John E. Schulenberg

Smoking, Drinking, and Drug Use in Young Adulthood : The Impacts of New Freedoms and New Responsibilities

Contents: Preface. Introduction and Overview. Reviewing the Influence of Social Roles on Drug Use During the Transition to Young Adulthood. Examining Roles and Experiences During the Post-High School Years--Sample Characteristics and Analysis Strategy. Changes in Cigarette Use. Changes in Alcohol Use. Changes in Marijuana Use. Changes in Cocaine Use. Summary, Conclusions, and Implications.

A Developmental Perspective on Alcohol and Youths 16 to 20 Years of Age

Late adolescence (ie, 16–20 years of age) is a period characterized by escalation of drinking and alcohol use problems for many and by the onset of an alcohol use disorder for some. This heightened period of vulnerability is a joint consequence of the continuity of risk from earlier developmental stages and the unique neurologic, cognitive, and social changes that occur in late adolescence. We review the normative neurologic, cognitive, and social changes that typically occur in late adolescence, and we discuss the evidence for the impact of these transitions on individual drinking trajectories. We also describe evidence linking alcohol abuse in late adolescence with neurologic damage and social impairments, and we discuss whether these are the bases for the association of adolescent drinking with increased risks of mental health, substance abuse, and social problems in adulthood. Finally, we discuss both the challenges and successes in the treatment and prevention of adolescent drinking problems.

How Academic Achievement, Attitudes, and Behaviors Relate to the Course of Substance Use During Adolescence: A 6-Year, Multiwave National Longitudinal Study

Self-report data regarding alcohol, cigarette, and marijuana use were collected biennially from ages 14 to 20 in a nationally representative panel sample of adolescents (N=1,897) from the Monitoring the Future study. Growth curve analyses were performed using hierarchical linear modeling to consider psychosocial background, motivation and school attitudes, and parental and peer influences at age 14 as predictors of concurrent substance use and change in substance use. Results indicated that school misbehavior and peer encouragement of misbehavior were positively associated with substance use at age 14 and with increased use over time; school bonding, school interest, school effort, academic achievement, and parental help with school were negatively associated. The protective effects of positive school attitudes and perceptions of high status connected to academics were stronger for low-achieving compared with high-achieving youth. Implications for a developmental perspective on substance use etiology and prevention are discussed.

How Part-Time Work Intensity Relates to Drug Use, Problem Behavior, Time Use, and Satisfaction among High School Seniors: Are These Consequences or Merely Correlates?.

This study related work intensity (hours worked per week) to indicators of psychosocial functioning and adjustment by using nationally representative samples of high school seniors, totalling over 70,000 respondents, from the classes of 1985-1989. Consistent with previous research, bivariate correlations were positive between work intensity and problem behaviors; these associations were diminished (but not eliminated) once background and educational success indicators were controlled, thus suggesting that selection factors contribute to the correlations. Work intensity appears to reduce the likelihood of getting sufficient sleep, eating breakfast, exercising, and having a satisfactory amount of leisure time. Conceptual and policy implications are discussed, including the possibility that long hours of part-time work may be both a symptom and a facilitator of psychosocial difficulties

Substance Use Among Adults 35 Years of Age: Prevalence, Adulthood Predictors, and Impact of Adolescent Substance Use

OBJECTIVES We examined the prevalence of substance use among American adults aged 35 years, and we considered adulthood predictors and the impact of adolescent substance use. METHODS National panel data were drawn from the Monitoring the Future study. Logistic regressions were conducted to assess the impact of demographics, life experiences, and adolescent substance use on smoking, heavy drinking, prescription drug misuse, marijuana use, and cocaine use at 35 years of age. RESULTS Factors related to increased likelihood of substance use include high school use, unemployment, and noncustodial parenthood. Lower use was associated with being female, a college graduate, a professional, married, or a custodial parent. CONCLUSIONS Among those aged 35 years, substance use was still rather prevalent and was a function of adulthood roles, experiences, and previous use.

Taking hold of some kind of life: how developmental tasks relate to trajectories of well-being during the transition to adulthood.

The purpose of this study was to examine how successes and difficulties with various developmental tasks of early adulthood relate to the course of well-being. Three waves of national panel data spanning ages 18-26 were drawn from the Monitoring the Future study (N = 3518). Based on self-reports, respondents were assigned scores (succeeding, maintaining, or stalling) to reflect progress in seven domains of developmental tasks: education, work, financial autonomy, romantic involvement, peer involvement, substance abuse avoidance, and citizenship. We identified trajectory groups of well-being (based on self-esteem, self-efficacy, and social support) that reflect diverging trajectories during the transition: steady-high versus high-decreasing, and low-increasing versus steady-low. Logistic regression analyses were conducted to predict membership in the diverging well-being trajectory groups as a function of developmental task domain scores. Maintaining or gaining a salutary trajectory of well-being across the transition was found to be a function of more success and less stalling across the developmental tasks, specifically in the work, romantic involvement, and citizenship domains. Compensatory effects (e.g., succeeding in education compensated for not succeeding in work) and threshold effects (e.g., succeeding in both achievement and affiliation domains was necessary for a salutary trajectory) were also found.

Adolescent risk factors for binge drinking during the transition to young adulthood: Variable- and pattern-centered approaches to change.

This longitudinal study examined adolescent personality and social context predictors of changes in binge drinking during the transition to young adulthood. Variable- and pattern-centered approaches were used, with the latter focusing on different trajectories of binge drinking. Data came from the national Monitoring the Future project, including 6,852 youths from the 1976-1987 senior year cohorts who were surveyed at biennial intervals between ages 18 and 24. Being male, possessing low self-efficacy, and drinking primarily to get drunk were found to be unconditional adolescent risk factors for increased binge drinking over time. In contrast, other adolescent risk factors (e.g., low conventionality) were found to be conditional on initial level of binge drinking. Discussion focuses on the a priori prediction of difficulties during developmental transitions and the benefits of combining variable- and pattern-centered approaches to change.

High school educational success and subsequent substance use: a panel analysis following adolescents into young adulthood

In this investigation, two indicators of high school educational success (grade point average and college plans) were examined to determine their influence on cigarette, alcohol, and illicit drug use during the transition to young adulthood. Panel data were obtained from the 1978-81 Monitoring the Future nationally representative samples of high school seniors. The sample for this analysis included 3,399 White respondents (weighted cases) followed three to four years post-high school. Structural equation models that included background and mediating characteristics were developed and tested using LISREL VII. Consistent with a selection hypothesis, high school GPA had a negative indirect effect on post-high school substance use that operated largely via senior-year substance use. College plans during high school had a similar negative effect on post-high school cigarette use, but consistent with a differential-socialization hypothesis, they had a positive indirect effect on post-high school alcohol use that operated primarily via student and marital status during young adulthood. College plans had no impact on post-high school illicit drug use.

The Influence of the Family on Vocational Development

In accord with the growing interest in work and the family, this paper critically examines the issue of the family of orientations impact on vocational development. First, limitations of the literature on vocational development and the family are discussed, specifically the failure to consider (a) vocational development, (b) the family as a functioning whole, and (c) familial and vocational changes over time. Second, the literature is viewed according to the impact of the familys (a) location in the broader social context, (b) structural features, and (c) process-oriented features, on vocational development. Various gaps in the literature are identified. In conclusion, conceptual issues are considered, and a framework with which to view the family as a context for vocational development is offered.

Trajectories of Marijuana Use During the Transition to Adulthood: The Big Picture Based on National Panel Data.

The purposes of this study were to identify trajectory groups of frequent marijuana use during emerging adulthood; distinguish among trajectory groups according to demographic and lifestyle characteristics; and examine how the trajectory groups relate to behavioral, attitudinal, and social-emotional correlates over time. National panel data from the Monitoring the Future study were used: 18 cohorts of high school seniors (classes of 1977–1994) were followed biennially through age 24. Frequent marijuana use was defined as 3+ occasions of use in past month and/or 20 to 40+ occasions in past year. Based on four waves of complete longitudinal data (N=19,952), six frequent marijuana use trajectory groups were identified: chronic, decreased, increased, fling, rare, and abstain. Categorical analyses revealed trajectory group differences in demographic and lifestyle characteristics at senior year and age 24. The trajectory groups varied significantly in longitudinal patterns of other substance use, problem behaviors, and well-being.