Transition into adolescent problem drinking: The role of psychosocial risk and protective factors

Objective: To establish the role of psychosocial risk and protective factors in cross-sectional variation in adolescent problem drinking, and in the transition into problem drinking over time. Method: The data were from a four-wave (1989-1992) longitudinal study of 1,591 adolescents in a large, urban school district. School district officials selected schools for the study with an aim toward maximizing representation of minority students from inner-city areas. At Wave 1, all students in Grades 7, 8, and 9 were asked to participate. Results: Both psychosocial risk factors (such as low expectations for success, peer models for substance use, and poor school performance) and psychosocial protective factors (such as intolerance of deviance, peer models for conventional behavior, and involvement in prosocial activities) account for significant cross-sectional variation in adolescents' involvement in problem drinking, as indicated by more frequent drunkenness and more numerous instances of alcohol-related problems. They also account for significant variation in the timing of transition into problem drinking during adolescence. Higher risk and lower protection are each associated with greater problem use of alcohol. Among adolescents who are not problem drinkers, higher risk and lower protection accelerate the likelihood of becoming a problem drinker in subsequent years. Protection also moderates the impact of risk in the cross-sectional account of involvement in problem drinking, but protective factors appear not to play a moderating role in the longitudinal account of the transition into problem drinking. Findings were similar for males and females and among white, black and Hispanic adolescents. Conclusions: Protective factors play an independent role in accounting for adolescent involvement in problem drinking and in the transition into problem drinking in adolescence. Intervention efforts to enhance protection, especially for adolescents who are exposed to risk, should supplement efforts to reduce risk.