Caitlin C. Abar

Reasons to Have Sex, Personal Goals, and Sexual Behavior During the Transition to College

Emerging adults (M = 18.99 years, SD = .50) completed cross-sectional questionnaires (N = 943) and targeted follow-up telephone surveys (N = 202) across the transition to college. Gender, personal goals (dating, friendship, academic), and past sexual behavior were examined as predictors of reasons to have and not to have sex. Men rated Self-focused reasons to have sex as more important; women rated Partner-focused reasons to have sex and Ethical reasons not to have sex as more important. Importance of Pregnancy/STD reasons not to have sex did not differ by gender. Before college entrance, sexual history and personal goals predicted endorsement of reasons for/against sex. Personal goals predicted first intercourse during freshman year. Limitations of the study include the single university sample and use of closed-ended self-report measures. Personal goals and reasons for/against sex are associated with sexual behavior and should be addressed in programs designed to promote sexual health among emerging adult college students.

Examining the relationship between parenting types and patterns of student alcohol-related behavior during the transition to college.

The present study sought to examine parenting influences on student alcohol use through the use of a holistic, person-centered approach in order to accomplish three distinct research aims: (a) identify groups of college students with unique profiles of perceived parenting characteristics, (b) identify groups of college students with unique profiles of alcohol-related correlates, and (c) examine the extent to which profiles of perceived parenting characteristics are associated with profiles of college alcohol-related risk. A sample of 1,153 first-year university students (17-20 years-of-age) was assessed on a host of perceived parenting and self-reported alcohol-related items. Four profiles of perceived parenting (High Quality, High Monitoring, Anti-Alcohol, Pro-Alcohol) were found using latent profile analysis (LPA). Five profiles of student alcohol-related characteristics (Abstainers, Past Drinkers, Light Drinkers, High Risk Drinkers, Extreme Risk Drinkers) were also found using LPA. Latent transition analysis illustrated that students who perceived their parents as belonging to the Pro-Alcohol profile had much higher probabilities of belonging in the High Risk Drinker or Extreme Risk Drinker profiles than students in all other perceived parenting profiles. In addition to alcohol-specific parenting characteristics, aspects of parent-teen relationship quality may also be integral in the prevention of college alcohol misuse. Finally, this study observed complex patterns of parenting and alcohol behaviors, such that the profiles could be interpreted as qualitatively distinct types of individuals. These unique profiles suggest that a targeted approach reflecting the profiles found in the current study might greatly enhance prevention program efficacy.

Reciprocal relations between perceived parental knowledge and adolescent substance use and delinquency: the moderating role of parent-teen relationship quality

The current study prospectively examined hypothesized short- and long-term reciprocal relations between perceived parental knowledge and adolescent heavy episodic drinking, marijuana use, and delinquency. Using the contextual model of parenting style (Darling & Steinberg, 1993), we examined the extent to which the bidirectional nature of associations between knowledge and adolescent outcomes is dependent on a facet of parenting style: the quality of the parent-child relationship. Data came from the first 4 waves of the National Longitudinal Study of Youth 1997. The sample for the current study consisted of 5,419 students between 12 and 14 years of age at baseline (52% male) surveyed annually for 4 years. Parallel process, autoregressive latent trajectory models were used to examine relations between initial levels and change over time in perceived parental knowledge and adolescent risk, and short-term cross-lagged paths were included to examine bidirectionality while accounting for long-term associations. Results showed significant short-term and long-term bidirectionality between perceived parental knowledge and adolescent outcomes, with parent effects on students and student effects on parents. Long-term associations across constructs were negative, whereas short-term associations were positive. These reciprocal associations were shown to differ across levels of parent-child relationship quality with regard to adolescent heavy episodic drinking and delinquency, providing support for the contextual model of parenting style. Implications for future work on parent-child bidirectional relationships and parent-based interventions are discussed.

Protective Effects of Parent-College Student Communication during the First Semester of College.

Abstract Objective: Recent studies suggest that parents maintain influence as their adolescents transition into college. Advances in communication technology make frequent communication between parents and college students easy and affordable. This study examines the protective effect of parent–college student communication on student drinking behaviors, estimated peak blood alcohol concentration (eBAC), and serious negative consequences of drinking. Participants: Participants were 746 first-year, first-time, full-time students at a large university in the United States Methods: Participants completed a baseline and 14 daily Web-based surveys. Results: The amount of time spent communicating with parents on weekend days predicted the number of drinks consumed, heavy drinking, and peak eBAC, consistent with a protective within-person effect. No association between communication and serious negative consequences was observed. Conclusions: Encouraging parents to communicate with their college students, particularly on weekend days, could be a relatively simple, easily implemented protective process to reduce dangerous drinking behaviors.

One-time or repeat offenders? An examination of the patterns of alcohol-related consequences experienced by college students across the freshman year

Recent studies have examined alcohol-related consequences in college students as an independent outcome variable, rather than as a result of heavy drinking. The present study examined the patterns of consequences experienced by first-year college students (n=169). Specifically, the number of distinct consequences and the frequency of repeated consequences were evaluated as well as the combination of the two. Results revealed that 80% of participants reported experiencing multiple consequences, with over 34% of students reporting 6 or more unique consequences over the course of their freshmen year. In addition, nearly 50% of the sample reported experiencing 3 or more consequences repeatedly. Further, 23% of the sample reported experiencing 5 or more repeated consequences and 6 or more multiple consequences. These individuals experienced 38% of the multiple consequences and 54% of the repeated consequences reported by the entire sample, suggesting individuals who endorsed experiencing multiple consequences repeatedly also experienced a disproportionate number of the total consequences reported by the sample. The findings suggest there are specific high-risk patterns of alcohol-related consequences and demonstrate a need for further examination of additional variables that predict consequences.

Prevalence and correlates of sipping alcohol in a prospective middle school sample.

Research documents an association between early use of alcohol and adverse outcomes. Most studies on drinking initiation exclude sipping or confound sips with consumption of a full drink. However, even a few sips of alcohol can constitute a meaningful experience for naïve drinkers. Prior research with this project indicated that sipping before middle school predicted subsequent adverse outcomes (at high-school entry), even controlling for child externalizing and sensation seeking and parent alcohol use. The present study extends our prior work by examining the correlates of early sipping and sipping onset. The sample was comprised of 1,023 6th, 7th, and 8th graders (52% female; 24% non-White, and 12% Hispanic). Participants completed Web-based surveys on 5 occasions over the course of 2 years. The prevalence of sipping at Wave 1 was 37%, with 29% of never-sippers initiating sipping within 2 years. Sipping was associated with stronger alcohol-related cognitions and low school engagement as well as contextual influences in the peer, sibling, and parent domains. Sipping onset among never-sippers was prospectively predicted by sensation seeking and problem behavior as well as parental and sibling influences. More important, mere availability of alcohol was a strong correlate both concurrently and prospectively. Further analyses demonstrated that youth who sipped alcohol with parental permission had a lower profile of risk and healthier relationships with parents as compared with youth who reported unsanctioned sipping. Findings point to the importance of considering fine-grained early drinking behavior and call for further attention to sipping in research on initiation of alcohol use.

Common and unique parenting predictors of adolescent tobacco and alcohol use

AIM The current study sought to identify unique and common demographic and parental predictors of adolescent tobacco and alcohol initiation behaviors. METHODS A total of 1023 middle school students (Grades 6-8) and their parents from six Rhode Island schools were enrolled in a larger study on substance use initiation and progression, with the current sample representing those dyads with data at baseline and at a 12-month follow-up (n=814 dyads). There was a relatively even split with regard to adolescent sex (nfemales=444; 55%). Comparisons were made between covariate and predictor associations with corresponding substance use behaviors (e.g., ever puffed a cigarette vs. ever sipped an alcoholic drink; ever smoked a whole cigarette vs. ever drank a full alcoholic drink). RESULTS At the bivariate level, a host of demographic and parent-related variables were associated with each adolescent substance use behavior. Adolescent reports of parental monitoring variables were consistently more related to use than parent reports. In multivariate logistic regression analyses, adolescent reports of parental monitoring variables were more frequently associated with tobacco use behaviors than alcohol use behaviors. Tobacco use behaviors were more strongly predicted by perceived availability of tobacco than alcohol use behaviors were predicted by perceived availability of alcohol. CONCLUSIONS The distinctive predictors observed for cigarette versus alcohol use make it problematic for new and existing programs to assume that efforts targeting specific individual or parental characteristics will impact both substances with equivalent efficacy.

Optimizing Timing and Dosage: Does Parent Type Moderate the Effects of Variations of a Parent-Based Intervention to Reduce College Student Drinking?

Research on parent-based interventions (PBIs) to reduce college student drinking has explored the optimal timing of delivery and dosage. The present study extended this work by examining the effectiveness of three different PBI conditions on student drinking outcomes as a function of parenting types and students’ pre-college drinking patterns. Four hypotheses were evaluated (early intervention, increased dosage, invariant, and treatment matching risk). A random sample of 1,900 college students and their parents was randomized to four conditions: (1) pre-college matriculation, (2) pre-college matriculation plus booster, (3) post-college matriculation, or (4) control, and was assessed at baseline (summer prior to college) and 5-month follow-up. Baseline parent type was assessed using latent profile analysis (positive, pro-alcohol, positive, anti-alcohol, negative mother, and negative father). Student drinking patterns were classified at baseline and follow-up and included: non-drinker, weekend light drinker, weekend heavy episodic drinker, and heavy drinker. Consistent with the treatment matching risk hypothesis, results indicated parent type moderated the effects of intervention condition such that receiving the intervention prior to college was associated with lower likelihood of being in a higher-risk drinking pattern at follow-up for students with positive, anti-alcohol, or negative father parent types. The findings are discussed with respect to optimal delivery and dosage of parent-based interventions for college student drinking.

Trajectories of alcohol use and consequences in college women with and without depressed mood

College students with depressed mood face heightened risk for experiencing drinking-related negative consequences. However, few studies have examined prospective patterns of alcohol consequences among depressed students. In the present investigation, we assessed how first-year college womens trajectories of heavy episodic drinking (HED) and alcohol consequences differed as a function of depressed mood at college entry. Participants were 233 heavy drinking incoming first-year college females (61% White) at a mid-sized West Coast University. Participants completed an online baseline survey, attended a single brief group intervention session, and completed 1- and 6-month post-intervention follow-up surveys. Depressed mood, alcohol consumption, and alcohol consequences were assessed at each time point. We employed latent growth curve analyses. Females with depressed mood, versus without depressed mood, experienced greater levels of alcohol consequences overall, particularly during transitions to college. However, contrary to hypotheses, participants with depressed mood (vs. without) exhibited significantly steeper declining trends in consequences, controlling for treatment condition, age, race, and ethnicity, and despite stable drinking levels, depressed mood, and use of protective behaviors over time. Potential explanations and suggestions for future research are discussed.

Relationships between parent–child social media interactions and health behaviors

ABSTRACT Social media use by both teens and adults has become increasingly common. This frequency of interaction can be capitalized upon by researchers looking to design programs to limit youth substance use. This study serves as a first step in this area of research, examining how parent–child social media exchanges (specifically on Facebook) may be related to youth risk behavior. In a sample of 252 college students, results indicated that roughly 63% of youth reported being friends with their parents on Facebook while in high school. A minority (27%) reported they blocked their parents from seeing certain material on their Facebook page, and most youth reported their parents discussed information from their Facebook page with some regularity (65%). Logistic regression analyses indicated that, when accounting for demographics, parental solicitation, and parental control efforts, youth who were friends with their parents on Facebook and did not block any materials from them had a decreased likelihood of alcohol and/or marijuana use in high school relative to those who were not friends with their parents on Facebook or who blocked materials from their parents. These findings imply that efforts to encourage parent–child interactions via social media may help prevent substance use in high school.