The purpose of the proposed research is to chart changes in alcohol consumption and its antecedents and consequences across important transition periods among adolescents. More specifically, we propose to examine how the (causal) links between a variety of cognitive, social, and personality variables, and alcohol use, and between alcohol use and alcohol-related problems, change over time as adolescents mature and make critical transitions toward independent living. Attention will be focused on four variables that have been identified in previous research as being important determinants of adolescent alcohol use. The first factor is cognitive, and has to do with adolescents' expectancies regarding alcohol consumption and their prototype of the typical teenage drinker. The second factor is the family. Previous research by the current investigators has indicated that parent-child relations influence adolescent """"""""acting out, """"""""including drinking and drinking-related problems. The third factor is peer influence, and has to do with the adolescents' perceptions of their peers' attitudes and behaviors, and the degree to which they are influenced by these perceptions. The fourth factor is personality variable that has consistently been related to alcohol consumption -- sensation seeking. Two basic assumptions underlie our research: First, adolescent drinking is primarily a group activity; thus, an approach that emphasizes its social nature is most useful. Second, we believe the four factors listed above and alcohol-related behaviors change over time in a reciprocal fashion, especially during """"""""critical"""""""" transition periods (e.g., leaving the home). Thus, each of these factors influences adolescent alcohol use, and is also, in turn, influenced by that use. We will measure those interaction over time. Two studies are proposed in this project. Both will include assessments of the four factors, plus alcohol consumption and alcohol-related problems, and will look at the interrelations of each of these variables. The first study consists of a longitudinal assessment of the four factors over a four year period in order to determine how changes in these factors contribute to alcohol consumption and alcohol-related problems, and to examine the dynamic nature of the relations between these factors as adolescents make the transition from the family environment to college or the workplace. The second study will also be longitudinal, examining these same factors among college students who have reached legal drinking age, and are making the transition to the workplace. In both cases we will focus on a segment of the adolescent population that has traditionally received little attention from researchers interested in problem behaviors: those living in rural environments.
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