A finer examination of the role that negative affect plays in the relationship between paternal alcoholism and the onset of alcohol and marijuana use.
OBJECTIVE
This study was designed to separately examine the relations between four fundamental components of negative affect (sadness, fear, guilt, and hostility) and the onset of substance use. An additional goal was to examine the potential mediating roles that these components of negative affect play in the relationship between paternal alcoholism and the initiation of substance use.


METHODS
The sample included 200 adolescents ages 15-19 years (62% girls; 68% white; 56% children of alcoholics [COAs]) and their fathers. The adolescents were followed up 5 years later when they were in early adulthood. Participants completed a clinical psychiatric interview and self-report questionnaires that assessed negative affect and substance use.


RESULTS
Results from structural equation modeling indicated that higher levels of hostility and lower levels of guilt were associated with earlier substance-use initiation. In addition, hostility played an indirect role in the relationship between paternal alcoholism and the onset of marijuana use, with COAs reporting higher hostility levels than non-COAs and higher hostility predicting earlier marijuana use.


CONCLUSIONS
These results underscore the importance of separately examining different components of negative affect when investigating the role that negative affect plays in substance use.
Department of Human Development and Family Studies, University of Delaware, Newark, Delaware 19716, USA. ohanness@udel.edu
Christine McCauley
CM
Ohannessian
Victor M
VM
Hesselbrock
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000339:Affect; D017668:Age of Onset; D000428:Alcohol Drinking / Q000523:psychology*; D000437:Alcoholism; D016241:Child of Impaired Parents / Q000523:psychology*; D003863:Depression / Q000523:psychology*; D004644:Emotions; D005219:Father-Child Relations; D005260:Female; D006167:Guilt; D006791:Hostility; D006801:Humans; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D008297:Male; D008385:Marijuana Smoking / Q000523:psychology*; D008960:Models, Psychological; D055815:Young Adult