An examination of adolescent coping typologies and young adult alcohol use in a high-risk sample

The primary purpose of this study was to explore whether coping typologies during adolescence predict alcohol use and abuse during early adulthood. The roles played by paternal substance dependence and gender in this relationship also were examined. The sample included 240 15–19-year-old adolescents and their fathers, all of whom were followed-up five years later. Results from K-means cluster analyses revealed four coping clusters. Cluster 1 individuals primarily used religion, planning and social support strategies to cope. Cluster 2 individuals tended to use humor, planning and social support to cope. Cluster 3 individuals were most likely to use denial, behavioral disengagement and substance use when coping with a problem. Cluster 4 individuals employed the fewest coping strategies. Multiple analyses of variance (manova) results indicated that Cluster 2 individuals drank the most frequently. Cluster 3 individuals reported the highest alcohol consumption, whereas Cluster 1 individuals reported the lowest alcohol consumption. Results from this study underscore the usefulness of examining coping typologies in relation to alcohol use and abuse.

Keywords:

• Adolescence
• alcohol use
• coping
• COAs

Notes

1. The response categories and the percentage of participants in each category for the alcohol use variables were as follows. For usual amount of beer consumed on a typical drinking day, none (0) = 30%, one to two bottles/cans (1) = 33%, three to five bottles/cans (2) = 22%, about one six-pack (3) = 8%, about two six-packs (4) = 6% and three six-packs or more (5) = 1%. For usual amount of wine consumed on a typical drinking day, none (0) = 46%, one to three glasses (1) = 48%, four to five glasses (2) = 4%, about six glasses (3) = 1%, about nine glasses (4) = 0%, about one bottle (5) = 0%, about two bottles (6) = 0 and three bottles or more (7) = 1%. For usual amount of liquor consumed on a typical drinking day, none (0) = 26%, one to two drinks (1) = 52%, three to four drinks (2) = 16%, five to seven drinks (3) = 4%, eight to 10 drinks (4) = 1%, about 12 drinks (5) = 0%, about one-fifth (6) = 1%, about 1.5-fifths (7) = 0% and two-fifths or more (8) = 0%.

The response categories and the percentages of participants in each group for frequency of alcohol consumption in the past six months are as follows. For frequency of beer consumption, never (0) = 30%, one to two times (1) = 7%, three to four times (2) = 10%, about once a month (3) = 8%, two to three times a month (4) = 14%, one to two days a week (5) = 16%, three to four days a week (6) = 12%, five to six days a week (7) = 2% and every day (8) = 1%. For frequency of wine consumption, never (0) = 46%, one to two times (1) = 19%, three to four times (2) = 7%, about once a month (3) = 10%, two to three times a month (4) = 10%, one to two days a week (5) = 5%, three to four days a week (6) = 3%, five to six days a week (7) = 0% and every day (8) = 0%. For frequency of liquor consumption, never (0) = 26%, one to two times (1) = 19%, three to four times (2) = 11%, about once a month (3) = 14%, two to three times a month (4) = 20%, one to two days a week (5) = 9%, three to four days a week (6) = 1%, five to six days a week (7) = 0% and every day (8) = 0%.

2. The response categories and the percentage of participants in each category for the alcohol abuse variables were as follows. For frequency in the past six months of drinking enough to get drunk, never (1) = 45%, once or twice (2) = 24%, three to four times (3) = 9%, about once a month (4) = 9%, two to three times a month (5) = 7%, once or twice a week (6) = 5%, three or four times a week (7) = 1% and nearly every day or more (8) = 0%. For frequency in the past six months of drinking enough to get high, never (1) = 21%, once or twice (2) = 24%, three to four times (3) = 11%, about once a month (4) = 9%, two to three times a month (5) = 14%, once or twice a week (6) = 15%, three or four times a week (7) = 5% and nearly every day or more (8) = 1%.

Finally, the response categories and the percentage of participants in each category for the largest amount of alcohol consumed in the past six months are as follows. For the largest amount of beer consumed, none (0) = 30%, one to two bottles/cans (1) = 16%, three to five bottles/cans (2) = 17%, about one six-pack (3) = 15%, about two six-packs (4) = 14% and three six-packs or more (5) = 7%. For the largest amount of wine consumed, (0) = 46%, one to three glasses (1) = 31%, four to five glasses (2) = 5%, about six glasses (3) = 7%, about nine glasses (4) = 2%, about one bottle (5) = 6%, about two bottles (6) = 2%, three bottles or more (7) = 1%. For the largest amount of liquor consumed, none (0) = 26%, one to two drinks (1) = 21%, three to four drinks (2) = 22%, five to seven drinks (3) = 17%, eight to 10 drinks (4) = 6%, about 12 drinks (5) = 3%, about one-fifth (6) = 2%, about 1.5-fifths (7) = 1%, and two-fifths or more (8) = 2%.