Acute and Long-Term Effects of Drug Use on Aggression from Adolescence into Adulthood

Abstract

Four waves of longitudinal data were used to examine the relationship between the use of alcohol, marijuana, and cocaine and aggression from early adolescence into adulthood. The prevalence of fighting while using drugs (i.e., acute effects) was higher for alcohol than for marijuana and cocaine. A series of nested structural equation models examined the cross-sectional and long-term longitudinal interrelationships between each type of drug use and aggressive behavior. While alcohol use was not significantly related to later aggressive behavior at any age, both marijuana and cocaine use were significantly related to later aggression. In contrast, aggressive behavior did not significantly predict later alcohol, marijuana, or cocaine use. Overall, these data suggest that the long-term as well as acute relationships between aggression and drug use vary by drug type and stage of the life cycle.