Predicting alcohol and drug use in early adulthood: The role of internalizing and externalizing behavior problems in early adolescence.

Abstract

Unique and interactive internalizing and externalizing behavior problems in adolescence were examined in relationship to drug and alcohol use in young adulthood. Results indicated that higher externalizing scores in adolescence predicted more alcohol use in young adulthood for both males and females and also predicted more marijuana and hard drug use for males. Lower internalizing scores were found to predict more marijuana and hard drug use in young adulthood for boys, but not for girls.

Relations Among Internalizing and Externalizing Symptoms and Drinking Frequency During Adolescence

“…The present study is unique in modeling a separate pathway of internalizing behaviors at each time point. Research suggested that internalizing symptoms may not affect or could even reduce alcohol use behaviors (Colder et al, 2013; Steele et al, 1995), and internalizing symptoms are correlated with externalizing symptoms. Adjusting for internalizing symptoms in our models may therefore have attenuated the predictive value of externalizing symptoms.…”

“…Our finding that internalizing and externalizing symptoms are associated with one another similarly in both genders is therefore in line with previous research (Englund & Siebenbruner, 2012). Evidence suggested that there is a robust relationship between externalizing symptoms and later substance use disorders (King et al, 2004; Steele et al, 1995), and scholars have posited that externalizing symptoms and substance use arise as a result of shared genetic risk factors (Iacono et al, 2008). The current models do not address upstream causal factors (e.g., symptoms in childhood before age 12), whereas our study reinforces the idea that alcohol use and externalizing symptoms develop stably in tandem across middle adolescence in both boys and girls.…”

“…Research suggested that externalizing symptoms, but not internalizing symptoms, in adolescence were associated with a greater frequency of alcohol use in young adulthood (Steele, Forehand, Armistead, & Brody, 1995). A prospective longitudinal study using the Youth Self Report (YSR) measure revealed that externalizing symptoms were a significant predictor of alcohol use, whereas internalizing symptoms were not predictive of later alcohol use (Colder et al, 2013).…”

Developmental pathways linking externalizing symptoms, internalizing symptoms, and academic competence to adolescent substance use

“…Prospective, longitudinal data yields less consistent associations than those found concurrently. High levels of internalizing symptoms earlier in development have predicted both greater and lesser involvement with substances later in life (King et al, 2004; Kumpulainen, 2000; Maggs, Patrick, & Feinstein, 2008; Niemelä et al, 2006; Steele, Forehand, Armistead, & Brody, 1995) suggesting that the effects of internalizing symptoms on later substance use behaviors may be more nuanced than that of externalizing symptoms. Maggs et al (2008), for instance, found that internalizing symptoms in middle childhood and early adolescence predicted lower levels of weekly alcohol consumption at age 16 for males, but not for females, in their British cohort study.…”

The Role of Internet User Characteristics and Motives in Explaining Three Dimensions of Internet Addiction

“…External control also has been linked to problematic effects of television use, such as increased aggression (Haridakis, 2002). Researchers have found that high external locus of control scores in adolescents predicted heavy substance use (Bearinger & Blum, 1997) and alcohol use (Steele, Forehand, Armistead, & Brody, 1995).…”