The present application takes advantage of the high quality data that already exist and proposes a study that can be completed within 2 years (at a cost of $737,367). It will combine data from the youngest PYS cohort from ages 7 through 25 with data from the oldest cohort from ages 13 to 25 to examine persistence and desistance in heavy drinking and violence from childhood into young adulthood among a high-risk group of White and African American men. Data from the youngest cohort at age 25 have just recently been collected and there are no funds available to combine those data with the data from the oldest cohort through age 25 to examine the co-occurrence of heavy drinking and violence from childhood through age 25. Within a 2-year period, we will be able to make a significant contribution to the scholarly literature and provide data to be used in the development of targeted pre,vention programs.
The proposed study has high social relevance in that to reduce the costs of alcohol-related violence to society and individuals, it is important that we understand the risk and protective factors that lead to desistance from heavy drinking and violence. If we identify early risk and protective factors that differentiate those who will mature out from those who will not, then we will be better able to target the most high-risk youths for early interventions and to develop more effective and efficient interventions at appropriate developmental stages.
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