Temperament Pathways to Childhood Disruptive Behavior and Adolescent Substance Abuse: Testing a Cascade Model

Abstract

Temperament traits may increase risk for developmental psychopathology like Attention-Deficit/ Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) and disruptive behaviors during childhood, as well as predisposing to substance abuse during adolescence. In the current study, a cascade model of trait pathways to adolescent substance abuse was examined. Component hypotheses were that (a) maladaptive traits would increase risk for inattention/hyperactivity, (b) inattention/hyperactivity would increase risk for disruptive behaviors, and (c) disruptive behaviors would lead to adolescent substance abuse. Participants were 674 children (486 boys) from 321 families in an ongoing, longitudinal high risk study that began when children were three years old. Temperament traits assessed were reactive control, resiliency, and negative emotionality, using examiner ratings on the California Q-Sort. Parent, teacher, and self ratings of inattention/hyperactivity, disruptive behaviors, and substance abuse were also obtained. Low levels of childhood reactive control, but not resiliency or negative emotionality, were associated with adolescent substance abuse, mediated by disruptive behaviors. Using a cascade model, family risk for substance abuse was partially mediated by reactive control, inattention/hyperactivity, and disruptive behavior. Some, but not all, temperament traits in childhood were related to adolescent substance abuse; these effects were mediated via inattentive/hyperactive and disruptive behaviors. Keywords temperament; reactive control; disruptive behavior; substance abuse Substance abuse has serious consequences for youth, including the potential for long-term addiction. A key application of a temperament framework to developmental psychopathology involves the identification of liability for substance abuse. An extensive literature suggests a linkage between temperament traits and substance abuse (Caspi, Moffitt, Newman, & Silva, 1996;Das Eiden, Chavez, & Leonard, 1999; Masse & Tremblay, 1997;Mun, Fitzgerald, Von Eye, Puttler, & Zucker, 2001). At the same time, another literature links behavioral problems such as antisocial behavior with subsequent substance abuse (Masse & Trembley, 1997). Yet these two approaches to identifying predictors of substance abuse have not been connected. Children at high risk for substance abuse disorders often exhibit behavioral manifestations of NIH-PA Author ManuscriptNIH-PA Author Manuscript NIH-PA Author Manuscript risk for psychopathology early on, whether conceptualized as temperament traits or disruptive behaviors (Zucker, Ellis, Bingham, & Fitzgerald, 1996).Temperament and disruptive behavior compete for some of the same behavioral terrain, begging the question of conceptual framing in any study of this sort. As used herein, temperament is defined as early-appearing and relatively stable differences in emotional reactivity and regulation (Rothbart & Bates, 1998). To operationalize temperament traits for children, we drew upon Eisenberg et al's (1996; model. In this model, reactive control i...

Subtipos de adolescentes con trastornos por uso de sustancias y comorbilidad psiquiátrica utilizando los análisis de cluster y discriminante de perfiles MMPI-A

“…By contrast, cluster 2 showed clinically significant scores (T >70) T >70) T on both the externalizing and the internalizing scales of the CBCL. These results corroborate those obtained in other studies (King et al, 2004;Martel et al, 2009) and point to the potential utility of assessing externalizing and internalizing symptoms in order to predict the risk for different subtypes of SUD, in order to design specific interventions (Winters, Stinchfield, Latimer & Stone, 2008).…”

“…Substance use disorders have been associated with both internalizing and externalizing symptoms (King, Iacono & McGue, 2004;Martel, Pierce, Nigg, Jester, Adams, Puttler et al 2009), and particularly with antisocial tendencies, depression, emotional dysregulation and lack of impulse control (Kirisci, Tarter, Mezzich & Vanyukov, 2007;Muñoz-Rivas, Graña, Peña & Andreu, 2002). Comorbidity between SUD and other psychiatric diagnoses increases the risk of unprotected sexual intercourse, suicide, violence and delinquency, among other negative consequences (Estévez & Emler, 2011;Hawkins, 2009).…”

Addiction and crime: The importance of asymmetry in offending and the life-course

“…This matches up with more recent evidence from longitudinal studies examining the predictive power of early behavior problems for adolescent drug abuse. [19][20][21][22] For instance, Fergusson and colleagues 23 found in a prospective study that conduct problems at ages 7-9 predicted tobacco, alcohol, cannabis, and other illicit drug use use/abuse during the latter stages of adolescence. 6 Evidence also suggests that child behavior problems are related to risk for substance abuse problems during young adulthood and beyond.…”

La consommation de psychotropes chez les enfants ayant des troubles extériorisés : portrait de la consommation et caractéristiques associées à l’initiation précoce à la cigarette, à l’alcool et au cannabis

“…Pour certains auteurs, chez des enfants de 10 ans, les facteurs familiaux seraient les facteurs influençant le plus l'initiation précoce aux psychotropes (Macleod, Hickman, Bowen, Alati, Tilling et Smith, 2008). D'abord, la consommation de cigarettes et d'alcool par les parents (principalement la mère) est un facteur de risque important permettant de prédire l'expérimentation de la cigarette et de l'alcool au cours de la préadolescence (Fleming et al, 2002 ;Hung, Yen et Wu, 2009 ;Kaplow et al, 2002 ;Macleod et al, 2008 ;Martel et al, 2009). Ce lien peut être interprété de différentes manières.…”