Project Overview
Alcohol use in early mid-adulthood is extremely costly at the personal, family, community, and national levels, and is associated with early mortality. Alcohol abuse/dependence is the most common of all disorders for men. The economic costs of alcohol abuse and dependence were estimated at close to $200 billion in the U.S. in 1998. This comprehensive longitudinal study across the lifespan from childhood to mid-adulthood examined the persistence and desistance of use of alcohol and other substances for men from at-risk backgrounds. Using a Dynamic Developmental Systems approach, based on aspects of past and current social-contextual influences, differing adult pathways in the course of alcohol use and alcohol use disorders are modeled, and predictors of the course, including general and specific risk factors within the realms of family, peer, psychopathology, and early to mid-adult risk and social influences, including romantic partner behaviors, were examined. In addition, the co-occurring use of other substances (tobacco, marijuana, other illicit drugs, non-prescription and over-the-counter drugs), and gambling behavior were examined. Prediction models of treatment seeking were also examined.
Year Project Began: 2009Year Project Completed: 2014
Funder: National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism
Principal Investigator
Deborah Capaldi, Ph.D.
Oregon Social Learning Center
Active Research Projects
Primary Research and Clinical Interests
Primary research interests include: individual, social and contextual influences on the development of psychopathology and substance use from childhood through adulthood, particularly intergenerational influences on risk and substance use; life-span antisocial and associated behaviors, including early childhood risk, child and adolescent development, delinquent and criminal behavior, health-risking sexual behavior, use of alcohol and other substances, violence, depression, and fatherhood; and adjustment of couples, including interaction patterns and aggression, stress, and effects of relationship factors on health. Additional interests include longitudinal developmental modeling and study design, and observational assessment techniques.