Child Maltreatment, Fathers, and Adolescent Alcohol and Marijuana Use Trajectories

Abstract

Background: Little is known about heterogeneity in developmental trajectories of alcohol and marijuana use among at-risk youth. Objective: This study aims to examine how child maltreatment and father structural factors at different stages in the life course are associated with different patterns of alcohol and marijuana use trajectories. Methods: A sample of youth (N = 903) were drawn from the Longitudinal Studies of Child Abuse and Neglect (LONGSCAN). Latent class growth analysis was employed to assess heterogeneity in patterns of adolescent alcohol and marijuana use. In addition, binary logistic regression analysis was performed to examine child maltreatment and father structural factors across different developmental stages as predictors of membership in the identified alcohol and marijuana use trajectory classes. Results: For both alcohol and marijuana use, two distinct latent classes were identified: stable no/low alcohol use (74%) vs. increasing alcohol use (26%); stable no/low marijuana use (85%) vs. increasing marijuana use (15%). Emotional abuse during early childhood and physical abuse during adolescence predicted membership in the increasing alcohol use and the increasing marijuana use classes. The presence of father in the home during early childhood was associated with lower likelihood of being in the increasing alcohol use class. Conclusions: Our findings highlight the importance of understanding the etiology of adolescent substance use through a developmental lens. Screening of exposure to child maltreatment across different developmental stages and interventions promoting father engagement during early childhood might help mitigate the risk of adolescent alcohol and marijuana use.

Keywords:

• Child maltreatment
• fathers
• alcohol
• marijuana use
• adolescence
• longitudinal

Acknowledgements

This document includes data from the Consortium of Longitudinal Studies of Child Abuse and Neglect (LONGSCAN), which was funded by the Office on Child Abuse and Neglect (OCAN), Children’s Bureau, Administration for Children and Families, Dept. of Health and Human Services, National Center on Child Abuse and Neglect (NCCAN). The data were made available by the National Data Archive on Child Abuse and Neglect (NDACAN), Cornell University, Ithaca, NY, and have been used with permission. The collector of the original data, the funder, NDACAN, Cornell University, and their agents or employees bear no responsibility for the analyses or interpretations presented here.

Declaration of interest

The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest. The authors alone are responsible for the content and writing of the article.

Funding

This research was funded by The Ohio State University Institute for Population Research through a grant from The Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, P2CHD058484. The content is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official views of the NICHD or the NIH.