PARTNERSHIP TRANSITIONS AND ANTISOCIAL BEHAVIOR IN YOUNG ADULTHOOD: A WITHIN-PERSON, MULTI-COHORT ANALYSIS.

OBJECTIVES: This study examines the effects of young adult transitions into marriage and cohabitation on criminal offending and substance use, and whether those effects changed since the 1970s as marriage rates declined and cohabitation rates rose dramatically. It also examines whether any beneficial effects of cohabitation depend on marriage intentions. METHODS: Using multi-cohort national panel data from Monitoring the Future (N = 15,875), the authors estimated fixed effects models relating within-person changes in marriage and cohabitation to changes in criminal offending and substance use. RESULTS: Marriage predicts lower levels of criminal offending and substance use, but the effects of cohabitation are limited to substance use outcomes and to engaged cohabiters. There are no cohort differences in the associations of marriage and cohabitation with criminal offending, and no consistent cohort differences in their associations with substance use. There is little evidence of differences in effects by gender or parenthood. CONCLUSIONS: Young adults are increasingly likely to enter romantic partnership statuses that do not appear as effective in reducing antisocial behavior. Although cohabitation itself does not reduce antisocial behavior, engagement might. Future research should examine the mechanisms behind these effects, and why non-marital partnerships reduce substance use and not crime.

Historical variation in drug use trajectories across the transition to adulthood: the trend toward lower intercepts and steeper, ascending slopes.

This study examines historical variation in individual trajectories of heavy drinking and marijuana use from age 18 to 22. Unlike most studies that have examined cohort differences in drug use, it focuses on differences in both level of use and rates of change (growth). Nearly 39,000 youths from the high school classes of 1976-2004 were surveyed at biennial intervals between the ages of 18 and 22 as part of the national Monitoring the Future study. Between 1976 and 2004, adolescent heavy drinking decreased substantially. However, because the age 18-22 heavy drinking growth rate increased threefold for males and sixfold for females during this period, heavy drinking among 21- to 22-year-olds remained largely stable. The growth rate for marijuana use was more stable across cohorts, and historical declines in use were sizable across the entire 18-22 age band. Generally, historical variation in use was unrelated to college status and living arrangements as well as to historical changes in the distribution of young adult social roles. Findings suggest that historical fluctuations in use were less the result of proximal young adult factors and more the result of historical variation in distal adolescent factors, the effect of which diminished with age, especially for heavy drinking.

Predicting risk-taking with and without substance use: the effects of parental monitoring, school bonding, and sports participation.

Risk-taking is statistically normative during adolescence, yet is associated with adverse outcomes including substance use. The present study draws the distinction between protective factors (effective for those identified as high risk takers) and promotive factors (effective for all) against substance use, focusing on parental monitoring, school bonding, and sports participation. A total of 36,514 8th and 10th grade participants in the national Monitoring the Future study were included. Although parental monitoring was associated with lower alcohol and marijuana use among all adolescents (i.e., promotive effect), these effects were strongest among the highest risk takers (i.e., protective effect) and females. School bonding was associated with lower levels of both alcohol and marijuana use among all groups of adolescents, but these promotive effects were weak. Sports participation was associated with higher levels of alcohol use among all males and among 8th grade females who did not identify as high risk takers. Despite being a risk factor for alcohol use, sports participation did demonstrate a promotive effect against marijuana use among 10th grade females only, and especially so for high risk-taking females (i.e., protective effect). Overall, these findings suggest that of the three mechanisms studied, parental monitoring emerged as the most promising entry point for substance use prevention and intervention across groups, particularly for females and high risk-taking adolescents.

Substance use changes and social role transitions: proximal developmental effects on ongoing trajectories from late adolescence through early adulthood.

Substance use changes rapidly during late adolescence and early adulthood. This time in the life course is also dense with social role changes, as role changes provide dynamic context for individual developmental change. Using nationally representative, multiwave longitudinal data from age 18 to 28, we examine proximal links between changes in social roles and changes in substance use during the transition to adulthood. We find that changes in family roles, such as marriage, divorce, and parenthood, have clear and consistent associations with changes in substance use. With some notable exceptions, changes in school and work roles have weaker effects on changes in substance use compared to family roles. Changes in socializing (i.e., nights out for fun and recreation) and in religiosity were found to mediate the relationship of social role transitions to substance use. Two time-invariant covariates, socioeconomic background and heavy adolescent substance use, predicted social role status, but did not moderate associations, as within-person links between social roles and substance use were largely equivalent across groups. This paper adds to the cascading effects literature by considering how, within individuals, more proximal variations in school, work, and family roles relate to variations in substance use, and which roles appear to be most influential in precipitating changes in substance use during the transition to adulthood.

Explaining the Relationship between Employment and Juvenile Delinquency.

Most criminological theories predict an inverse relationship between employment and crime, but teenagers' involvement in paid work during the school year is positively correlated with delinquency and substance use. Whether the work-delinquency association is causal or spurious has long been debated. This study estimates the effect of paid work on juvenile delinquency using longitudinal data from the national Monitoring the Future project. We address issues of spuriousness by using a two-level hierarchical model to estimate the relationships of within-individual changes in juvenile delinquency and substance use to those in paid work and other explanatory variables. We also disentangle effects of actual employment from preferences for employment to provide insight about the likely role of time-varying selection factors tied to employment, delinquency, school engagement, and leisure activities. Whereas causal effects of employment would produce differences based on whether and how many hours respondents worked, we found significantly higher rates of crime and substance use among non-employed youth who preferred intensive versus moderate work. Our findings suggest the relationship between high-intensity work and delinquency results from preexisting factors that lead youth to desire varying levels of employment.

ADOLESCENT WORK INTENSITY, SCHOOL PERFORMANCE, AND ACADEMIC ENGAGEMENT.

Teenagers working over 20 hours per week perform worse in school than youth who work less. There are two competing explanations for this association: (1) that paid work takes time and effort away from activities that promote achievement, such as completing homework, preparing for examinations, getting help from parents and teachers, and participating in extracurricular activities; and (2) that the relationship between paid work and school performance is spurious, reflecting preexisting differences between students in academic ability, motivation, and school commitment. Using longitudinal data from the ongoing national Monitoring the Future project, this research examines the impact of teenage employment on school performance and academic engagement during the 8th, 10th, and 12th grades. We address issues of spuriousness by using a two-level hierarchical model to estimate the relationships of within-individual changes in paid work to changes in school performance and other school-related measures. Unlike prior research, we also compare youth school performance and academic orientation when they are actually working in high-intensity jobs to when they are jobless and wish to work intensively. Results indicate that the mere wish for intensive work corresponds with academic difficulties in a manner similar to actual intensive work.

Diversion of Medical Marijuana to Unintended Users Among U.S. Adults Age 35 and 55, 2013-2018.

OBJECTIVE: This study estimated the percentage of age 35 and 55 adults reporting using medical marijuana intended for someone else (diverted use) and compared demographics and health status of such users with respondents reporting recommended use (i.e., individuals with a medical marijuana recommendation for their own health conditions) and to respondents using marijuana not intended for medical use (nonmedical marijuana [NMM] use). METHOD: Cross-sectional analyses were conducted using complex sample survey data collected from 2013 to 2018 from 12,138 adults (6,998 women) at modal ages 35 or 55 participating in the U.S. national Monitoring the Future study. RESULTS: Diverted use was reported by 72.9% [95% CI, 66.4, 79.4] and 64.3% [56.0, 72.7] of age 35 and 55 past-12-month medical marijuana users, respectively. Age 35 diverted users were more likely than recommended users to not work full time and have no postsecondary education. Age 55 recommended users were more likely than NMM users to be retired. Age 35 diverted users were less likely than recommended users to report poor physical health (odds ratio [OR] = 0.40 [0.17, 0.94]). Age 55 diverted users were less likely than recommended users to report three or more poor health conditions (OR = 0.22 [0.09, 0.55]) and any qualifying conditions (OR = 0.21 [0.08, 0.58]). Prevalence of these conditions was similar between diverted and NMM users. CONCLUSIONS: Results indicated a substantial degree of nonmedical (i.e., recreational) marijuana use. Diverted and NMM users reported generally similar levels of health conditions, whereas diverted users had fewer indicators of poor health than recommended users.

Variation in obesity among American secondary school students by school and school characteristics.

BACKGROUND: Body mass index (BMI) is known to vary by individual characteristics, but little is known about whether BMI varies by school and by school characteristics. METHODS: Nationally representative samples of United States schools and students are used to determine the extent to which BMI and percent of students at or above the 85th percentile of BMI vary by school and by school characteristics. Data from the 1991-2004 Monitoring the Future (MTF) study were analyzed in 2006 and 2007. RESULTS: A relatively small proportion of variance in BMI lies between schools; intraclass correlations are on the order of 3%. Still, this is sufficient variation to provide very different environments for students attending schools that are low versus high in average BMI. There is some modest variation by school type (public, Catholic private, non-Catholic private); school size (number of students in the sampled grade); region of the country; and population density. There is more variation as a function of school socioeconomic status (SES) and racial/ethnic composition of the school. School SES in particular was negatively associated with BMI levels, even after controlling individual-level SES and racial/ethnic status. CONCLUSIONS: The residual differences in BMI by school suggest that some characteristic of the school and/or community environment--perhaps cultural factors or peer role modeling or differences in school food, beverage, or physical education policies--facilitate obesity in schools with a high concentration of lower socioeconomic students, beyond individual-level factors.

Novel psychoactive substance use by US adolescents: Characteristics associated with use of synthetic cannabinoids and synthetic cathinones.

INTRODUCTION AND AIMS: The current study documents the characteristics associated with the use of two novel psychoactive substances: synthetic cannabinoids and synthetic cathinones. DESIGN AND METHODS: Nationally representative samples of students in 8th (n = 9665), 10th (n = 10 655) and 12th (n = 10 057) grades across the US were included in the Monitoring the Future study from 2012 to 2014. RESULTS: There were relatively few differences in prevalence based on sociodemographic characteristics, although boys were at greater risk for use of synthetic cannabinoids in 12th grade (used by 10.3% of boys and 6.4% of girls) and for use of synthetic cathinones in 10th grade (used by 1.0% of boys and 0.4% of girls). Synthetic drug use was also associated with truancy and use of cigarettes, alcohol, and marijuana. DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSIONS: Prevention and intervention efforts for novel psychoactive substance use should focus primarily on polysubstance users and youth who are disengaged from school.[Patrick M, O'Malley P, Kloska D, Schulenberg J, Johnston L, Miech R, Bachman J. Novel psychoactive substance use by US adolescents: Characteristics associated with use of synthetic cannabinoids and synthetic cathinones. Drug Alcohol Rev 2016;35:586-590].

Selection and socialization effects of fraternities and sororities on US college student substance use: a multi-cohort national longitudinal study.

AIMS: To examine how membership in fraternities and sororities relates to the prevalence and patterns of substance use in a national sample of full-time US college students. DESIGN: Nationally representative probability samples of US high school seniors (modal age 18 years) were followed longitudinally across two follow-up waves during college (modal ages 19/20 and 21/22). SETTING: Data were collected via self-administered questionnaires from US high school seniors and college students. PARTICIPANTS: The longitudinal sample consisted of 10 cohorts (senior years of 1988-97) made up of 5883 full-time undergraduate students, of whom 58% were women and 17% were active members of fraternities or sororities. FINDINGS: Active members of fraternities and sororities had higher levels of heavy episodic drinking, annual marijuana use and current cigarette smoking than non-members at all three waves. Although members of fraternities reported higher levels than non-members of annual illicit drug use other than marijuana, no such differences existed between sorority members and non-members. Heavy episodic drinking and annual marijuana use increased significantly with age among members of fraternities or sororities relative to non-members, but there were no such differential changes for current cigarette use or annual illicit drug use other than marijuana. CONCLUSIONS: The present study provides strong evidence that higher rates of substance use among US college students who join fraternities and sororities predate their college attendance, and that membership in a fraternity or sorority is associated with considerably greater than average increases in heavy episodic drinking and annual marijuana use during college. These findings have important implications for prevention and intervention efforts aimed toward college students, especially members of fraternities and sororities.

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

The purposes of this study were to: a) identify trajectory groups of frequent marijuana use during emerging adulthood, b) distinguish among trajectory groups according to demographic and lifestyle characteristics, and c) 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 1977-94) 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.

Trends in use of marijuana and attitudes toward marijuana among youth before and after decriminalization: the case of California 2007-2013.

BACKGROUND: This analysis examines decriminalization as a risk factor for future increases in youth marijuana acceptance and use. Specifically, we examine marijuana-related behaviors and attitudes of 8th, 10th, and 12th graders in California as compared to other U.S. states during the years before and after California passed legislation in 2010 to decriminalize marijuana. METHODS: Data come from Monitoring the Future, an annual, nationally representative survey of 8th, 10th, and 12th grade students. RESULTS: In 2012 and afterwards California 12th graders as compared to their peers in other states became (a) 25% more likely to have used marijuana in the past 30 days, (b) 20% less likely to perceive regular marijuana use as a great health risk, (c) 20% less likely to strongly disapprove of regular marijuana use, and (d) about 60% more likely to expect to be using marijuana five years in the future. Analysis of 10th graders raises the possibility that the findings among 12th graders may reflect a cohort effect that was set into place two years earlier. CONCLUSION: These results provide empirical evidence to support concerns that decriminalization may be a risk factor for future increases in youth marijuana use and acceptance.

Gender and ethnic differences in smoking, drinking and illicit drug use among American 8th, 10th and 12th grade students, 1976-2000.

AIMS: This paper examines ethnic differences in licit and illicit drug use among American 8th, 10th and 12th grade students, with a particular focus on girls. DESIGN: The study uses cross-sectional data from large, ethnically diverse, nationally representative samples of 8th, 10th and 12th grade girls. SETTING: Data were collected through questionnaires administered in schools. PARTICIPANTS: A total of 40 416 8th grade girls and 37 977 8th grade boys, 35 451 10th grade girls and 33 188 10th grade boys, and 33 588 12th grade girls and 31 014 12th grade boys took part in the study. FINDINGS: Across ethnic groups, drug use is highest among Native American girls and lowest among black and Asian American girls. Trend data suggest that there have been important changes in girls' drug use over time and that girls' and boys' drug use patterns are converging. CONCLUSIONS: Drug use is widespread among American adolescent girls. Future research should examine further girls' drug use and seek to identify whether risk and protective factors identified in past research, based on predominantly white samples, are also important predictors for drug use among non-white girls.

Tobacco, alcohol, and illicit drug use: racial and ethnic differences among U.S. high school seniors, 1976-2000.

OBJECTIVE: This study examines differences in adolescents' use of tobacco, alcohol, and illicit drugs by racial and ethnic groups. METHODS: The authors analyzed questionnaire data from large, nationally representative samples of U.S. high school seniors to examine differences in drug use prevalence and trends among racial and ethnic groups between 1976 and 2000. RESULTS: On average, American Indian seniors showed the highest levels of tobacco, alcohol, and illicit drug use. Cuban American and white seniors also tended to have relatively high levels of substance use, followed by Mexican American and Puerto Rican seniors. Other Latin American, African American, and Asian American seniors reported the lowest levels of drug use. Most of these differences are longstanding, but some have widened and others narrowed during the past 25 years. CONCLUSION: Significant differences exist in adolescent use of tobacco, alcohol, and illicit drugs by racial and ethnic groups, and these differences have changed over time. Future research should examine these differences and seek to identify the sources and consequences of the disparities.

The influence of race and religion on abstinence from alcohol, cigarettes and marijuana among adolescents.

OBJECTIVE: Past research has not fully explained why black youth are less likely than white youth to use alcohol and other substances. One plausible yet underexamined explanation is the "religion hypothesis," which posits that black youth are more likely than white youth to abstain because they are more religious than white youth. The present study tested this hypothesis empirically. METHOD: The study examined data from large, nationally representative samples of white and black 10th graders from the Monitoring the Future project. RESULTS: Relative to white students, black students are more likely to abstain from alcohol, cigarettes and marijuana and are more highly religious. Consistent with the "religiosity hypothesis," race differences in abstinence are substantially reduced when race differences in religiosity are controlled. Unexpectedly, however, highly religious white youth are more likely than highly religious black youth to abstain from alcohol and marijuana use. CONCLUSIONS: Although religion is an important protective factor against alcohol and other substance use for both white and black adolescents, it appears to impact white youth at an individual level, whereas for black youth the influence of religion seems greatest at the group level. Future research should seek to better understand the mechanisms through which religion promotes adolescents' abstinence from the use of drugs and should seek to explain why the magnitude of its effect varies for black and white adolescents.

Adolescent work intensity, school performance, and substance use: links vary by race/ethnicity and socioeconomic status.

High school students who spend long hours in paid employment during the school year are at increased risk of lower grades and higher substance use, although questions remain about whether these linkages reflect causation or prior differences (selection effects). Questions also remain about whether such associations vary by socioeconomic status (SES) and race/ethnicity. This study examines those questions using nationally representative data from two decades (1991-2010) of annual Monitoring the Future surveys involving about 600,000 students in 10th and 12th grades. White students are consistently more likely than minority students to hold paid employment during the school year. Among White and Asian American students, paid work intensity is negatively related to parental education and grade point averages (GPA) and is positively related to substance use. Also among Whites and Asian Americans, students with the most highly educated parents show the strongest negative relations between work intensity and GPA, whereas the links are weaker for those with less educated parents (i.e., lower SES levels). All of these relations are less evident for Hispanic students and still less evident for African American students. It thus appears that any costs possibly attributable to long hours of student work are most severe for those who are most advantaged--White or Asian American students with highly educated parents. Working long hours is linked with fewer disadvantages among Hispanic students and especially among African American students. Youth employment dropped in 2008-2010, but the relations described above have shown little change over two decades.

Birth cohort effects on adolescent alcohol use: the influence of social norms from 1976 to 2007.

CONTEXT The substantial changes in adolescent alcohol use prevalence over time suggest that population-level environmental factors are important determinants of use, yet the potential influence of such environmental factors is inadequately understood. OBJECTIVE To investigate whether adolescents in birth cohorts and/or time periods characterized by restrictive social norms toward alcohol were at decreased risk for alcohol use and binge drinking, controlling for individual attitudes (disapproval) toward use. DESIGN, SETTING, AND PARTICIPANTS In 32 annual national surveys of US high school students, a total of 967 562 students contributed outcome data from 1976 through 2007. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES Frequency of past-year alcohol use and any instance of binge drinking (≥5 drinks) in the past 2 weeks, analyzed using multilevel models clustering individuals within periods and birth cohorts. Period- and cohort-specific social norm scores (indicating the proportion disapproving of weekend binge drinking) were modeled as predictors, controlling for individual attitudes and demographic characteristics. RESULTS Individuals who matured in birth cohorts with more restrictive social norms were less likely to use alcohol compared with individuals who matured in cohorts with more permissive norms; each 5% increase in the cohort-specific disapproval was associated with a 12% decrease in the odds of past-year alcohol use (odds ratio = 0.88; 99% CI, 0.87-0.89). The effects of cohort-specific disapproval were notably stronger among white adolescents than nonwhite adolescents. CONCLUSIONS This study documents the importance of considering time-varying population-level risk factors in the study of adolescent alcohol use and indicates that, even after an individual's personal attitudes are accounted for, risk is shaped by cohort effects whereby the norms within the cohort contribute to the risk of adolescent alcohol use.