title: Adolescent Self-Organization and Adult Smoking and Drinking over Fifty Years of Follow-Up: The British 1946 Birth Cohort.
abstract: Variations in markers of adolescent self-organization predict a range of economic and health-related outcomes in general population studies. Using a population-based birth cohort study we investigated associations between adolescent self-organization and two common factors over adulthood influencing health, smoking and alcohol consumption. The MRC National Survey of Health and Development (the British 1946 birth cohort) was used to test associations between a dimensional measure of adolescent self-organization derived from teacher ratings, and summary longitudinal measures of smoking and alcohol consumption over the ensuing five decades. Multinomial regression models were adjusted for sex, adolescent emotional and conduct problems, occupational social class of origin, childhood cognition, educational attainment and adult occupational social class. With all covariates adjusted, higher adolescent self-organization was associated with fewer smoking pack years, although not with quitting; there was no association with alcohol consumption across adulthood (none or heavy compared with light to moderate). Adolescent self-organization appears to be protective against smoking, but not against heavy alcohol consumption. Interpretation of this differential effect should be embedded in an understanding of the social and sociodemographic context in which these health behaviours occur over time.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry & Behavioural Science, Tokyo Metropolitan Institute of Medical Science, Tokyo, Japan.|MRC Unit for Lifelong Health and Ageing at UCL, London, United Kingdom.
authors.forename: Atsushi
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Nishida
authors.affiliation: MRC Unit for Lifelong Health and Ageing at UCL, London, United Kingdom.
authors.forename: Dorina
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Cadar
authors.affiliation: Departments of Psychiatry and Public Health, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, United Kingdom.
authors.forename: Man K
authors.initials: MK
authors.lastname: Xu
authors.affiliation: Department of Health Sciences and Hull York Medical School, University of York, York, United Kingdom.
authors.forename: Timothy
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Croudace
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, United Kingdom.|CAMEO, Cambridgeshire & Peterborough NHS Foundation Trust, Cambridge, United Kingdom.
authors.forename: Peter B
authors.initials: PB
authors.lastname: Jones
authors.affiliation: MRC Unit for Lifelong Health and Ageing at UCL, London, United Kingdom.
authors.forename: Diana
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Kuh
authors.affiliation: MRC Unit for Lifelong Health and Ageing at UCL, London, United Kingdom.
authors.forename: Marcus
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Richards
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000294:Adolescent Behavior; D000428:Alcohol Drinking / Q000453:epidemiology*; D004522:Educational Status; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D015438:Health Behavior; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008603:Mental Health; D008875:Middle Aged; D011446:Prospective Studies; D012044:Regression Analysis; D012574:Schools; D012648:Self Care; D012907:Smoking / Q000453:epidemiology*; D012923:Social Class; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D006113:United Kingdom / Q000453:epidemiology