Life Course Trajectories of Alcohol and Marijuana Problems: Effect of Family History and Arousal Needs

Life course trajectories of alcohol and marijuana problems: Effect of family history and
arousal needs.

Introduction

Generally speaking, the prevalence of problem alcohol and marijuana use is

highest in the early 20s, especially for men, and decreases as individuals adopt adult
roles (Hanna et al., 1993; Schulenberg et al., 1996). Nevertheless, it has been well
recognized that the extent of problem alcohol and marijuana use varies over the life
course (Fillmore et al., 1991), and that there is individual variation in the development of
problem use over the life course (O’Neill et al., 2001). In fact, researchers in the
substance abuse field have noted that greater attention should be directed toward
individual growth curves for describing and explaining intra-individual change (Mayhew
et al., 2000; White et al., 1998).

While some studies have examined predictors of developmental trajectories of

problem drinking (Hill et al., 2001; Muthén and Muthén, 2000), few, if any, have
examined predictors of combined alcohol and marijuana trajectories.

This study fills a gap in the literature by examining family history of alcoholism

and personal sensation seeking (arousal) needs on the development of problem alcohol
and marijuana use from adolescence into young adulthood in a community sample of
males and females followed prospectively for 20 years. We extend prior research by
using a person-centered approach to empirically identify and characterize different
trajectories of problem alcohol and marijuana use.

Methods

Sample

Data are from the Rutgers Health and Human Development Project (HHDP), a

five-wave, prospective study of substance use behaviors in a non-treatment sample that
is most representative of white adolescents living in a metropolitan, working- and
middle-class environment. Adolescents ages 12 (youngest cohort), 15 (middle cohort)
and 18 (oldest cohort) years were recruited between 1979 and 1981 from a random
selection of telephone numbers in New Jersey. After the initial anonymous telephone
survey, field staff visited adolescents in their homes to recruit them for the longitudinal
study and obtain their and their parents’ consent. Because the design of the project
called for the sample to be evenly divided by sex and age, a quota sampling procedure
guided the initial recruitment phase. Compared to adolescents who refused to be in the
study, participants had higher levels of parental income and education.

At the time of initial data collection, the sample was comparable to the population

of the state with regard to religion (50% Catholic, 30% Protestant, 9% Jewish, and 11%
an “other” or no religion), and median family income (between $20,000 and $29,000),