Elizabeth Tildesley

The influence of peers on young adult substance use.

Data collected from 294 young adults, ages 19 to 25, and both a same- and an opposite-gender best friend or mate across 3 annual assessments were analyzed to examine the similarity to and influence of the peer on the young adults substance use. The authors found similarity across time between both peers and the young adult in cigarette use, alcohol use, binge drinking, and, in most cases, marijuana use. In prospective analyses, peer use predicted young adult cigarette use, binge drinking, and problem use by the young adults. Results were generally consistent across gender and for both same- and opposite-gender peers. Findings emphasize peer influence contribution to young adult substance use and suggest the design of interventions that involve both young adults and their peers.

The Influence of Parent, Sibling, and Peer Modeling and Attitudes on Adolescent Use of Alcohol

This 1-year prospective study of 173 families with two or more children examines the influence of parent, sibling, and peer modeling (i.e., use) and attitudes on adolescent use of alcohol. Independent questionnaire data were obtained from the adolescent, father, mother, and sibling(s). Structural equation modeling methods were employed to examine these relationships. Parent attitude toward youth alcohol use and parent modeling of alcohol use were strongly related to change in adolescent alcohol use, suggesting that parents can influence the future use of alcohol by their children. Peer and sibling modeling and peer attitudes also influenced adolescent alcohol use.

Adolescents' relationships with their mothers and fathers : Associations with depressive disorder and subdiagnostic symptomatology

Family relationships across 3 groups of adolescents were compared: (a) those with unipolar depressive disorders (n=82); (b) those with subdiagnostic depressive symptoms (n=78); and (c) those without emotional or behavioral difficulties (n=83). Results based on multisource, multimethod constructs indicated that depressed adolescents, as well as those with subdiagnostic symptomatology, experience less supportive and more conflictual relationships with each of their parents than do healthy adolescents. These findings are notable in demonstrating that adverse father-adolescent relationships are associated with depressive symptomatology in much the same way as mother-adolescent relationships. As well, the findings add to the emerging evidence that adolescents with subdiagnostic symptoms experience difficulties in social relationships similar to those experienced by adolescents with depressive disorder.

The consistency of family and peer influences on the development of substance use in adolescence

Latent growth modeling (LGM) was used to analyse longitudinal data for adolescent substance use from five overlapping age cohorts (11, 12, 13, 14, and 15 years at first assessment) measured at four annual time points. An associative cohort-sequential model was tested for alcohol, cigarette and marijuana use with a sample of 345 adolescents (11-18 years old) from an urban area in the Pacific Northwestern region of the United States. Hypotheses concerning the shape of the growth curve, the extent of individual differences in the common trajectory over time, and the influence of family cohesion, peer encouragement and gender on initial substance use and shape of the growth curve were tested. Results indicated similarities between alcohol, cigarette and marijuana initial use and development, with peer encouragement and family cohesion predictive of initial levels of use, and changes in peer encouragement influencing the developmental trajectories of the three substances. Females were higher than males in initial status and developed less rapidly in their use of the substances than did males. Findings are discussed in terms of the similarities and differences in the developmental trajectories of the three substances and the importance of family and peer influences on these trends.

Elementary School Age Children's Future Intentions and Use of Substances

This study describes the lifetime prevalence and future intentions related to trying cigarettes, chewing tobacco, alcohol, marijuana, and inhalants of students in the 1st through 7th grade. This article also describes the identification of these substances by children in the 1st through 3rd grade. Participants were 1,075 1st through 5th graders within a school district in western Oregon who were followed for 3 years. Across most substances, prevalence and intentions increased with grade, with a moderate increase between 3rd and 4th grade and a larger increase between 5th and 6th grade. Boys were more likely than girls to identify alcohol and cigarettes and were more likely than girls to report trying chewing tobacco. In addition, 3rd-grade boys were more likely to identify marijuana and, in the early grades, alcohol. Boys were also more likely than girls to intend to use tobacco and drink alcohol when older. For alcohol and cigarettes, intention was related to subsequent trying of the substance, suggesting that intention may be an early warning sign of subsequent substance use.

Parenting and Trajectories of Children’s Maladaptive Behaviors: A 12-year Prospective Community Study

This study investigated how parenting accounted for interindividual differences in developmental trajectories of different child behaviors across childhood and adolescence. In a cohort sequential community sample of 1,049 children, latent class growth analysis was applied to three parent-reported dimensions (monitoring, positive parenting, inconsistent discipline) across 12 annual assessments (ages 6–18). Four longitudinal parenting styles (authoritative, authoritarian, indulgent, uninvolved) were differentiated on the basis of levels and rates of change in the constituent parenting dimensions. Multigroup analyses demonstrated that these parenting styles were differentially related to changes in parent- and child-reported measures of childrens alcohol and cigarette use, antisocial behavior, and internalizing symptoms, with the authoritative parenting class being related to the most optimal long-term development.

A genome-wide screen for nicotine dependence susceptibility loci

Genome‐wide model free linkage analysis was conducted for nicotine dependence and tobacco use phenotypes in 607 members of 158 nuclear families consisting of at least two ever smokers (100 or more cigarettes smoked in lifetime). DNA from whole blood was genotyped for 739 autosomal microsatellite polymorphisms with an average inter‐marker distance of 4.6 cM. A peak LOD score of 2.7 was observed on chromosome 6 for scores for the Fagerström Test for Nicotine Dependence. Exploratory analyses were conducted to determine whether sequence variation at other loci affected other measures of dependence or tobacco use. Four additional loci with LOD scores of 2.7 or more were associated with alternative measures of nicotine dependence, one with current frequency of use, and one with smoking cessation. Several of the corresponding support intervals were near putative loci reported previously (on chromosomes 6, 7, and 8) while others appear to be novel (on chromosomes 5, 16, and 19).

The development of children's intentions to use alcohol: direct and indirect effects of parent alcohol use and parenting behaviors.

The purpose of this study was to explore the effect of parent alcohol use and parenting behavior on the development of childrens intentions to use alcohol in Grades 1 through 8. The authors hypothesized that the effect of parent alcohol use on childrens intention to use alcohol would be mediated through parenting behavior, specifically monitoring/supervision, positive parenting, and inconsistent discipline. Using cohort-sequential latent growth modeling (LGM), the authors tested 3 models examining the effect of the development of parent alcohol use on the development of childrens intentions to use alcohol, as mediated by the development of each of the 3 parenting behaviors. Multiple group analyses were used to explore gender differences. The effect of growth in parent alcohol use on growth in childrens intentions was mediated only by parent monitoring/supervision and was significant only for girls. The effect of inconsistent discipline was directly related to growth in intentions for both boys and girls. Although parent alcohol use was related to less positive parenting, positive parenting was unrelated to childrens intentions to use alcohol.

Adolescent responses to depressive parental behaviors in problem-solving interactions: implications for depressive symptoms.

The purpose of this study was to explore the relations between child responses to interparental depressive behavior and subsequent child depressive symptomatology. Data were collected on 156 two-parent families. Families completed questionnaire data and participated in problem-solving interactions, which were coded using a microsocial observational system. Three potential child responses to interparental depressive behavior were examined: facilitative, aggressive, and depressive. Results indicated that for female adolescents the displays of facilitative and depressive behavior as well as the suppression of aggressive behavior in response to interparental depressive behavior were related to increases in depressive symptomatology. For males, on the other hand, the display of aggressive and depressive behavior in response to interparental depressive behavior was related to increases in depression. Results provide preliminary support both for the examination of child responses to conflictual marital behavior and for expanding the conceptualization of conflictual marital behaviors to include depressive as well as the more traditionally examined aggressive behaviors, in order to better understand the link between conflictual marital behavior and child depressive symptomatology.

Dopamine genes and nicotine dependence in treatment seeking and community smokers

We utilized a cohort of 828 treatment-seeking self-identified white cigarette smokers (50% female) to rank candidate gene single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) associated with the Fagerström Test for Nicotine Dependence (FTND), a measure of nicotine dependence which assesses quantity of cigarettes smoked and time- and place-dependent characteristics of the respondents smoking behavior. A total of 1123 SNPs at 55 autosomal candidate genes, nicotinic acetylcholine receptors and genes involved in dopaminergic function, were tested for association to baseline FTND scores adjusted for age, depression, education, sex, and study site. SNP P-values were adjusted for the number of transmission models, the number of SNPs tested per candidate gene, and their intragenic correlation. DRD2, SLC6A3, and NR4A2 SNPs with adjusted P-values <0.10 were considered sufficiently noteworthy to justify further genetic, bioinformatic, and literature analyses. Each independent signal among the top-ranked SNPs accounted for ∼1% of the FTND variance in this sample. The DRD2 SNP appears to represent a novel association with nicotine dependence. The SLC6A3 SNPs have previously been shown to be associated with SLC6A3 transcription or dopamine transporter density in vitro, in vivo, and ex vivo. Analysis of SLC6A3 and NR4A2 SNPs identified a statistically significant gene–gene interaction (P=0.001), consistent with in vitro evidence that the NR4A2 protein product (NURR1) regulates SLC6A3 transcription. A community cohort of N=175 multiplex ever-smoking pedigrees (N=423 ever smokers) provided nominal evidence for association with the FTND at these top ranked SNPs, uncorrected for multiple comparisons.