Hawkins J D, Graham J W, Maguin E, Abbott R, Hill K G, Catalano R F
Social Development Research Group, School of Social Work, University of Washington, Seattle 98115, USA.
J Stud Alcohol. 1997 May;58(3):280-90. doi: 10.15288/jsa.1997.58.280.
This study examines whether the age of initiation of alcohol use mediates the effects of other variables that predict alcohol misuse among adolescents and also whether the age of initiation of alcohol use accounts for known gender differences in the severity of alcohol misuse.
Data were taken from an ethnically diverse sample of 808 (412 male) students who were recruited in grade 5 at age 10-11 and followed prospectively on an annual basis for the next 7 years to age 17-18. State-of-the-art missing data methodology was used to address nonresponse due to noninitiation of alcohol use. Structural equation modeling was used to examine hypotheses for the prediction of alcohol misuse.
A younger age of alcohol initiation was strongly related to a higher level of alcohol misuse at age 17-18 and fully mediated the effects of parent drinking, proactive parenting, school bonding, peer alcohol initiation and ethnicity, all measured at age 10-11, and perceived harmfulness of alcohol use, measured at age 10-11 and age 11-12. However, age of alcohol initiation did not fully account for gender differences in the level of alcohol misuse at age 17-18. To further examine the role of gender, interactions between gender and school bonding, and gender and friend's alcohol initiation, were evaluated. However, neither of the interaction terms had direct effects on either age of initiation or level of alcohol-related problems.
Most measured risk factors for alcohol misuse were mediated through age of alcohol initiation. Only gender differences in alcohol misuse at age 17-18 were not mediated by age of alcohol initiation. Variables associated with these differences require further study. The results of this study indicate the importance of prevention strategies to delay the age of initiation of alcohol use.
本研究旨在探讨开始饮酒的年龄是否介导了预测青少年酒精滥用的其他变量的影响，以及开始饮酒的年龄是否解释了酒精滥用严重程度方面已知的性别差异。
数据取自808名（412名男性）学生的种族多样化样本，这些学生在10 - 11岁的五年级时被招募，并在接下来的7年中每年进行前瞻性跟踪，直至17 - 18岁。采用最先进的缺失数据方法来处理因未开始饮酒而导致的无应答情况。使用结构方程模型来检验酒精滥用预测的假设。
较早开始饮酒的年龄与17 - 18岁时较高水平的酒精滥用密切相关，并完全介导了10 - 11岁时测量的父母饮酒、积极养育、学校联结、同伴开始饮酒和种族，以及10 - 11岁和11 - 12岁时测量的对饮酒危害的认知等因素的影响。然而，开始饮酒的年龄并未完全解释17 - 18岁时酒精滥用水平的性别差异。为了进一步研究性别的作用，评估了性别与学校联结以及性别与朋友开始饮酒之间的相互作用。然而，这两个相互作用项对开始饮酒的年龄或与酒精相关问题的水平均无直接影响。
大多数测量的酒精滥用风险因素是通过开始饮酒的年龄介导的。只有17 - 18岁时酒精滥用的性别差异不是由开始饮酒的年龄介导的。与这些差异相关的变量需要进一步研究。本研究结果表明预防策略对于延迟开始饮酒年龄的重要性。
