TRANSITION INTO YOUNG ADULTHOOD--OUTCOMES FOR ADOLESCENT ALCOHOL ABUSERS

University Of Pittsburgh At Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh PA

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Abstract

This research project involves a prospective, longitudinal study of two cohorts of adolescents. The two cohorts will consist of 1) young men and women who were evaluated at PARCH during the initial five years of funding of the Center, and 2) adolescents who will be recruited during the renewal period (Years 06-10). In the first, continuing cohort, the focus will be on longer-term outcomes in late adolescence or young adulthood among adolescents who have a wide range of involvement with alcohol, from little use to diagnosed alcohol use disorder. In the second cohort, attention will be focused on the consequences of alcohol abuse among middle and late adolescents. The major utility of th new cohort is that it will permit analysis of developmental task completion variables that are hypothesized to mediate the relationship between alcohol abuse/dependence and the longer-term outcomes. The hypothesis is that alcohol abuse in adolescence interferes with the successful resolution of the developmental tasks of this life stage which leads to a variety of negative outcomes in later adolescence and young adulthood.