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Patterns of adjustment problems and alcohol abuse in early adulthood: A prospective longitudinal study

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  31 October 2008

Tommy Andersson ,
Lars R. Bergman  and
David Magnusson
Tommy Andersson*
Affiliation:
Department of Psychology, University of Stockholm
Lars R. Bergman
Affiliation:
Department of Psychology, University of Stockholm
David Magnusson
Affiliation:
Department of Psychology, University of Stockholm
*
Correspondence concerning this article should obe addressed to: Tommy Andersson Department of Psycology, University of Stockholm, 106 91 Stockholm, Sweden.
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Abstract

This study focuses on the importance of patterns of adjustment problems in early adolescence and convictions for alcohol abuse in the mid-teens for the development of alcohol abuse manifested in early adulthood. The study was performed on a large and representative cohort of Swedish males, prospectively followed from age 13 to age 25. A person approach was applied in which the individuals and individual patterns of adjustment problems were the objects of interest, not single variables per se. The results showed that patterns of multiple adjustment problems in early adolescence, as well as convictions for alcohol abuse in the mid-teens, significantly increased the risk for later alcohol abuse. Among multiproblem boys also convicted for alcohol abuse in their mid-teens, 72% were registered for alcohol abuse at ages 18–24. However, early single adjustment problems did not significantly increase the risk for later alcohol abuse. The importance of studying the background of alcohol abuse from a developmental and interactionistic perspective was emphasized.

Type
Research Article
Information
Development and Psychopathology , Volume 1 , Issue 2 , April 1989 , pp. 119 - 131
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1989

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