Codevelopment Between Key Personality Traits and Alcohol Use Disorder From Adolescence Through Young Adulthood.

OBJECTIVE: Personality traits related to negative emotionality and low constraint are strong correlates of alcohol use disorder (AUD), but few studies have evaluated the prospective interplay between these traits and AUD symptoms from adolescence to young adulthood. METHOD: The Minnesota Twin Family Study (N = 2,769) was used to examine the developmental interplay between AUD symptoms and three personality measures of constraint, negative emotionality, and aggressive undercontrol from ages 17 to 29. RESULTS: Results from random-intercept, cross-lagged panel models showed that low constraint and aggressive undercontrol predicted subsequent rank-order increases in AUD symptoms from ages 17 to 24. AUD symptoms did not predict rank-order change in these traits from ages 17 to 24. There was support for both cross-effects from ages 24 to 29. Biometric analysis of the twin data showed genetic influences accounted for most of the phenotypic correlations over time. CONCLUSION: Results are consistent with the notion that personality traits related to low constraint and aggressive undercontrol are important vulnerability/predisposition factors for the development of early adult AUD. In later young adulthood, there is more evidence for the simultaneous codevelopment of personality and AUD. Implications are addressed with attention to personality-based risk assessments and targeted AUD prevention approaches.

The stability of temperament from early childhood to early adolescence: A multi-method, multi-informant examination.

Temperament is a core aspect of children's psychological functioning and is assumed to be at least somewhat stable across childhood. However, little research has assessed the stability of temperament from early childhood to early adolescence. Moreover, few studies have examined the influence of measurement and analytic methods on the stability of early temperament over periods of more than a few years. We obtained laboratory observations and mother and father reports of temperamental negative and positive emotionality and effortful control from 559 three-year olds. Approximately 9 years later, children and both parents completed questionnaire measures of similar temperament constructs. Zero-order correlations revealed greater within- than cross-informant stability. In addition, compared to parent reports, early childhood laboratory measures showed greater convergent and divergent validity with child, mother, and father reports at age 12. Finally, latent temperament variables at age 3 composed of laboratory and parent-report measures and latent variables at age 12 composed of parent and child reports showed moderate stability. There was also a weak but significant association of early effortful control with later negative and positive emotionality. Results have implications for assessing temperament and knowledge of the stability of temperament across childhood.

Laying the foundation for progress research in family, couple, and individual therapy: the development and psychometric features of the initial systemic therapy inventory of change.

This article details the development and methodological characteristics of the Systemic Therapy Inventory of Change (STIC), the first measurement system designed to assess change in family, couple, and individual therapy from a multisystemic and multidimensional perspective. The article focuses specifically on the developmental process that resulted in the five valid and reliable scales that comprise the core measure of the system, the INITIAL STIC, which is administered to clients just before beginning therapy. The scales focus on five systemic domains: individual adult, family of origin, couple, family, and individual child. This article describes the five system scales, the results of the factor analytic process that created them, as well as data on their convergent and discriminant validity.

Smoke-free laws and adult smoking prevalence.

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate whether the adult smoking rate changed in Lexington-Fayette County, Kentucky, following the enactment of a smoke-free public places ordinance. METHODS: Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS) data from 2001-2005 were used to test whether smoking rates changed in Fayette County from the pre- to post-law period, relative to the change in 30 Kentucky counties with similar demographics. The sample consisted of 10,413 BRFSS respondents: 7139 pre-law (40 months) and 3274 post-law (20 months). RESULTS: There was a 31.9% decline in adult smoking in Fayette County (25.7% pre-law to 17.5% post-law). In the group of 30 Control counties, the rate was 28.4% pre-law and 27.6% post-law. Controlling for seasonality, time trend, age, gender, ethnicity, education, marital status, and income, there was a significant Time (pre- vs. post-law) by Group (Fayette vs. Controls) interaction. There were an estimated 16,500 fewer smokers in Fayette County during post-law compared to pre-law. CONCLUSION: There was a significant effect of smoke-free legislation on adult smoking rates.

Family study of subthreshold depressive symptoms: risk factor for MDD?

BACKGROUND: Family study data from a large community sample of young adults and their first-degree relatives were used to examine three questions regarding the relation between subthreshold depression (SubD) and major depressive disorder (MDD): (a) is there an elevated rate of MDD in the relatives of probands with SubD? (b) does SubD aggregate in the families of probands with MDD and SubD? (c) is the relationship between SubD and familial psychopathology specific to MDD? METHODS: A total of 941 probands were assessed twice during adolescence and then at age 24. Direct and informant information was obtained on 2750 first-degree relatives of 840 probands. RESULTS: The rate of MDD in the relatives of probands with SubD (24.3%) was significantly lower than the relatives of probands with MDD (31.9%) but was significantly higher than the relatives of probands with no history of mood disorder (NMD; 20.2%). Relatives of MDD, SubD and NMD probands did not differ on rates of SubD (9.0, 9.4 and 9.0%, respectively). Familial aggregation of psychopathology in SubD probands was specific to MDD. LIMITATIONS: The primary limitation may be the absence of a standardized definition and assessment procedure for the SubD category. In addition, the sample size, although large, may have been inadequate to detect smaller associations or the moderating effects of sex. CONCLUSION: The results data support the view that SubD occupies a milder position on a continuum with MDD.