Substance use has acute and chronic detrimental impacts on public health. However, risk for use is not conferred equally across the population, the life course, or birth cohorts. Central questions about when and for whom risk factors are most important in contributing to substance use (tobacco, alcohol, marijuana, and other drug use) in young adulthood (YA) remain unanswered, including the extent to which substance use in YA leads to adult health consequences such as substance use disorders (SUDs), sexual risk behaviors, and physical/mental health deficits. Based on a life course perspective, this project will move the field toward examining developmental changes in the salience of risk factors across the life course and toward documenting the mechanisms through which long-term substance use consequences emerge. We will use national panel data from 38 high school senior year cohorts (1976 to 2013), with specific emphasis on 20 cohorts of individuals with longitudinal data across ages 18 to 35 (N~24,000) from Monitoring the Future (MTF) to examine significant unanswered questions regarding adolescent and YA substance use behaviors and adult health outcomes. Leading-edge statistical methods applied to MTF data will be used to model the dynamic associations between risk factors and risk behaviors across YA, and the extent to which these behaviors predict adult health consequences.
Aim 1 will examine questions regarding developmental changes in the epidemiology and etiology of substance use across ages, cohorts, social role statuses, and demographic subgroups. Questions include the extent to which the links between cognitive/attitudinal risk factors and substance use behaviors change with age.
Aim 2 will examine the long-term consequences of YA substance use on the acquisition and timing of social role statuses and health into adulthood. For example, we will examine the extent to which social roles mediate the effect of YA substance use on adult health consequences.
Aim 3 will focus on disseminating new and advanced methodological techniques for examining risk factors, behaviors, and consequences to public health researchers. Results will advance our understanding of substance use behaviors with critical health impacts, and will inform the development of interventions that take into account individual behaviors, risk factors, and social roles to find strategies for reducing the negative consequences of drug use in young adulthood.

Public Health Relevance

This project applies leading-edge statistical techniques to longitudinal data across young adulthood in order to advance our understanding of developmental changes and cohort variation in the salience of risk factors for substance use across ages 18 to 35. The project examines the effects of substance use on the timing of adult social role attainment (e.g., employment, marriage, and parenthood) and the long-term impact of young adult behaviors on adult health. Together these findings will inform the development of intervention programs tailored to the right young adults at the optimal times in order to reduce the potentially destructive and costly consequences of drug use.

Agency
National Institute of Health (NIH)
Institute
National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA)
Type
Research Project (R01)
Project #
1R01DA037902-01A1
Application #
8834150
Study Section
Special Emphasis Panel (ZRG1)
Program Officer
Etz, Kathleen
Project Start
2015-04-01
Project End
2018-12-31
Budget Start
2015-04-01
Budget End
2015-12-31
Support Year
1
Fiscal Year
2015
Total Cost
Indirect Cost
Name
University of Michigan Ann Arbor
Department
Biostatistics & Other Math Sci
Type
Organized Research Units
DUNS #
073133571
City
Ann Arbor
State
MI
Country
United States
Zip Code
48109
Patrick, Megan E; Veliz, Phil; Linden-Carmichael, Ashley et al. (2018) Alcohol mixed with energy drink use during young adulthood. Addict Behav 84:224-230
Patrick, Megan E; Kloska, Deborah D; Terry-McElrath, Yvonne M et al. (2018) Patterns of simultaneous and concurrent alcohol and marijuana use among adolescents. Am J Drug Alcohol Abuse 44:441-451
McCabe, Sean Esteban; Veliz, Philip; Schulenberg, John E (2018) How Collegiate Fraternity and Sorority Involvement Relates to Substance Use During Young Adulthood and Substance Use Disorders in Early Midlife: A National Longitudinal Study. J Adolesc Health 62:S35-S43
Evans-Polce, Rebecca J; Schuler, Megan S; Schulenberg, John E et al. (2018) Gender- and age-varying associations of sensation seeking and substance use across young adulthood. Addict Behav 84:271-277
Bray, Bethany C; Dziak, John J; Patrick, Megan E et al. (2018) Inverse Propensity Score Weighting with a Latent Class Exposure: Estimating the Causal Effect of Reported Reasons for Alcohol Use on Problem Alcohol Use 16 Years Later. Prev Sci :
Jang, Bohyun Joy; Schuler, Megan S; Evans-Polce, Rebecca J et al. (2018) Marital Status as a Partial Mediator of the Associations Between Young Adult Substance Use and Subsequent Substance Use Disorder: Application of Causal Inference Methods. J Stud Alcohol Drugs 79:567-577
Linden-Carmichael, Ashley N; Kloska, Deborah D; Evans-Polce, Rebecca et al. (2018) College degree attainment by age of first marijuana use and parental education. Subst Abus :1-5
Evans-Polce, Rebecca J; Patrick, Megan E; Lanza, Stephanie T et al. (2018) Reasons for Vaping Among U.S. 12th Graders. J Adolesc Health 62:457-462
Martz, Meghan E; Schulenberg, John E; Patrick, Megan E (2018) Passing on Pot: High School Seniors' Reasons for Not Using Marijuana as Predictors of Future Use. J Stud Alcohol Drugs 79:761-769
Schuler, Megan S; Rice, Cara E; Evans-Polce, Rebecca J et al. (2018) Disparities in substance use behaviors and disorders among adult sexual minorities by age, gender, and sexual identity. Drug Alcohol Depend 189:139-146

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