Are adolescents with high socioeconomic status more likely to engage in alcohol and illicit drug use in early adulthood?

This study examines the interrelationships and predictors of involvement in delinquent activities and illicit drug use over a nine-year interval, from adolescence (age 15–16) to young adulthood (age 24–25) in a cohort representative of adolescents formerly enrolled in grades 10 and 11 in public secondary schools in New York State (N =1,004). Persistence of illicit drug use in this period of the life-cycle is greater than for delinquency and is higher among men than among women. Convergences and divergences in intrapersonal and interpersonal predictors of drug use and delinquency are analyzed. Adult illicit drug use is much better predicted by adolescent illicit drug use, especially among men. Among women, early drug use predicts later delinquent behavior. However, illicit drug use in the period from adolescence to early adulthood selectively predicts adult participation in one type of delinquent behavior, namely theft, among men and women, but has no effect on interpersonal aggression. Different risk factors in adolescence other than drug use predict continued delinquent involvement among men and women. In particular, depression plays an important role for women and family factors for men. Lifestyle factors subsequent to adolescence, especially failure to enter the conventional roles of adulthood, such as marriage and continuous employment, are important predictors of continued illicit drug use in adulthood but not of delinquency. Delinquency among males and illicit drug use among females appear to be subject to common etiological factors and may play similar roles in the lives of young people. Convergence between the findings and results reported by others are discussed.

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Physical Activity in Adolescence as a Predictor of Alcohol and Illicit Drug Use in Early Adulthood: A Longitudinal Population-Based Twin Study

Twin Research and Human Genetics ◽

10.1375/twin.12.3.261 ◽

2009 ◽

Vol 12 (3) ◽

pp. 261-268 ◽

Cited By ~ 37

Author(s):

Tellervo Korhonen ◽

Urho M. Kujala ◽

Richard J. Rose ◽

Jaakko Kaprio

Keyword(s):

Physical Activity ◽

Alcohol Use ◽

Drug Use ◽

Illicit Drug ◽

Alcohol Intoxication ◽

Early Adulthood ◽

Illicit Drug Use ◽

Activity Level ◽

Baseline Physical Activity ◽

Discordant Twin

AbstractWe investigated prospectively whether physical activity level in adolescence predicts use of alcohol and illicit drugs in early adulthood. We studied 4,240 individual twins (1,870 twin pairs). We classified those who consistently reported frequent leisure physical activity at ages 16, 17 and 181/2 as persistent exercisers, those exercising less than three times monthly as persistently inactive, and all others as occasional exercisers. To control for familial confounds, within-family analyses compared activity-substance use associations in co-twins discordant for baseline physical activity. Individual-based analyses showed no clear association between baseline physical activity and subsequent weekly alcohol consumption. However, weekly alcohol intoxication (OR = 1.9,p= .002) and problems due to alcohol use (OR = 2.0,p< .001) were more common among persistently inactive participants. After excluding those reporting weekly intoxication at baseline, the risk for alcohol intoxication remained elevated among women occasionally (OR = 2.4,p= .017) or persistently (OR = 5.8,p< .001) inactive at baseline, but this association was not replicated within discordant twin pairs. Individual-based analyses showed that drug use in adulthood was more common among those persistently physically inactive in adolescence (OR = 3.7,p< .001) in comparison to those persistently active. This finding was replicated within discordant twin pairs. Among those with no drug experience during adolescence, persistent inactivity (OR = 1.9,p= .007) increased risk for drug use. We conclude that persistent physical inactivity in adolescence may increase the risk of later problems due to excess alcohol use. Sedentary lifestyle predicts illicit drug use even when controlling for familial factors.

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