%0 Journal Article %J Addiction %D 2014 %T Adolescent predictors and environmental correlates of young adult alcohol use problems. %A Toumbourou, John W %A Evans-Whipp, Tracy J %A Smith, Rachel %A Hemphill, Sheryl A %A Herrenkohl, Todd I %A Catalano, Richard F %K Adolescent %K Adolescent Behavior %K Alcohol Drinking %K Alcohol-Related Disorders %K Cohort Studies %K Female %K Humans %K Longitudinal Studies %K Male %K Risk Factors %K Social Environment %K Street Drugs %K Substance-Related Disorders %K Victoria %K Workplace %K Young Adult %X

AIMS: To examine the rates of young adult alcohol and drug use and alcohol problems, adolescent predictors of young adult alcohol problems and correlations with young adult social, work and recreational environments.

DESIGN: Adolescents were followed longitudinally into young adulthood. Predictors were measured in grade 9 (average age 15), and environmental correlates and outcomes in young adulthood (average age 21).

SETTING: Students recruited in Victoria, Australia in 2002, were resurveyed in 2010/11.

PARTICIPANTS: Analytical n=2309, 80% retention.

MEASUREMENTS: Adolescent self-report predictors included past-month alcohol use. Young adults completed the Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test (AUDIT) together with reports of environmental influences.

FINDINGS: Comparisons to United States national school graduate samples revealed higher rates of alcohol, tobacco and illicit drug use (other than cannabis) in Victoria. For example, rates of past month use at age 21-22 were: alcohol 69.3% US versus 84.9%, 95% confidence interval (CI) 81.3-88.6% Victoria; illicit drugs (other than cannabis) 8.8 versus 12.7%, CI 9.7-15.7%. AUDIT alcohol problems (scored 8+) were identified for 41.2%, CI 38.8-43.6% of young adults in Victoria. The likelihood of young adult alcohol problems was higher for frequent adolescent alcohol users and those exposed to environments characterized by high alcohol use and problems in young adulthood.

CONCLUSIONS: High rates of alcohol problems are evident in more than two in five Australian young adults, and these problems appear to be influenced both by earlier patterns of adolescent alcohol use and by young adult social, work and recreational environments.

%B Addiction %V 109 %P 417-24 %8 2014 Mar %G eng %N 3 %R 10.1111/add.12401 %0 Journal Article %J Health Educ Res %D 2013 %T The impact of school alcohol policy on student drinking. %A Evans-Whipp, Tracy J %A Plenty, Stephanie M %A Catalano, Richard F %A Herrenkohl, Todd I %A Toumbourou, John W %K Adolescent %K Adolescent Behavior %K Alcohol Drinking %K Binge Drinking %K Cross-Cultural Comparison %K Female %K Guideline Adherence %K Humans %K Longitudinal Studies %K Male %K Organizational Policy %K Risk Reduction Behavior %K Schools %K Self Report %K Social Class %K Students %K Victoria %K Washington %X

Although it is common for secondary schools to implement alcohol policies to reduce alcohol misuse, there has been little evaluation of the efficacy of these policies. The purpose of this study was to test the impact of the degree and type of alcohol policy enforcement in state representative samples of secondary students in Washington State, USA, and Victoria, Australia (n = 1848). Multivariate logistic regressions were used to examine the prospective association between student reports of school alcohol policy in Grade 8 and self-reported alcohol use in Grade 9, controlling for age, gender, state, family socio-economic status and Grade 8 alcohol use. The likelihood of students drinking on school grounds was increased when students perceived lax policy enforcement. Student perceptions of harm minimization alcohol messages, abstinence alcohol messages and counselling for alcohol policy violators predicted reduced likelihood of binge drinking. Students perceiving harm minimization messages and counselling for alcohol policy violators had a reduced likelihood of experiencing alcohol-related harms. Perceptions of harsh penalties were unrelated to drinking behaviour. These results suggest that perceived policy enforcement may lessen drinking at school 1 year later and that harm minimization messages and counselling approaches may also lessen harmful drinking behaviours as harm minimization advocates suggest.

%B Health Educ Res %V 28 %P 651-62 %8 2013 Aug %G eng %N 4 %R 10.1093/her/cyt068 %0 Journal Article %J Health Educ Behav %D 2012 %T The impact of school suspension on student tobacco use: a longitudinal study in Victoria, Australia, and Washington State, United States. %A Hemphill, Sheryl A %A Heerde, Jessica A %A Herrenkohl, Todd I %A Toumbourou, John W %A Catalano, Richard F %K Adolescent %K Adolescent Behavior %K Continental Population Groups %K Family %K Female %K Health Behavior %K Humans %K Longitudinal Studies %K Male %K Peer Group %K Risk Factors %K Schools %K Sex Factors %K Smoking %K Substance-Related Disorders %K Victoria %K Washington %X

CONTEXT: School suspension may have unintended consequences in contributing to problem behaviors, including dropping out from school, substance use, and antisocial behavior. Tobacco use is an early-onset problem behavior, but prospective studies of the effects of suspension on tobacco use are lacking.

METHOD: Longitudinal school-based survey of students drawn as a two-stage cluster sample, administered in 2002 and 2003, in Washington State, United States, and Victoria, Australia. The study uses statewide representative samples of students in Grades 7 and 9 (N = 3,599).

RESULTS: Rates of tobacco use were higher for Victorian than Washington State students. School suspension remained a predictor of current tobacco use at 12-month follow-up, after controlling for established risk factors including prior tobacco and other drug use for Grade 7 but not Grade 9 students.

CONCLUSIONS: School suspension is associated with early adolescent tobacco use, itself an established predictor of adverse outcomes in young people. Findings suggest the need to explore process mechanisms and alternatives to school suspensions as a response to challenging student behavior in early adolescence.

%B Health Educ Behav %V 39 %P 45-56 %8 2012 Feb %G eng %N 1 %R 10.1177/1090198111406724 %0 Journal Article %J J Youth Adolesc %D 2012 %T Multiple identification and risks: examination of peer factors across multiracial and single-race youth. %A Choi, Yoonsun %A He, Michael %A Herrenkohl, Todd I %A Catalano, Richard F %A Toumbourou, John W %K Adolescent %K Adolescent Behavior %K Child %K Continental Population Groups %K Dangerous Behavior %K Female %K Humans %K Longitudinal Studies %K Male %K Peer Group %K Prevalence %K Risk-Taking %K Social Identification %K Substance-Related Disorders %K Violence %X

Multiracial youth are thought to be more vulnerable to peer-related risk factors than are single-race youth. However, there have been surprisingly few well-designed studies on this topic. This study empirically investigated the extent to which multiracial youth are at higher risk for peer influenced problem behavior. Data are from a representative and longitudinal sample of youth from Washington State (N = 1,760, mean age = 14.13, 50.9% girls). Of those in the sample, 225 youth self-identified as multiracial (12.8%), 1,259 as White (71.5%), 152 as Latino (8.6%), and 124 as Asian American (7.1%). Results show that multiracial youth have higher rates of violence and alcohol use than Whites and more marijuana use than Asian Americans. Higher levels of socioeconomic disadvantage and single-parent family status partly explained the higher rates of problem behaviors among multiracial youth. Peer risk factors of substance-using or antisocial friends were higher for multiracial youth than Whites, even after socioeconomic variables were accounted for, demonstrating a higher rate of peer risks among multiracial youth. The number of substance-using friends was the most consistently significant correlate and predictor of problems and was highest among multiracial youth. However, interaction tests did not provide consistent evidence of a stronger influence of peer risks among multiracial youth. Findings underscore the importance of a differentiated understanding of vulnerability in order to better target prevention and intervention efforts as well as the need for further research that can help identify and explain the unique experiences and vulnerabilities of multiracial youth.

%B J Youth Adolesc %V 41 %P 847-62 %8 2012 Jul %G eng %N 7 %R 10.1007/s10964-012-9750-2 %0 Journal Article %J Am J Orthopsychiatry %D 2012 %T Predictors and responses to the growth in physical violence during adolescence: a comparison of students in Washington State and Victoria, Australia. %A Herrenkohl, Todd I %A Hemphill, Sheryl A %A Mason, W A %A Toumbourou, John W %A Catalano, Richard F %K Adolescent %K Adolescent Behavior %K Australia %K Child %K Cross-Sectional Studies %K Female %K Humans %K Male %K Models, Psychological %K Risk Factors %K Students %K Victoria %K Violence %K Washington %X

This study investigates patterns in violence over 3 time points in early- to mid-adolescence in 2 statewide representative samples of youth, one in Washington State, USA, and the other in Victoria, Australia. Comparable data collection methods in both states were used to cross-nationally compare patterns of violence, risk factors, and responses to violence (school suspensions and arrests) in 2 policy contexts. Risk factors include early use of alcohol, binge drinking, involvement with antisocial peers, family conflict, poor family management, sensation seeking, and bully victimization. These are modeled as correlates of initial violence and predictors of change in violence over a 3-year period, from ages 12-15, for participating youth. Results suggest that patterns and predictors of violence are mostly similar in the 2 states. Initial levels of violence (age 13) and change over time in violence were associated in both states with more youth school suspensions and more police arrests in Grade 9. Some cross-national differences were also shown. For example, correlations of violence with gender and violence with binge drinking were stronger in Victoria, whereas correlations of violence with early use of alcohol and with antisocial peer involvement were stronger in Washington State. Antisocial peer involvement and family conflict were significant predictors of a gradual increase in violence from Grades 7-9 for youth in Victoria only. Implications are discussed with attention to prevention and intervention efforts.

%B Am J Orthopsychiatry %V 82 %P 41-9 %8 2012 Jan %G eng %N 1 %R 10.1111/j.1939-0025.2011.01139.x %0 Journal Article %J Am J Prev Med %D 2012 %T Risk versus direct protective factors and youth violence: Seattle Social Development Project. %A Herrenkohl, Todd I %A Lee, Jungeun %A Hawkins, J D %K Adolescent %K Adolescent Behavior %K Family Relations %K Female %K Humans %K Juvenile Delinquency %K Longitudinal Studies %K Male %K Multivariate Analysis %K Peer Group %K Regression Analysis %K Residence Characteristics %K Risk Factors %K Violence %K Washington %X

BACKGROUND: Numerous studies have examined predictors of youth violence associated with the individual child, the family, school, and the surrounding neighborhood or community. However, few studies have examined predictors using a systematic approach to differentiate and compare risk and direct protective factors.

PURPOSE: This study examines risk and protective factors associated with youth violence in an ongoing longitudinal panel study of 808 students from 18 Seattle public elementary schools followed since 1985 when they were in 5th grade. Predictors span the individual, family, school, peer, and neighborhood domains.

METHODS: Data were collected annually, beginning in 1985, to age 16 years, and then again at age 18 years. This paper provides findings of analyses in which continuous predictor variables, measured at ages 10-12 years, were trichotomized to reflect a risk end of the variable, a direct protective end, and a middle category of scores. Youth violence was measured at ages 13-14 years and 15-18 years.

RESULTS: Bivariate analyses of risk and direct protective factors identified the following predictors of violence at ages 13-14 years and 15-18 years. Risk for violence was increased by earlier antisocial behavior (e.g., prior violence, truancy, nonviolent delinquency), attention problems, family conflict, low school commitment, and living in a neighborhood where young people were in trouble. Direct protective factors at ages 10-12 years include a low level of attention problems, low risk-taking, refusal skills, school attachment, and low access and exposure to marijuana at ages 10-12 years. Multivariate regressions showed neighborhood risk factors to be among the most salient and consistent predictors of violence after accounting for all other variables in the tested models.

CONCLUSIONS: Relatively few direct protective factors were identified in these statistical tests, suggesting the need for further review and possible refinement of the measures and methods that were applied. Implications provide important information for programs and policy.

%B Am J Prev Med %V 43 %P S41-56 %8 2012 Aug %G eng %N 2 Suppl 1 %R 10.1016/j.amepre.2012.04.030 %0 Journal Article %J Psychol Addict Behav %D 2011 %T Early age alcohol use and later alcohol problems in adolescents: Individual and peer mediators in a bi-national study. %A Mason, W A %A Toumbourou, John W %A Herrenkohl, Todd I %A Hemphill, Sheryl A %A Catalano, Richard F %A Patton, George C %K Adolescent %K Adolescent Behavior %K Age of Onset %K Alcohol Drinking %K Alcohol-Related Disorders %K Cross-Cultural Comparison %K Female %K Humans %K Impulsive Behavior %K Longitudinal Studies %K Male %K Models, Statistical %K Peer Group %K Risk Factors %K Risk-Taking %K Social Control, Informal %K Students %K Substance-Related Disorders %K Victoria %K Washington %K Young Adult %X

This paper examines whether there is cross-national similarity in the longitudinal relationship between early age alcohol use and adolescent alcohol problems. Potential mechanisms underlying this relationship also are examined, testing adolescent alcohol use, low self-regulation, and peer deviance as possible mediators. Students (N = 1,945) participating in the International Youth Development Study, a longitudinal panel survey study, responded to questions on alcohol use and influencing factors, and were followed annually over a 3-year period from 2002 to 2004 (98% retention rate). State-representative, community student samples were recruited in grade 7 in Washington State, United States (US, n = 961, 78% of those eligible; Mage = 13.09, SD = .44) and Victoria, Australia (n = 984, 76% of those eligible; Mage = 12.93, SD = .41). Analyses were conducted using multiple-group structural equation modeling. In both states, early age alcohol use (age 13) had a small but statistically significant association with subsequent alcohol problems (age 15). Overall, there was little evidence for mediation of early alcohol effects. Low self-regulation prospectively predicted peer deviance, alcohol use, and alcohol problems in both states. Peer deviance was more positively related to alcohol use and low self-regulation among students in Victoria compared to students in Washington State. The small but persistent association of early age alcohol use with alcohol problems across both samples is consistent with efforts to delay alcohol initiation to help prevent problematic alcohol use. Self-regulation was an important influence, supporting the need to further investigate the developmental contribution of neurobehavioral disinhibition.

%B Psychol Addict Behav %V 25 %P 625-33 %8 2011 Dec %G eng %N 4 %R 10.1037/a0023320 %0 Journal Article %J Crim Behav Ment Health %D 2011 %T Longitudinal consequences of adolescent bullying perpetration and victimisation: A study of students in Victoria, Australia. %A Hemphill, Sheryl A %A Kotevski, Aneta %A Herrenkohl, Todd I %A Bond, Lyndal %A Kim, Min J %A Toumbourou, John W %A Catalano, Richard F %K Adolescent %K Bullying %K Crime Victims %K Humans %K Logistic Models %K Longitudinal Studies %K Peer Group %K Schools %K Social Environment %K Students %K Surveys and Questionnaires %K Victoria %X

AIMS: To examine the associations between self-reported bullying perpetration and victimisation in Years 7 and 10 and a range of psychosocial outcomes in Year 11.

METHOD: This analysis draws on data from the International Youth Development Study, a longitudinal study of 5769 students from Victoria, Australia and Washington State, United States who were recruited through schools in Years 5, 7 and 9 in 2002. Data for the current results are taken from participants in the youngest (Year 5) Victorian cohort of the study.

RESULTS: Rates of bullying victimisation exceeded 30% and up to one in five students had engaged in bullying. Adjusted logistic regression analyses revealed that bullying perpetration, and bullying victimisation in Year 7 did not significantly predict psychosocial outcomes in Year 11. Bullying perpetration in Year 10 was associated with an increased likelihood of theft, violent behaviour and binge drinking. Year 10 bullying victimisation was associated with an increased likelihood of Year 11 depressive symptoms.

CONCLUSIONS: Prevention approaches that target bullying perpetration and victimisation are necessary. Programmes that lessen bullying may also have an impact on other proximally related behaviours, including binge drinking and depression.

%B Crim Behav Ment Health %V 21 %P 107-16 %8 2011 Apr %G eng %N 2 %R 10.1002/cbm.802 %0 Journal Article %J J Adolesc Health %D 2011 %T Risk and protective factors for adolescent substance use in washington state, the United States and Victoria, Australia: a longitudinal study. %A Hemphill, Sheryl A %A Heerde, Jessica A %A Herrenkohl, Todd I %A Patton, George C %A Toumbourou, John W %A Catalano, Richard F %K Adolescent %K Adolescent Behavior %K Cross-Cultural Comparison %K Female %K Harm Reduction %K Health Behavior %K Humans %K Longitudinal Studies %K Male %K Parent-Child Relations %K Peer Group %K Social Environment %K Substance-Related Disorders %K Victoria %K Washington %X

PURPOSE: To compare the levels of risk and protective factors and the predictive influence of these factors on alcohol, tobacco, and cannabis use over a 12-month follow-up period in Washington State in the United States and in Victoria, Australia.

METHOD: The study involved a longitudinal school-based survey of students drawn as a two-stage cluster sample recruited through schools, and administered in the years 2002 and 2003 in both states. The study used statewide representative samples of students in the seventh and ninth grades (n = 3,876) in Washington State and Victoria.

RESULTS: Washington State students, relative to Victorian students, had higher rates of cannabis use but lower rates of alcohol and tobacco use at time 1. Levels of risk and protective factors showed few but important differences that contribute to the explanation of differences in substance use; Washington State students, relative to Victorian students, reported higher religiosity (odds ratio, .96 vs. .79) and availability of handguns (odds ratio, 1.23 vs. 1.18), but less favorable peer, community, and parental attitudes to substance use. The associations with substance use at follow-up are generally comparable, but in many instances were weaker in Washington State.

CONCLUSIONS: Levels of risk and protective factors and their associations with substance use at follow-up were mostly similar in the two states. Further high-quality longitudinal studies to establish invariance in the relations between risk and protective factors and substance use in adolescence across diverse countries are warranted.

%B J Adolesc Health %V 49 %P 312-20 %8 2011 Sep %G eng %N 3 %R 10.1016/j.jadohealth.2010.12.017 %0 Journal Article %J J Child Psychol Psychiatry %D 2010 %T Growth in adolescent delinquency and alcohol use in relation to young adult crime, alcohol use disorders, and risky sex: A comparison of youth from low- versus middle-income backgrounds. %A Mason, W A %A Hitch, Julia E %A Kosterman, Rick %A McCarty, Carolyn A %A Herrenkohl, Todd I %A Hawkins, J D %K Adolescent %K Age Factors %K Alcohol Drinking %K Alcohol-Related Disorders %K Child %K Female %K Follow-Up Studies %K Humans %K Juvenile Delinquency %K Male %K Risk Factors %K Risk-Taking %K Sampling Studies %K Social Class %K United States %K Unsafe Sex %K Violence %K Young Adult %X

BACKGROUND: This study examined adolescent delinquency and alcohol use in relation to young adult crime, alcohol use disorders (AUDs), and risky sex. Analyses further examined the influences of late childhood involvement in these problem behavior outcomes, with mediation through teen delinquency and alcohol use, and examined differences in the pathways for youth from low- compared to middle-income backgrounds.

METHOD: Multiple-group latent growth curve modeling was conducted using data collected from a sample of 808 youth followed from age 10 to age 24. Self-report assessments included delinquent involvement, alcohol use, and sexual activity in late childhood; delinquency and alcohol use in adolescence; and crime, AUDs, and risky sex in early adulthood.

RESULTS: Late childhood delinquent involvement was associated with young adult crime, AUDs, and risky sex indirectly through adolescent delinquency, and had a persistent direct effect on crime. Adolescent delinquency also mediated the relation between early sex onset and crime. Early alcohol use predicted a higher level of, and a faster rate of increase in, adolescent drinking, which predicted, in turn, young adult AUDs and risky sex. Significant group differences indicated stronger associations between adolescent delinquency and each young adult outcome for youth from low- compared to those from middle-income backgrounds.

CONCLUSIONS: Early intervention may help prevent the development of crime, AUDs, and risky sex behaviors, especially among disadvantaged youth.

%B J Child Psychol Psychiatry %V 51 %P 1377-85 %8 2010 Dec %G eng %N 12 %R 10.1111/j.1469-7610.2010.02292.x %0 Journal Article %J Pediatrics %D 2010 %T Pubertal stage and the prevalence of violence and social/relational aggression. %A Hemphill, Sheryl A %A Kotevski, Aneta %A Herrenkohl, Todd I %A Toumbourou, John W %A Carlin, John B %A Catalano, Richard F %A Patton, George C %K Adolescent %K Aggression %K Antisocial Personality Disorder %K Child %K Depressive Disorder %K Female %K Humans %K Interpersonal Relations %K Male %K Prevalence %K Puberty %K Risk Factors %K Spouse Abuse %K Victoria %K Violence %K Washington %K Young Adult %X

OBJECTIVE: We examined associations between pubertal stage and violent adolescent behavior and social/relational aggression.

METHODS: The International Youth Development Study comprises statewide representative student samples in grades 5, 7, and 9 (N = 5769) in Washington State and Victoria, Australia, drawn as a 2-stage cluster sample in each state. We used a school-administered, self-report student survey to measure previous-year violent behavior (ie, attacking or beating up another person) and social/relational aggression (excluding peers from the group, threatening to spread lies or rumors), as well as risk and protective factors and pubertal development. Cross-sectional data were analyzed.

RESULTS: Compared with early puberty, the odds of violent behavior were approximately threefold higher in midpuberty (odds ratio [OR]: 2.87 [95% confidence interval (CI): 1.81-4.55]) and late puberty (OR: 3.79 [95% CI: 2.25-6.39]) after adjustment for demographic factors. For social/relational aggression, there were weaker overall associations after adjustment, but these associations included an interaction between pubertal stage and age, and stronger associations with pubertal stage at younger age were shown (P = .003; midpuberty OR: 1.78 [95% CI: 1.20-2.63]; late puberty OR: 3.00 [95% CI: 1.95-4.63]). Associations between pubertal stage and violent behavior and social/relational aggression remained after the inclusion of social contextual mediators in the analyses.

CONCLUSIONS: Pubertal stage was associated with higher rates of violent behavior and social/relational aggression, with the latter association seen only at younger ages. Puberty is an important phase at which to implement prevention programs to reduce adolescent violent and antisocial behaviors.

%B Pediatrics %V 126 %P e298-305 %8 2010 Aug %G eng %N 2 %R 10.1542/peds.2009-0574