Department of Preventive Medicine, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, California 90032-3628, USA.
J Stud Alcohol Drugs. 2013 Sep;74(5):727-35. doi: 10.15288/jsad.2013.74.727.
Emerging adulthood (ages 18-25 years) has been associated with elevated substance use. Transitional life events (TLEs) during emerging adulthood in relation to substance use are usually examined separately, rather than as a constellation. The purposes of this study were (a) to explore distinct subgroups experiencing various TLEs during emerging adulthood, (b) to identify heterogeneous trajectories of cigarette and alcohol use during emerging adulthood, and (c) to examine the association of TLEs with cigarette and alcohol use trajectories.
Five waves of longitudinal data (mean age range: 19.5-26.0 years) were used from a community-based drug prevention program (n = 946, 49.9% female). Distinct subgroups of emerging adults who experienced various TLEs were identified using latent class analysis. Cigarette and alcohol use were examined using a latent growth mixture model.
A three-class model fit the data best in identifying TLE subgroups (new family, college attenders [NFCA]; uncommitted relationships, college attenders [URCA]; hibernators [HBN]). Three-trajectory models fit the data best for cigarette and alcohol use during emerging adulthood. The TLE categories were significantly associated with the cigarette (p < .05) and alcohol use groups (p < .001); specifically, the URCA and HBN groups were significantly more likely to be classified as accelerating cigarette users, relative to NFCA (ps < .05). The NFCA and HBN groups were significantly more likely to be classified as accelerating alcohol users, relative to URCA (ps < .01).
To characterize an "at-risk" emerging adult group for cigarette and alcohol use over time, a range of life events during emerging adulthood should be considered. Interventions tailored to young adulthood may benefit from targeting the absence of these life events typifying "independence" as a potential marker for underlying substance use problems and provide supplemental screening methods to identify young adults with similar issues.
成年初期（18-25 岁）与物质使用的增加有关。在成年初期发生的过渡性生活事件（TLEs）通常是分别进行研究的，而不是作为一个整体进行研究。本研究的目的是：（a）探索在成年初期经历各种 TLE 的不同亚组；（b）确定成年初期吸烟和饮酒的异质轨迹；（c）研究 TLE 与吸烟和饮酒轨迹的关系。
从一个基于社区的药物预防计划中使用了五波纵向数据（平均年龄范围：19.5-26.0 岁）（n=946，49.9%为女性）。使用潜在类别分析确定经历各种 TLE 的成年初期不同亚组。使用潜在增长混合模型检查吸烟和饮酒情况。
在识别 TLE 亚组方面，三类别模型最适合数据（新家庭，大学生[NFCA]；无承诺关系，大学生[URCA]；冬眠者[HBN]）。三个轨迹模型最适合成年初期的吸烟和饮酒数据。TLE 类别与吸烟（p<0.05）和饮酒组（p<0.001）显著相关；具体来说，URCA 和 HBN 组比 NFCA 组更有可能被归类为加速吸烟组（ps<0.05）。NFCA 和 HBN 组比 URCA 组更有可能被归类为加速饮酒组（ps<0.01）。
为了描述随时间推移吸烟和饮酒的“高危”成年初期亚组，应考虑成年初期的一系列生活事件。针对年轻成年人的干预措施可能受益于针对缺乏这些生活事件，将其作为潜在物质使用问题的潜在标志物，并提供补充筛选方法来识别具有类似问题的年轻成年人。
