Transitioning into and out of  large-effect drinking in young adulthood.
As individuals age beyond the college years into young adulthood, many exhibit a tendency to moderate or "mature out of" alcohol involvement. The current study classified effect-drinking statuses in young adults and examined transitions among statuses using latent transition analysis, a latent variable state-sequential model for longitudinal data. At 3 occasions over 7 years (Years 1, 4, and 7), 443 men (47%) and women (mean age of both at baseline = 18.5 years; 51% with family history of alcoholism) responded to 3 past-30-day items assessing drinking and subjective effects of drinking: whether the respondent drank alcohol, felt high, and felt drunk. Latent statuses included abstainers (14% at Year 1), limited-effect drinkers (8%), moderate-effect drinkers (23%), and large-effect drinkers (54%). Respondents with family history of alcoholism were less likely to transition out of large-effect drinking than those without family history. Men exhibited more severe initial effect-drinking statuses and lower transition probabilities into less severe effect-drinking statuses than women.
Jackson
K M
KM
Department of Psychological Sciences, University of Missouri-Columbia, 65211-0001, USA. JacksonKM@missouri.edu
Sher
K J
KJ
Gotham
H J
HJ
Wood
P K
PK
D000328:Adult; D000367:Age Factors; D000428:Alcohol Drinking / Q000235:genetics / Q000523:psychology*; D000437:Alcoholism / Q000209:etiology / Q000517:prevention & control*; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D020022:Genetic Predisposition to Disease; D006801:Humans; D008019:Life Style; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D008297:Male; D015233:Models, Statistical; D012307:Risk Factors; D012737:Sex Factors; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires