Longitudinally foretelling drug usage in adolescence: early childhood personality and environmental precursors.

Drug usage in early adolescence (age 14) was related to concurrent and preschool personality characteristics for a sample of 54 girls and 51 boys. The personality concomitants and antecedents of drug use differed somewhat as a function of gender and the drug used. At age 14, for both sexes, the use of marijuana was related to ego undercontrol, while the use of harder drugs reflected an absence of ego-resiliency, with undercontrol also a contributing factor. At ages 3/4, subsequent adolescent drug usage in girls related to both undercontrol and lower ego-resiliency. In boys, adolescent drug usage related strongly, during their nursery school years, to undercontrol and with resiliency having no long-term implications. Early family environment related to adolescent drug usage in girls but not in boys. Drug usage in adolescent girls was related to homes earlier identified as unstructured and laissez-faire, where there was little pressure to achieve. Drug usage related to other substance use and, in boys, to IQ decline from age 11 to age 18. Implications of these results for contemporary views regarding adolescent drug usage are discussed.

[1]  S. Kellam,et al.  Mental health in first grade and teenage drug, alcohol, and cigarette use. , 1980, Drug and alcohol dependence.

[2]  R. Lerner.  On the nature of human plasticity: Author index , 1984 .

[3]  J. Brook,et al.  Initiation into adolescent marijuana use. , 1980, The Journal of genetic psychology.

[4]  J. Brook,et al.  Stability of personality during adolescence and its relationship to stage of drug use. , 1985, Genetic, social, and general psychology monographs.

[5]  S. Kellam,et al.  Mental health and going to school : the Woodlawn program of assessment, early intervention, and evaluation , 1975 .

[6]  C. Zahn-Waxler,et al.  Child-rearing patterns in depressed, abusive, and normal mothers. , 1985, The American journal of orthopsychiatry.

[7]  E. Labouvie,et al.  Relation of personality to alcohol and drug use in adolescence. , 1986, Journal of consulting and clinical psychology.

[8]  R. Hogan,et al.  Personality correlates of undergraduate marijuana use. , 1970, Journal of consulting and clinical psychology.

[9]  D. Kandel,et al.  Longitudinal Research on Drug Use. , 1979 .

[10]  L. Lanza-Kaduce,et al.  Social learning and deviant behavior: a specific test of a general theory. , 1979, American sociological review.

[11]  D. Kandel.  Adolescent Marihuana Use: Role of Parents and Peers , 1973, Science.

[12]  J. Miller.  National Survey on Drug Abuse: Main Findings 1982. , 1983 .

[13]  J. H. Steiger.  Comparison of two methods for testing linear hypotheses in tables of proportions. , 1980 .

[14]  D. Kandel,et al.  Adolescent Involvement in Legal and Illegal Drug Use: A Multiple Classification Analysis , 1976 .

[15]  S. Scarr,et al.  How people make their own environments: a theory of genotype greater than environment effects. , 1983, Child development.

[16]  Bruce D. Johnson,et al.  The Reliability and Validity of Drug Use Responses in a Large Scale Longitudinal Survey , 1975 .

[17]  J. Block,et al.  Continuity and Change in Parents' Child-rearing Practices. , 1984 .

[18]  Steven S. Martin,et al.  Application of a general theory of deviant behavior: self-derogation and adolescent drug use. , 1982, Journal of health and social behavior.

[19]  J. Block.  A comparison between ipsative and normative ratings of personality. , 1957, Journal of abnormal psychology.

[20]  J. Block,et al.  Some Misgivings About the Matching Familiar Figures Test as a Measure of Reflection-Impulsivity. , 1974 .

[21]  J. Brook,et al.  Family socialization and adolescent personality and their association with adolescent use of marijuana. , 1978, The Journal of genetic psychology.

[22]  W. M. Cox,et al.  Personality Correlates of Substance Abuse , 1985 .

[23]  R. Gorsuch,et al.  Initial drug abuse: a review of predisposing social psychological factors. , 1976, Psychological bulletin.

[24]  R Jessor,et al.  Psychosocial correlates of marijuana use and problem drinking in a national sample of adolescents. , 1980, American journal of public health.

[25]  G. N. Braucht,et al.  Deviant drug use in adolescence: a review of psychosocial correlates. , 1973, Psychological bulletin.

[26]  D. Kandel.  Drug and Drinking Behavior Among Youth , 1980 .

[27]  Ronald C. Kessler,et al.  Antecedents of adolescent initiation into stages of drug use: A developmental analysis , 1978, Journal of youth and adolescence.

[28]  Jack Block,et al.  Lives Through Time , 1983 .

[29]  J. Block,et al.  Prevalence and patterns of substance use among early adolescents , 1984, Journal of youth and adolescence.

[30]  J. Brook,et al.  Dynamics of childhood and adolescent personality traits and adolescent drug use. , 1986 .

[31]  J. Brook,et al.  Peer, Family, and Personality Domains as Related to Adolescents' Drug Behavior , 1977, Psychological reports.

[32]  P J Bush,et al.  The development of children's health orientations and behaviors: lessons for substance use prevention. , 1985, NIDA research monograph.

[33]  Aileen B. Sedman,et al.  A longitudinal study , 1987 .

[34]  D. Mankin,et al.  A longitudinal study of the personality correlates of marijuana use. , 1978, Journal of consulting and clinical psychology.

[35]  C. Perry,et al.  Peer teaching and smoking prevention among junior high students. , 1980, Adolescence.

[36]  Jack Block,et al.  The Q-sort method in personality assessment and psychiatric research , 1964 .

[37]  R. Battjes,et al.  Etiology of drug abuse : implications for prevention , 1985 .

[38]  S. Kellam,et al.  Sex Differences in Antecedents of Substance Use Among Adolescents , 1982 .

[39]  D. Kandel.  Inter-and Intragenerational Influences on Adolescent Marijuana Use. , 1974 .

[40]  J. Block,et al.  The Role of Ego-Control and Ego-Resiliency in the Organization of Behavior , 1980 .