The Rutgers Health and Human Development Project (RHHDP) was first funded in 1978. Initial testing of subjects, aged 12, 15, and 18, occurred between 1979-1981. the sample (698 males, 682 females) is most representative of white adolescents living in a metropolitan, working and middle-class environment. Grants from both NIDA and NIAAA made it possible to retest subjects on these additional occasions (i.e. T2, T3, and T4). Our tracking efforts have been relatively successful in view of an overall longitudinal follow up rate of 91% over a 13-year period. The present application seeks support for the retesting at age 30 of those participants who were 25 years old at T4 and the analysis of use and use outcomes at age 28-31 for all participants in the RHHDP.
The specific aims of the proposed project are fourfold: (1) To retest all members of the 1967-1969 cohort when they are 30/31 years old. (2) To examine patterns of change/discontinuity as well as persistence/continuity in use, abuse, and antisocial behavior. in particular, were are interested in the role of potential turning points that may either bring about declines in use behavior as a consequence of altered social circumstances and opportunities or, alternatively, maintain and even accentuate use behavior as, for instance, manifested by individuals' tendency to select social contexts which are consistent with their behavior. (3) To examine differences in adult functioning as outcomes of different use histories and trajectories. In particular, we are interested in consequences in the areas of: educational attainments, illegal/criminal behavior, attainment of adult roles, health interpersonal relations, and personal satisfaction. Obviously, the empirical investigation of use outcomes must be closely linked to an examination of change and persistence in use. That is, use consequences, by their nature and/or timing, may themselves have 'turning point effects' on subsequent use levels. (4) To assess biological variables and their relationship to differences in personality, neurocognitive functioning, and use and abuse. The main analyses addressing the aims of this proposal will use as dependent variables either measures of psychological, social and health-related outcomes at age 28-31 or measures of drug use/abuse at age 28-31 and employ (1) correlational analyses (zero-order and partial correlations), (2) (multivariate) hierarchical multiple regression in the case of continuous dependent variables (logistic regression in the case of dichotomous dependent variables), and/or (3) structural equation modeling. Independent variables will generally include indicators of drug use history/prototype, age, gender, and developmental antecedents measured at earlier ages.
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