Early Adolescent Problem Behavior Research Articles

Childhood aggression and unconventionality: impact on later academic achievement, drug use, and workforce involvement.

The interrelation of childhood aggression, unconventionality, academic orientation, work involvement, and drug use was explored. Data were obtained for the research participants when they were 5 to 10 years old. Follow-up interviews were conducted when the participants were 15 to 20 years old and again at 21 to 26 years old. Latent variable causal analysis was used, and the findings reveal long-term relations between early childhood aggression and adolescent problem behavior in the academic and occupational areas. The findings also indicate that adolescent drug use generates an early involvement with adult role behaviors, such as work at the expense of further education. Implications of the findings for prevention are discussed.

Predicting alcohol and drug use in early adulthood: the role of internalizing and externalizing behavior problems in early adolescence.

Unique and interactive internalizing and externalizing behavior problems in adolescence were examined in relationship to drug and alcohol use in young adulthood. Results indicated that higher externalizing scores in adolescence predicted more alcohol use in young adulthood for both males and females and also predicted more marijuana and hard drug use for males. Lower internalizing scores were found to predict more marijuana and hard drug use in young adulthood for boys, but not for girls.

An examination of the underlying influence of temperament and problem behaviors on drinking behaviors in a sample of adult offspring of alcoholics.

The present study investigated the potential mediating influence of childhood and early adolescent temperament and problem behaviors on the relation between parental alcoholism and adult drinking behaviors in a sample of 153 offspring of alcoholics and their controls. The influence of the alcoholic parent's and the offspring's gender on this relation was also assessed. Both gender of the parent and gender of the offspring were found to have important differential effects. More specifically, individuals with an alcoholic father consumed more alcohol, were more concerned about their drinking, and were more concerned about the possibility of developing a drinking problem than those without an alcoholic father. In contrast, no significant relations emerged between maternal alcoholism and drinking behaviors. Gender differences among the offspring were also observed, with males drinking more frequently to "get high" and scoring higher on the MAST than females. Finally, gregariousness was found to significantly mediate the relation between paternal alcoholism and frequency of drinking to "get high" and frequency of drinking to "get drunk" for males. Possible explanations regarding the differential results pertaining to gender and the lack of significant findings concerning mediation are discussed.

Behavior Problems in Early Adolescence

Behavior Problems in Early Adolescence