Alcohol use from ages 9 to 16: A cohort-sequential latent growth model

This study examined alcohol use from pre-adolescence to mid-adolescence and determined the influence of hypothesized covariates on changes in alcohol use rates during this developmental period. The sample comprised 405 randomly recruited youth from three age cohorts (9, 11, and 13 years), assessed annually for 4 years. Youth were 48.4% female, 50.4% African–American, and 49.6% White. A cohort-sequential latent growth model was employed which modeled alcohol use (use versus non-use) from ages 9 to 16 years, accounting for demographic variables of gender, race, parent marital status, and family economic status. Covariates of alcohol use included parent alcohol use, family alcohol problems, family cohesion, parent supervision, peer deviance, peer alcohol use, and peer encouragement of alcohol use. Results showed that proportions of alcohol users increased steadily from ages 9 to 16 years. Significant covariates were found on the intercept and slope. Being female and higher levels of parent alcohol use were associated with higher initial rates of alcohol use, whereas greater friends’ encouragement of alcohol use was related to lower initial rates of alcohol use (intercept). Alternatively, more peer deviance and friends’ encouragement of alcohol use was related to an increase in alcohol use rates from ages 9 to 16 years (slope), as was being White and from a single-parent family.