PEER SOCIALIZATION TO BINGE DRINKING IN EARLY ADULTHOOD: EFFECTS OF IMPULSIVITY, DELINQUENCY AND CHILDHOOD ADHD

No prospective longitudinal studies have tested whether and how social networks contribute to alcohol-related outcomes for children with Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD). The current study examined peer alcohol socialization in young adults with and without childhood ADHD. The presence of heavy and light drinking friends in the social network were examined as mediators of the association between adolescent behavioral dysregulation (i.e. impulsivity and delinquency) and young adult alcohol use (i.e. binge drinking and quantity/frequency) for individuals with, and without, childhood ADHD. Prediction from the number and proportion of drinking friends were tested to determine which operationalization explained more variance in young adult alcohol use. Participants were 94 individuals with childhood ADHD and 68 demographically-similar individuals without ADHD from the Pittsburgh ADHD Longitudinal Study. At age 25, but not in earlier adulthood or for quantity/frequency, individuals with ADHD reported less frequent binge drinking than individuals without ADHD. Number and proportion of drinking friends between ages 21 and 24 predicted age 25 binge drinking for both groups but only age 25 quantity/frequency of alcohol use for individuals with ADHD. The number/proportion of light-drinking friends was not protective against alcohol use for either group and alcohol use consumption in the social network did not mediate the association between behavioral dysregulation and alcohol use. Overall, alcohol use was prevalent in early adulthood for both groups. However, the stronger associations between alcohol-consuming friendships and quantity/frequency of alcohol use in the ADHD group suggests that individuals with ADHD histories are more strongly influenced by social networks conducive to alcohol use than individuals without ADHD. Moreover, higher density of alcohol-involved friendships, which may affect the proportion of social time allocated to drinking opportunitie