Age of Alcohol Initiation Matters: Examining Gender Differences in the Recency and Frequency of Alcohol Use Across Adolescence Using a Sample of Impoverished Minority Adolescents

Abstract

While previous research has shown alcohol use to increase developmentally throughout adolescence, the age of alcohol initiation has rarely been incorporated into developmental trajectories. Simultaneous estimation of the effects of early alcohol initiation was made in relation to the recency and frequency of alcohol use utilizing a sample of 1,209 low-income, minority adolescents initiating alcohol between 12 and 18. Significant effects of both age of alcohol initiation and gender were found. Initial alcohol use was higher the later the adolescent initiated alcohol use. Following initiation, trajectories of the recency and frequency of alcohol use for female adolescents increased more rapidly the earlier they initiate alcohol use, while trajectories for male adolescents increased independent of their year of initiation. Modeling age of initiation using piecewise growth models provided more informative results regarding early alcohol initiation effects as compared to traditional longitudinal model.

Keywords

alcohol use gender adolescent development longitudinal models piecewise growth curve models

Get full access to this article

View all access options for this article.

References

Bachman

J. G.

O’Malley

P. M.

Johnston

L. D.

Schulenberg

J. E.

Wallace

J. M.

Jr. (2011). Racial/ethnic differences in the relationship between parental education and substance use among U.S. 8th-, 10th-, and 12th-grade students: Findings from the monitoring the future project. Journal of Studies on Alcohol and Drugs, 72, 279-285.

Biehl

M. C.

Natsuaki

M. N.

(2007). The influence of pubertal timing on alcohol use and heavy drinking trajectories. Journal of Youth and Adolescence, 36, 153-167.

Bolland

A. C.

(2012). Representativeness two ways: An assessment of representativeness and missing data mechanisms in a study of an at-risk population (Unpublished doctoral dissertation). The University of Alabama, Tuscaloosa.

Bolland

K. A.

Bolland

J. M.

Tomek

Devereaux

R. S.

Mrug

Wimberly

J. C.

(2016). Trajectories of adolescent alcohol use by gender and early initiation status. Youth & Society, 48, 3-32.

Brook

J. S.

Balka

E. B.

Crossman

A. M.

Dermatis

Galanter

Brook

D. W.

(2010). The relationship between parental alcohol use, early and late adolescent alcohol use, and young adult psychological symptoms: A longitudinal study. The American Journal on Addictions, 19, 534-542.

Burk

L. R.

Armstrong

J. M.

Goldsmith

H. H.

Klein

M. H.

Strauman

T. J.

Costanzo

Essex

J. J.

(2011). Sex, temperament, and family context: How the interaction of early factors differentially predict adolescent alcohol use and are mediated by proximal adolescent factors. Psychology of Addictive Behaviors, 25, 1-15.

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (2008, June 6). Youth risk behavior surveillance—United States, 2007. Surveillance summaries. Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, 57(SS-4), 1-131.

Chan

G. K.

Kelly

A. B.

Toumbourou

J. W.

(2013). Accounting for the association of family conflict and heavy alcohol use among adolescent girls: The role of depressed mood. Journal of Studies on Alcohol and Drugs, 74, 396-405.

Chartier

K. G.

Hesselbrock

M. N.

Hesselbrock

V. M.

(2011). Alcohol problems in young adults transitioning from adolescence to adulthood: The association with race and gender. Addictive Behaviors, 36, 167-174.

10.

Chen

Jacobson

K. C.

(2012). Developmental trajectories of substance use from early adolescence to young adulthood: Gender and racial/ethnic differences. Journal of Adolescent Health, 50, 154-163.

11.

Cho

Hallfors

D. D.

Iritani

B. J.

(2007). Early initiation of substance use and subsequent risk factors related to suicide among urban high school students. Addictive Behaviors, 32, 1628-1639.

12.

Chung

Kim

K. H.

Hipwell

A. E.

Stepp

S. D.

(2013). White and Black adolescent females differ in profiles and longitudinal patterns of alcohol, cigarette, and marijuana use. Psychology of Addictive Behaviors, 27, 1110-1121.

13.

Church

W. T.

Jaggers

Tomek

Bolland

A. C.

Bolland

K. A.

Hooper

L. M.

Bolland

J. M.

(2015). Does permissive parenting encourage delinquency? An examination of family management practices. Journal of Juvenile Justice, 4, 95-110.

14.

Church

W. T.

Tomek

Bolland

K. A.

Hooper

L. M.

Jaggers

Bolland

J. M.

(2012). A longitudinal examination of predictors of delinquency: An analysis of data from the Mobile Youth Survey. Children and Youth Services Review, 34, 2400-2408.

15.

Cnaan

Laird

N. M.

Slasor

(1997). Using the general linear mixed model to analyse unbalanced repeated measures and longitudinal data. Statistics in Medicine, 16, 2349-2380.

16.

Cooper

M. L.

Krull

J. L.

Agocha

V. B.

Flanagan

M. E.

Orcutt

H. K.

Grabe

Jackson

(2008). Motivational pathways to alcohol use and abuse among Black and White adolescents. Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 117, 485-501.

17.

Crum

R. M.

Storr

C. L.

Ialongo

Anthony

J. C.

(2008). Is depressed mood in childhood associated with an increased risk for initiation of alcohol use during early adolescence? Addictive Behaviors, 33, 24-40.

18.

Dauber

S. E.

Paulson

J. F.

Leiferman

J. A.

(2011). Race-specific transition patterns among alcohol use classes in adolescent girls. Journal of Adolescence, 34, 407-420.

19.

Donovan

J. E.

Molina

B. S. G.

(2011). Childhood risk factors for early-onset drinking. Journal of Studies on Alcohol and Drugs, 72, 741-751.

20.

Duncan

S. C.

Duncan

T. E.

Strycker

L. A.

(2006). Alcohol use from ages 9–16: A cohort-sequential latent growth model. Drug and Alcohol Dependence, 81, 71-81.

21.

Duncan

S. C.

Gau

J. M.

Duncan

T. E.

Strycker

L. A.

(2011). Development and correlates of alcohol use from ages 13-20. Journal of Drug Education, 41, 235-252.

22.

Fagan

A. A.

Van Horn

M. L.

Hawkins

J. D.

Jaki

(2013). Differential effects of parental controls on adolescent substance use: For whom is the family most important? Journal of Quantitative Criminology, 29, 347-368.

23.

Fagan

A. A.

Wright

E. M.

Pinchevsky

G. M.

(2013). Racial/ethnic differences in the relationship between neighborhood disadvantage and adolescent substance use. Journal of Drug Issues, 43, 69-84.

24.

Goncy

E. A.

Mrug

(2013). Where and when adolescents use tobacco, alcohol, and marijuana: Comparisons by age, gender, and race. Journal of Studies on Alcohol and Drugs, 74, 288-300.

25.

Goodman

Huang

(2002). Socioeconomic status, depressive symptoms, and adolescent substance use. Archives of Pediatric Adolescent Medicine, 156, 448-453.

26.

Griffin

K. W.

Bang

Botvin

G. J.

(2010). Age of alcohol and marijuana use onset predicts weekly substance use and related psychosocial problems during young adulthood. Journal of Substance Use, 15, 174-183.

27.

Gunn

R. L.

Smith

G. T.

(2010). Risk factors for elementary school drinking: Pubertal status, personality, and alcohol expectancies concurrently predict fifth grade alcohol consumption. Psychology of Addictive Behaviors, 24, 617-627.

28.

Gutman

L. M.

Eccles

J. S.

Peck

Malanchuk

(2011). The influence of family relations on trajectories of cigarette and alcohol use from early to late adolescence. Journal of Adolescence, 34, 119-128.

29.

Henry

K. L.

(2010). Academic achievement and adolescent drug use: An examination of reciprocal effects and correlated trajectories. Journal of School Health, 80, 38-43.

30.

Hingson

R. W.

Heeren

Winter

M. R.

(2006). Age at drinking onset and alcohol dependence: Age at onset, duration, and severity. Archives of Pediatric and Adolescent Medicine, 160, 739-746.

31.

Irons

D. E.

Iacono

W. G.

McGue

(2015). Tests of the effects of adolescent early alcohol exposures on adult outcomes. Addiction, 110, 269-278.

32.

Jackson

K. M.

(2010). Progression through early drinking milestones in an adolescent treatment sample. Addiction, 105, 438-449.

33.

Jackson

Denny

Ameratunga

(2014). Social and socio-demographic neighborhood effects on adolescent alcohol use: A systematic review of multi-level studies. Social Science & Medicine, 115, 10-20.

34.

Johnston

L. D.

O’Malley

P. M.

Bachman

J. G.

Schulenberg

J. E.

(2010). Monitoring the Future: National survey results on drug use, 1975-2009. Volume I: Secondary school students (NIH Publication No. 10-7584). Bethesda, MD: National Institute on Drug Abuse.

35.

Johnston

L. D.

O’Malley

P. M.

Bachman

J. G.

Schulenberg

J. E.

(2012). Monitoring the Future national results on adolescent drug use: Overview of key findings, 2011. Ann Arbor: Institute for Social Research, The University of Michigan.

36.

Kaestle

C. E.

Halpern

C. T.

Miller

W. C.

Ford

C. A.

(2008). Young age at first sexual intercourse and sexually transmitted infections in adolescents and young adults. American Journal of Epidemiology, 161, 774-780.

37.

Kelly

A. B.

O’Flaherty

Toumbourou

J. W.

Connor

J. P.

Hemphill

S. A.

Catalano

R. F.

(2011). Gender differences in the impact of families on alcohol use: A lagged longitudinal study of early adolescents. Addiction, 106, 1427-1436.

38.

Khan

M. R.

Cleland

C. M.

Scheidell

J. D.

Berger

A. T.

(2014). Gender and racial/ethnic differences in patterns of adolescent alcohol use and associations with adolescent and adult illicit drug use. The American Journal of Drug and Alcohol Abuse, 40, 213-224.

39.

King

K. M.

Chassin

(2007). A prospective study of the effects of age of initiation of alcohol and drug use on young adult substance dependence. Journal of Studies on Alcohol and Drugs, 68, 256-265.

40.

Komro

K. A.

Tobler

A. L.

Maldonado-Molina

M. M.

Perry

C. L.

(2010). Effects of alcohol use initiation patterns on high-risk behaviors among urban, low-income, young adolescents. Prevention Science, 11, 14-23.

41.

Loeber

Stepp

S. D.

Chung

Hipwell

A. E.

White

H. R.

(2010). Time-varying associations between conduct problems and alcohol use in adolescent girls: The moderating role of race. Journal of Studies on Alcohol and Drugs, 71, 544-553.

42.

Maldonado-Molina

M. M.

Jennings

W. G.

Komro

K. A.

(2010). Effects of alcohol on trajectories of physical aggression among urban youth: An application of latent trajectory modeling. Journal of Youth and Adolescence, 39, 1012-1026.

43.

Malone

P. S.

Northrup

T. F.

Masyn

K. E.

Lamis

D. A.

Lamont

A. E.

(2012). Initiation and persistence of alcohol use in United States Black, Hispanic, and White male and female youth. Addictive Behaviors, 37, 299-305.

44.

Marti

C. N.

Stice

Springer

D. W.

(2010). Substance use and abuse trajectories across adolescence: A latent trajectory analysis of a community-recruited sample of girls. Journal of Adolescence, 33, 449-461.

45.

Maslowsky

Schulenberg

J. E.

Zucker

R. A.

(2014). Influence of conduct problems and depressive symptomatology on adolescent substance use: Developmentally proximal versus distal effects. Developmental Psychology, 50, 1179-1189.

46.

Mason

W. A.

Hitch

J. E.

Kosterman

McCarthey

C. A.

Herrenkohl

T. I.

Hawkins

J. D.

(2010). Growth in adolescent delinquency and alcohol use in relation to young adult crime, alcohol use disorders, and risky sex: A comparison of youth from low- versus middle-income backgrounds. Journal of Child Psychiatry, 51, 1377-1385.

47.

Mason

W. A.

Toumbourou

J. W.

Herrenkohl

T. I.

Hemphill

S. A.

Catalano

R. F.

Patton

G. C.

(2011). Early age alcohol use and later alcohol problems in adolescents: Individual and peer mediators in a bi-national study. Psychology of Addictive Behaviors, 25, 625-633.

48.

Najman

J. M.

Clavarino

McGee

T. R.

Bor

Williams

G. M.

Hayatbakhsh

M. R.

(2010). Timing and chronicity of family poverty and development of unhealthy behaviors in children: A longitudinal study. Journal of Adolescent Health, 46, 538-544.

49.

Nargiso

J. E.

Friend

Florin

(2013). An examination of peer, family, and community context risk factors for alcohol use and alcohol use intentions in early adolescents. The Journal of Early Adolescence, 33, 973-993.

50.

Naumova

E. N.

Must

Laird

N. M.

(2001). Tutorial in biostatistics: Evaluating the impact of critical periods’ in longitudinal studies of growth using piecewise mixed effects models. International Journal of Epidemiology, 30, 1332-1341.

51.

Odgers

C. L.

Caspi

Nagin

D. S.

Piquero

A. R.

Slutske

W. S.

Milne

B. J.

. . . Moffitt

T. E.

(2008). Is it important to prevent early exposure to drugs and alcohol among adolescents? Psychological Science, 19, 1037-1044.

52.

Patrick

M. E.

Schulenberg

J. E.

(2014). Prevalence and predictors of adolescent alcohol use and binge drinking in the United States. Alcohol Research: Current Reviews, 35, 193-200.

53.

Peleg-Oren

Saint-Jean

Cardenas

G. A.

Tammara

Pierre

(2009). Drinking alcohol before age 13 and negative outcomes in late adolescence. Alcoholism: Clinical & Experimental Research, 33, 1966-1972.

54.

Pitkänen

Kokko

Lyyra

A. L.

Pulkkinen

(2008). A developmental approach to alcohol drinking behaviour in adulthood: A follow-up study from age 8 to age 42. Addiction, 103, 48-68.

55.

Prins

J. C.

Donovan

J. E.

Molina

B. S. G.

(2011). Parent-child divergence in the development of alcohol use norms from middle childhood into middle adolescence. Journal of Studies on Alcohol and Drugs, 72, 438-443.

56.

Santor

D. A.

Messervey

Kusumaker

(2000). Peer pressure, popularity, and conformity in adolescent boys and girls: Predicting school performance, sexual attitudes, and substance use. Journal of Youth and Adolescence, 29, 163-182.

57.

Sartor

C. E.

Agrawal

Lynskey

M. T.

Bucholz

K. K.

Madden

P. A. F.

Heath

A. C.

(2009). Common genetic influences on the timing of first use for alcohol, cigarettes, and cannabis in young African-American women. Drug and Alcohol Dependence, 102, 49-55.

58.

Schulenberg

Patrick

M. E.

Maslowsky

Maggs

J. L.

(2014). The epidemiology and etiology of adolescent substance use in developmental perspective. In Lewis

Randolph

K. D.

(Eds.), Handbook of developmental psychopathology (pp. 601-620). New York, NY: Springer.

59.

Sher

Jackson

K. M.

Steinley

(2011). Alcohol use trajectories and the ubiquitous cat’s cradle: Cause for concern? Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 120, 322-335.

60.

Shih

R. A.

Miles

J. N.

Tucker

J. S.

Zhou

A. J.

D’Amico

E. J.

(2010). Racial/ethnic differences in adolescent substance use: Mediation by individual, family, and school factors. Journal of Studies on Alcohol and Drugs, 71, 640-651.

61.

Singer

J. D.

Willett

J. B.

(2003). Applied longitudinal data analysis: Modeling change and event occurrence. New York, NY: Oxford University Press.

62.

Stueve

O’Donnell

L. N.

(2005). Early alcohol initiation and subsequent sexual and alcohol risk behaviors among urban youths. American Journal of Public Health, 95, 887-893.

63.

Swahn

M. H.

Bossarte

R. M.

Ashby

J. S.

Meyers

(2010). Pre-teen alcohol use initiation and suicide attempts among middle and high school students: Findings from the 2006 Georgia Student Health Survey. Addictive Behaviors, 35, 452-458.

64.

Swendsen

Burstein

Case

Conway

K. P.

Dierker

Merikangas

K. R.

(2012). Use and abuse of alcohol and illicit drugs in US adolescents: Results of the National Comorbidity Survey–Adolescent Supplement. Archives of General Psychiatry, 69, 390-398.

65.

Tomek

Hooper

L. M.

Church

W. T.

Bolland

K. A.

Bolland

J. M.

Wilcox

(2015). Relations among suicidality, recent/frequent alcohol use, and gender in a Black American adolescent sample: A longitudinal investigation. Journal of Clinical Psychology, 71, 544-560.

66.

Trim

R. S.

Schuckit

M. A.

Smith

T. L.

(2010). Predicting drinking onset with discrete-time survival analysis in offspring from the San Diego prospective study. Drug and Alcohol Dependence, 107, 215-220.

67.

Van Ryzin

M. J.

Dishion

T. J.

(2014). Adolescent deviant peer clustering as an amplifying mechanism underlying the progression from early substance use to late adolescent dependence. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 55, 1153-1161.

68.

Van Ryzin

M. J.

Fosco

G. M.

Dishion

T. J.

(2012). Family and peer predictors of substance use from early adolescence to early adulthood: An 11-year prospective analysis. Addictive Behaviors, 37, 1314-1324.

69.

Vidourek

R. A.

King

K. A.

(2013). Attitudinal correlates associated with recent alcohol use and episodic heavy drinking among African American youth. The Social Science Journal, 50, 530-539.

70.

Wang

Deveaux

Marshall

Chen

Stanton

(2014). The impact of youth, family, peer and neighborhood risk factors on developmental trajectories of risk involvement from early through middle adolescence. Social Science & Medicine, 106, 43-52.

71.

Warner

L. A.

White

H. R.

Johnson

(2007). Alcohol initiation experiences and family history of alcoholism as predictors of problem-drinking trajectories. Journal of Studies on Alcohol and Drugs, 68, 56-65.

72.

Windle

R. C.

(2012). Early onset problem behaviors and alcohol, tobacco, and other substance use disorders in young adulthood. Drug and Alcohol Dependence, 121, 152-158.