Effects of Excessive Alcohol Use on Antisocial Behavior Across Adolescence and Early Adulthood

Gemma Hammerton,Liam Mahedy,Joseph Murray,Barbara Maughan,Alexis C Edwards,Kenneth S Kendler,Matthew Hickman,Jon Heron

doi:10.1016/j.jaac.2017.07.781

Abstract

ObjectiveAntisocial behavior (ASB) decreases with age in most of the population; however, excessive alcohol use can inhibit the desistance process. This study investigated whether excessive early drinking might slow a young person’s overall pattern of crime desistance compared with that of others (“between-person effects”) and whether short-term increases in alcohol consumption might result in short-term increases in ASB (“within-person effects”).MethodFrequency of ASB and typical alcohol consumption were assessed repeatedly in young people 15 to 21 years old in a population-based birth cohort (Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children). Longitudinal trajectories showed ASB decreasing and alcohol use increasing across adolescence, which stabilized in adulthood. The parallel growth model was re-parameterized to simultaneously estimate the person-specific (or “between-person”) and time-specific (or “within-person”) influences of alcohol on ASB.ResultsTypical alcohol consumption by young people 15 years old was positively associated with ASB cross-sectionally and into young adulthood (i.e., there were between-person effects of initial levels of alcohol consumption on initial [b 1.64, standard error 0.21; p < .001] and final [b 0.53, standard error 0.14; p < .001] levels of ASB). Within-person effects also were identified in early adulthood (b 0.06, standard error 0.02; p = .001), showing that when a young person reported consuming more alcohol than normal across the past year, that person also reported engaging in higher than usual levels of ASB.ConclusionThe results are consistent with between- and within-person effects of excessive alcohol use on ASB desistence. Future research should further investigate this relation by investigating pathways into excessive alcohol use and ASB in adolescence.

Highlights

Within-person effects were identified in early adulthood (b 0.06, standard error 0.02; p 1⁄4 .001), showing that when a young person reported consuming more alcohol than normal across the past year, that person reported engaging in higher than usual levels of Antisocial behavior (ASB)
Future research should further investigate this relation by investigating pathways into excessive alcohol use and ASB in adolescence
Parallel Growth Model for Typical Alcohol Consumption and ASB Estimated and observed means for the parallel growth model are shown in Figure 3, with means, variances, and correlations between growth factors presented in Supplement 4 and Table S2

Summary

Methods

Frequency of ASB and typical alcohol consumption were assessed repeatedly in young people 15 to 21 years old in a population-based birth cohort (Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children). Longitudinal trajectories showed ASB decreasing and alcohol use increasing across adolescence, which stabilized in adulthood. Data were used from a large UK birth cohort, the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children (ALSPAC), which was set up to examine genetic and environmental determinants of health and development.[18] The “core” enrolled sample consisted of 14,541 pregnant women residing in the former county of Avon in the United Kingdom who had an expected date of delivery from April 1, 1991 to December 31, 1992. Parents and children have been followed up regularly since recruitment by questionnaire and clinic assessments. Ethical approval for the study was obtained from the ALSPAC ethics and law committee and the local research ethics committees

Results

Discussion

Conclusion