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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].
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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

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