Abstract
Utilizing the large, longitudinal Minnesota Twin Family Study (N = 2510; 96 % European American ancestry), we examined the influence of several person-environment transactions on adolescent substance abuse. We focused on the two childhood personality traits found to be most predictive of substance abuse in this sample—socialization (willingness to follow rules and endorse conventional values) and boldness (social engagement and assurance, stress resilience, thrill seeking)—and the environmental variables of antisocial and prosocial peers, academic engagement, parent–child relationship quality, and stressful life events. Path analysis revealed that low socialization had a selection effect for each environmental risk factor, that is, socialization at age 11 predicted environmental risk at age 14, after controlling for the stability of the environmental variables from ages 11 to 14. Antisocial peers and academic engagement at age 14 then mediated some of the risk of low socialization on substance abuse at age 17, but the majority of risk for substance abuse was accounted for by the stability of socialization from age 11 to 14. Boldness at age 11 also increased risk for substance abuse, but did so primarily via a direct effect. The findings help to parse the nature of person-environment transactions across multiple personality traits and contextual risk factors that contribute to adolescent substance abuse.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Armstrong, T. D., & Costello, E. J. (2002). Community studies on adolescent substance use, abuse, or dependence and psychiatric comorbidity. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 70, 1224–1239.
Bemmels, H. R., Burt, S. A., Legrand, L. N., Iacono, W. G., & McGue, M. (2008). The heritability of life events: an adolescent twin and adoption study. Twin Research and Human Genetics, 11, 257–265.
Chassin, L., Pillow, D. R., Curran, P. J., Molina, B. S. G., & Barrera, M. (1993). Relation of parental alcoholism to early adolescent substance use: a of three mediating mechanisms. Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 102, 3–19.
Cohen, J. (1988). Statistical power analysis for the behaivoral sciences. Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum.
Cohen, J. C., & Cohen, P. (1983). Applied multiple regression/correlation analysis for the behavioral sciences (2nd ed.). Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum.
Conrod, P. J., Castellanos-Ryan, N., & Mackie, C. (2011). Long-term effects of a personality- targeted intervention to reduce alcohol use in adolescents. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 79, 296–306.
Cukrowicz, K. C., Taylor, J., Schatschneider, C., & Iacono, W. G. (2006). Personality differences in children and adolescents with attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder, conduct disorder, and controls. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 47, 151–159.
Dishion, T. J., & Owen, L. D. (2002). A longituidnal analysis of friendships and substance use: bidirectional influence from adolescence to adulthood. Developmental Psychology, 38, 480–491.
Dishion, T. J., Capaldi, D., Spracklen, K. M., & Li, F. Z. (1995). Peer ecology of male adolescent drug use. Development and Psychopathology, 7, 803–824.
Dishion, T. J., Spracklen, K. M., Andrews, D. W., & Patterson, G. R. (1996). Deviancy training in male adolescent friendships. Behavior Therapy, 27, 373–390.
Elkins, I. J., McGue, M., & Iacono, W. G. (1997). Genetic and environmental influences on parent-son relationships: evidence for increasing genetic influence during adolescence. Developmental Psychology, 33, 351–363.
Fox, N. A., Henderson, H. A., Marshall, P. J., Nichols, K. E., & Ghera, M. M. (2005). Behavioral inhibition: linking biology and behavior within a developmental framework. Annual Review of Psychology, 56, 235–262.
Granic, I., & Patterson, G. R. (2006). Toward a comprehensive model of antisocial development: a dynamic systems approach. Psychological Review, 113, 101–131.
Hawkins, J. D., Catalano, R. F., & Miller, J. Y. (1992). Risk and protective factors for alcohol and other drug problems in adolescence and early adulthood: implications for substance abuse prevention. Psychological Bulletin, 112, 64–105.
Hicks, B. M., South, S. C., DiRago, A. C., Iacono, W. G., & McGue, M. (2009). Environmental adversity and increasing genetic risk for externalizing disorders. Archives of General Psychiatry, 66, 640–648.
Hicks, B. M., Iacono, W. G., & McGue, M. (2010). Consequences of an adolescent onset and persistent course of alcohol dependence in men: adolescent risk factors and adult outcomes. Alcoholism-Clinical and Experimental Research, 34, 819–833.
Hicks, B. M., Carlson, M. D., Blonigen, D. M., Patrick, C. J., Iacono, W. G., & McGue, M. (2012). Psychopathic personality traits and environmental risk factors: differential correlates, gender, and genetic mediation. Personality Disorders: Theory, Research, & Treatment, 3, 209–227.
Hicks, B. M., Iacono, W. G., & McGue, M. (2013a). Identifying childhood characteristics that underlie pre-morbid risk for substance use disorders: Socialization and boldness. Development and Psychopathology. doi:10.1017/S0954579413000862.
Hicks, B. M., Johnson, W., Durbin, C. E., Blonigen, D. M., Iacono, W. G., & McGue, M. (2013b). Gene environment correlation in the development of adolescent substance abuse: selection effects of child personality and mediation via contextual risk factors. Development and Psychopathology, 25, 119–132.
Iacono, W. G., Carlson, S. R., Taylor, J., Elkins, I. J., & McGue, M. (1999). Behavioral disinhibition and the development of substance use disorders: findings from the Minnesota twin family study. Development and Psychopathology, 11, 869–900.
Iacono, W. G., Malone, S. M., & McGue, M. (2008). Behavioral disinhibition and the development of early onset addiction: Common and specific influences. Annual Review of Clinical Psychology, 42, 325–348.
Jessor, R. J., & Jessor, S. L. (1977). Problem behavior and psychosocial development. New York: Academic Press.
Johnson, W., McGue, M., & Iacono, W. G. (2005). Disruptive behavior and school grades: genetic and environmentla relations in 11 year olds. Journal of Educational Psychology, 97, 391–405.
Johnson, W., McGue, M., & Iacono, W. G. (2006). Genetic and environmental influences on academic achievement trajectories during adolescence. Developmental Psychology, 42, 514–532.
Kagan, J. (1994). Galen’s Prophecy: Temperament in human nature. New York: Basic Books.
Keyes, M. A., Malone, S. M., Elkins, I. J., Legrand, L. N., McGue, M., & Iacono, W. G. (2009). The enrichment study of the Minnesota twin family study: increasing the yield of twin families at high risk for externalizing psychopathology. Twin Research and Human Genetics, 12, 489–501.
Legrand, L. N., Keyes, M., McGue, M., Iacono, W. G., & Krueger, R. F. (2008). Rural environments reduce the genetic influence on adolescent substance use and rule-breaking behavior. Psychological Medicine, 38, 1341–1350.
McGue, M., Elkins, I., Walden, B., & Iacono, W. G. (2005). Perceptions of the parent-adolescent relationship: a longitudinal investigation. Developmental Psychology, 41, 971–984.
Muthen, L. K., & Muthen, B. O. (2007). Mplus User’s guide (5th ed.). Los Angles: Muthen & Muthen.
Patrick, C. J., Fowles, D. C., & Krueger, R. F. (2009). Triarchic conceptualization of psychopathy: developmental origins of disinhibition, boldness, and meanness. Development and Psychopathology, 21, 913–938.
Piehler, T. F., Veronneau, M.-H., & Dishion, T. J. (2012). Substance use progression from adolescence to early adulthood: effortful control in the context of friendship influence and early onset use. Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology, 40, 1045–1058.
Roberts, B. W., & Caspi, A. (2003). The cumulative continuity model of personality development: Striking a balance between continuity and change in personality traits across the life course. In R. M. Staudinger & U. Lindenberger (Eds.), Understanding human development: Lifespan psychology in exchange with other disciplines (pp. 183–214). Dordrecht: Kluwer Academic Publishers.
Roberts, B. W., & DelVecchio, W. F. (2000). The rank-order consistency of personality traits from childhood to old age: a quantitative review of longitudinal studies. Psychological Bulletin, 126, 3–25.
Roberts, B. W., & Wood, D. (2006). Personality development in the context of the neo- socioanalytic model of personality. In D. K. Mroczek & T. D. Little (Eds.), Handbook of personality development (pp. 11–39). Mahwah: Erlbaum.
Robins, L. M., Babor, T., & Cottler, L. B. (1987). Composite international diagnostic interview: Expanded substance abuse module. St. Louis: Author.
Scarr, S., & McCartney, K. (1983). How people make their own environments: a theory of genotype-environment effects. Child Development, 54, 424–435.
Stice, E., Barrera, M., & Chassin, L. (1998). Prospective differential prediction of adolescent alcohol use and problem use: examining the mechanisms of effect. Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 107, 616–628.
Tapert, S. F., Aarons, G. A., Sedlar, G. R., & Brown, S. A. (2001). Adolescent substance use and sexual risk-taking behavior. Journal of Adolescent Health, 28, 181–189.
Taylor, J., McGue, M., Iacono, W. G., & Lykken, D. T. (2000). A behavioral genetic analysis of the relationship between the socialization scale and self-reported delinquency. Journal of Personality, 68, 29–50.
Vaidyanathan, U., Hall, J. R., Patrick, C. J., & Bernat, E. M. (2011). Clarifying the role of defensive reactivity deficits in psychopathy and antisocial personality using startle reflex methodology. Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 120, 253–258.
Viner, R. M., & Taylor, B. (2007). Adult outcomes of binge drinking in adolescence: findings from a UK national birth cohort. Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health, 61, 902–907.
Walden, B., McGue, M., Iacono, W. G., Burt, S. A., & Elkins, I. J. (2004). Identifying shared environmental contributions to early substance use: the respective roles of peers and parents. Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 113, 440–450.
Welner, Z., Reich, W., Herjanic, B., Jung, K., & Amado, H. (1987). Reliability, validity, and parent–child agreement studies of the diagnostic interview for children and adolescents (DICA). Journal of the Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry, 26, 649–653.
Wills, T. A., & Cleary, S. D. (1999). Peer and adolescent substance use among 6th-9th graders: latent growth analyses of influence versus selection mechanisms. Health Psychology, 18, 453–463.
Wills, T. A., Windle, M., & Cleary, S. D. (1998). Temperament and novel seeking in adolescent substance use: convergence of dimensions of temperament with constructs from Cloninger’s theory. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 74, 387–406.
Wills, T. A., Cleary, S., Filer, M., Shinar, O., Mariani, J., & Spera, K. (2001). Temperament related to early-onset and substance use: test of a developmental model. Prevention Sciences, 2, 145–163.
World Health Organization. (2008). WHO report on the global tobacco epidemic, 2008: The MPOWER package. Geneva: Author.
World Health Organization. (2011). Global status report on alcohol and health. Geneva: Author.
Zucker, R. A. (2006). Alcohol use and the alcohol use disorders: A developmental-biopsychosocial systems formulation covering the life course. In: Cohen DCaDJ (Ed.), Developmental Psychopathology (2nd ed.), vol. 3: Risk, Disorder, and Adaption (pp. 620–656). New York: Wiley.
Acknowledgments
This work was supported by grants from the National Institute of Drug Abuse U01 DA024417 (W.G.I.), R37 DA005147 (W.G.I.), R01 DA013240 (W.G.I.), K01 DA025868 (B.M.H.), National Institute of Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism R01 AA09367 (M.M.), a Career Development Award-2 from the VA Office of Research and Development (D.M.B.), and a Research Council of the United Kingdom fellowship (W.J.). None of the authors report any biomedical financial interests or potential conflicts of interest.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Hicks, B.M., Johnson, W., Durbin, C.E. et al. Delineating Selection and Mediation Effects Among Childhood Personality and Environmental Risk Factors in the Development of Adolescent Substance Abuse. J Abnorm Child Psychol 42, 845–859 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10802-013-9831-z
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10802-013-9831-z