Underage Alcohol Use by Intersectional Identity Among Alternative High School Students.

PURPOSE: To examine alcohol use (AU) among intersectional subgroups within a longitudinal cohort of predominantly Hispanic/Latino alternative high school (AHS) students in southern California. METHODS: Past month AU was measured over a period of three years among 1,029 students (mean age 17.5 years, 49.7% female, 76.1% Hispanic/Latino) from 29 AHSs. Multilevel models that adjusted for age, socioeconomic status, parental education, weekly income, sensation seeking, depression, anxiety, and stress estimated trends in AU over time among intersectional subgroups defined by gender, ethnicity, and generational immigration. RESULTS: Students with parents born in the United States had high rates of AU at the baseline that remained stable over time. In contrast, first-generation Hispanic/Latino students had lower levels of AU at the baseline that increased over time. First-generation, female, Hispanic/Latino students exhibited one of the lowest probabilities of AU at the baseline (28.6%, confidence interval [CI]: 15.9%-41.3%) but at the two-year follow-up had one of the highest probabilities (47.4%, CI: 29.3%-65.5%). A similar trend was observed among first-generation, male, Hispanic/Latino students whose probability of past month AU rose between the baseline (23.1%, CI: 12.4%-33.8%) and two-year follow-up (36.0%, CI: 19.2%-52.7%). DISCUSSION: Findings underscore the heterogeneity of AHS students, showing a more nuanced picture of AU by the intersection of gender, ethnicity, and generational immigration. Underage AU prevention efforts among AHS students must provide targeted messages to intersectional identities.

A quantitative survey measure of moral evaluations of patient substance misuse among health professionals in California, urban France, and urban China.

BACKGROUND: The merits and drawbacks of moral relevance models of addiction have predominantly been discussed theoretically, without empirical evidence of these potential effects. This study develops and evaluates a novel survey measure for assessing moral evaluations of patient substance misuse (ME-PSM). METHODS: This measure was tested on 524 health professionals (i.e., physicians, nurses, and other health professionals) in California (n = 173), urban France (n = 102), and urban China (n = 249). Demographic factors associated with ME-PSM were investigated using analyses of variance (ANOVAs) and t-tests, with results suggesting that ME-PSM is higher among younger health professionals, nurses (when compared with physicians and other health professionals), and Chinese health professionals (when compared with French and American health professionals). RESULTS: Results provide preliminary support for the psychometric quality of the survey measure introduced in this study, including the existence of a single latent structure and partial invariance of collected data across countries. CONCLUSION: The survey measure for ME-PSM which was developed and tested in the current study appears to hold potential utility for use as a measure of moral views of patient substance misuse. With development, this measure may be used to examine moral evaluations, both as factors of stigma and of other clinical factors associated with the treatment of patients with substance use disorders.

Using Marketing Frameworks to Predict the Effects of E-Cigarette Commercials on Youth.

Purpose: This investigation applied the Product Life Cycle (PLC) and Product Evolutionary Cycle (PEC) frameworks to the nicotine and tobacco market to predict the impact of television commercials for electronic cigarettes (e-cigarettes) on youth. Design/methodology/approach: Surveys were administered over a three-year period to 417 alternative high school students from southern California who had never used e-cigarettes, cigarettes, or cigars at the baseline. Covariate-adjusted logistic regression causal mediation models were employed to test competing hypotheses from the PLC and PEC frameworks. Findings: Results support a refined version of the PEC framework where e-cigarette commercials increase the odds of e-cigarette use, which leads to subsequent use of competing products including cigarettes and cigars. Originality: Regulations in the United States that permit television commercials for e-cigarettes but restrict the promotion of cigarettes and cigars have created an opportunity to study product adoption among youth consumers when one product has a strategic marketing advantage. Practical implications: This investigation demonstrates the utility of frameworks that conceptualize youth-oriented marketing as a two-part process in which potential customers are first convinced to adopt a behavior and then enticed to use a specific product to enact the behavior. Social implications: Rising rates of nicotine and tobacco product use among youth may be partially attributable to e-cigarette commercials.

Scary in the eye of the beholder: Attentional bias and attentional retraining for social anxiety.

Consistent with cognitive models of social anxiety, socially anxious individuals show cognitive biases that magnify their perceived level of threat in the environment. OBJECTIVES: The first objective was to determine whether attentional bias for socially threatening stimuli occurs after concomitant depression has been controlled. The second objective was to test the effectiveness of the Attention Control Training Program for Social Anxiety (ACTP-SA) for reducing social anxiety attentional bias and improving therapeutic indices in people with social anxiety. METHOD: In the first study, socially anxious (N = 30) and non-anxious individuals (N = 30) completed the Beck Depression Inventory-II, Spielberger's State-Trait Anxiety Inventory, Conner's Social Phobia Inventory, a social-anxiety Stroop test, and a clinical interview. In the second study, individuals with social anxiety (N = 30) were randomly assigned to an experimental group that received 4 sessions of ACTP-SA, or to a sham-intervention control condition. At the post-test and a 3-month follow-up, both groups completed the same measures as in Study 1. RESULTS: In Study 1, socially anxious individuals showed higher attentional bias for threatening stimuli than the controls, after depression had been controlled for. In Study 2, participants in the experimental group, compared with the controls, showed greater reductions in attentional bias, social anxiety, and trait anxiety at post-test and follow-up. CONCLUSIONS: The results underscore the importance of information processing biases in social anxiety and the benefits of attentional bias training as a complementary intervention for modifying symptoms of social anxiety.

Validity and Reliability of a Revised S-UPPS-P Impulsive Behavior Scale: The Interplay between Impulsivity and Working Memory.

Impulsivity is a multidimensional construct. The UPPS-P model of impulsivity differentiates five distinct dimensions: negative urgency, positive urgency, lack of premeditation, lack of perseverance, and sensation seeking. The present study, reports the first translation and validation of the recently revised short form of the UPPS-P scale (S-UPPS-P) on a Persian-speaking sample, examining the relationship between impulsivity and working memory. who also completed the Positive and Negative Affect Scale (PANAS), the Buss and Perry Aggression Questionnaire, the Behavioral Inhibition and Activation Scales (BIS/BAS), and the Wechsler Digit Span Task (WDST). A series of confirmatory factor analyses, and Cronbach's alpha results supported the factor structure of the scale. The findings supported the S-UPPS-P model's hypothesized correlations with PANAS, aggressiveness, and the construct validity of the model. The results of hierarchical regression analysis showed that backward and forward digit span scores of the WDST predicted the S-UPPS-P impulsivity scores over the portion explained by BIS/BAS, PANAS, and aggression scores. To conclude, the revised S-UPPS-P Impulsive Behavior Scale was well supported even in a very different population than usually sampled, adding to growing evidence that it assesses distinct but interrelated aspects of the impulsivity construct. Our findings also suggest that attentional capacities and working memory play important roles in the prediction of impulsivity.

Do I Really Want to Change? The Effectiveness of Goal Ambivalence Feedback on Dieters' Motivation.

Becoming committed to a new health-related goal and pursuing it is difficult for many people. The present study (a) developed and tested the psychometric properties of a brief Goal Ambivalence Scale (GAS) in a sample of dieters and (b) tested the effectiveness of providing dieters with feedback on their scores on the GAS. In Study 1, dieters (n = 334, 74% females) completed the GAS and a measure of Health-Related Concerns and Actions (HRCA). The standardization of the GAS was supported by CVR and CVI, the results of a PCA, and strong reliability and validity statistics. In Study 2, the experimental group of dieters (n = 107; 67.50% female) received feedback on their GAS scores, but the control group did not (n = 111; 62.30% female). Compared with the control group, the experimental group reported a greater need for information, greater readiness to change, and higher perceived situational confidence in resisting food that was inconsistent with their dieting goals. To conclude, the GAS could be used in health settings to provide clients and providers with an objective, fast measure of commitment to achieving health-related goals. Moreover, immediate feedback on health-related goals may improve change motivation.

Acceptance of Drug Use Mediates Future Hard Drug Use Among At-Risk Adolescent Marijuana, Tobacco, and Alcohol Users.

Alternative high school (AHS) students typically report higher levels of alcohol and other drug use compared to students attending traditional high schools. Greater use of such drugs as heroin, methamphetamines, and cocaine in this at-risk population may be driven, in part, by a greater latitude of acceptance toward substance use in general, which may accelerate the transition from gateway drugs to hard drugs. Seven hundred seventy-seven adolescents (mean age 16.6; 56% female) were recruited from alternative high schools throughout Southern California. To understand the factors that may lead AHS students to use hard drugs, a model was tested in order to determine if AHS students' latitude of acceptance toward substance use was a mediator between the relationship of past use of gateway drugs and future use of hard drugs. Latitude of acceptance was found to be a statistically significant mediator of future hard drug use (b = 0.03, 95% confidence intervals = 0.01 to 0.05) among gateway drug users. An individual's latitude of acceptance to various drug use behaviors may be consistent with societal norms. However, after exposure to, or use of, gateway drugs, attitudes that are more permissive toward hard drug use may be encountered, the acceptance of hard drugs may expand, and the use of hard drugs may escalate. Interventions designed to reduce the use of hard drugs among at-risk youth may be more persuasive by crafting messages that are within the latitude of acceptance of the target population and prevent the acceptance of hard drug use.

Associations Between Family and Peer E-Cigarette Use With Adolescent Tobacco and Marijuana Usage: A Longitudinal Path Analytic Approach.

INTRODUCTION: Research indicates a link between adolescent e-cigarette use and combustible tobacco cigarette (CTC) initiation, and recent studies suggest their connection with marijuana uptake. Our 3-year longitudinal cohort study investigated the implications of adolescent, peer, and family e-cigarette use with adolescents' expectations and willingness to initiate CTC use, and subsequent CTC and marijuana use. AIMS AND METHODS: Relationships were examined in a secondary analysis of a 3-year longitudinal cohort subsample involving adolescents enrolled in alternative California high schools (N = 1025). Analyses examined responses over three yearly observations. Family, peer, and respondents' e-cigarette use, respondents' positive cigarette expectancies and willingness to use CTCs were assessed in the study's first year (T1). CTC use in the survey's second year (T2) and marijuana use in the third year (T3) were assessed via path analysis. RESULTS: Respondents reporting at least one family member or peer using e-cigarettes were more likely to use e-cigarettes at T1 than those whose peers/family members did not. They reported more positive expectancies about CTCs and greater willingness to initiate use. These variables predicted CTC use at T2, which directly anticipated marijuana use in the survey's third year (T3), as did adolescents' use of e-cigarettes at T1. All model relations were statistically significant. CONCLUSIONS: Analysis demonstrated the strong association of family members' and peers' behaviors with adolescent e-cigarette use, and the temporal precedence of e-cigarette use with subsequent CTC and marijuana uptake. The predictive implications of e-cigarettes for other dangerous substance use should be examined in future prevention campaigns. IMPLICATIONS: The presented study expands upon existing literature connecting adolescent e-cigarette use and later CTC and marijuana use. The findings indicate the significant implications of exposure to e-cigarette use by parents and peers and demonstrate in a longitudinal 4-year panel survey the direct and indirect predictive implications of e-cigarette use for CTC and marijuana uptake. The research illustrates the utility of programs and campaigns that target peer and family groups to maximize impacts on adolescent willingness to try CTCs, positive expectancies, and possible onset of CTC and marijuana use.

The prospective association between illicit drug use and nonprescription opioid use among vulnerable adolescents.

In recent years, more than half of all drug overdose deaths in United States involved an opioid. To address this epidemic, antecedents to opioid misuse must be identified and empirically validated. The objective of the current investigation was to examine whether illicit drug use was prospectively associated with nonprescription opioid use among adolescents from a vulnerable population with a greater prevalence of substance abuse. A population-based cohort study of 1060 adolescents from 29 alternative high schools in southern California was conducted over a two-year period. A total of 929 adolescents (mean age 17.5 years, 49.9% female, 76.4% Hispanic) who had not experimented with nonprescription opioids at the baseline assessment were included in the analytic sample. The outcome was self-reported use of nonprescription opioids within two years. The predictors tested were illicit drug use, illicit drug use excluding marijuana, and the use of nonmedical marijuana. Covariates included age, sex, ethnicity, socioeconomic status, parental education, weekly income, sensation seeking, stress, anxiety, depression, and the use of alcohol and nicotine products. Multilevel, covariate-adjusted logistic regression models indicated that the odds of experimentation with nonprescription opioids was greater among adolescents who had used illicit drugs or illicit drugs excluding marijuana. Nonmedical marijuana use alone was a statistically significant predictor in unadjusted but not covariate-adjusted models. While prior studies have examined the progression from nicotine, alcohol, and marijuana use to nonprescription opioid use, the present findings emphasize the importance of illicit drug use as a detectable and empirically supported risk factor for future opioid misuse.

Working Memory and Response Inhibition Effects on At-Risk Youth's Willingness to Use Multiple Nicotine and Tobacco Products.

Purpose: Past research has suggested that executive functions, such as working memory and response inhibition, predict the use of nicotine and tobacco products (NTPs). The current study extends prior research by assessing whether response inhibition and working memory are associated with at-risk youth's willingness to use NTPs. Methods: A sample of 1060 at-risk youth were recruited from alternative high schools in southern California. Participants were randomly assigned to complete the Symmetry Span Task, an indicator of working memory ability, or the cued Go/No-Go task, an indicator of response inhibition. Participants who reported never using NTPs (n = 348) indicated how willing they would be try NTPs. Results: Results from a cross-sectional zero-inflated negative binomial (ZINB) regression suggest that females with stronger working memory skills and individuals with weaker response inhibition skills were more likely to be unwilling to use NTPs. Conclusion: While further research is needed to determine whether executive functions can prospectively predict NTP use among at-risk youth, the current study indicates that both working memory and response inhibition may play a significant role.

The role of negative affect in the persistence of nicotine dependence among alternative high school students: A latent growth curve analysis.

BACKGROUND: Previous research has demonstrated how negative affect (i.e., depression, anxiety, stress) is often a correlate of and precursor to nicotine dependence. Although recent evidence shows a gradual decline in tobacco use in the United States, subgroups that report higher levels of negative affect may continue to be at risk of becoming dependent on nicotine. One high-risk subgroup is students who attend alternative high schools. The current longitudinal investigation examined the effect of negative affect on nicotine dependence in this youth population. METHODS: 1060 students from 29 alternative high schools in Southern California completed a series of attitudinal and behavioral measures once per year over a three-year period. The main outcome was nicotine dependence i.e., feeling a strong urge to use nicotine products or experiencing withdrawal symptoms after a period of abstinence, measured using a version of the Fagerstrom Tolerance Questionnaire designed for adolescents. A latent growth curve model was utilized to examine the effect of negative affect on nicotine dependence during this timeframe. RESULTS: The analysis revealed that negative affect had both a concurrent and prospective relationship with nicotine dependence. Moreover, the association between negative affect and nicotine dependence in the present was not statistically significant once the influence of negative affect reported one year earlier was accounted for. CONCLUSIONS: Negative affect may play a critical role in the persistence of nicotine dependence among high-risk youth. Providing resources to help manage negative affect may be critical to curtailing nicotine dependence in this population.

The Effect of E-cigarette Commercials on Youth Smoking: A Prospective Study.

Objectives: In this study, we assessed whether commercials for electronic cigarettes (e-cigarettes) influence the use of e-cigarettes, cigarettes, and cigars among high-risk youth in southern California. Methods: We recruited students (N = 1060) from 29 alternative high schools into a prospective cohort study. We used multilevel Poisson regression models to examine whether exposure to e-cigarette commercials and perceptions of their appeal predicted increased use of e-cigarettes, cigarettes, and cigars one year later. We also tested the potential moderating effect of gender and ethnicity. Results: Models with and without covariates suggest that exposure to e-cigarette commercials is a statistically significant predictor of increased use of e-cigarettes. When gender was added to the models as a moderator, the relationships between commercial exposure and future use of e-cigarettes and cigars were found to be stronger among females. Unadjusted and adjusted models also indicated that students with favorable perceptions of e-cigarette commercials reported greater use of e-cigarettes, cigarettes, and cigars one year later. Conclusions: E-cigarette commercials may play an important role in persuading high-risk youth to use nicotine and tobacco products. Extending the Broadcast Advertising Ban of 1971 to include a broader range of products may be critical to preventing future generations from becoming addicted to nicotine.

Retail outlets prompt associative memories linked to the repeated use of nicotine and tobacco products among alternative high school students in California.

Numerous studies have examined how youth are influenced by the presence of tobacco retail outlets that use point-of-sale marketing tactics to promote nicotine and tobacco products. The current investigation extends this research by assessing whether tobacco retail outlets function as environmental cues that prompt associative memories linked to the repeated use of cigarettes, electronic cigarettes, and cigars. Students (N = 1060) from 29 alternative high schools in California were recruited into a three-year cohort study. A repeated measures latent profile analysis was conducted to identify latent subgroups of students. Analyses suggested the presence of one subgroup of students that did not use nicotine and tobacco products and five subgroups of students that used multiple products. A multinomial logistic regression revealed that images of gas stations, convenience stores, and liquor stores presented in the first year of the study prompted spontaneous associations in memory that increased the odds a student would belong to one of the five subgroups that repeatedly used nicotine and tobacco products over a three-year period. These findings suggest that tobacco retail outlets may act as environmental cues that prompt the use of addictive products among at-risk youth. Policymakers should consider implementing strategies that reduce the potency and prevalence of these cues.

Adolescent Substance Use and Sensation-Seeking on Sexual Behaviors Among Young Adults from Continuation High Schools.

BACKGROUND: Youth from continuation high schools report greater substance use and sensation-seeking than youth from regular high schools, yet their long-term consequences on age at sexual onset and the number of sexual partners are unknown. OBJECTIVE: To examine substance use, sensation-seeking and sexual behaviors by gender and race/ethnicity and the effects of substance use and sensation-seeking in adolescence on age at sexual initiation and numbers of sexual partners by young adulthood. METHODS: Baseline and 4-year follow-up data on youth from 14 continuation high schools in Southern California who participated in a drug abuse prevention intervention were analyzed. Structural equation modeling assessed whether or not substance use or sensation-seeking in adolescence predicted age at sexual onset and numbers of sexual partners by young adulthood. RESULTS: Latinos had lower sensation-seeking and frequency of substance use and a later age at sexual onset than non-Latinos. Males were more likely than females to have multiple lifetime and recent sexual partners. The effects of adolescent substance use on the number of sexual partners by young adulthood were mediated fully by their age at sexual initiation. Sensation-seeking had no direct or indirect effects on sexual behaviors. Conclusions/Importance: Factors leading to and actual sexual risk behaviors among youth from continuation high schools vary by race/ethnicity and gender. Targeting these antecedent factors by race/ethnicity and gender may improve prevention efforts.

E-cigarette Advertising Exposure, Explicit and Implicit Harm Perceptions, and E-cigarette Use Susceptibility Among Nonsmoking Young Adults.

Introduction: This study tested whether exposure to e-cigarette advertising increases e-cigarette use susceptibility among nonsmoking young adults by promoting explicit and implicit attitudes toward e-cigarettes as a safer and healthier alternative to combustible cigarettes. Methods: Young adult current nonsmokers who had never used an e-cigarette (n = 393; mean age = 22.1, standard deviation = 3.9; 66% women) were randomly assigned to one of the three conditions that involved viewing real-world, print e-cigarette ads. Two of the three conditions were experimental conditions where ads with different predominant themes (harm reduction ["Health"] versus social enhancement ["Social"] focused) were interspersed among ads of everyday objects. The third condition was the Control condition involving ads of everyday objects only. Participants provided data on explicit (ie, self-reported harm perceptions) and implicit (ie, Implicit Association Test) attitudes toward e-cigarette use and e-cigarette use intentions. Hypotheses were tested using structural equation modeling. Results: Relative to Control participants, participants in Health and Social conditions were more likely to show higher implicit attitudes toward e-cigarettes as a safer alternative to cigarettes. Only the Social condition, relative to Control, had a significant effect on lower explicit harm perceptions of e-cigarette versus cigarette use. The Social condition had a significant indirect effect on e-cigarette use susceptibility, mediated by explicit harm perceptions. Conclusions: Social enhancement-themed ads may communicate the reduced harm messages more strongly among young adults so as to affect both explicit and implicit attitudes and, through these, e-cigarette use susceptibility. Regulatory bodies may need to scrutinize reduced harm claims communicated through social enhancement-themed ads. Implications: The findings imply that implicit and explicit health benefit or reduced harm claims in e-cigarette marketing may be propagated via ads that use social enhancement gimmicks to attract youth and young adults. As the US Food and Drug Administration develops regulations on e-cigarette marketing, informed decisions need to be made that address harm reduction needs of current smokers as well as e-cigarette use onset among nonsmokers. In regard to the latter, e-cigarette marketing may need to be studied closely to monitor implicit and explicit health benefit claims that are coupled with the use of visual and textual gimmicks in ads that intend to make e-cigarettes more appealing to youth and young adults.

Share of Advertising Voice at the Point-of-Sale and Its Influence on At-Risk Students' Use of Alternative Tobacco Products.

INTRODUCTION: As adolescent tobacco use shifts from traditional cigarettes to alternative products, it is important to understand the influence of point-of-sale (POS) advertising on product use. This research investigated whether the percentage of POS advertising for a particular product, known as the share of advertising voice (SAV), moderated the relationship between exposure to POS tobacco advertisements and tobacco use among at-risk youth. METHODS: Longitudinal self-report data from 746 students attending 20 alternative high schools in southern California was merged with observational data cataloging 2101 advertisements for cigarettes, e-cigarettes, cigars, and smokeless tobacco from 87 tobacco retail outlets within a half mile of the schools. Four multilevel Poisson regression models examined whether SAV interacted with POS tobacco advertising exposure to influence the use of tobacco products 1 year later. RESULTS: Adolescent exposure to POS tobacco advertisements was significantly associated with increased use of all four tobacco products (p < .02). When SAV was added to the model as a moderator, the results showed a significant interaction, such that increasing the SAV for e-cigarettes was associated with greater use of that product (ß = 0.27, SE = 0.07, p < .001). The same moderating effect was found for smokeless tobacco (ß = 0.56, SE = 0.19, p = .004) but no moderating effect was observed for cigarettes or cigars. CONCLUSION: POS SAV has the potential to influence at-risk students' use of alternative tobacco products and may be a contributing factor to recent nationwide shifts in youth tobacco use. IMPLICATIONS: Future studies should monitor changes in SAV to gain insight into POS marketing trends that may be impacting youth tobacco use. In addition, state and local governments should consider implementing policies that limit the volume and proportion of POS tobacco advertising for all nicotine and tobacco products available in retail environments near schools. Restrictions placed on a single product may cause unintended shifts in product selection rather than a reduction in youth tobacco use.

Translation of basic research in cognitive science to HIV-risk: a randomized controlled trial.

Many people enrolled in drug diversion programs are not receiving evidence-based prevention for HIV or hepatitis. This study translated basic research from cognitive science to increase screening for infection and condom use in this population. A parallel three-condition randomized trial was conducted in a drug diversion sample (N = 358), comparing a memory practice condition with two active control conditions. Outcomes were condom use frequency and testing for infection (hepatitis B/C, HIV). At 3-month follow-up, participants in the memory practice condition were at least twice as likely (OR = 2.10 or greater, p < .01) to self-report testing compared to those in the control conditions and also reported more frequent condom use compared to a health education condition [B = .37, t(1) = 2.02, p = .02]. Basic research on memory can be effectively translated to brief interventions on infection screening and risk prevention in existing drug diversion programs.

The Rutgers Alcohol Problem Index for Adolescent Alcohol and Drug Problems: A Comprehensive Modern Psychometric Study.

OBJECTIVE: The Rutgers Alcohol Problem Index (RAPI) has been used extensively as a measure of alcohol-related problems experienced by adolescents and young adults. The present study aimed to comprehensively examine the psychometric profile and criterion-related validity of an 18-item RAPI adapted to measure negative consequences resulting from alcohol and other drug use in an at-risk adolescent population. METHOD: Categorical confirmatory factor analysis and the graded response model were used for evaluations of the latent factor structure, item properties, test information, and item invariance across gender, age groups (middle vs. late adolescence), and drug use profiles (readily available drugs vs. other illicit drugs), as well as computation of the item response theory scale scores for each of 617 alternative high school students (44% female). RESULTS: A reduced set of 16 RAPI items provided plausible evidence of unidimensionality and good measurement precision at a relatively wide range of the latent trait continuum. All but two items were invariant across the drug use profiles. The other illicit drug group had higher levels of the latent substance-related problems than the readily available drug group. Criterion-related validity was supported using a measure of past-year polysubstance use. CONCLUSIONS: The RAPI can be effectively modified to measure negative consequences resulting from alcohol and other drug use and reflects a sufficiently wide range of the latent continuum of problem use.

Trajectories of cannabis-related associative memory among vulnerable adolescents: Psychometric and longitudinal evaluations.

Indirect tests of memory associations relevant to cannabis have been shown to be useful in explaining and predicting adolescent cannabis use habits. This study sought to increase the understanding of adolescent cannabis-related associative memory and cannabis use behavior over time. A longitudinal sample of alternative high school students (N = 775) was assessed yearly for 3 years. The study first conducted extensive longitudinal measurement analyses of the cannabis-related word association test (WAT) applying contemporary psychometric models. Second, the study examined the longitudinal trajectories of cannabis-related associative memory and cannabis use and their contemporaneous and longitudinal relationships. Results showed that the cannabis-related WAT provided strong evidence of sound psychometric properties. Longitudinal change in cannabis-related associative memory was best described by modeling either a linearly decreasing trajectory or two separate trajectories: During middle adolescence, levels of cannabis-related associative memory were highest and stable but then gradually decreased toward late adolescence. Moreover, cannabis-related associative memory was contemporaneously predictive of cannabis use within ages 15 to 19 while controlling for the underlying growth process of cannabis use and time-invariant covariates (TICs) of gender and lifetime concurrent use of alcohol and cigarettes. Partial support of longitudinal prediction of cannabis use was also obtained from age 17 to 18 and age 19 to 20 while adjusting for growth in cannabis use and the TICs. These results demonstrated that predictive effects of cannabis-related memory associations on cannabis use were detected within some of the 1-year age spans and were consistent within ages across adolescent years. (PsycINFO Database Record