Anticipating Problem Drinking Risk From Preschoolers' Antisocial Behavior: Evidence for a Common Delinquency-Related Diathesis Model

• NCJ Number: 228079
• Journal: Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry Volume: 48 Issue: 8 Dated: August 2009 Pages: 820-827
• Author(s): Roni Mayzer Ph.D.; Hiram E. Fitzgerald Ph.D.; Robert A. Zucker Ph.D.
• Date Published: August 2009
• Length: 8 pages
• Grant Number(s): R37 AA07065
• Sponsoring Agency: US Dept of Health and Human Services; Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan Foundation
• Publication Format: Article
• Publication Type: Research (Applied/Empirical)
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America

Annotation

This study examined the early first drinking (EFD) experience from a perspective that emphasized the developmental significance of early alcohol use as a marker in a pathway of problem behavior beginning in preschool.

Abstract

Results from the study showed delinquent behavior and aggression decreasing normatively throughout childhood for those with and without EFD. However, those with EFD showed precocious resurgences moving into early adolescence. Findings from the study were robust in their consistency. Onset of drinking was more strongly tied to the developmental course of delinquent behavior than aggression, with predispositions having an especially important influence on adolescent outcomes for early drinkers only. Substantial literature has demonstrated that heightened risk for alcohol problems and later alcohol use disorder were associated with having had an EFD experience. This study sought to advance research on EFD as a proxy for early problem alcohol use, and its relation to continuity in antisocial behavior. Study participants consisted of 220 male children and their parents in a high risk for substance use disorder prospective study. Early first drinking was defined as having had a first drink by 12 to 14 years of age. Tables and references