Predicting nicotine dependence profiles among adolescent smokers: the roles of personal and social-environmental factors in a longitudinal framework.

BACKGROUND: Although several studies have reported that symptoms of nicotine dependence can occur after limited exposure to smoking, the majority of research on nicotine dependence has focused on adult smokers. Insufficient knowledge exists regarding the epidemiology and aetiology of nicotine dependence among adolescent smokers. The objective of the present study is to identify the effects of theoretically driven social and individual predictors of nicotine dependence symptom profiles in a population-based sample of adolescent smokers. METHOD: A longitudinal study among 6,783 adolescents (12 to 14 years old at baseline) was conducted. In the first and second year of secondary education, personality traits and exposure to smoking in the social environment were assessed. Two and a half years later, adolescents' smoking status and nicotine dependence symptom profiles were assessed. A total of 796 adolescents were identified as smokers and included in the analyses. RESULTS: At follow-up, four distinct dependence symptom profiles were identified: low cravings only, high cravings and withdrawal, high cravings and behavioural dependence, and overall highly dependent. Personality traits of neuroticism and extraversion did not independently predict nicotine dependence profiles, whereas exposure to smoking in the social environment posed a risk for the initial development of nicotine dependence symptoms. However, in combination with environmental exposure to smoking, extraversion and neuroticism increased the risk of developing more severe dependence symptom profiles. CONCLUSIONS: Nicotine dependence profiles are predicted by interactions between personal and environmental factors. These insights offer important directions for tailoring interventions to prevent the onset and escalation of nicotine dependence. Opportunities for intervention programs that target individuals with a high risk of developing more severe dependence symptom profiles are discussed.

Longitudinal links between impulsivity, gambling problems and depressive symptoms: a transactional model from adolescence to early adulthood.

BACKGROUND: Research shows high co-morbidity between gambling problems and depressive symptoms, but the directionality of this link is unclear. Moreover, the co-occurrence of gambling problems and depressive symptoms could be spurious and explained by common underlying risk factors such as impulsivity and socio-family risk. The goals of the present study were to examine 1) whether common antecedent factors explain the concurrent links between depressive symptoms and gambling problems, and 2) whether possible transactional links between depressive symptoms and gambling problems exist from late adolescence to early adulthood. METHODS: A total of 1004 males from low SES areas participated in the study. RESULTS: Analyses revealed a positive predictive link between impulsivity at age 14 and depressive symptoms and gambling problems at age 17. In turn, gambling problems at age 17 predicted an increase in depressive symptoms from age 17 to age 23, and depressive symptoms at age 17 predicted an increase in gambling problems from age 17 to age 23. CONCLUSIONS: Common antecedent factors may explain the initial emergence of an association between depressive symptoms and gambling problems in adolescence. However, once emerged, their escalation seems to be better explained by a mutual direct influence between the two sets of disorders.

Cross-lagged links among gambling, substance use, and delinquency from midadolescence to young adulthood: additive and moderating effects of common risk factors.

The authors examined cross-lagged links among gambling, substance use, theft, and violence from midadolescence to young adulthood and whether behavioral disinhibition, deviant peers, and parental supervision as common risk factors explain or moderate those links. In 2 community samples, male Caucasians were assessed for gambling participation and problems with the South Oaks Gambling Screen-Revised for Adolescents (K. C. Winters, R. Stinchfield, & J. Fulkerson, 1993) at age 16 years and the South Oaks Gambling Screen (H. R. Lesieur & S. B. Blume, 1987) at age 23. Other problem behaviors were also assessed both times. Risk factors were measured at age 16. Adolescent substance use was related to subsequent theft and violence but not gambling. Gambling problems were linked to subsequent gambling participation. For adolescents with deviant peers, gambling problems were linked to subsequent theft; this was not the case for adolescents without deviant peers. Only for individuals high on disinhibition did stability of gambling problems resemble moderate stabilities of other problem behaviors. Each risk factor was related to each problem behavior (exception: parenting unrelated to gambling). These risk factors partly explained the cross-lagged links among behaviors and thus may be useful targets of prevention. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2009 APA, all rights reserved).

Own and friends' smoking attitudes and social preference as early predictors of adolescent smoking.

This study examined the role of friends' attitudes in adolescent smoking (N = 203). Growth mixture modeling was used to identify three trajectories of smoking behavior from ages 12 to 14 years: a low-rate group, an increasing-rate group, and a high-rate group. Adolescents' own and their friends' attitudes at age 11 years were not significantly related to smoking. However, in the increasing-rate group (compared with the low-rate group), friends' attitudes interacted with both adolescents' own and friends' social preference (i.e., likeability). The link between friends' attitudes and membership in the increasing-rate group was stronger for early adolescents with low social preference scores and for early adolescents with friends who had low social preference scores. Other than for the high-rate group, for which causal factors of smoking may be located early in childhood (e.g., family and personality or temperamental characteristics), the combination of low social preference and friends who hold a positive attitude toward smoking is associated with escalating cigarette use among young adolescents.

Offspring of parents with gambling problems: adjustment problems and explanatory mechanisms.

We compared offspring of problem gamblers (n = 42) to offspring of parents without gambling problems (n = 100) to see (1) whether the two groups differed with respect to depressive feelings and conduct/antisociality problems and (2) whether ineffective parenting or the offspring's own gambling problems played a mediating role in this context. Participants were drawn from a relatively large community-based study (N = 1,872). Parents rated their own gambling and other mental health problems when their children were in mid-adolescence. The children's self-reports on depressive feelings and conduct/antisociality problems were assessed at two points in time: by mid-adolescence and again by early adulthood. Results showed that children of parents with gambling problems reported more depressive feelings and more conduct problems by mid-adolescence than children of parents without gambling problems. Children of problem gamblers also experienced an increase in their depressive symptoms from mid-adolescence to early adulthood. Importantly, ineffective parenting, but not children's gambling problems, mediated almost all the links between parental problem gambling and children's adjustment problems. These results add to a very small data base showing that children of problem gamblers are at risk for a variety of adjustment problems.

Peer and teacher effects on the early onset of sexual intercourse.

OBJECTIVES: We examined the links between peer rejection and verbal abuse by a teacher during childhood with the early onset of sexual intercourse and the mediating role of delinquent behavior and low self-esteem in this context. METHODS: We assessed 312 students (159 girls) in northwestern Quebec annually from kindergarten through seventh grade. Peer identifications were used to assess peer rejection and verbal abuse by teachers from kindergarten through fourth grade. In seventh grade, self-reports were used to assess delinquent behavior, self-esteem, and having sexual intercourse. Multiple sources were used to assess control variables. RESULTS: Multiple imputation-based linear and logistic regressions showed that peer rejection was indirectly associated with a higher risk of early intercourse by its link with lower self-esteem, but only for girls. Verbal abuse by teachers during childhood was directly associated with a higher risk of early sexual intercourse and indirectly by its link with delinquent behavior. CONCLUSIONS: The results underline the importance of both peers and teachers in healthy sexual development among youths, especially for girls, and emphasize the need for targeted health and sexual education programs.

Joint trajectories of gambling, alcohol and marijuana use during adolescence: a person- and variable-centered developmental approach.

The usefulness of Moffitt's (1993) [Moffitt, T. E. (1993). Adolescence-limited and life-course-persistent antisocial behavior: A developmental taxonomy. Psychological Review, 100, 674-701.] theory of antisocial behavior was examined regarding gambling, alcohol and marijuana use. We assessed 903 Caucasian boys' developmental trajectories of these behaviors annually from age 11 through age 16. Severity of problems with these behaviors were assessed at ages 17 and 23. As correlates of these behaviors, teacher-rated personality and self-reported parenting were assessed at age 10. Self-reported autonomy was measured at ages 11 and 14. A cluster analysis on the correlates yielded two clusters. Membership in the cluster without adult problems was associated with either late onset of gambling and/or alcohol use trajectories or consistently low involvement in each of the behaviors. This cluster may correspond to Moffitt's adolescence-limited group and uninvolved adolescents, respectively. Membership in the cluster with subsequent adult problems was associated with early initiation of at least one of the three behaviors and involvement in each of them during adolescence. This cluster may correspond to Moffitt's life-course-persistent group. Findings indicate that early assessment of correlates used in the cluster analysis may be useful for screening and preventive purposes.

Flow and dissociation: examination of mean levels, cross-links, and links to emotional well-being across sports and recreational and pathological gambling.

To examine whether flow (Csikszentmihalyi (1990). Flow: The psychology of optimal experience. NY: Harper & Row) and dissociation (Jacobs (1986). Journal of Gambling Behavior, 2, 15-31) are experienced across sports and recreational and pathological gambling, we assessed a sample of 511 college students (256 females and 255 males, M age = 19.54) that was comprised of 14 pathological gamblers, 21 non-addicted gamblers, and 476 athletes. The findings showed that both flow and dissociation lay on a continuum of subjective experiences across activity groups. Specifically, pathological gamblers experienced lower levels of flow than athletes, whereas recreational gamblers lay in between the previous groups in this regard. In contrast, pathological gamblers experienced higher mean levels of dissociation than athletes and recreational gamblers who, in turn, were similar in this regard. A LISREL model showed that flow was positively associated with general emotional well-being, whereas dissociation was negatively associated with well-being.

Relations with parents and with peers, temperament, and trajectories of depressed mood during early adolescence.

The present study examined (a) whether groups of children can be empirically identified with distinct longitudinal profiles of depressed mood from late childhood through early adolescence, (b) to what extent these different longitudinal depression profiles are predicted by problematic relations with parents, same-sex peers, and other-sex peers, and (c) what role individuals' temperamental characteristics play in this context. Based on a sample of 414 early adolescents (197 girls), four groups were identified with distinct longitudinal profiles of depressed mood between ages 11 and 14: One group with consistently low levels of depressed mood, another with consistently moderate levels of depressed mood, a third group whose depressed mood increased sharply from late childhood through early adolescence, and a fourth group who already showed clinical-range levels of depressed mood during late childhood and whose depressive feelings increased even slightly more thereafter. Subsequent analyses revealed that rejection by same-sex peers was related to the odds of following an increasing trajectory of depressed mood, but only for girls with a highly reactive temperament. A problematic relationship with parents increased the odds of an elevated trajectory of depressed mood regardless of individual temperament. The theoretical and practical implications of these findings are discussed.

Adolescents' well-being and perceived control across 14 sociocultural contexts.

The sweeping sociopolitical changes in Eastern Europe and the importance of self-related resources in facilitating adolescents' transitions to adulthood motivated this study on the effects of sociocultural context on adolescents' perceived control and well-being (N = 3,844; 7 Western contexts, 7 Eastern). The authors found that the mean levels of well-being and perceived control varied along stable Western vs. unstable Eastern sociohistorical contexts: (a) Eastern adolescents showed lower levels of well-being (perhaps related to economic aspects of change) and (b) higher levels of perceived control (perhaps related to perceived freedoms implied in the direction of change). Notably, however, the individual-difference relations (correlations) among the constructs were very uniform across the 14 settings, suggesting that the adaptive psychological interface between well-being and personal control is relatively robust against sociopolitical influences.

Adolescent gambling: relationships with parent gambling and parenting practices.

This study explored the possible links between family risk factors (i.e., parent gambling and parenting practices) and adolescent gambling. A community sample of 938 adolescents (496 females and 442 males) completed the South Oaks Gambling Screen Revised for Adolescents (SOGS-RA; K. C. Winters, R. Stinchfield, & J. Fulkerson, 1993b) along with a questionnaire assessing parenting practices. Both parents completed the SOGS (H. R. Lesieur & S. B. Blume, 1987). Results showed that adolescent gambling frequency was related to both parents' gambling frequency and problems. However, adolescent gambling problems were linked only to fathers' severity of gambling problems. Low levels of parental monitoring enhanced adolescents' risk of getting involved in gambling activities and developing related problems. A higher level of inadequate disciplinary practices was also related to greater gambling problems in youth. These links were significant after controlling for socioeconomic status, gender, and impulsivity-hyperactivity problems.

Is there a dark side of positive illusions? Overestimation of social competence and subsequent adjustment in aggressive and nonaggressive children.

This study examined (a) the links between children's overly positive perceptions about the relations with the peer group and with their best friend to subsequent behavioral, emotional, and social adjustment, and (b) whether these links are moderated by children's aggression. Using a short-term longitudinal design, the study was based on a sample of 819 4th- to 6th-graders (427 girls) from low to average SES families. Results showed that positive illusions about their social relations with classmates and with friends were related to an increase in children's peer-rated social preference and fostered the stability of children's dyadic friendships, regardless of children's level of aggression. In addition, overestimation of social competence with the peer group and overestimation of friendship quality were both related to a decrease in children's depressive feelings. Extreme overestimation as well as extreme underestimation of social competence with the peer group was also related to an increase in children's aggression. This latter result, however, was only true for children who were highly aggressive to begin with. The theoretical and practical implications of these results are discussed.

Deviant peer affiliations and depression: confounding or causation?

Data gathered from 2 longitudinal studies (the Christchurch Health and Development study of a birth cohort of 1,265 New Zealand participants studied to 21 years and the Quebec Study of 240 Canadian participants studied to 13 years) was used to examine the linkages between deviant peer affiliations and depression in adolescence. Both studies produced similar conclusions: a) increasing peer affiliations were associated with significant (p < .0001) increases in depressive symptoms; b) the associations between peer affiliations and depression could not be fully explained by confounding factors; and c) peer affiliations and depressive symptoms were linked by a causal chain process in which deviant peer affiliations led to increased externalizing behaviors with the negative consequences of these behaviors leading to depression.

Differential contribution of parents and friends to smoking trajectories during adolescence.

The purpose of this study was to assess the relative contribution of friends' and parents' smoking on the age of smoking initiation. A sample of 812 preadolescents, who were part of an accelerated longitudinal design, participated in the study over a 4-year period. Three smoking trajectory groups were first established: an age 11-12 starters group (5.7% of the sample), an age 12-13 starters group (11.1% of the sample), and an age 13-14 starters group (7.9% of the sample). A fourth trajectory group included the children who had not started smoking by age 15 years and who represented the majority of the participants (75.4%). After controlling for parental education, gender, and participants' behavioral and academic maladjustment, a series of logistic regressions revealed that parents' smoking assessed during the same year predicted membership in the age 11-12 starters trajectory group. Both parents' and friends' smoking predicted membership in the age 12-13 starters group. Finally, only friends' smoking predicted membership in the age 13-14 starters group. The results are discussed in light of the controversy about the contribution of parents' and friends' smoking behavior to smoking initiation in adolescents.

Predicting early gambling in children.

This large population-based study (N = 1,125) examined whether low inhibition (i.e., low anxiety) predicted early gambling, above and beyond disinhibition (i.e., impulsivity) and whether the two personal dispositions operated independently or interactively. It also examined whether the predictive role of these personal dispositions towards early gambling depended on parent gambling. Children's personal dispositions were assessed at ages 6, 7, and 8 years through teacher ratings. Parent gambling participation and gambling problems were assessed when the children were 8 years old. Finally, children's early gambling was measured through self-reports when the children were 10 years old. Results showed that teacher-rated impulsivity predicted early gambling for both genders. In addition, low anxiety predicted early gambling behavior, above and beyond impulsivity and control variables, albeit only in boys. Impulsivity and anxiety did not interact with each other, nor did they interact with parent gambling in predicting early gambling. However, parent gambling participation, but not problems, additively predicted early gambling for boys and for girls. The theoretical and practical implications of these findings are discussed.

A deletion in tropomyosin-related kinase B and the development of human anxiety.

BACKGROUND: The tropomyosin-related kinase B (TrkB)/brain-derived neurotrophic factor system has been associated with psychiatric disorders, and animal models of defects in this system suggest that it might have a particular role in anxiety. METHODS: DNA sequencing and cloning were used to identify a mutation in TrkB, and four different cell lines were used to assess functionality. Clinical samples were from a 22-year longitudinal cohort representative of the Quebec general population (n = 640 subjects), randomly selected when they were in kindergarten. Anxiety-related traits were measured with the Social Behaviour Questionnaire, the Diagnostic Assessment of Personality Pathology-Brief Questionnaire, and the Diagnostic Interview Schedule for DSM-IIIR. RESULTS: An 11 base pair deletion in TrkB is significantly associated with increases in anxiety traits during childhood and the development of anxiety disorders in adulthood. We found that this deletion impaired transcription in some human cell lines. CONCLUSIONS: The identification of this deletion provides additional support for the role of TrkB in modulating anxiety-related traits in human.

Links between friendship relations and early adolescents' trajectories of depressed mood.

The present study examined to what extent different types of friendship experiences (i.e., friendlessness, having depressed friends, and having nondepressed friends) are associated with early adolescents' longitudinal trajectories of depressed mood. On the basis of a sample of 201 youths (108 girls, 93 boys), we identified 3 distinct longitudinal profiles of depressed mood from Grade 5 (age 11) through Grade 7 (age 13): one group with consistently low levels of depressed mood, another group showing a sharp increase in depressed mood from late childhood through early adolescence, and a 3rd group with consistently high levels of depressed mood from late childhood through early adolescence. Subsequent analyses revealed that, compared to friendless youths, youths with nondepressed friends showed less elevated trajectories of depressed mood, whereas youths with depressed friends showed more elevated trajectories. The theoretical and practical implications of these findings are discussed.

Association of polyaminergic loci with anxiety, mood disorders, and attempted suicide.

BACKGROUND: The polyamine system has been implicated in a number of psychiatric conditions, which display both alterations in polyamine levels and altered expression of genes related to polyamine metabolism. Studies have identified associations between genetic variants in spermidine/spermine N1-acetyltransferase (SAT1) and both anxiety and suicide, and several polymorphisms appear to play important roles in determining gene expression. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: We genotyped 63 polymorphisms, spread across four polyaminergic genes (SAT1, spermine synthase (SMS), spermine oxidase (SMOX), and ornithine aminotransferase like-1 (OATL1)), in 1255 French-Canadian individuals who have been followed longitudinally for 22 years. We assessed univariate associations with anxiety, mood disorders, and attempted suicide, as assessed during early adulthood. We also investigated the involvement of gene-environment interactions in terms of childhood abuse, and assessed internalizing and externalizing symptoms as endophenotypes mediating these interactions. Overall, each gene was associated with at least one main outcome: anxiety (SAT1, SMS), mood disorders (SAT1, SMOX), and suicide attempts (SAT1, OATL1). Several SAT1 polymorphisms displayed disease-specific risk alleles, and polymorphisms in this gene were involved in gene-gene interactions with SMS to confer risk for anxiety disorders, as well as gene-environment interactions between childhood physical abuse and mood disorders. Externalizing behaviors demonstrated significant mediation with regards to the association between OATL1 and attempted suicide, however there was no evidence that externalizing or internalizing behaviors were appropriate endophenotypes to explain the associations with mood or anxiety disorders. Finally, childhood sexual abuse did not demonstrate mediating influences on any of our outcomes. CONCLUSIONS/SIGNIFICANCE: These results demonstrate that genetic variants in polyaminergic genes are associated with psychiatric conditions, each of which involves a set of separate and distinct risk alleles. As several of these polymorphisms are associated with gene expression, these findings may provide mechanisms to explain the alterations in polyamine metabolism which have been observed in psychiatric disorders.

Nicotine dependence subtypes among adolescent smokers: examining the occurrence, development and validity of distinct symptom profiles.

To increase understanding of the etiology and epidemiology of nicotine dependence among adolescent smokers, the present study examined the occurrence and development of distinct nicotine dependence symptom profiles in a sample of adolescent smokers. A total of 25 secondary schools throughout the Netherlands participated in a 1-year longitudinal study. Multiple dimensions of nicotine dependence were assessed, at two time points, among 641 adolescents (aged 14-17 years) who were classified as smokers. Results showed 4 distinct, yet stable, nicotine dependence subtypes that could be characterized by quantitative as well as qualitative differences. The symptom profiles were similar for males and females but differentially associated with previously identified correlates of nicotine dependence, namely parental smoking, peer smoking, and depressive mood. Finally, differential links of the 4 subtypes were found with regard to smoking uptake and cessation. The finding of qualitative different subgroups of adolescent smokers may have important implications for intervention efforts regarding nicotine dependence and smoking cessation. Such efforts may need to be tailored to the specific subgroups' needs.

Disruptiveness, peer experiences and adolescent smoking: a long-term longitudinal approach.

AIMS: This study examined links of peer experiences (i.e. social status and affiliation with disruptive peers) throughout childhood with respect to adolescent smoking trajectories, after controlling for childhood disruptiveness. Specifically, we tested four models regarding links of peer experiences and deviant behaviours. DESIGN: Prospective community sample. PARTICIPANTS: A total of 312 children, aged 6.17 years at baseline. MEASUREMENTS: Growth parameters of own disruptive behaviour, disruptive behaviour of friends and social status measured at ages 7-12 years as predictors of smoking assessed at ages 13-15 years, while controlling for own disruptive behaviour at age 6 years. FINDINGS: We found three groups with distinct profiles of smoking. One group displayed hardly any or no smoking at all; a second group showed a trajectory of increased smoking; and a third group that showed high smoking rates initially and increased in smoking intensity over time. Results support the assumption of the selection model that the link between disruptive peers and smoking is spurious and due to shared variances with own early disruptiveness. Moreover, support was found for the popularity-socialization model supporting the assumption that age-related increases in social status are associated with smoking. CONCLUSIONS: The findings emphasize that early disruptiveness is predictive of later smoking. In addition, it was shown that smoking becomes less deviant over time, in line with group norms. Future prevention programmes should emphasize the need to change these norms.