The proposed study will investigate the co variation between alcohol and other drug (AOD) use developmental trajectories, social adaptation, and intimate partner adjustment in early adulthood. The longitudinal sample was originally assessed in 9 waves between ages 11 and 25 years. Participants will be age 25-30 years during the follow-up period. In the early adult follow-up, participants will be invited to participate in an ecological assessment that will include a videotaped observation with a relationship partner, followed by 6 brief, quarterly surveys that will capture information about activity lifestyle, relationship adjustment, changes in relationships, and AOD use over an 18-month period. In addition, the originally assigned experimental group will be offered the Relationship Check-Up or Adult Check-Up following the initial assessment session. Analyses will focus on understanding stability and change in AOD use in early adulthood relative to changing relationships and activity lifestyles, in the context of developmental trajectories of problem behavior from early adolescence through adulthood. Multivariate modeling will be used to consider the unique and combined influence of the adolescent intervention and the young adult intervention in terms of adult AOD use, relationship adjustment, and activity lifestyles. This research is directly related to the design of effective early adult brief interventions that promot healthy relationships and family formation and address AOD use in a variety of service contexts, such as postsecondary education, social services, and the military.
This longitudinal research will improve understanding of the developmental origins and early adult dynamic adaptations that underlie changes in alcohol and other drug use and the health of close relationships and families. The research also proposes to develop and test a brief, tailored intervention for young adults that could potentially be applied n services settings such as postsecondary training and education, the military, marriage counseling and licensing services, and social services that provide transition support for adults with and without children.
| Pelham 3rd, William E; Dishion, Thomas J (2018) Prospective prediction of arrests for driving under the influence from relationship patterns with family and friends in adolescence. Addict Behav 78:36-42 |
| Connell, Arin M; Stormshak, Elizabeth; Dishion, Thomas et al. (2018) The Family Check Up and Adolescent Depression: An Examination of Treatment Responders and Non-Responders. Prev Sci 19:16-26 |
| Dishion, Thomas J (2016) From Dynamics to Function. Assessment 23:518-523 |
