Is the Continuity of Externalizing Psychopathology the Same in Adolescents and Middle–Aged Adults? A Test of the Externalizing Spectrum’s Developmental Coherence

Abstract

Externalizing psychopathology (EXT) is a framework for understanding diagnostic comorbidity and etiology of antisocial and substance-use behaviors. EXT indicates continuity in adulthood but the structure of adolescent EXT is less clear. This report examines whether adolescent EXT is trait-like, as has been found with adults, or categorical. We use tests of measurement invariance to determine how diagnostic indicators of EXT differ in adolescents compared to adults. The EXT measures employed were DSM-IIIR diagnoses of adult antisocial behavior, conduct disorder, and alcohol, marijuana, and drug dependence. Latent trait, latent class, and hybrid models were fit to two separate data sets: 2,769 seventeen-year-old adolescents and 2,619 adults from the Minnesota Twin Family Study. The best model in both samples was a single-trait LT model. Parameters from the adolescent and adult models were equivalent for all disorders except alcohol dependence. It appears that EXT in adolescence can be accurately represented by a single-trait model, and the measurement properties of EXT are similar during these time periods with the exception of alcohol dependence.

The interaction between temperament and the family environment in adolescent substance use and externalizing behaviors: Support for diathesis–stress or differential susceptibility?

“…While internalizing problems are more strongly associated with substance use in adulthood (Chan, Dennis, & Funk, 2008;Grant et al, 2004;King, Iacono, & McGue, 2004), a history of externalizing behaviors beginning in early childhood is more likely to be observed in adolescents using substances (Chan et al, 2008;Jester et al, 2008;Pingault et al, 2013;Zucker, Heitzeg, & Nigg, 2011). Furthermore, since adolescent substance use and externalizing behaviors share common variance and developmental predictors (Castellanos-Ryan & Conrod, 2011;Castellanos-Ryan et al, 2014;Krueger, Markon, Patrick, Benning, & Kramer, 2007;Vrieze, Perlman, Krueger, & Iacono, 2012), substance use may be considered a form of externalizing behavior. Thus, examining the predictors of adolescent externalizing behaviors can also provide insights into the development of substance use problems.…”

Genetic and environmental sources of covariation between early drinking and adult functioning.

“…Given the stability of the externalizing dimension across the lifespan (Vrieze et al, 2012), it is not surprising that the variables loading the most highly on this construct at age 29 would be linked to adolescent drinking through genetic mechanisms.…”

“…Second, studies of specific measures representing different domains of adult functioning that have been linked to adolescent drinking (adult drinking and substance use, antisocial behavior, mental health and personality, socioeconomic status, and interpersonal functioning) have also demonstrated these measures to be heritable (e.g., Althoff et al, 2012; Baker, Treloar, Reynolds, Heath, & Martin, 1996; Grant et al, 2009; Kendler et al, 2007; Kendler, Myers, Dick, & Prescott, 2010; Le, Miller, Slutske, & Martin, 2011; Levinson, 2006; Miller, Mulvey, & Martin, 1996; Miller, Mulvey, & Martin, 2001; Silventoinen, Krueger, Bouchard, Kaprio, & McGue, 2004; Tambs, Sundet, Magnus, & Berg, 1989). Third, both adolescent drinking phenotypes and (to varying degrees) the adult outcomes of interest have been shown to load on a latent, genetically-influenced externalizing dimension or have been shown to relate to specific behaviors that load on the dimension (e.g., Chassin, Pitts, & Prost, 2002; Compton, Thomas, Stinson, & Grant, 2007; Grant, 1997; Hicks et al, 2007; Hicks et al, 2011; Hills, Cox, McWilliams, & Sareen, 2005; Kendler, Gardner, & Dick, 2011; Kendler et al, 2007; Kenkel, Ribar, Cook, & Peltzman, 1994; Krueger et al, 2002; McGue & Iacono, 2005; Olino, Klein, Framer, Seeley, & Lewinsohn, 2012; Roisman, Aguilar, & Egeland, 2004; Slade, 2007; Verona, Sachs-Ericsson, & Joiner, 2004; Vrieze, Perlman, Krueger, & Iacono, 2012; Ystrom, Kendler, & Reichborn-Kjennerud, 2014). The externalizing dimension is a genetically-influenced psychiatric construct that accounts for the comorbidity between substance use issues, antisocial behavior, and disinhibited personality (Krueger et al, 2002).…”

Confluence of genes, environment, development, and behavior in a post Genome-Wide Association Study world

“…It is rarely true in psychology that a binary classification is better for statistical analysis than a quasi-continuous one (Grove, 1991), but arguments favoring of the use of quantitative indicators is not based on statistical power alone. Some of the phenotypic measurements of interest to psychopathologists appear to be better represented by continuous dimensions of variation rather than as discrete entities (Krueger, Markon, Patrick, & Iacono, 2005; Vrieze, Perlman, Krueger, & Iacono, 2011; although see Vrieze, in press), a conclusion that has moreover been consistently supported in behavioral genetic research.…”