Citation

Sacco P, Bright CL, Jun HJ, Stapleton LM. Int. J. Ment. Health Addiction 2015; 13(5): 603-617.

Affiliation

Department of Human Development and Quantitative Methodology, University of Maryland, College Park, MD 20742, USA.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2015, Holtzbrinck Springer Nature Publishing Group)

DOI

10.1007/s11469-015-9546-1

PMID

26413037

Abstract

Throughout adolescence, alcohol consumption and aggressive behaviors are associated with multiple problematic outcomes. Few studies have examined neighborhood-level predictors and individual and family-level sociodemographic variables to describe longitudinal trajectories of these problem behaviors. Therefore, this study investigated the unique contributions of neighborhood and sociodemographic factors in the shared development of aggressive behaviors and drinking in adolescents. We analyzed alcohol consumption frequency and frequency of aggressive behaviors using parallel process latent growth curve models with demographic indicators and neighborhood constructs as predictors. At all ages, alcohol use and aggression positively covaried. Male gender was associated with both aggressive episodes and alcohol use at age 12. African American ethnicity was associated with higher levels of early aggression. Higher neighborhood income was associated with lower levels of early aggression.

FINDINGS lend support to current efforts to curb early initiation of alcohol use and aggression.

Language: en