Early Initiation Of Alcohol Use Research Articles

Health risk behavior of rural secondary school students in Zimbabwe.

A socioculturally appropriate health risk behavior instrument, modeled after the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's Youth Risk Behavior Survey (YRBS), was administered to 717 secondary school students in a rural area of Zimbabwe. Comparisons of risk behaviors by gender and school grade were made using univariate procedures and multiple logistic regression. Males were significantly more likely than females to have had sexual intercourse (odds ratio = 5.02, p < .0001) and to report drug use behaviors. Males also were significantly more likely to report early initiation (by age 13 years) of alcohol use, cigarette smoking, and marijuana use. School site violence and drug use behaviors also were prevalent in this sample. An interaction between gender and grade was evident for some behaviors. Additional research may further the understanding of these risk behaviors and facilitate development of effective, culturally relevant risk reduction programs.

The Prospective Relation Between Dimensions of Anxiety and the Initiation of Adolescent Alcohol Use

Examined the relation between early anxiety symptomatology (generalized and separation) and initiation of alcohol use 4 years later in an epidemiological sample of 936 children (45% girls), assessed at ages 9, 11, and 13, while controlling for the effects of depression. Although earlier overall anxiety symptomatology was unrelated to later onset of drinking, children with early symptoms of generalized anxiety were found to be at increased risk for initiation of alcohol use, whereas children with early symptoms of separation anxiety were at decreased risk. The magnitude of these relations was equally strong for boys and girls. In addition, early depressive symptomatology was associated with increased risk for initiation of alcohol use in adolescence. Results indicate that it is important to consider specific dimensions of anxiety symptomatology when attempting to identify those individuals at risk for early initiation of alcohol use.

The association between health risk behaviors and sexual orientation among a school-based sample of adolescents.

This study is one of the first to examine the association between sexual orientation and health risk behaviors among a representative, school-based sample of adolescents. This study was conducted on an anonymous, representative sample of 4159 9th- to 12th-grade students in public high schools from Massachusetts' expanded Centers for Disease Control and Prevention 1995 Youth Risk Behavior Survey. Sexual orientation was determined by the following question: "Which of the following best describes you?" A total of 104 students self-identified as gay, lesbian, or bisexual (GLB), representing 2.5% of the overall population. Of GLB youth, 66.7% were male and 70% were white (not Hispanic). Health risk and problem behaviors were analyzed comparing GLB youth and their peers. Those variables found to be significantly associated with GLB youth were then analyzed by multiple logistic regression models. GLB youth were more likely than their peers to have been victimized and threatened and to have been engaged in a variety of risk behaviors including suicidal ideation and attempts, multiple substance use, and sexual risk behaviors. Four separate logistic regression models were constructed. Model I, Onset of Behaviors Before Age 13, showed use of cocaine before age 13 years as strongly associated with GLB orientation (odds ratio [OR]: 6.10; 95% confidence interval [CI] = 2.45-15.20). Early initiation of sexual intercourse (2.15; 10.6-4.38), marijuana use (1.98; 1.04-4.09), and alcohol use (1.82; 1.03-3.23) also was associated with GLB orientation. Model II, Lifetime Frequencies of Behaviors, showed that frequency of crack cocaine use (1.38; 1.06-1.79), inhalant use (1.30; 1.05-1.61), and number of sexual partners (1.27; 1.06-1.43) was associated with GLB orientation. Model III, Frequency of Recent Behaviors, showed smokeless tobacco use in the past 30 days (1.38; 1. 20-1.59) and number of sexual partners in the previous 3 months (1. 47; 1.31-1.65) were associated with GLB orientation. Model IV, Frequency of Behaviors at School, showed having one's property stolen or deliberately damaged (1.23; 1.08-1.40) and using marijuana (1.29; 1.05-1.59) and smokeless tobacco (1.53; 1.30-1.81) were associated with GLB orientation. Overall, GLB respondents engaged disproportionately in multiple risk behaviors, reporting an increased mean number of risk behaviors (mean = 6.81 +/- 4.49) compared with the overall student population (mean = 3.45 +/- 3.15). GLB youth who self-identify during high school report disproportionate risk for a variety of health risk and problem behaviors, including suicide, victimization, sexual risk behaviors, and multiple substance use. In addition, these youth are more likely to report engaging in multiple risk behaviors and initiating risk behaviors at an earlier age than are their peers. These findings suggest that educational efforts, prevention programs, and health services must be designed to address the unique needs of GLB youth.

Children's development of alcohol use norms: Contributions of parent and sibling norms, children's temperaments, and parent–child discussions.

University of Georgia This study explored the unique contributions of children's temperaments, parents' and siblings' alcohol use norms, and parent-child discussions to 10- to 12-year-old children's alcohol use norms. Independent assessments of each family member's alcohol use norms, mother- and father-reported child temperament assessments, and child reports of the frequency and nature of parent-child discussions were obtained for 171 families. Hierarchical multiple regression analyses revealed a mederational effect: Children whose temperaments placed them at greater risk for alcohol problems in adolescence and early adulthood reported alcohol use norms that became more liberal as other family members' norms became liberal. Frequent and bidirectional parent-child discussions were linked with less liberal alcohol use norms. The results support a transactional model of norm development that features interplay among children's temperaments and family processes. Alcohol use among adolescents continues to be a major social and public health issue in contemporary American society. Although much publicity is given to the detrimental, widespread use of illicit drugs, it is alcohol use that exacts the greatest toll in terms of associated morbidity and mortality (DuPont, 1985; Hansen et al., 1988). The health consequences of alcohol use are particularly salient during adolescence because motor vehicle crashes, the majority of which involve alcohol use, kill more teenagers than does any other single cause of death (Brody, Neubaum, Boyd, & Dufour, 1997; Moskowitz, 1983; National Center for Statistics and Analysis, 1992). This high-risk period is G-ene H. Brody, Douglas L. Flor, Nancy Hollett- Wright, and L Kelly McCoy, Department of Child and Family Development, University of Georgia. J. Kelly McCoy is now at the Department of Family Sciences, Brigham Young University. The research reported in this article was supported by Grant AA09224 from the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism. Correspondence concerning this article should be addressed to Gene H. Brody, Department of Child and Family Development, Dawson Hall, University of Georgia, Athens, Georgia 30602. Electronic mail may be sent to ghrody@fcs.uga.edu. becoming longer because youths in the United States experiment with alcohol use at steadily decreasing ages. The age of first initiation of use has declined to about 12 years, and the time between first initiation and the onset of problem drinking appears to be narrowing (Tarter & Blackson, 1992). In addition to the morbidity and mortality associated with adolescents' alco- hol use, developmental tasks such as cognitive maturation, school performance, moral develop- ment, and the development of social compe- tence also appear to be altered, delayed, or disrupted by excessive drinking (Coombs, Paul- son, & Palley, 1988; Semlitz & Gold, 1986). Identification of the processes that contribute to the early initiation and progression of alcohol use has therefore been designated as a priority by public health professionals (Adams, Blan- ken, Fergnson, & Kopstein, 1990). Analyses of the processes that account for variation in the onset and progression of alcohol use among adolescents have identified the development of normative standards for alcohol use as a pivotal proximal process (Petraitis, Flay, & Miller, 1995). Youths who have developed norms that define alcohol use during adolescence as unacceptable begin drinking at older ages and are less likely to yield to peer 209

Development of a Risk Profile for Intentions to Use Alcohol among Fifth and Sixth Graders

The relationship between intentions to use alcohol and risk factors was examined among fifth and sixth graders. Subjects completed a questionnaire that assessed intentions to use alcohol and eight risk factors. Risk factors included peer and parental use and attitudes toward use, sensation seeking, tolerance of deviance, rejection of parental authority, and family cohesion. Multivariate analyses showed that the risk factors were able to discriminate between those who intended to use alcohol and those who did not. Family factors showed stronger relationships to intentions among fifth graders, and peer factors were more strongly related to intentions among sixth graders. Risk factors can be used to target preadolescents who may be at risk for early alcohol use, and programs that attempt to prevent early initiation of alcohol use among adolescents can be designed.