Family disruption, or the separation of children from caregivers, has been well-established in prior literature as a risk factor for child maladjustment; however, little is known about how family disruption impacts youth into adulthood, particularly how it influences children’s later parenting of their own offspring. The present study examined whether cumulative family disruption (i.e., parental hospitalization, death, incarceration, divorce) in childhood exerts effects on children’s parenting of their own offspring in adulthood, beyond other demographic characteristics and risk factors. Further, several potential mechanisms were hypothesized to underlie the association between family disruption in the first and second generation (G1-G2) family and later parenting provided from second-generation (G2) adults to third-generation (G3) children. Mediators included conflict and disorganization in the G1-G2 family and dysregulation in the G2 child.

Participants (N = 236 in models that included multiple G2 siblings; N = 110 in models without siblings) were drawn from a larger sample of at-risk (i.e., alcoholic) and comparison families followed longitudinally for over 30 years and across three generations. Four mediation models were estimated to examine effects of two separate G1-G2 family disruption components (deviance-related and health-related disruption) on parenting of G3, mediated by family conflict, family disorganization, and G2 dysregulation. Results indicated that health-related disruption impairs consistency of parenting provided to G3 offspring through conflict in the G1-G2 family. A direct effect of health-related disruption was also seen on parental monitoring. There were no direct or mediated effects of deviance-related disruption on parenting. Implications and future directions will be discussed.

Anxiety disorder diagnosis is a risk factor for alcohol use disorders (AUDs), but mechanisms of risk are not well understood. Studies show that anxious individuals receive greater negative reinforcement from alcohol when consumed prior to a stressor, but few studies have examined whether anxious individuals receive greater negative (or positive) reinforcement from alcohol in a general drinking context (i.e., no imminent stressor). Previous studies have also failed to examine possible moderating effects of specific drinking contexts (e.g., drinking in a group or alone). Finally, no studies have investigated mediating variables that might explain the relationship between anxiety and reinforcement from alcohol, such as physiological response to alcohol (e.g., cortisol response). Data for this study were drawn from a large alcohol administration study (N = 447) wherein participants were randomized to receive alcohol (target peak BAC: .08 g%) or placebo in one of four contexts: group simulated bar, solitary simulated bar, group sterile laboratory, solitary sterile laboratory. It was hypothesized that anxiety would be associated with positive subjective response (SR) under alcohol (above and beyond placebo), indicating stronger reinforcement from alcohol. It was also hypothesized that social and physical drinking context would moderate this relationship. Finally, it was hypothesized that anxiety would be associated with a blunted cortisol response to alcohol (compared to placebo) and this blunted cortisol response would be associated with stronger positive SR and weaker negative SR. Results showed that anxiety was not associated with positive SR in the full sample, but drinking context did moderate the anxiety/SR relationship in most cases (e.g., anxiety was significantly associated with positive SR (stimulation) under placebo in solitary contexts only). There was no evidence that cortisol response to alcohol mediated the relationship between anxiety and SR. This study provides evidence that anxious drinkers expect stronger positive reinforcement from alcohol in solitary contexts, which has implications for intervention (e.g., modification of existing interventions like expectancy challenge). Null findings regarding cortisol response suggest alcohol’s effect on cortisol response to stress (rather than cortisol response to alcohol consumption) may be more relevant for SR and drinking behavior among anxious individuals.

Poor executive cognitive functioning (ECF) is associated with a variety of alcohol-related problems, however, it is not known whether poor ECF precedes the onset of heavy drinking. Establishing the temporal precedence of poor ECF may have implications for our understanding of the development of Alcohol Use Disorder (AUD). The present study tests associations between early-adolescent ECF and young-adult risky drinking and alcohol-related problems in a prospective study of youth followed to young adulthood. Participants completed three ECF tasks at ages 11-14 and reported on their risky drinking and alcohol-related problems at ages 18-24. A latent ECF factor was created to determine whether early-adolescent ECF was associated with drinking outcomes after controlling for relevant covariates (e.g., age, sex, family history of AUD). Early-adolescent ECF, as measured by a latent factor, was unrelated to young-adult alcohol misuse and alcohol-related problems. However, sensitivity analyses revealed that an individual ECF task tapping response inhibition predicted young-adult peak drinks in a day. Present findings suggest that ECF is not a robust predictor of risky drinking or alcohol-related problems, and that this relation may be specific to the ECF component of response inhibition.

This study addresses a gap in the literature by examining interactions between parental monitoring and parental autonomy giving/personal autonomy in predicting changes in drinking behavior from high school to college. Using data from two unique studies (study 1 was 62.8% female, n = 425; study 2 was 59.9% female, n = 2245), we analyzed main effects of parental monitoring, parental autonomy-giving, and personal autonomy. We also analyzed interactions between parental monitoring and autonomy-giving, and between parental monitoring and personal autonomy. Analyses found significant main effects of parental monitoring on drinking, with high levels of parental monitoring protecting against heavy drinking. Personal autonomy was a protective factor in both high school and college, whereas parental autonomy-giving did not predict drinking behavior in either high school or during the transition to college. This calls into question the extent to which parental autonomy-giving is a primary influence on personal autonomy. Hypothesized interactions between parental monitoring and parental autonomy giving/personal autonomy were not statistically significant. In summary, parental monitoring seems to be protective in high school, and personal autonomy—but not parental autonomy-giving—is also protective. Whereas the latter finding is well established from previous studies, the protective effect of personal autonomy during the transition to college is a novel finding. This relationship suggests that efforts to identify sources of personal autonomy in early adulthood and methods for increasing autonomy may be warranted.

The purpose of this study was to examine executive cognitive functioning (ECF) and drinking induced disinhibition as potential mechanisms through which a family history (FH) of alcohol problems contributes to off-spring alcohol-related problems. We also examined the hypotheses that indirect effects of family history would be moderated by age of drinking onset, hypothesizing that indirect effects of family history through ECF and drinking induced disinhibition would be stronger among those with an earlier age of drinking onset. The sample included 177 college aged heavy drinking participants (66.2% men; 33.8% women; 78.8% Caucasian; 10.1 % African American; 6.9% Hispanic; 4.2% Multi-racial; 4.8% other) participating in a randomized controlled trial of naltrexone (vs. placebo) plus brief motivational counseling for drinking reduction. Measures of family history, self-control, working memory, and drinking induced disinhibition collected prior to randomization to treatment condition (intake assessment), were used to explore the hypothesized mechanisms of FH effects. Although FH was not related to either working memory or self-control, self-control predicted both drinking induced disinhibition and alcohol-related problems, with a marginal indirect effect of self-control on problems through drinking induced disinhibition. Age of drinking onset did not moderate relations between FH and measures of ECF (working memory and self-control). The findings suggest that self-control is a major factor contributing to the development of alcohol-related problems. Thus self-control may be an important target of intervention regardless of age of drinking onset or family history status.

Previous studies suggest an association between depression and anxiety in childhood and adolescence and increased risk for cardiovascular disease later in life. The aim of the present study was to test whether depression and anxiety symptoms in young adulthood were associated with retinal vessel diameter, a subclinical marker of cardiovascular disease. We further tested whether associations for depression were similar to associations for anxiety. Participants completed questionnaires about their depression and anxiety symptoms and underwent retinal imaging. Retinal vessel diameter was assessed using computer software. Results showed no association between depression or anxiety symptoms and retinal vessel diameter, suggesting that retinal vessel diameter may not signal subclinical cardiovascular risk in young adults with symptoms of depression and anxiety.

Marijuana is currently the mostly widely used illicit drug in the U.S., and has been for multiple decades (Johnston et. al., 2016). Despite a growing belief that marijuana use is not harmful, over 4 million Americans have met criteria for marijuana use disorders in the past year alone (CBHSQ, 2015). According to marijuana trajectory studies, about a third of marijuana users will end up quitting later in life, but some \u2014 such as those who meet criteria for dependence \u2014 have a much greater difficultly quitting. Therefore, by looking at marijuana users who were successful in quitting, and comparing them to ongoing adult marijuana users, factors that may assist in helping an individual quit \u2014 such as certain motivations for quitting \u2014 may be identified. To study these issues, data was collected from 507 participants from the Pittsburgh Youth Study. It was found that adolescents who used marijuana weekly for at least one year were likely to be ongoing marijuana users in adulthood and that adolescents who had a warm relationship with their primary caretaker were likely to have quit marijuana by adulthood. It was also found that Black participants were more likely to have legal, monetary, and religious reasons for quitting than were White participants. Furthermore, participants who used regularly in adolescence were likely to list legal reasons, as well as a concern that marijuana use was needed to feel normal. Finally, it was found that not a single motivation for quitting marijuana was associated with a shorter period of abstinence. The implications of these findings for motivations to quit marijuana are the focus of the discussion.

Cannabis use has been purported to cause an amotivation-like syndrome among users. The purpose of this study was to investigate whether third party observers noticed amotivation among cannabis users. Participants in this study were 72 undergraduate university students, with a mean age of M=19.20 years old (SD=2.00). Participants nominated Informants who knew them well and these informants completed a version of the 18-item Apathy Evaluation Scale. Results indicated that more frequent cannabis use was associated with higher informant-reported levels of amotivation, even when controlling for age, sex, psychotic-like experiences, SES, alcohol use, tobacco use, other drug use, and depression symptoms (β=0.34, 95% CI: 0.04, 0.64, p=.027). A lack of motivation severe enough to be visible by a third party has the potential to have negative social impacts on individuals who use cannabis regularly.

The need to fully understand the possible consequences of young-adult cannabis use has become increasingly critical as a result of major cannabis policy changes. The purpose of this study was to determine if young-adult users exhibit cognitive deficits on laboratory-based tests and memory and attention deficits in everyday life. Participants were 152 students from a large U.S. university enrolled in introductory psychology courses and the top and bottom 10% of the 12-item Yale University PRIME Screening Test for psychotic-like experiences. Participants were asked about their cannabis use and were given six cognitive tests spanning executive function and memory. To test functional impairment in memory and attention, participants were asked to nominate informants (people who knew them well) and these rated the participants on an attention problems scale of four items and a memory problems scale of three items. Results showed that individuals who used cannabis more frequently were rated as having more attention and memory problems and that, consistent with prior research, more frequent cannabis use was associated with worse memory test performance, though the association was not present between frequency of use and executive function test performance. Additionally, it was found that informant-reported attention problems were associated with poorer performance on two of the executive function cognitive tests. The present findings suggest that individuals who use cannabis more frequently experience noticeable memory and attention problems in everyday life, despite the lack of significant correlation between this functional impairment and cognitive test performance. Informant reports, therefore, may be useful in future research for understanding or predicting cognitive impairment in young adults.

Research implemented by Luthar and colleagues over the past decade has revealed serious levels of maladjustment among youth growing up in affluent and upwardly mobile communities across the country. Contrary to what was previously believed, these youth often fare much worse on measures of both internalizing and externalizing problems when compared to their inner-city counterparts (Luthar, Barkin & Crossman, 2013). In an attempt to differentiate affluent youth with levels of maladjustment from their peers who are more well adjusted, the present study examines the relationship between internalizing problems and goal-setting, with analyses separated by gender. In a culture where there is such a focus on extrinsic goals, is it possible that goal-setting influences feelings of anxiety and depression? Multiple regression analyses were conducted with two goal-setting measures predicting to various internalizing dimensions of the Youth Self Report (Achenbach & Rescorla). The sample included 252 senior year high school students participating in the New England Study on Suburban Youth (NESSY). Statistically significant results supported our hypothesis that a higher ratio of extrinsic goals would predict to internalizing problems, for both males and females. Future research that implements an experimental design would be beneficial in understanding more fully whether changing one's goals and values decreases internalizing problems.