Substance use patterns in 9-10 year olds: Baseline findings from the adolescent brain cognitive development (ABCD) study.

BACKGROUND: The Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development ™ Study (ABCD Study®) is an open-science, multi-site, prospective, longitudinal study following over 11,800 9- and 10-year-old youth into early adulthood. The ABCD Study aims to prospectively examine the impact of substance use (SU) on neurocognitive and health outcomes. Although SU initiation typically occurs during teen years, relatively little is known about patterns of SU in children younger than 12. METHODS: This study aims to report the detailed ABCD Study® SU patterns at baseline (n = 11,875) in order to inform the greater scientific community about cohort's early SU. Along with a detailed description of SU, we ran mixed effects regression models to examine the association between early caffeine and alcohol sipping with demographic factors, externalizing symptoms and parental history of alcohol and substance use disorders (AUD/SUD). PRIMARY RESULTS: At baseline, the majority of youth had used caffeine (67.6 %) and 22.5 % reported sipping alcohol (22.5 %). There was little to no reported use of other drug categories (0.2 % full alcohol drink, 0.7 % used nicotine, <0.1 % used any other drug of abuse). Analyses revealed that total caffeine use and early alcohol sipping were associated with demographic variables (p's<.05), externalizing symptoms (caffeine p = 0002; sipping p = .0003), and parental history of AUD (sipping p = .03). CONCLUSIONS: ABCD Study participants aged 9-10 years old reported caffeine use and alcohol sipping experimentation, but very rare other SU. Variables linked with early childhood alcohol sipping and caffeine use should be examined as contributing factors in future longitudinal analyses examining escalating trajectories of SU in the ABCD Study cohort.

Interpersonal processes and psychopathology among expectant and nonexpectant adolescent couples.

This study examined the interpersonal and psychological functioning of expectant and nonexpectant adolescent couples. Interpersonal processes were assessed using the Structural Analysis of Social Behavior (L. S. Benjamin, 1974) and psychological functioning was assessed using the Diagnostic Interview for Children and Adolescents--Revised (W. Reich, 1991). Compared with their nonexpectant peers, expectant couples exhibited higher rates of negative interpersonal processes, including demand-withdraw behaviors and lower rates of positive interpersonal processes. Expectant males reported higher rates of behavior disorders, substance use disorders, and internalizing disorders than nonexpectant males. Higher rates of substance-use disorders mediated the effect of expectancy status on demand-withdraw behavior. Results help clarify the links between the psychological risks associated with adolescent pregnancy and the interpersonal functioning of young expectant couples.

Patterns of family functioning and adolescent outcomes among urban African American and Mexican American families.

The relations of patterns of family functioning, prosocial behaviors, and internalizing and externalizing symptoms over time were evaluated among a sample of economically disadvantaged inner-city African American and Mexican American male adolescents. Ethnic group differences for configurations of family functioning over time, levels of prosocial and problem behaviors, and relations of family functioning to risk were found. Among both ethnic groups, exceptionally functioning families provided a protective effect against risk. Overall, African American youth had stronger attitudes toward school and higher educational aspirations than Mexican American youth. Unlike previous investigations, once socioeconomic status was controlled, no differences were found for either internalizing or externalizing problems between the 2 groups. The importance of considering socioeconomic status and community context when evaluating minority parenting and family functioning is discussed.

Role of the working alliance in the treatment of delinquent boys in community-based programs.

Examined the role of the working alliance in the treatment of delinquent boys in community-based residential programs, clarifying the relation between therapeutic process and behavioral change. Horvath and Greenberg's (1989) Working Alliance Inventory was used to assess the therapeutic alliance between youth and staff after 3 weeks in treatment and again after 3 months. Achenbach's (1991) Child Behavior Checklist (CBCL; Youth Self-Report [YSR] and Teacher Report Form [TRF]) and recidivism scores were used to assess treatment progress and outcome. Results indicated that a positive working alliance assessed after 3 months in treatment related to positive psychological changes and predicted lower rates of recidivism. Unexpectedly, a positive working alliance assessed early in treatment was associated with negative outcomes (increased internalizing and externalizing symptoms and higher rates of recidivism). This finding suggests that for some delinquent youth initially optimistic assessments may be prognostic of slow progress or treatment failure.

Family relationships, parenting practices, the availability of male family members, and the behavior of inner-city boys in single-mother and two-parent families.

The primary goal of this study was to clarify if and how differences in the functioning of single-mother and two-parent families relate to the occurrence of behavioral problems among inner-city boys (ages 10-15). Data were collected on family relationships, parenting practices, the positive influence of male family members, and the severity of externalizing behavior problems. Results indicated that (1) multiple family risk factors contribute to the occurrence of behavior problems; (2) most family risk factors were generalizable to both single-mother and two-parent families; (3) although boys in single-mother families were at greater risk for developing behavior problems than boys in two-parent families, the risks associated with single motherhood were offset by a structured family environment, an effective disciplinary strategy that allowed for some degree of adolescent autonomy, and the positive involvement of a male family member; and (4) not all differences in the functioning of single-mother and two-parent families were associated with problem behavior, underscoring the importance of distinguishing between adaptive and maladaptive aspects of single-mother family functioning.

Family processes and risk for externalizing behavior problems among African American and Hispanic boys.

This study examined the relationship between family processes and risk for externalizing behavior problems among urban African American and Hispanic youth. The structural analysis of social behavior was used to code family interactions. Results indicate that high-risk boys were more submissive and less warm than low-risk boys. When they did assert themselves, high-risk boys tended to do so in a hostile manner. Parents of high-risk boys were more punitive and less nurturant than parents of low-risk boys. Regardless of risk status, African American boys were more assertive than Hispanic boys and African American parents were less controlling than Hispanic parents. These findings complement previous research on the development of antisocial behavior by highlighting the role of the adolescent in family processes.

Mourning the loss of "self as father": a longitudinal study of fatherhood among the Druze.

It is within the context of the parent-child relationship--through the processes of attachment, loss, separation and individuation--that we grow and develop interpersonally and intrapsychically (Bowlby 1969, 1980; Mahler et al. 1975; Pollock, 1989). Most developmentalists agree that changes in the parent-child relationship continue to influence both parents and children throughout the life cycle (Cohen et al. 1984; Colarusso and Nemiroff 1982). While there is a vast body of literature devoted to discussing changes that occur in the parent-child relationship during the "formative years," little has been written about what happens to that relationship after the children leave home to start families of their own. Moreover, most researchers investigate the processes of attachment, loss, separation and individuation in terms of the child's development. Little is known about how the child's quest for independence affects the psychological development of his/her parents. Those writers who have addressed the issue of individuation in later life tend to focus on the adult child's continuing struggle to separate and individuate from his/her real or imagined parents (Levinson, 1978).

Cross-cultural views of self in the treatment of mental illness: disentangling the curative aspects of myth from the mythic aspects of cure.

This paper compares Eastern and Western concepts of self within the context of the healing process. I draw upon the work of Sudhir Kakar and Heinz Kohut to illustrate differences in how mental illness is expressed and treated in India and the United States. I propose that cultural variances in the way that illness is expressed and treated relate to differences in culturally determined "myths" of the self. In India, where Kakar lives and works, the self is conceived as fluid and interdependent; in the West, the self is conceived as more solid and autonomous. The therapeutic methods employed by the Western-trained psychoanalyst and psychotherapist make use of the Western myth of self. Likewise, in India the shaman heals in accordance with the myths available to him. No matter what our cultural background, such myths lend coherence to our experience and influence the way in which we solve our problems, including the problem of "mental illness." Finally, I suggest that these "myths" of self are not static and point out ways in which the Western myth of self is evolving. As these myths change, so do our methods of treating mental illness.