived gun access was significantly related to future carrying. Our findings support self-reported gun availability as a significant, population-based risk factor related to gun carrying in high-risk youth. Further research on how perceived access mediates the decision to carry guns would be valuable for formulating effective gun policy.

Perceived threat is a central feature of theories of intergroup behaviour, such as the minority threat perspective. Studies have linked perceptions of Latinos as threatening the interests of Whites...

Contains fulltext : 236042.pdf (Publisher’s version ) (Closed access) 1 p.

Objective To evaluate the roles of parenting and adolescent characteristics during ages 13 to 16 in connecting family socioeconomic status (SES) during adolescence with adult sleep in Black and White men. Design Longitudinal school-based community study beginning in 1987-1988 when participants were enrolled in the first or seventh grade. Setting Pittsburgh, PA. Participants 291 men (54.4% Black, mean age = 33, SD = 2.5) participated in 2012-2014 in a week-long study of sleep measured by actigraphy and diary. Measures In adolescence (ages 13-16), measures of family SES based on occupation, education, income and public assistance; parenting based on monitoring, positive expectations for future, warm parent-child relationship, and communication; and adolescent characteristics based on anxiety, hyperactivity/impulsivity, and peer rejection. In adulthood, participant SES, minutes awake after sleep onset (WASO), duration, and diary-assessed sleep quality. Results Structural equation modeling confirmed significant indirect pathways: (1) low family SES in adolescence to negative parenting to low adult SES to greater WASO; (2) low family SES in adolescence to adolescent characteristics to low adult SES to greater WASO; (3) Black race to low family SES in adolescence to negative parenting to low adult SES to greater WASO; and (4) Black race to low family SES in adolescence to adolescent characteristics to adult SES to greater WASO. Similar models for duration and quality were not confirmed. Conclusions Parenting and adolescent characteristics may have an indirect association with adult sleep continuity. Parenting and mental health interventions in adolescence may improve adult sleep.

OBJECTIVE: To examine several risk and protective factors as predictors of future gun violence among male juvenile offenders. METHOD: Data came from a longitudinal cohort of 1,170 male juvenile offenders (42.1% Black; 34.0% Latino; 19.2% White) ages 14-19 who were adjudicated for a serious offense. Interviews were conducted with participants every six months for three years and then annually for four years. The outcome was self-reported gun violence assessed at each follow-up. The time-lagged predictors included several self-reported risk factors (i.e., gun carrying, non-gun violence, drug dealing, heavy drinking, poor impulse control, rewards for crime, peer gun and non-gun delinquency, gang membership) and protective factors (i.e., concern for others, expectations and aspirations for work/family, religious beliefs, adult social supports). The data were analyzed using generalized estimating equation models. RESULTS: There were 266 participants who reported engaging in gun violence at one or more assessments. Gun carrying was a significant predictor of future gun violence; however, nearly half (49%) of the juveniles who reported gun carrying across the repeated assessments did not report engaging in gun violence. Besides gun carrying, several risk (i.e., drug dealing, heavy drinking, rewards for crime, gang membership, peer gun carrying) and protective (i.e., concern for others, aspirations for work/family, religious beliefs, adult social supports) factors significantly predicted gun violence, after controlling for their co-occurrence (Risk factor odds ratios=1.18-1.50; Protective factor odds ratios=.44-.87; ps

OBJECTIVE Depressive symptoms and major depression predict cardiovascular disease (CVD) and CVD risk factors in adulthood. Evidence regarding the role of depression in the development of CVD risk in youth is minimal. The study evaluated the prospective relationship of depressive symptoms in childhood and adolescence with adult CVD risk factors in black and white men. METHODS Health behaviors and medical history were measured in 165 black and 146 white men (mean age = 32); a subset in the Pittsburgh area had a fasting blood draw to measure metabolic syndrome and inflammation. Adult CVD risk factors were related to depressive symptoms and childhood socioeconomic status (SES) prospectively measured annually from ages 7 to 16 years, followed by adjustments for adult SES and depressive symptoms. RESULTS Men with higher depressive symptoms ages 7 to 16 smoked more cigarettes, B = 0.28 (standard error = 0.12), p = .015, and ate fewer servings of fruits and vegetables, B = -0.08 (0.04), p = .040, as adults. The association for smoking was independent of adult depressive symptoms (concurrent) and childhood and adult SES as well as race. Depressive symptoms during childhood were unrelated to the metabolic syndrome or biomarkers of inflammation in adulthood. CONCLUSIONS Depressive symptoms in childhood may predict later adverse health behaviors in black and white men. No evidence was found for an association between childhood depressive symptoms with metabolic syndrome or inflammation markers at ages approximately 32 years. The nature of the sample and lack of measurement of depressive disorder diagnosis tempers the conclusions, and future research is needed to determine associations with biological measures at later life span phases.

A low resting heart rate across development from infancy to young adulthood relates to greater aggression/hostility. Adult aggression and a high heart rate relate to health risk. Do some aggressive individuals retain low heart rate and less health risk across development while others show high heart rate and more risk? A longitudinal sample of 203 men assessed as teens (age 16.1) and adults (mean age 32.0) permitted us to assess (a) stability of heart rate levels and reactivity, (b) stability of aggression/hostility, and (c) whether change or stability related to health risk. Adults were assessed with Buss–Perry measures of aggression/hostility; teens with the Zuckerman aggression/hostility measure. Mean resting heart rate, heart rate reactivity to speech preparation, and aggression/hostility were moderately stable across development. Within age periods, mean heart rate level, but not reactivity, was negatively related to hostility/aggression. Maintaining low heart rate into adulthood was related to better health among aggressive individuals relative to those with increasing heart rate into adulthood. Analyses controlled for weight gain, socioeconomic status, race, health habits, and medication. Low heart rate as a characteristic of hostile/aggressive individuals may continue to relate to better health indices in adulthood, despite possible reversal of this relationship with aging.

Adolescent gun violence is a serious public health issue that disproportionately affects young Black males. Although it has been postulated that differential exposure to childhood risk factors might account for racial differences in adolescent gun carrying, no longitudinal studies have directly examined this issue. We examined whether childhood risk factors indexing neighborhood crime, peer delinquency, and conduct problems predicted the initiation of adolescent gun carrying among a community sample of Black and White boys. Analyses then examined whether racial differences in risk factors accounted for racial differences in gun carrying. Data came from a sample of 485 Black and White boys who were repeatedly assessed from 2nd grade until age 18. Multi-informant data collected across the first 3 years of the study were used to assess neighborhood crime, peer delinquency, and conduct problems. Illegal gun carrying was assessed annually from 5th grade through age 18. Growth curve analyses indicated that children with higher initial levels of conduct problems and delinquent peer involvement, as well as those who increased in conduct problems across childhood, were more likely to carry a gun prior to age 18. Black boys were also more likely to carry guns than Whites. Racial differences were greatly reduced, but not eliminated, after controlling for initial levels of conduct problems and delinquent peer involvement. Findings suggest that early prevention programs designed to reduce adolescent gun violence (including racial disparities in gun violence) should target boys with severe conduct problems and those who affiliate with delinquent peers during elementary school. (PsycINFO Database Record

Objective Although studies have found that youth exposed to violence are more likely to carry guns than non-exposed youth, this association could be due to common causal factors or other pre-existing differences between individuals. In this study, within-individual change models were used to determine whether juvenile offenders exhibit an increased propensity to carry a firearm after being exposed to gun violence and/or non-gun violence. The advantage of this approach is all time-invariant factors are eliminated as potential confounders. Method A sample of 1,170 racially/ethnically diverse male juvenile offenders was recruited in Arizona and Pennsylvania (14–19 years old at recruitment). Participants were interviewed every 6 months for 3 years followed by 4 annual assessments. The outcome was gun carrying and the primary predictors were exposure to gun violence and non-gun violence. Time-varying covariates included exposure to peers who carried guns, exposure to peers who engaged in other (non-gun) criminal acts, developmental changes in gun carrying, and changes in gun carrying from incarceration or institutionalization. Results Adolescent offenders were significantly more likely to carry a gun in recall periods after exposure to gun violence, but not after exposure to non-gun violence. Effect of gun violence on carrying was significant throughout adolescence and young adulthood and could not be accounted for by time-varying and time-invariant confounders. Conclusions Interventions to decrease illegal gun carrying should target young men in medical and mental health settings who experience or witness gun violence and those living in communities with high rates of gun violence.

Objectives Psychopathy is associated with severe forms of antisocial and violent behavior in adults. There is also a rapidly growing body of research focused on extending features of adult psychopathy downward to youth. To date however, the degree to which these features can be consistently and comparatively assessed at these younger ages, remains unclear. This study addresses this issue by investigating measurement invariance of underlying features of psychopathy across childhood and adolescence in a racially diverse sample of youth. Methods Three cohorts of youth (n = 1517) were assessed annually from childhood to adolescence (ages ∼7–16). Underlying features of psychopathy commonly assessed in youth (e.g. lack of guilt, impulsivity) were examined within a longitudinal bi-factor framework using multi-dimensional item-response theory (IRT) techniques. Differential item functioning was used to assess invariance across development and participant’s race (African-American and Caucasian), using two distinct approaches: (1) traditional item-response theory (IRT) methods; and (2) a recently developed Bayesian structural equation modeling (BSEM) approach. Results Psychopathy features assessed in this study exhibited measurement consistency across development (∼ages 7–16) and were found to tap into the same underlying construct as intended across measurement occasions, and equivalently for African-American and Caucasian youth. Results were similar when assessed using traditional IRT procedures for longitudinal invariance testing and when implementing the more recent BSEM methodology. Conclusions Findings provide the first evidence that features of psychopathy can be assessed consistently in youth and improve our understanding of important developmental and sociocultural factors associated these features during earlier periods of development.

Objective American Heart Association (AHA) developed a new metric to evaluate ideal cardiovascular health based on optimal levels of 7 cardiovascular risk factors and health behaviors. We evaluated the relationships of parenting characteristics and academic achievement in adolescence in relation to ideal cardiovascular health in midlife men. Method We measured cardiovascular risk factors in 171 Black and 136 White men and their ideal cardiovascular health score was constructed based on AHA guidelines. When the participants were 13-16 years old, annual measures of parent-child communication, positive relationship, parental monitoring, family cohesion, boys' involvement in family activities, and academic achievement were recorded and averaged. Results Confirmatory factor analysis of adolescent parenting measures revealed a single Parenting Composite. Multiple linear regressions showed a significant Race by Parenting Composite interaction term, β = -.19, p = .03; better parenting was significantly related to more ideal cardiovascular health in Blacks only, β = -.23, p = .004, which remained after adjustments for adolescent and adult socioeconomic status (SES). Academic achievement was related to ideal cardiovascular health, β = -.13, but was no longer significant after controls for adult SES. Adult SES was a strong correlate of ideal cardiovascular health in Black and White men. Conclusions Black men exposed to positive parenting during adolescence had more ideal cardiovascular health based on AHA guidelines. Improving academic achievement in adolescence may indirectly benefit adult cardiovascular health through improving adult SES. This is the first study of adolescent family predictors of the extent of ideal cardiovascular health. (PsycINFO Database Record

BACKGROUND: Cannabis concentrates, which are cannabis plant extracts that contain high concentrations of Δ-9-tetrahydrocannbinol (THC), have become increasingly popular among adults in the United States. However, no studies have reported on the prevalence or correlates of cannabis concentrate use in adolescents, who, as a group, are thought to be particularly vulnerable to the harms of THC. METHODS: Participants are a racially and ethnically diverse group of 47 142 8th-, 10th-, and 12th-grade students recruited from 245 schools across Arizona in 2018. Participants reported on their lifetime and past-month marijuana and cannabis concentrate use, other substance use, and risk and protective factors for substance use problems spanning multiple life domains (ie, individual, peer, family, school, and community). RESULTS: Thirty-three percent of all 8th-, 10th-, and 12th-graders reported lifetime cannabis use, and 24% reported lifetime concentrate use. Seventy-two percent of all lifetime cannabis users had used concentrates. Relative to adolescent cannabis users who had not used concentrates, adolescent concentrate users were more likely to use other substances and to experience more risk factors, and fewer protective factors, for substance use problems across numerous life domains. CONCLUSIONS: Most adolescent cannabis users have used concentrates. Based on their risk and protective factor profile, adolescent concentrate users are at higher risk for substance use problems than adolescent cannabis users who do not use concentrates. Findings raise concerns about high-risk adolescents’ exposure to high-THC cannabis.

This multi-cohort study delineates developmental trajectories of psychopathic features across childhood and adolescence (ages 7-16) and investigates associations with adult outcomes (ages~23-34). Although most youth demonstrated consistently low levels of psychopathic features, approximately 10%-15% followed a chronically high trajectory. A similar number (~14%) displayed initially high levels that decreased over time, while others (~10%-20%) followed an increasing pattern. Boys in the chronically high trajectory exhibited the most deleterious adult outcomes and some evidence suggested that youth in the decreasing subgroup experienced fewer maladaptive outcomes than those in the increasing and high groups. Findings revealed substantial malleability in the developmental course of psychopathic features and suggest that unique pathways may exert considerable influence on future engagement in antisocial and criminal behaviors.

The growing public health and legal concerns regarding gun violence has led to a call for research that investigates risk factors for gun violence across a variety of domains. Individual and sociocontextual risk factors have been associated with violence more broadly, and in some instances gun-carrying, however no prior research has investigated the role of these factors in explaining gun violence using longitudinal data. The current study utilized a subsample (N = 161) from the Pathways to Desistance Study, which is a longitudinal sample of serious adolescent offenders to evaluate interindividual and intraindividual differences in relevant risk factors of gun violence. Results suggest that there are a few key proximal individual-level and sociocontextual predictors for gun violence, including witnessing nongun violence, future orientation, and perceived personal rewards to crime. Findings demonstrate the salience of exposure to violence in contributing to gun violence and identify levers of action for public policy. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2019 APA, all rights reserved).

OBJECTIVES: To examine the association between parental disengagement in childhood and adolescent gun carrying and determine whether this association is accounted for by externalizing problems and affiliation with delinquent peers during early adolescence. METHODS: The sample included 503 boys (55.7% African American, 40.6% white, 3.7% other) recruited from first-grade classrooms in Pittsburgh public schools. Multi-informant assessments were conducted regularly (semiannually then annually) from approximately ages 7.5 to 20 years. Latent factors were constructed by using parent-reported parental disengagement (ie, poor parental involvement, poor parent-son communication, poor parent-son relationship quality) collected from ages 7.5 to 10 years, youth-reported peer delinquency from ages 10.5 to 13 years, and teacher-reported externalizing problems from ages 10.5 to 13 years. The outcome was youth-reported gun carrying from ages 14 to 20 years. RESULTS: Twenty percent of individuals sampled reported carrying a gun during adolescence. Childhood parental disengagement was significantly associated with adolescent gun carrying (β = .22; 95% confidence interval: 0.08 to 0.36). Furthermore, the association between parental disengagement and gun carrying was partially mediated through peer delinquency and externalizing problems during early adolescence. The 2 indirect paths accounted for ∼29% of the total effect of parental disengagement. CONCLUSIONS: Boys exposed to poorer parental engagement during childhood are more likely to affiliate with delinquent peers and exhibit externalizing problems during early adolescence, which (in turn) increases their risk of carrying a firearm in later adolescence. This suggests that gun violence prevention efforts with children should work to enhance aspects of parental engagement.

Hostility is a risk factor for cardiovascular events. When challenged, individuals high on hostility exhibit a hyperreactive psychophysiological response to stressors, thereby increasing risk for developing cardiovascular disease. However, low resting heart rate (HR) is associated with physical aggression and hostility in children, adolescents, and adults. Based on a community sample of 296 men (mean age = 32.0), we (a) address whether aggression/hostility relates to physical health through relationships with cardiovascular levels at rest and in response to stressors, and (b) determine how relations between aggression and health are altered by including psychophysiological indices in statistical models. The Cook-Medley cynical/hostile attitudes and the Buss-Perry physical aggression and hostility measures assessed aggression. Health was assessed as systolic blood pressure (SBP), report of medical conditions, and a metabolic composite. Reactivity to stressors was assessed with HR, SBP, and diastolic blood pressure. Aggression was negatively related to both resting HR and reactivity. High resting HR and reactivity were, however, positively related to poor health. Thus, the relationship between aggression and HR and reactivity suppressed an overall relationship between high aggression/hostility and poor health. In the presence of covariates for socioeconomic status, race, health behaviors, and medications, the relationship between aggression and health was significantly strengthened when HR level and reactivity were included in models. In sum, at early midlife, low HR among aggressive and hostile individuals is related to less health risk. Aggression and hostility have a deleterious influence on health, but primarily among individuals with higher HR and possibly greater cardiovascular reactivity.

Vaping nicotine (i.e., the use of e-cigarettes and similar devices to inhale nicotine) is becoming increasingly popular among young people. Though some vaporizers are capable of vaporizing cannabis, sparse research has investigated this method of cannabis administration. The present study examines the prevalence and correlates of vaping cannabis in a sample of 482 college students. Participants reported high lifetime rates of vaping nicotine (37%) and cannabis (29%). Men (rs = 0.09, p = .047) and individuals from higher socioeconomic status families (rs = 0.14, p = .003) vaped cannabis more frequently than women and individuals from lower SES families. In addition, those who vaped cannabis more frequently were more open to new experiences (rs = 0.17, p < .001) and showed greater approval of smoking cannabis regularly (rs = 0.35, p < .001). Among the largest correlates of cannabis vaping were frequent cannabis use (rs = 0.70, p < .001) and nicotine vaping (rs = 0.46, p < .001), suggesting that availability of cannabis and vaporizers is particularly important. Participants' top reason for vaping cannabis, endorsed by 65% of those who had vaped cannabis, was convenience and discreetness for use in public places. Several correlates distinguished cannabis users who vaped from cannabis users who did not vape, most notably more frequent cannabis use (odds ratios [OR] = 3.68, p < .001), alcohol use (OR = 2.07, p < .001), nicotine vaping (OR = 1.73, p < .001), and greater approval of smoking cannabis regularly (OR = 2.15, p < .001). Findings suggest that cannabis vaping is prevalent among young adults, particularly among those who use other substances frequently and have more favorable attitudes toward smoking cannabis. Research is needed on the antecedents and potential harms and benefits of cannabis vaping in young adulthood. (PsycINFO Database Record

Background Studies have demonstrated a robust association between interpersonal callousness (IC) and the development of severe and chronic conduct problems (CP) in youth. Although children exhibiting IC are also believed to be at particularly high risk for developing psychopathic personality features in adulthood, there is little longitudinal evidence supporting this assumption, particularly after controlling for co-occuring CP severity. Methods This study used data collected on a longitudinal cohort of boys (n = 508), with an oversampling of youth exhibiting elevated conduct problems. Analyses examined the unique and interactive association between latent growth curve trajectories of IC and CP assessed bi-annually from late childhood to early adolescence (~ages 10–13) and features of psychopathy in early adulthood (age ~ 24) assessed using the Psychopathy Checklist – Short Version (PCL:SV; Hart, Cox, & Hare, 1995). Results Growth curve analysis indicated that initial levels of IC and CP in childhood (~age 10 intercept) both uniquely predicted the development of the interpersonal/affective features of adult psychopathy, and boys with a combination of high initial levels of IC and CP were at particularly high risk for developing the impulsive/antisocial features of the disorder. Boys who exhibited systematic increases in CP from late childhood to early adolescence also demonstrated higher adult psychopathy scores, but changes in IC across this developmental period did not significantly add to the prediction of adult psychopathy. Conclusions Findings highlight the importance of developing targeted interventions for boys exhibiting severe IC and CP in childhood, as they appear to be at high risk for developing adult psychopathic features.

Purpose The main aim of this research is to investigate risk-based protective and interactive protective factors for violence. Methods The youngest sample of the Pittsburgh Youth Study, a prospective longitudinal survey of 503 boys followed-up from age 7 onwards, was analyzed. Variables measured at age 10–12 were investigated as predictors of an all-source measure of violence between ages 13 and 19. Results A number of individual (e.g., low hyperactivity, low psychopathic features) family (good supervision, low parental stress), school (high academic achievement, positive attitude to school) and demographic characteristics (older mother, good quality housing) were found to be risk-based protective factors for the various risk groups identified. High academic achievement was consistently found to be an interactive protective factor and was consistently independently related to low levels of violence. Conclusions Much more research on risk-based protective factors and interactive protective factors is needed so that these can be integrated into developmental and life-course explanations of offending. Also, interventions should be tailored to include knowledge about these protective factors in light of the specific risks that individuals possess.

Juvenile crime is a serious public health problem that results in significant emotional and financial costs for victims and society. Using etiologic models as a guide, multiple interventions have been developed to target risk factors thought to perpetuate the emergence and persistence of delinquent behavior. Evidence suggests that the most effective interventions tend to have well-defined treatment protocols, focus on therapeutic approaches as opposed to external control techniques, and use multimodal cognitive-behavioral treatment strategies. Moving forward, there is a need to develop effective policies and procedures that promote the widespread adoption of evidence-based delinquency prevention practices across multiple settings.

Objective Evaluation of self-reported symptoms is a key component of concussion management. This study examined whether symptom count, a more parsimonious method to gather symptom information, would predict recovery better than symptom severity. Method Participants were 1267 (39.3% female) adolescents ages 10–18 (M = 14.7, SD = 1.8) who were evaluated and diagnosed with a concussion by a physician within 10 days of injury. At their initial visit, participants completed the ImPACT computerized test and the included post-concussion symptom scale. The primary outcome was number of weeks (M = 3.2, SD = 1.8) until participants were cleared to return to play by the treating physician based on a standardized protocol. Results Symptom count and symptom severity were highly correlated (r = .89, p Conclusions Symptom count at initial clinic visit predicted recovery time, eliminating the predictive power of symptom severity when both were entered in the same regression model. Thus, symptom count may be a more robust and more parsimonious assessment than traditional severity ratings, which may save clinic time and allow for additional multimodal assessments.

Objective Sports-related concussions (SRC) often affect vision function and cognition, two components frequently assessed as part of a multimodal post-injury evaluation. The purpose of the study was to examine contributions of measures of vision function and cognition toward understanding recovery time. Method Participants were 593 (37.6% female) adolescents ages 10–18 (M = 14.7, SD = 1.7) who were evaluated and diagnosed with a concussion within 10 days of injury. Participants were administered the King-Devick (KD) test via KD cards to assess rapid number naming speed and the ImPACT test to assess post-concussion symptoms and neurocognitive test performance. The primary outcome was number of weeks (M = 3.2, SD = 1.9) until participants were cleared to return to play by the treating physician based on a standardized protocol. Results Poorer performance on the King-Devick test was significantly correlated with higher symptom severity (r = .41, p Conclusions Performance on King-Devick testing predicted recovery time, even after controlling for important demographic/injury characteristics and cognitive testing. Evaluation of vision function is an important component of post-injury assessment for SRC.

Longitudinal studies have found that male adolescents who deal drugs, associate with delinquent peers, and engage in aggressive behavior are at increased risk for carrying a gun (between-individual risks). However, it is unclear whether changes in these risk factors help to explain fluctuations in youth gun carrying across adolescence (within-individual risks). The current study examined this issue using a community sample of 970 adolescent males (58% Black, 42% White) assessed annually from ages 14 to 18. Multilevel models examined the extent to which between-individual differences and within-individual changes in drug dealing, peer delinquency, aggressive behavior, and neighborhood disadvantage were associated with gun carrying across adolescence. Each of these predictors, except for disadvantage, exerted a between-individual and within-individual influence for Black youth. For White youth, drug dealing was significant on both levels, peer delinquency was a significant between-individual predictor, and aggression was a significant within-individual predictor. Neighborhood disadvantage did not significantly predict gun carrying in the model, on either the between- or within-individual level, for Black or White youth. These results stress the importance of examining race-specific predictors of gun carrying among Black and White adolescents and point to drug dealing as a robust predictor of gun carrying, at both the between-individual and within-individual levels for youth of either race. Efforts to prevent drug market involvement and reduce aggressive behaviors in adolescence may in turn prove useful for preventing firearm violence. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2019 APA, all rights reserved).

This study tested longitudinal associations between cannabis use and cardiometabolic risk factors that underlie the development of cardiovascular diseases.Participants were men from the youngest cohort of the Pittsburgh Youth Study who were followed prospectively from approximately age 7 to 32 years (N = 253). Frequency of cannabis use was assessed yearly from approximately ages 12 to 20 years and again at approximately ages 26, 29, and 32 years. The following cardiometabolic risk factors were assessed during a laboratory visit at approximately age 32 years: body mass index (BMI), waist-hip ratio, high- and low-density lipoprotein cholesterol, triglycerides, fasting glucose, insulin resistance, blood pressure, interleukin 6, and C-reactive protein.Greater cannabis exposure was associated with relatively lower BMI (β = -0.31, p.001), smaller waist-hip ratio (β = -0.23, p = .002), better high- (β = 0.14, p = .036) and low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (β = -0.15, p = .026), lower triglycerides (β = -0.17, p = .009), lower fasting glucose (β = -0.15, p.001) and insulin resistance (β = -0.21, p = .003), lower systolic (β = -0.22, p.001) and diastolic blood pressure (β = -0.15, p = .028), and fewer metabolic syndrome criteria (β = -0.27, p.001). With exception of BMI, cannabis users' mean levels on cardiometabolic risk factors were generally below clinical cutoffs for high risk. Most associations between cannabis use and cardiometabolic risk factors remained after adjusting for tobacco use, childhood socioeconomic status, and childhood health. However, after adjusting for adult BMI, these associations were no longer apparent, and mediation tests suggested that cannabis users' relatively lower BMI might explain their lower levels of risk on other cardiometabolic risk factors.Cannabis use is associated with lower BMI, and lower BMI is related to lower levels of risk on other cardiometabolic risk factors.

Background Few studies have tested the hypothesis that adolescent cannabis users show structural brain alterations in adulthood. The present study tested associations between prospectively-assessed trajectories of adolescent cannabis use and adult brain structure in a sample of boys followed to adulthood. Methods Data came from the Pittsburgh Youth Study – a longitudinal study of ˜1000 boys. Boys completed self-reports of cannabis use annually from age 13–19, and latent class growth analysis was used to identify different trajectories of adolescent cannabis use. Once adolescent cannabis trajectories were identified, boys were classified into their most likely cannabis trajectory. A subset of boys (n = 181) subsequently underwent structural neuroimaging in adulthood, when they were between 30–36 years old on average. For this subset, we grouped participants according to their classified adolescent cannabis trajectory and tested whether these groups showed differences in adult brain structure in 14 a priori regions of interest, including six subcortical (volume only: amygdala, hippocampus, nucleus accumbens, caudate, putamen, and pallidum) and eight cortical regions (volume and thickness: superior frontal gyrus; caudal and rostral middle frontal gyrus; inferior frontal gyrus, separated into pars opercularis, pars triangularis, and pars orbitalis; lateral and medial orbitofrontal gyrus). Results We identified four adolescent cannabis trajectories: non-users/infrequent users, desisters, escalators, and chronic-relatively frequent users. Boys in different trajectory subgroups did not differ on adult brain structure in any subcortical or cortical region of interest. Conclusions Adolescent cannabis use is not associated with structural brain differences in adulthood.

Objective The aims of this study were to examine whether dispositional interpersonal callousness, negative emotionality, and hyperactivity/impulsivity uniquely influence the development of childhood-onset conduct problems and persistent criminal behavior in males, and to determine whether specific facets of negative emotionality (dysregulated anger versus anxiety) in childhood are differentially associated with the development of chronic antisocial behavior. Method Childhood dispositional features and conduct problems were assessed semiannually using parent- and teacher-report measures across 9 consecutive assessments in a school-based sample of 503 boys (∼7–11 years of age). Participants’ criminal behavior was assessed using official records from adolescence into the early 30s. Results Interpersonal callousness, dysregulated anger, and hyperactivity/impulsivity were uniquely associated with the development of childhood-onset conduct problems. None of these features significantly predicted official records of juvenile offending after controlling for co- occurring conduct problems. However, interpersonal callousness was robustly and uniquely associated with a pattern of persistent and violent adult offending that continued into the early 30s. In contrast, anxiety problems were inversely associated with criminal offending in adolescence and adulthood after controlling for conduct problems and the other dispositional factors. Conclusion Findings are consistent with theoretical models indicating that interpersonal callousness, dysregulated anger, and hyperactivity/impulsivity influence the development of childhood conduct problems. In contrast, anxiety problems in childhood tend to reduce the likelihood that boys will engage in later criminal offending. Results suggest that delinquency prevention programs should target children exhibiting features of interpersonal callousness, given that they are at high risk for engaging in chronic and violent offending in adulthood.

Although peer behavior and parent–child conflict have been associated with adolescent and young adults’ behavior, prior studies have not adequately controlled for selection effects and other confounders, or examined whether associations change across the transition to adulthood or by race. Using annual data from men followed from age 17 to 26, within-individual change models examined whether substance use or offending increased in the year after boys began affiliating with friends who engaged in substance use/offending and/or experienced increased parent–son conflict. Moderation analyses tested whether associations varied by age or race. Alcohol use, marijuana use, and offending (Black participants only) increased in the year after boys began affiliating with more peers who engaged in similar behaviors. Associations were strongest during adolescence for substance use. Parent–son conflict was not associated with the outcomes. Findings underscore the importance of developmental and racialized differences in understanding the role of social influences on young men’s substance use and offending.

Background Exposure to low socioeconomic status (SES) in childhood predicts increased morbidity and mortality. However, little prospective evidence is available to test pathways linking low childhood SES to adult health. Purpose In the current study, indirect effects through positive parenting in adolescence and adult SES were tested in the association between childhood SES and adult health behaviors and psychological resources. Methods Men (n = 305; 53% Black) were followed longitudinally from ages 7 to 32. SES was measured annually in childhood (ages 7-9) and again in adulthood (age 32) using the Hollingshead index. Parenting was assessed annually (ages 13-16) using caregivers' and boys' self-report of supervision, communication, and expectations for their son's future. Health behaviors (cigarette and alcohol use, fruit and vegetable consumption, and physical activity) and psychological resources (optimism, purpose in life, self-mastery, and self-esteem) were assessed in adulthood (age 32). Results Structural equation modeling showed that higher childhood SES was associated with more positive parenting in adolescence and higher adult SES. Higher childhood SES was indirectly associated with healthier behaviors and higher psychological resources in adulthood through pathways involving positive parenting during adolescence and SES in adulthood. Findings were consistent in both racial groups. Conclusions Positive parenting in adolescence was an important pathway in understanding associations among childhood SES and health behaviors and psychological resources in adulthood. Low childhood SES was prospectively associated with healthier behaviors and greater psychological resources in part through more positive parenting in adolescence.

Background and aims There is a documented link between common psychiatric disorders and substance use in adolescent males. This study addressed two key questions: (1) is there a within-person association between an increase in psychiatric problems and an increase in substance use among adolescent males and (2) are there sensitive periods during male adolescence when such associations are more evident? Design Analysis of longitudinal data collected annually on boys selected randomly from schools based on a comprehensive public school enrollment list from the Pittsburgh Board of Education. Setting Recruitment occurred in public schools in Pittsburgh, Pennysylvania, USA. Participants A total of 503 boys assessed at ages 13–19 years, average cooperation rate = 92.1%. Measurements Diagnostic and Statistical Manual (DSM)-oriented affective, anxiety and conduct disorder problems were measured with items from the caregiver, teacher and youth version of the Achenbach scales. Scales were converted to t-scores using age- and gender-based national norms and combined by taking the average across informants. Alcohol and marijuana use were assessed semi-annually by a 16-item Substance Use Scale adapted from the National Youth Survey. Findings When male adolescents experienced a 1-unit increase in their conduct problems t-score, their rate of marijuana use subsequently increased by 1.03 [95% confidence interval (CI) = 1.01, 1.05], and alcohol quantity increased by 1.01 (95% CI = 1.0002, 1.02). When adolescents experienced a 1-unit increase in their average quantity of alcohol use, their anxiety problems t-score subsequently increased by 0.12 (95% CI = 0.05, 0.19). These associations were strongest in early and late adolescence. Conclusions When adolescent boys experience an increase in conduct disorder problems, they are more likely to exhibit a subsequent escalation in substance use. As adolescent boys increase their intensity of alcohol use, they become more likely to develop subsequent anxiety problems. Developmental turning points such as early and late adolescence appear to be particularly sensitive periods for boys to develop comorbid patterns of psychiatric problems and substance use.

Anger is among the earliest occurring symptoms of mental health, yet we know little about its developmental course. Further, no studies have examined whether youth with persistent anger are at an increased risk of exhibiting antisocial personality features in adulthood, or how cognitive control abilities may protect these individuals from developing such maladaptive outcomes. Trajectories of anger were delineated among 503 boys using annual assessments from childhood to middle adolescence (ages ∼7-14). Associations between these trajectories and features of antisocial personality in young adulthood (age ∼28) were examined, including whether cognitive control moderates this association. Five trajectories of anger were identified (i.e., childhood-onset, childhood-limited, adolescent-onset, moderate, and low). Boys in the childhood-onset group exhibited the highest adulthood antisocial personality features (e.g., psychopathy, aggression, criminal charges). However, boys in this group were buffered from these problems if they had higher levels of cognitive control during adolescence. Findings were consistent across measures from multiple informants, replicated across distinct time periods, and remained when controlling for general intelligence and prior antisocial behavior. This is the first study to document the considerable heterogeneity in the developmental course of anger from childhood to adolescence. As hypothesized, good cognitive control abilities protected youth with persistent anger problems from developing antisocial personality features in adulthood. Clinical implications and future directions are discussed.

BACKGROUND: Given recent changes in marijuana policy in the United States, it is important to understand the long-term effects of marijuana use on adult functioning. We examined whether men who displayed different trajectories of marijuana use from adolescence through emerging adulthood (age ∼15-26) differed in terms of socioeconomic, social, and life satisfaction outcomes in their mid-30s. METHODS: Data came from a longitudinal sample of men who were recruited in early adolescence (N=506) and followed into adulthood. Four trajectory groups based on patterns of marijuana use from adolescence into emerging adulthood were compared on adult outcomes (age ∼36) before and after controlling for co-occurring use of other substances and several pre-existing confounding factors in early adolescence. The potential moderating effect of race was also examined. RESULTS: Although there were initially group differences across all domains, once pre-existing confounds and co-occurring other substance use were included in the model, groups only differed in terms of partner and friend marijuana use. Chronic marijuana users reported the highest proportions of both. Frequent and persistent marijuana use was associated with lower socioeconomic status (SES) for Black men only. CONCLUSIONS: After statistically accounting for confounding variables, chronic marijuana users were not at a heightened risk for maladjustment in adulthood except for lower SES among Black men. Chronic users were more likely to have friends and partners who also used marijuana. Future studies should take into account pre-existing differences when examining outcomes of marijuana use. Language: en

Aim was to investigate a range of potentially modifiable risk factors for boys in late childhood for later violence and homicide convictions. Boys from the Pittsburgh Youth Study (N = 1,517) were measured through self-reports and official records in late childhood (ages 11–13) on a large number of potentially modifiable risk factors, and were followed up in juvenile and adult criminal records in terms of violence and homicide. Predictors of conviction for homicide largely overlapped with predictors of conviction for violence. Twenty three out of 28 possible risk factors significantly predicted later violence convictions. Regression analysis identified four significant modifiable risk factors in late childhood for any violent offenders: physical abuse, parental stress, bad friends and low school motivation. The higher the number of early risk factors, the higher the probability of later conviction for violent offenses including homicide. The discussion focus on single-, and multi-modal interventions in lat...

Some evidence suggests that youth who use marijuana heavily during adolescence may be particularly prone to health problems in later adulthood (e.g., respiratory illnesses, psychotic symptoms). However, relatively few longitudinal studies have prospectively examined the long-term physical and mental health consequences associated with chronic adolescent marijuana use. The present study used data from a longitudinal sample of Black and White young men to determine whether different developmental patterns of marijuana use, assessed annually from early adolescence to the mid-20s, were associated with adverse physical (e.g., asthma, high blood pressure) and mental (e.g., psychosis, anxiety disorders) health outcomes in the mid-30s. Analyses also examined whether chronic marijuana use was more strongly associated with later health problems in Black men relative to White men. Findings from latent class growth curve analysis identified four distinct subgroups of marijuana users: early-onset chronic users, late increasing users, adolescence-limited users, and low/nonusers. Results indicated that the four marijuana use trajectory groups were not significantly different in terms of their physical and mental health problems assessed in the mid-30s. The associations between marijuana group membership and later health problems did not vary significantly by race. Findings are discussed within the context of a larger body of work investigating the potential long-term health consequences of early-onset chronic marijuana use, as well as the complications inherent in studying the possible link between marijuana use and health effects.

This study expanded upon an earlier study, which examined the associations between heavy drinking and persistence of serious violent offending through emerging adulthood (approximate age 25), by examining associations between alcohol, marijuana, and other drug use and disorders and persistence of serious violent offending through young adulthood (approximate age 36).We used official records and self-reported longitudinal data from Black and White men from early adolescence through young adulthood (Most previous serious violent offenders did not re-offend in young adulthood. Whereas alcohol use did not differ across groups, persisters and desisters, compared to non-violent men, were more likely to use hard drugs, deal drugs, have a lifetime substance use disorder diagnosis and show larger decreases in alcohol and marijuana frequency from emerging to young adulthood. None of these measures differed between persisters and desisters except that persisters reported larger decreases in alcohol and marijuana use frequency.The findings demonstrated reductions in serious violent offending during young adulthood and suggested that after adolescence, illicit drug use, compared to alcohol use, may play a more important role in initiation and maintenance of serious violent offending. Future research that examines the interrelations of drug use, drug culture, and violence is warranted.

Objectives: Examine whether young men who chronically use marijuana are at risk for engaging in drug-related and non-drug-related criminal offending and exhibiting psychopathic personality features in their mid-30s. Methods: Patterns of marijuana use were delineated in a sample of predominately Black and White young men from adolescence to the mid-20s using latent class growth curve analysis. Self-report and official records of criminal offending and psychopathic personality features were assessed in the mid-30s. Analyses controlled for multiple factors indicative of a preexisting antisocial lifestyle and co-occurring use of other substances and tested for moderation by race. Results: Four latent marijuana trajectory groups were identified: chronic high, adolescence-limited, late increasing, and low/nonusers. Relative to low/nonusers, chronic high and late increasing marijuana users exhibited more adult psychopathic features and were more likely to engage in drug-related offending during their mid-30s. Adolescence-limited users were similar to low/nonusers in terms of psychopathic features but were more likely to be arrested for drug-related crimes. No trajectory group differences were found for violence or theft, and the group differences were not moderated by race. Conclusions: Young men who engage in chronic marijuana use from adolescence into their 20s are at increased risk for exhibiting psychopathic features, dealing drugs, and enduring drug-related legal problems in their mid-30s relative to men who remain abstinent or use infrequently.