Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Division of Neuroscience, Uppsala University, Uppsala, Sweden.
Department of Women's and Children's Health, Pediatric Neuropsychiatry Unit, Centre for Neurodevelopmental Disorders at Karolinska Institutet (KIND), Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden.
Subst Use Misuse. 2020;55(3):358-366. doi: 10.1080/10826084.2019.1671867. Epub 2019 Nov 5.
Early alcohol use is associated with an increased risk for later alcohol dependence, as well as social and mental health problems. In this study, we investigate the risk factors (internalizing and externalizing behaviors) associated with early alcohol consumption over a period of 1 year, and examine whether the association is sex-specific. U.S. inner-city adolescents ( = 1785, Mean age = 12.11) were assessed and reassessed in the sixth and seventh grades (Mean age = 13.10). Self-reported information was obtained on the lifetime level of alcohol consumption, internalizing (depression, anxiety and posttraumatic stress [PTS]), and externalizing behaviors (sensation seeking, conduct problems and affiliation with delinquent peers). Associations between the variables were examined using structural equation modeling (SEM). In an adjusted SEM analysis drinking by the sixth grade was primarily associated with externalizing behaviors, whereas PTS was linked to lower levels of alcohol consumption. In addition, alcohol consumption and greater externalizing behaviors by the sixth grade predicted higher alcohol consumption by the seventh grade, whereas anxiety and African American ethnicity were associated with less alcohol consumption. No sex differences were found in the association between internalizing and externalizing behaviors and drinking. However, in the adjusted SEM analysis female sex predicted higher lifetime consumption by the seventh grade. Sensation seeking behavior, conduct problems and affiliation with delinquent peers should be regarded as risk factors and taken into consideration when planning prevention efforts in order to decrease alcohol use in early adolescence.
早期饮酒与后期酒精依赖以及社会和心理健康问题的风险增加有关。在这项研究中，我们调查了与 1 年内早期饮酒相关的风险因素（内化和外化行为），并检查了这种关联是否具有性别特异性。我们对美国市中心的青少年（n=1785，平均年龄为 12.11 岁）进行了评估，并在六年级和七年级再次进行了评估（平均年龄为 13.10 岁）。使用结构方程模型（SEM），我们通过自我报告的信息获得了终生饮酒水平、内化（抑郁、焦虑和创伤后应激 [PTS]）以及外化行为（感觉寻求、行为问题和与犯罪同伴的联系）的信息。我们检查了变量之间的关联。在调整后的 SEM 分析中，六年级的饮酒行为主要与外化行为有关，而 PTS 与较低的饮酒水平有关。此外，六年级的饮酒和更多的外化行为预测了七年级更高的饮酒量，而焦虑和非裔美国人的种族与较少的饮酒量有关。内化和外化行为与饮酒之间的关联没有发现性别差异。然而，在调整后的 SEM 分析中，女性性别预测了七年级更高的终生饮酒量。感觉寻求行为、行为问题和与犯罪同伴的联系应被视为风险因素，并在规划预防措施时加以考虑，以减少青少年早期的饮酒量。
