Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-mlc7c Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-16T19:20:33.612Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Substance use changes and social role transitions: Proximal developmental effects on ongoing trajectories from late adolescence through early adulthood

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 October 2010

Jeremy Staff ,
John E. Schulenberg ,
Julie Maslowsky ,
Jerald G. Bachman ,
Patrick M. O'Malley ,
Jennifer L. Maggs  and
Lloyd D. Johnston
Jeremy Staff*
Affiliation:
Pennsylvania State University
John E. Schulenberg
Affiliation:
University of Michigan
Julie Maslowsky
Affiliation:
University of Michigan
Jerald G. Bachman
Affiliation:
University of Michigan
Patrick M. O'Malley
Affiliation:
University of Michigan
Jennifer L. Maggs
Affiliation:
Pennsylvania State University
Lloyd D. Johnston
Affiliation:
University of Michigan
*
Address correspondence and reprint requests to: Jeremy Staff, Department of Sociology, Pennsylvania State University, 211 Oswald Tower, University Park, PA 16802-6207; E-mail: [email protected].
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Substance use changes rapidly during late adolescence and early adulthood. This time in the life course is also dense with social role changes, as role changes provide dynamic context for individual developmental change. Using nationally representative, multiwave longitudinal data from age 18 to 28, we examine proximal links between changes in social roles and changes in substance use during the transition to adulthood. We find that changes in family roles, such as marriage, divorce, and parenthood, have clear and consistent associations with changes in substance use. With some notable exceptions, changes in school and work roles have weaker effects on changes in substance use compared to family roles. Changes in socializing (i.e., nights out for fun and recreation) and in religiosity were found to mediate the relationship of social role transitions to substance use. Two time-invariant covariates, socioeconomic background and heavy adolescent substance use, predicted social role status, but did not moderate associations, as within-person links between social roles and substance use were largely equivalent across groups. This paper adds to the cascading effects literature by considering how, within individuals, more proximal variations in school, work, and family roles relate to variations in substance use, and which roles appear to be most influential in precipitating changes in substance use during the transition to adulthood.

Type
Regular Articles
Information
Development and Psychopathology , Volume 22 , Issue 4: Developmental Cascades: Part 2 , November 2010 , pp. 917 - 932
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2010

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Amato, P. R., Booth, A., Johnson, D., & Rogers, S. (2007). Alone together: How marriage in America is changing. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bachman, J. G., Freedman-Doan, P., O'Malley, P. M., Johnston, L. D., & Segal, D. R. (1999). Changing patterns of drug use among US military recruits before and after enlistment. American Journal of Public Health, 89, 672–677.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Bachman, J. G., O'Malley, P. M., Schulenberg, J. E., Johnston, L. D., Bryant, A. L., & Merline, A. C. (2002). Why substance use declines in young adulthood: Changes in social activities, roles, and beliefs. Mahwah, NJ: Erlbaum.Google Scholar
Bachman, J. G., O'Malley, P. M., Schulenberg, J. E., Johnston, L. D., Freedman-Doan, P., & Messersmith, E. E. (2008). The education–drug use connection: How successes and failures in school relate to adolescent smoking, drinking, drug use, and delinquency. New York: Erlbaum/Taylor & Francis.Google Scholar
Bachman, J. G., Wadsworth, K. N., O'Malley, P. M., Johnston, L. D., & Schulenberg, J. E. (1997). Smoking, drinking, and drug use in young adulthood: The impact of new freedoms and new responsibilities. Mahwah, NJ: Erlbaum.Google Scholar
Brown, S. L. & Manning, W. D. (2009). Family boundary ambiguity and the measurement of family structure: The significance of cohabitation. Demography, 46, 85–101.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Budig, M. J. (2003). Are women's employment and fertility histories interdependent? An examination of causal order using event history analysis. Social Science Research, 32, 376–401.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bumpass, L., & Lu, H. (2000). Trends in cohabitation and implications for children's family contexts in the United States. Population Studies, 54, 29–41.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Burton, R. P., Johnson, R. J., Ritter, C., & Clayton, R. C. (1996). The effects of role socialization on cocaine use: An event history analysis from adolescence into middle adulthood. Journal of Health and Social Behavior, 37, 75–90.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Bynner, J. (1998). Education and family components of identity in the transition from school to work. International Journal of Behavioral Development, 22, 29–53.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Caspi, A., Wright, B. R., Moffitt, T. E., & Silva, P. (1998). Childhood predictors of unemployment in early adulthood. American Sociological Review, 63, 424–451.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Chassin, L., Hussong, A., & Beltran, I. (2009). Adolescent substance use. In Lerner, R. M. & Steinberg, L. (Eds.), Handbook of adolescent psychology (3rd ed., pp. 723–763). Hoboken, NJ: Wiley.Google Scholar
Chilcoat, H. D., & Breslau, N. (1996). Alcohol disorders in young adulthood: Effects of transitions into adulthood. Journal of Health and Social Behavior, 37, 339–349.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Cicchetti, D., & Rogosch, F. A. (2002). A developmental psychopathology perspective on adolescence. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 70, 6–20.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Clogg, C. C., Petkova, E., & Haritou, A. (1995). Statistical methods for comparing regression coefficients between models. American Journal of Sociology, 100, 1261–1293.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Dodge, K. A., Greenberg, M. T., & Malone, P. S. (2008). Testing an idealized dynamic cascade model of the development of serious violence in adolescence. Child Development, 79, 1907–1927.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Dodge, K. A., Malone, P. S., Lansford, J. E., Miller, S., Pettit, G. S., & Bates, J. E. (2009). A dynamic cascade model of the development of substance use onset. Monographs of the Society for Research in Child Development, 74, 1–120.Google ScholarPubMed
Duncan, J. G., Wilkerson, B., & England, P. (2006). Cleaning up their act: The effects of marriage and cohabitation of licit and illicit drug use. Demography, 43, 691–710.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Flora, D. B., & Chassin, L. (2005). Changes in drug use during young adulthood: The effects of parent alcoholism and transition into marriage. Psychology of Addictive Behaviors, 19, 352–362.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Gotham, J. J., Sher, K. J., & Wood, P. K. (2003). Alcohol involvement and developmental task completion during young adulthood. Journal of Studies on Alcohol, 64, 32–42.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Hagan, J. (1991). Destiny and drift: Subcultural preferences, status attainment, and the risks and rewards of youth. American Sociological Review, 56, 567–582.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hagan, J. (1993). The social embeddedness of crime and unemployment. Criminology, 31, 465–490.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Halaby, C. N. (2003). Panel models for the analysis of change and growth in life course studies. In Mortimer, J. T. & Shanahan, M. (Eds.), Handbook of the life course (pp. 503–528). New York: Kluwer Academic/Plenum Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Heinz, A. J., Wu, J., Witkiewitz, K., Epstein, D. H., & Preston, K. L. (2009). Marriage and relationship closeness as predictors of cocaine and heroin abuse. Addictive Behaviors, 34, 258–263.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hirschi, T., & Gottfredson, M. (1983). Age and the explanation of crime. American Journal of Sociology, 89, 552–584.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Horney, J., Osgood, D. W., & Marshall, I. H. (1995). Criminal careers in the short-term: Intra-individual variability in crime and its relation to local life circumstances. American Sociological Review, 60, 655–673.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Jessor, R., Donovan, J. E., & Costa, F. M. (1991). Beyond adolescence: Problem behavior and young adult development. New York: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Jessor, R., & Jessor, S. (1977). Problem behavior and psychosocial development: A longitudinal study of youth. New York: Academic Press.Google Scholar
Johnston, L. D., O'Malley, P. M., Bachman, J. G., & Schulenberg, J. E. (2009a). Monitoring the Future national survey results on drug use, 1975–2008: Vol. 1. Secondary school students (NIH Publication No. 09-7402). Bethesda, MD: National Institute on Drug Abuse.Google Scholar
Johnston, L. D., O'Malley, P. M., Bachman, J. G., & Schulenberg, J. E. (2009b). Monitoring the Future national survey results on drug use, 1975–2008: Vol. 2. College students and adults ages 19–50 (NIH Publication No. 09-7403). Bethesda, MD: National Institute on Drug Abuse.Google Scholar
Kandel, D. B., Davies, M., Karus, D., & Yamaguchi, K. (1986). The consequences in young adulthood of adolescent drug involvement. Archives of General Psychiatry, 43, 746–754.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Kerckhoff, A. C. (2002). The transition from school to work. In Mortimer, J. T. & Larson, R. W. (Eds.), The changing adolescent experience: Societal trends and the transition to adulthood (pp. 52–87). New York: Cambridge University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kerckhoff, A. C. (2003). From student to worker. In Mortimer, J. T. & Shanahan, M. J. (Eds.), Handbook of the life course (pp. 251–267). New York: Kluwer Academic/Plenum Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kirk, R. E. (1994). Experimental Design: Procedures for the Behavioral Sciences. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth Publishing.Google Scholar
Krohn, M. D., Lizotte, A. J., & Perez, C. M. (1997). The interrelationship between substance abuse and precocious transitions into adult statuses. Journal of Health and Social Behavior, 38, 87–103.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Laub, J. H., & Sampson, R. J. (2003). Shared beginnings, divergent lives: Delinquent boys to age 70. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.Google Scholar
Leonard, K. E., & Homish, G. G. (2005). Changes in marijuana use over the transition into marriage. Journal of Drug Issues, 45, 409–429.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Maggs, J. L., & Schulenberg, J. E. (2005). Initiation and course of alcohol consumption among adolescents and young adults. In Galanter, M. (Ed.), Recent developments in alcoholism: Vol. 17. Alcohol problems in adolescents and young adults (pp. 29–47). New York: Kluwer Academic/Plenum Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Manning, W. D., & Smock, P. J. (2005). Measuring and modeling cohabitation: New perspectives from qualitative data. Journal of Marriage and Family, 67, 989–1002.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Masten, A. S., Roisman, G. I., Long, J. D., Burt, K. B., Obradovic, J., & Riley, J. R. (2005). Developmental cascades: Linking academic achievement and externalizing and internalizing symptoms over 20 years. Developmental Psychology, 41, 733–746.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
McMorris, B. J., & Uggen, C. (2000). Alcohol and employment in the transition to adulthood. Journal of Health and Social Behavior, 41, 276–294.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Mortimer, J. T., Vuolo, M., Staff, J., Wakefield, S., & Xie, W. (2008). Tracing the timing of “career” acquisition in a contemporary youth cohort. Work and Occupations, 35, 44–84.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Mudar, P., Kearns, J. N., & Leonard, K. E. (2002). The transition to marriage and changes in alcohol involvement among black couples and white couples. Journal of Studies on Alcohol, 63, 568–576.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Newcomb, M. D., & Bentler, P. M. (1988). Consequences of adolescent drug use: Impact on the lives of young adults. Newbury Park, CA: Sage.Google Scholar
O'Malley, P. M., & Johnston, L. D. (2002). Epidemiology of alcohol and other drug use among American college students. Journal of Studies on Alcohol, 14, 23–39.Google Scholar
Osgood, D. W., Wilson, J. K., O'Malley, P. M., Bachman, J. G., & Johnston, L. D. (1996). Routine activities and individual deviant behavior. American Sociological Review, 61, 635–655.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Paschall, M. J., Bersamin, M., & Flewelling, R. L. (2005). Racial/ethnic differences in the association between college attendance and heavy alcohol use: A national study. Journal of Studies on Alcohol, 66, 266–274.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Raudenbush, S. W., & Bryk, A. S. (2002). Hierarchical linear models: Applications and data analysis methods (2nd ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.Google Scholar
Robins, L. N., & Rutter, M. (Eds.). (1990). Straight and devious pathways from childhood to adulthood. New York: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Rutter, M. (1996). Transitions and turning points in developmental psychopathology: As applied to the age span between childhood and mid-adulthood. International Journal of Behavioral Development, 19, 603–626.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Sampson, R. J., & Laub, J. H. (1993). Crime in the making: Pathways and turning points through life. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Schulenberg, J. E., Bryant, A. L., & O'Malley, P. M. (2004). Taking hold of some kind of life: How developmental tasks relate to trajectories of well-being during the transition to adulthood. Development and Psychopathology, 16, 1119–1140.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Schulenberg, J. E., & Maggs, J. L. (2002). A developmental perspective on alcohol use and heavy drinking during adolescence and the transition to young adulthood. Journal of Studies on Alcohol, 14 (Suppl.), 54–70.Google Scholar
Schulenberg, J. E., Maggs, J. L., & Hurrelmann, K. (Eds.). (1997). Health risks and developmental transitions during adolescence. New York: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Schulenberg, J. E., & Maslowsky, J. (2009). Taking substance use and development seriously: Developmentally distal and proximal influences on adolescent drug use. Monographs of the Society for Research in Child Development, 74, 121–130.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Schulenberg, J. E., Merline, A. C., Johnston, L. D., O'Malley, P. M., Bachman, J. G., & Laetz, V. B. (2005). Trajectories of marijuana use during the transition to adulthood: The big picture based on national panel data. Journal of Drug Issues, 35, 255–279.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Schulenberg, J. E., Sameroff, A. J., & Cicchetti, D. (2004). The transition to adulthood as a critical juncture in the course of psychopathology and mental health [Editorial]. Development and Psychopathology, 16, 799–806.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Schulenberg, J. E., & Zarrett, N. R. (2006). Mental health during emerging adulthood: Continuity and discontinuity in courses, causes, and functions. In Arnett, J. J. & Tanner, J. L. (Eds.), Emerging adults in America: Coming of age in the 21st century (pp. 135–172). Washington DC: American Psychological Association.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Shanahan, M. J. (2000). Pathways to adulthood in changing societies: Variability and mechanisms in life course perspective. Annual Review of Sociology, 26, 667–692.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Sher, K. J., Bartholow, B. D., & Nanda, S. (2001). Short- and long-term effects of fraternity and sorority membership on heavy drinking: A social norms perspective. Psychology of Addictive Behaviors, 15, 42–51.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Thompson, M., & Petrovich, M. (2009). Gendered transitions: Within-person changes in employment, family, and illicit-drug use. Journal of Research in Crime and Delinquency, 46, 377–409.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Uggen, C. (1999). Ex-offenders and the conformist alternative: A job quality model of work and crime. Social Problems, 46, 127–151.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ventura, S. J., & Bachrach, C. A. (2000). Nonmarital childbearing in the United States, 1940–1999 (National Vital Statistics Report No. 48). Hyattsville, MD: National Center for Health Statistics.Google Scholar
Wiles, N. J., Lingford-Hughes, A., Daniel, J., Hickman, M., Farrell, M., Farrell, M., et al. (2007). Socio-economic status in childhood and later alcohol use: A systematic review. Addiction, 102, 1546–1563.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Willis, P. (1977). Learning to labor: How working class kids get working class jobs. New York: Columbia University Press.Google Scholar
Wright, B. R., Caspi, A., Moffitt, T. E., Miech, R. A., & Silva, P. A. (1999). Reconsidering the relationship between SES and delinquency: Causation but not correlation. Criminology, 37, 175–194.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Yamaguchi, K., & Kandel, D. B. (1985). Dynamic relationships between premarital cohabitation and illicit drug use: An event history analysis of role selection and role socialization. American Sociological Review, 50, 530–546.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Zucker, R. A. (2006). Alcohol use and the alcohol use disorders: A developmental–biopsychosocial systems formulation covering the life course. In Cicchetti, D. & Cohen, D. J. (Eds.), Developmental psychopathology: Vol. 3. Risk, disorder, and adaptation (2nd ed., pp. 620–656). Hoboken, NJ: Wiley.Google Scholar
Zucker, R. A., Donovan, J. E., Masten, A. S., Mattson, M. E., & Moss, H. B. (2008). Early developmental processes and the continuity of risk for underage drinking and problem drinking. Pediatrics, 121, S252–S272.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed