This competing continuation application is to fund the next wave of a long-term ongoing, longitudinal study. This longitudinal study examines the etiologic determinants of changes between adolescence and adulthood in drug use and other problem behaviors, and the consequences of drug use and abuse/dependence on the individual's functioning. The sample includes disadvantaged inner city African American and Puerto Rican adults who were seen in early/middle adolescence, and then in late adolescence. A fourth data collection is proposed to accomplish the following: (1) To examine the interrelations and interactions of risk and protective factors, including personality, family, peers, ecological context, acculturation/cultural values, and African American and Puerto Rican ethnic identification, as they affect the course of drug use (i.e., onset, stability, cessation) and abuse/dependence, delinquency, and risky sexual activity in these adults; and (2) To study the consequences of early drug use and abuse/dependence and other problem behaviors on adult intraand interpersonal functioning. Telephone interviews with the adult subjects will be conducted by trained ethnically matched interviewers. Scales with adequate psychometric properties measuring the independent variables will be developed from the interview schedules. The primary analytic techniques will be LISREL, hierarchical regression analysis, and logistic regression analysis. The significance of this study lies in its longitudinal design with intrapersonal, interpersonal, and problem behavior data available in depth on adult, inner city African Americans and Puerto Ricans. This is the first time such longitudinal data will be available for so large a sample in this age group at particular risk for increased drug use and abuse/dependence. Knowledge of the protective factors which help offset the risks for drug use and abuse/dependence, and knowledge of the consequences of such use for psychosocial functioning are important for determining the foci and timing of effective prevention and treatment programs.
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