Escalated substance use: A longitudinal grouping analysis from early to middle adolescence.

Abstract

The authors surveyed a cohort of 1,184 adolescents in the 7th, 8th, and 9th grades. Measures of tobacco, alcohol, and marijuana use and of constructs from 3 theoretical models of substance use were obtained at each point. Clustering analysis for 3-wave substance use data indicated subgroups of nonusers, minimal experimenters, late starters, and escalators. Discriminant function analyses tested whether study variables differentiated the subgroups. One discriminant function accounted for the majority of between-group association; it had loadings for (high) life stress, nonadaptive coping, deviance-prone attitudes, and parental and peer substance use, and (low) parental support, academic competence, and behavioral control. Escalators were high on this function; late starters and experimenters had intermediate values; and nonusers were low on the function. Implications for theories of vulnerability to substance abuse are discussed.

Consumo de drogas en adolescentes: El papel del estrés, la impulsividad y los esquemas relacionados con la falta de límites

“…Estos resultados son consistentes con numerosos estudios que han demostrado que el estrés vital predice el consumo de drogas en adolescentes. En particular, los acontecimientos vitales negativos se han asociado al consumo de tabaco (Wills et al, 1996), alcohol (Wills, 1986;Windle y Windle, 1996) y otras drogas (Arellanez-Hernández et al, 2004;Biafora, Warheit, Vega y Gil, 1994;Unger et al, 2001). Windle y Windle (1996), además, encontraron que esta asociación puede ser diferente dependiendo de la magnitud y naturaleza de los acontecimientos estresantes.…”

“…Como consecuencia, a menudo se experimenta depresión y otras emociones negativas. Esto ha llevado a sugerir que el consumo de alcohol y tabaco (Wills, 1986;Wills, McNamara, Vaccaro y Hirky, 1996) y de otras drogas (ArellanezHernández, Díaz, Wagner-Echeagaray y Pérez, 2004;Griffin, Séller, Botvin y Díaz, 2001) podrían representar intentos disfuncionales de manejo de estas dificultades de adaptación. Es por ello que se ha asociado el estrés vital como factor de riesgo para el consumo de drogas en adolescentes (Wills, 1986;Windle y Windle, 1996).…”

Exposure to Repeated, Intermittent d-amphetamine Induces Sensitization of HPA Axis to a Subsequent Stressor

“…Human psychostimulant abusers show a higher degree of morbidity than the general population (Cregler 1989), and the results of the present study suggest that alterations in the activity of the HPA axis in response to stress might be one factor responsible for this effect. Many human drug addicts who abuse psychostimulants also exhibit an increased reactivity to stress (Keller and Wilson 1994;Wills et al 1996), which is often self-medicated through further substance abuse (Markou et al 1998). Animal models of drug addiction have demonstrated that stress can be an important factor in determining the amount of drug that is consumed, as well as increasing the probability of acquiring drug self-administration and relapsing during extinction (Haney et al 1995;Erb et al 1996;Tidey and Miczek 1997).…”

Buffering effect of religiosity for adolescent substance use.

“…To minimize the number of statistical tests, we based the primary analysis on the composite substance use score, but we also performed analyses for each of the substance use indices. Because Strawbridge et al (1998) suggested that buffering interactions 1 The study included other measures, such as parental support and adolescent coping (see Wills, McNamara, Vaccaro, & Hirky, 1996), which are beyond the scope of the present article.…”