W Alex Mason1, Irina Patwardhan2, Gail L Smith3, Mary B Chmelka4, Jukka Savolainen5, Stacy-Ann A January6, Jouko Miettunen7, Marjo-Riitta Järvelin8. 1. Boys Town, National Research Institute for Child and Family Studies, Boys Town, NE 68010, USA. Electronic address: walter.mason@boystown.org. 2. Boys Town, National Research Institute for Child and Family Studies, Boys Town, NE 68010, USA. Electronic address: irina.patwardhan@boystown.org. 3. Boys Town, National Research Institute for Child and Family Studies, Boys Town, NE 68010, USA. Electronic address: gail.smith@boystown.org. 4. Boys Town, National Research Institute for Child and Family Studies, Boys Town, NE 68010, USA. Electronic address: mary.chmelka@boystown.org. 5. Inter-University Consortium for Political and Social Research (ICPSR), Institute for Social Research, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI 48106, USA. Electronic address: jsavolai@umich.edu. 6. Department of Psychology, University of South Carolina, Columbia, SC 29208, USA. Electronic address: sajanuary@sc.edu. 7. Center for Life Course Health Research, University of Oulu, Oulu, Finland and Medical Research Center Oulu, Oulu University Hospital and University of Oulu, Oulu, Finland. Electronic address: jouko.miettunen@oulu.fi. 8. Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, MRC PHE Centre for Environment and Health, School of Public Health, Imperial College London, UK; Center for Life Course Epidemiology, Faculty of Medicine, P.O. Box 5000, FI-90014 University of Oulu, Finland; Biocenter Oulu, University of Oulu, Finland; Unit of Primary Care, Oulu University Hospital, Oulu, Finland. Electronic address: m.jarvelin@imperial.ac.uk.
Abstract
BACKGROUND: Children who experience multiple adversities, such as prenatal exposure to drugs and poverty, early in development are at increased risk for the early initiation of alcohol and cigarette use. However, studies that examine potentially malleable processes associated with substance use initiation in the context of exposure to cumulative stressors are scant. This study examined associations between cumulative contextual risk at birth and initiation of alcohol and cigarette use in adolescence, testing childhood peer marginalization and peer aggression and behavior problems as mediating mechanisms. Analyses further adjusted for fearfulness/inhibition and hyperactivity/distractibility to determine if the hypothesized mediating mechanisms were significant after accounting for temperamental characteristics associated with substance initiation. METHODS: Participants were 6190 adolescents from the Northern Finland Birth Cohort 1986 Study. Data were collected on cumulative contextual risk (parent reports), substance initiation (adolescent reports), childhood peer processes and behavior problems (teacher reports), and temperamental characteristics (teacher reports). Novel discrete-time survival mediation analysis was conducted to test the hypothesized mediating mechanisms. RESULTS: Initial analyses showed that the associations between cumulative contextual risk and both alcohol and cigarette initiation were mediated by childhood peer processes and behavior problems; however, the indirect effects became statistically non-significant after adding the temperament variables, which themselves predicted substance initiation. CONCLUSIONS: Targeting peer processes may not be an effective way to interrupt pathways leading from early contextual risk to substance initiation. Instead, early screening and intervention efforts to delay substance initiation may need to be tailored to the individual temperamental characteristics of targeted participants.
BACKGROUND:Children who experience multiple adversities, such as prenatal exposure to drugs and poverty, early in development are at increased risk for the early initiation of alcohol and cigarette use. However, studies that examine potentially malleable processes associated with substance use initiation in the context of exposure to cumulative stressors are scant. This study examined associations between cumulative contextual risk at birth and initiation of alcohol and cigarette use in adolescence, testing childhood peer marginalization and peer aggression and behavior problems as mediating mechanisms. Analyses further adjusted for fearfulness/inhibition and hyperactivity/distractibility to determine if the hypothesized mediating mechanisms were significant after accounting for temperamental characteristics associated with substance initiation. METHODS:Participants were 6190 adolescents from the Northern Finland Birth Cohort 1986 Study. Data were collected on cumulative contextual risk (parent reports), substance initiation (adolescent reports), childhood peer processes and behavior problems (teacher reports), and temperamental characteristics (teacher reports). Novel discrete-time survival mediation analysis was conducted to test the hypothesized mediating mechanisms. RESULTS: Initial analyses showed that the associations between cumulative contextual risk and both alcohol and cigarette initiation were mediated by childhood peer processes and behavior problems; however, the indirect effects became statistically non-significant after adding the temperament variables, which themselves predicted substance initiation. CONCLUSIONS: Targeting peer processes may not be an effective way to interrupt pathways leading from early contextual risk to substance initiation. Instead, early screening and intervention efforts to delay substance initiation may need to be tailored to the individual temperamental characteristics of targeted participants.
Authors: Tuula Hurtig; Hanna Ebeling; Anja Taanila; Jouko Miettunen; Susan L Smalley; James J McGough; Sandra K Loo; Marjo-Riitta Järvelin; Irma K Moilanen Journal: J Am Acad Child Adolesc Psychiatry Date: 2007-12 Impact factor: 8.829
Authors: W Alex Mason; Stacy-Ann A January; Mary B Chmelka; Gilbert R Parra; Jukka Savolainen; Jouko Miettunen; Marjo-Riitta Järvelin; Anja Taanila; Irma Moilanen Journal: Addict Behav Date: 2016-02-17 Impact factor: 3.913
Authors: Shay M Daily; Michael J Mann; Christa L Lilly; Thomas K Bias; Megan L Smith; Alfgeir L Kristjansson Journal: Health Educ Behav Date: 2020-04-12