Aim
To assess the extent to which the association between childhood sexual abuse (CSA) and early use of alcohol, cigarettes and cannabis in adolescent girls is mediated by risk factors that tend to ...cluster in families where CSA occurs.
Design
An abridged version of the Semi‐Structured Assessment for the Genetics of Alcoholism (SSAGA) was administered by telephone.
Participants
A total of 3761 female twins aged 18–29 (14.6% African American, 85.4% European American).
Measurements
CSA experiences and history of substance use were queried in the SSAGA‐based interviews.
Findings
After controlling for familial influences on early substance use by including co‐twin early use status in models, separate Cox proportional hazards regression analyses predicting onset of alcohol, cigarette and cannabis use revealed a significant association with CSA. The effect was observed to age 19 years for cigarettes and to age 21 years for cannabis, but was limited to age 14 years or younger for alcohol, with the most pronounced risk before age 10 hazard ratio (HR) = 4.59; confidence interval (CI): 1.96–10.74. CSA‐associated risk for initiation of cigarette and cannabis use was also highest in the youngest age range, but the decline with age was much more gradual and the hazard ratios significantly lower (HR: 1.70; CI: 1.13–2.56 for cigarettes and HR: 2.34, CI: 1.57–3.48 for cannabis).
Conclusions
Childhood sexual abuse history is a distinct risk factor for use of cigarettes and cannabis, and a very strong predictor of early age at first drink.
Background
African American (AA) girls initiate alcohol use later and drink less than European American (EA) girls, potentially reflecting differences in the development of drinking behaviors. This ...study examined alcohol‐related cognitions: expectancies, attitudes, and intention to drink, as possible sources of variation by race in alcohol use. The aim of this study was to characterize the nature and degree of association between cognitions and use over time and by race in EA and AA girls.
Methods
Data were drawn from the longitudinal Pittsburgh Girls Study (N = 2,450), an urban population‐based sample of girls and their caregivers recruited when girls were between ages 5 and 8, and assessed annually through adolescence. Cross‐lagged panel models were conducted separately by race (56.2% AA, 43.8% EA) to identify patterns of association between alcohol use and cognitions from ages 12 to 17 in 2,173 girls.
Results
Endorsement of cognitions and use was higher overall in EA than AA girls but the magnitude of cross‐lagged path coefficients did not differ significantly by race. In both groups, bidirectional effects emerged between intentions and use, and alcohol use largely predicted cognitions across ages. However, intention to drink was the only alcohol‐related cognition that consistently predicted subsequent use (odds ratios ranged from 1.55 to 2.71).
Conclusions
Although rates of alcohol use and endorsement of cognitions were greater in EA than AA girls, the anticipated racial differences in longitudinal associations between cognitions and use did not emerge, indicating that variation in associations between use and cognitions does not account for the lower prevalence of alcohol use in AA compared with EA girls. Furthermore, our finding that intention to drink is a consistent, robust predictor of subsequent alcohol use suggests the need to investigate potentially modifiable factors that influence intention to drink across racial groups.
Reciprocal associations between alcohol use and alcohol related cognitions – expectancies, attitudes, and intention to drink – were examined in 2,173 adolescent girls (56.2% African American; 43.8% European American) across ages 12 to 17. In both racial groups, bidirectional effects emerged between intentions and use, and alcohol use largely predicted cognitions across ages. Although endorsement of cognitions and use were greater in European American than African American girls, racial differences in the magnitude of associations between cognitions and use were not observed.
Background and Objectives
We examined the associations of religious attendance during childhood (C‐RA) and adulthood (A‐RA) with alcohol involvement (ever drinking, timing of first alcohol use, and ...alcohol use disorder AUD) in White and Black female twins. As genetic and environmental factors influence religious attendance and alcohol involvement, we examined the extent to which they contribute to their association.
Methods
Data on 3,234 White and 553 Black female twins (18–29 years) from the Missouri Adolescent Female twin Study. Significant correlations between C‐RA or A‐RA and alcohol involvement were parsed into their additive genetic, shared environmental, and individual‐specific environmental sources.
Results
C‐RA was associated with ever drinking and timing of first alcohol use in Whites. A‐RA was associated with ever drinking and AUD in both Whites and Blacks. Shared environmental influences did not contribute to alcohol or religiosity phenotypes in Blacks. In Whites, the association between C‐RA and alcohol was due to shared environmental influences, whereas the association between A‐RA and alcohol was attributable to additive genetic, shared environmental, and individual‐specific environmental sources. Individual‐specific environment and genetics contributed to associations between A‐RA and ever drinking and AUD, respectively, in Blacks.
Conclusions
Factors other than C‐RA contribute to lower rates of alcohol involvement in Blacks. Shared environment does not contribute to links between A‐RA and alcohol involvement in Blacks.
Scientific Significance
The protective impact of childhood religiosity on alcohol use and misuse is important in Whites and is due to familial factors shared by religiosity and alcohol involvement. (Am J Addict 2017;26:437–445)
This study aimed to determine the associations among paternal alcohol problems, separation, and educational attainment in European American and African American offspring and whether offspring early ...alcohol/tobacco/marijuana use influenced these associations.
Families with offspring ages 13-19 years at intake were selected from state birth records and screened by telephone to determine high-risk or low-risk status (with/without paternal heavy drinking). Families of men with two or more driving-under-the-influence offenses were added as a very-high-risk group. Data from 340 African American and 288 European American offspring who were not enrolled in school at their last interview were analyzed. Educational attainment was modeled as less than high school, high school only (reference category), and some college or higher. Separation was defined as offspring report of not having lived continuously in the same household with their biological father from birth to age 14. Analyses were stratified by race.
In European Americans, neither family risk status nor early alcohol/tobacco/marijuana use was associated with educational outcomes. However, paternal separation significantly elevated the likelihood of not completing high school in all models (relative risk ratios RRRs = 6.0-8.1, p <.001). For African American offspring, likelihoods of high school noncompletion were elevated marginally for paternal separation in only one model, but significantly for early marijuana use (RRRs = 2.8-3.2, p < .05). Very-high-risk status significantly reduced the likelihood of post-high school education in an adjusted model (RRR = 0.4, p < .05).
High school noncompletion was significantly associated with paternal separation in European Americans and with early marijuana use in African American offspring. In addition, very-high-risk status reduced the likelihood of post-high school education in African American offspring only, suggesting that research with ethnically diverse samples yields important differences when examining outcomes of both separation and substance use on offspring education.
Background
The aims of this study were to (i) characterize racial differences in alcohol involvement and (ii) examine the risk conferred by specific trauma exposures and posttraumatic stress disorder ...(PTSD) for different stages of alcohol involvement in European American (EA) and African American (AA) women.
Methods
Data are from the Missouri Adolescent Female Twins Study (N = 3,787, 14.6% AA; mean age at most recent interview = 24.5 SD 2.8). Trauma exposures (e.g., sexual abuse SA, physical abuse PA, witnessing another person being killed or injured, experiencing an accident, and experiencing a disaster) were modeled as time‐varying predictors of alcohol initiation, transition to first alcohol use disorder (AUD) symptom, and transition to AUD diagnosis using Cox proportional hazards regression while taking into account other substance involvement, parental characteristics, and commonly co‐occurring psychiatric disorders.
Results
In EA women only, SA was associated with alcohol initiation prior to the age of 14, PA predicted transition from initiation to first AUD symptom, and PA, witnessing injury or death, and SA predicted transition to AUD diagnosis. No association was discovered between trauma exposures or PTSD for any stage of alcohol involvement in AA women.
Conclusions
Results reveal trauma experiences as important contributors to all stages of alcohol involvement in EA women only, with different trauma types conferring risk for each stage of alcohol involvement. PTSD was not revealed as a significant predictor of AUD in EA or AA women, suggesting trauma, independent of PTSD, directly contributes to alcohol involvement. Findings highlight the importance of considering racial differences when developing etiologic models of the association of traumatic experiences with alcohol involvement.
We examined the risk conferred by specific trauma exposures and PTSD for stages of alcohol involvement in European American (EA) and African American women (n = 3,787; mean age 24.5 years; 85.4% were EA). Results show that interpersonal trauma experiences are important contributors to all stages of alcohol involvement in EA women only. Findings highlight the role of trauma experiences in alcohol‐related pathology and the importance of considering race when considering the link between traumatic experiences and alcohol involvement.
Cocaine users typically try alcohol or marijuana before cocaine, but this ordering of substance use initiation is not universal. Characterizing cocaine-dependent users who deviate from the typical ...sequence may be informative for understanding the multiple pathways to cocaine dependence.
Data were drawn from cocaine-dependent participants (N = 6,333; 41% female) in a multisite study of the genetics of substance dependence who completed in-person structured psychiatric interviews. Participants were categorized with respect to alcohol or marijuana use as (a) never used, (b) used cocaine first, or (c) first used at the same age as or after first cocaine use. The association of a range of demographic, psychiatric, and childhood risk factors with sequences of initiation and the association of those sequences with indicators of dependence course (e.g., severity) were investigated in a series of regression analyses.
Women and non-European Americans were overrepresented in the atypical sequence groups. The atypical sequence groups also differed from the typical sequence groups with respect to rates of other substance use disorders. Sequences of substance use initiation were largely unrelated to other psychiatric disorders or childhood risk factors. Individuals who never used marijuana had a lower severity of dependence.
Although only a minority of dependent cocaine users deviate from the typical sequence of substance use initiation, several characteristics distinguish them from those who follow the typical sequence. Findings underscore the diversity in pathways to cocaine dependence.
Objective: The World Assumptions Questionnaire (WAQ) was developed to assess optimism and assumptions about the world, which often shift after traumatic events. However, no known study has ...investigated whether the WAQ holds similar meaning across demographic groups. The objective of this study was to investigate measurement invariance of the WAQ across race/ethnic group, sex, and sexual orientation. Method: Participants consisted of 1,181 college students (75% female; 25% Black, 13% Latinx, 18% Asian, 45% White; 90% heterosexual) who completed an online survey on stress, personality, substance use, and mental health. We investigated a unidimensional and the 4-factor structure of the WAQ using confirmatory factor analysis, and configural, metric, and scalar invariance using multigroup confirmatory factor analysis. Results: After dropping 3 items, a 4-factor structure fit the data well (comparative fit index = .92; root mean square error of approximation =.05; 95% confidence interval .045, .054; standardized root mean square residual = .06). Mean WAQ scores were higher for participants with probable posttraumatic stress disorder on 2 of the 4 factors. We also identified multiple items that were not invariant across race/ethnic group, sex, and sexual orientation. However, after invariant items were removed, evidence of configural, scalar, and metric invariance was found. Conclusions: This study replicated the 4-factor structure, mapping onto the 4 WAQ subscales, and indicated that a unidimensional measure of world assumptions should not be used. After making the adjustments recommended herein, the WAQ can be used to investigate differences across race/ethnic group, sex, and sexual orientation.
Clinical Impact Statement
This study informs how the World Assumptions Questionnaire can be used to identify whether there are differentiated health risks associated with beliefs about the predictability and trustworthiness of people and controllability and safety of the world across race/ethnic group (i.e., Black, Latinx, Asian, and White), sex, and sexual orientation.
Background
We examined associations between parental separation during childhood and offspring alcohol involvement, adjusting for genetic and environmental risks specific to parental alcohol (AD) and ...cannabis/other illicit drug dependence (DD).
Methods
The sample consisted of 1,828 offspring of male twins from the Vietnam Era Twin (VET) Registry, who completed a telephone diagnostic interview. Cox proportional hazards regression analyses were conducted predicting onset of first use, transition from first use to first AD symptom, and transition from first use to AD diagnosis from paternal and avuncular AD and DD history, parental separation, and offspring and family background characteristics. Paternal/avuncular DD/AD was based on the DSM‐III‐R; offspring and maternal AD were based on DSM‐IV criteria.
Results
Paternal DD/AD predicted increased offspring risk for all transitions, with genetic effects suggested on rate of transitioning to AD diagnosis. Parental separation was predictive of increased risk for early alcohol use, but a reduced rate of transition to both AD symptom onset and onset of AD. No interactions between separation and familial risk (indexed by paternal or avuncular DD/AD) were found.
Conclusions
Findings highlight the contribution of both parental separation and paternal substance dependence in predicting timing of offspring alcohol initiation and problems across adolescence into early adulthood.
Highlights • Heritability of cigarette and cannabis use is similar across ethnic groups. • No ethnic differences in genetic or environmental influences on covariance. • Shared environment more ...important in European-Americans.
Abstract Objective The objective of this study was to determine whether race/ethnicity was associated with time to smoking initiation and time from first cigarette to onset of DSM-IV nicotine ...dependence (ND) after adjusting for familial and individual psychosocial risk factors. Methods Cox proportional hazards models with time-dependent covariates were used to analyze data from 1376 offspring aged 12–33 years from 532 families at high risk for substance use problems due to paternal alcohol problems and 235 low risk families. Fifty-six percent of the sample self-identified as African-American (AA) and 44% were mainly of European descent. Results Controlling for covariates, AAs began smoking at older ages (HR = 0.58; 95% CI: 0.48–0.70) and had longer times between smoking initiation and onset of ND compared to non-AAs (HR = 0.25, 95% CI: 0.16–0.39 for ND onset occurring <18 years and HR = 0.49, 95% CI: 0.30–0.80 for ND onsets ≥age 18). After additionally controlling for number of cigarettes smoked daily, the racial/ethnic effects for onset of ND were attenuated, but remained statistically significant for ND onset <18 (HR = 0.34, 95% CI: 0.19–0.61); however, the estimate was no longer significant for later ND onset (HR = 0.84, 95% CI: 0.50–1.41). Conclusions AA adolescents and young adults initiate smoking at older ages and have longer transition periods between initiation and onset of ND compared to non-AAs, even after controlling for many relevant psychiatric and psychosocial covariates; however, racial/ethnic differences in time to onset of nicotine dependence in late adolescence and young adulthood may be explained by differences in daily quantity smoked.
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