The Effects of Adolescent Cannabis Use on Psychosocial Functioning: A Critical Review of the Evidence.

Although observational studies have shown that adolescent cannabis use is associated with impairments in important psychosocial domains, including peer, romantic, and parent-child relationships, educational outcomes, adult socioeconomic status, and legal consequences, mechanisms underlying these associations remain largely unclear. Cannabis use may have a deleterious causal effect on functioning, but it is also possible the association may be due to reverse causation or confounding by shared vulnerability factors that account for both cannabis use in adolescence and concurrent and subsequent psychosocial impairment. Causally informative studies that delineate these possibilities, including research using epidemiologic samples and quasi-experimental designs, are critical to move the field forward.

Pubertal timing and adolescent outcomes: investigating explanations for associations with a genetically informed design.

BACKGROUND: Psychopathology and risky behaviors increase during adolescence, and understanding which adolescents are most at risk informs prevention and intervention efforts. Pubertal timing relative to same-sex, same-age peers is a known correlate of adolescent outcomes among both boys and girls. However, it remains unclear whether this relation is better explained by a plausible causal process or unobserved familial liability. METHODS: We extended previous research by examining associations between pubertal timing in early adolescence (age 14) and outcomes in later adolescence (age 17) in a community sample of 2,510 twins (49% boys, 51% girls). RESULTS: Earlier pubertal timing was associated with more substance use, risk behavior, internalizing and externalizing problems, and peer problems in later adolescence; these effects were small, consistent with previous literature. Follow-up co-twin control analyses indicated that within-twin-pair differences in pubertal timing were not associated with within-twin-pair differences in most adolescent outcomes after accounting for shared familial liability, suggesting that earlier pubertal timing and adolescent outcomes both reflect familial risk factors. Biometric models indicated that associations between earlier pubertal timing and negative adolescent outcomes were largely attributable to shared genetic liability. CONCLUSIONS: Although earlier pubertal timing was associated with negative adolescent outcomes, our results suggests that these associations did not appear to be caused by earlier pubertal timing but were likely caused by shared genetic influences.

The Effects of Adolescent Cannabis Use on Psychosocial Functioning: A Critical Review of the Evidence.

Although observational studies have shown that adolescent cannabis use is associated with impairments in important psychosocial domains, including peer, romantic, and parent-child relationships, educational outcomes, adult socioeconomic status, and legal consequences, mechanisms underlying these associations remain largely unclear. Cannabis use may have a deleterious causal effect on functioning, but it is also possible the association may be due to reverse causation or confounding by shared vulnerability factors that account for both cannabis use in adolescence and concurrent and subsequent psychosocial impairment. Causally informative studies that delineate these possibilities, including research using epidemiologic samples and quasi-experimental designs, are critical to move the field forward.

Resilience in Development and Psychopathology: Multisystem Perspectives.

Resilience science in psychology and related fields emerged from clinical research on risk for psychopathology in the 1970s and matured over the ensuing decades with advances in theory, methods, and knowledge. Definitions and models of resilience shifted to reflect the expanding influence of developmental systems theory and the growing need to integrate knowledge about resilience across levels and disciplines to address multisystem threats. Resilience is defined for scalability and integrative purposes as the capacity of a dynamic system to adapt successfully through multisystem processes to challenges that threaten system function, survival, or development. Striking alignment of resilience factors observed in human systems, ranging from individuals to communities, suggests the possibility of networked, multisystem protective factors that work in concert. Evidence suggests that there may be resilience factors that provide transdiagnostic protection against the effects of adverse childhood experiences on risk for psychopathology. Multisystem studies of resilience offer promising directions for future research and its applications to promote mental health and positive development in children and youth at risk for psychopathology.