1. Identifying high school risk factors that forecast heavy drinking onset in understudied young adults
- Author
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Zhao, Qingyu, Paschali, Magdalini, Dehoney, Joseph, Baker, Fiona C, de Zambotti, Massimiliano, De Bellis, Michael D, Goldston, David B, Nooner, Kate B, Clark, Duncan B, Luna, Beatriz, Nagel, Bonnie J, Brown, Sandra A, Tapert, Susan F, Eberson, Sonja, Thompson, Wesley K, Pfefferbaum, Adolf, Sullivan, Edith V, and Pohl, Kilian M
- Subjects
Biomedical and Clinical Sciences ,Biological Psychology ,Clinical and Health Psychology ,Neurosciences ,Psychology ,Pediatric ,Health Disparities ,Underage Drinking ,Alcoholism ,Alcohol Use and Health ,Minority Health ,Prevention ,Clinical Research ,Behavioral and Social Science ,Social Determinants of Health ,Substance Misuse ,2.3 Psychological ,social and economic factors ,Good Health and Well Being ,Alcohol ,Forecasting ,Young adult ,Adolescence ,College ,Humans ,Risk Factors ,Longitudinal Studies ,Alcohol Drinking ,Schools ,Students ,Adolescent ,Adult ,United States ,Female ,Male ,Young Adult ,Clinical Sciences ,Cognitive Sciences ,Biological psychology ,Clinical and health psychology - Abstract
Heavy alcohol drinking is a major, preventable problem that adversely impacts the physical and mental health of US young adults. Studies seeking drinking risk factors typically focus on young adults who enrolled in 4-year residential college programs (4YCP) even though most high school graduates join the workforce, military, or community colleges. We examined 106 of these understudied young adults (USYA) and 453 4YCPs from the National Consortium on Alcohol and NeuroDevelopment in Adolescence (NCANDA) by longitudinally following their drinking patterns for 8 years from adolescence to young adulthood. All participants were no-to-low drinkers during high school. Whereas 4YCP individuals were more likely to initiate heavy drinking during college years, USYA participants did so later. Using mental health metrics recorded during high school, machine learning forecasted individual-level risk for initiating heavy drinking after leaving high school. The risk factors differed between demographically matched USYA and 4YCP individuals and between sexes. Predictors for USYA drinkers were sexual abuse, physical abuse for girls, and extraversion for boys, whereas 4YCP drinkers were predicted by the ability to recognize facial emotion and, for boys, greater openness. Thus, alcohol prevention programs need to give special consideration to those joining the workforce, military, or community colleges, who make up the majority of this age group.
- Published
- 2024