In this paper, the authors discuss research that suggests that females with a history of criminal justice system involvement experience greater social costs due to their higher rates of substance use compared to their male counterparts; they review earlier research and theories; and they report on their research methodology and findings which reveal how intimate partner encouragement of alcohol use across multiple domains associates with alcohol use in emerging adulthood.
Females who are involved with the juvenile justice system as adolescents are at risk for heavy alcohol use, which is associated with an increased risk of recidivism and negative health outcomes. Alcohol use peaks during emerging adulthood and intimate partners play an increasingly important role in decision making during this developmental period. Using data from a longitudinal study of females who were involved in the juvenile justice system as adolescents (n = 80), the authors investigated whether intimate partner encouragement of alcohol use is associated with higher rates of alcohol use frequency among this population as they enter emerging adulthood. Participants reported on their partners’ encouragement of their alcohol use at an in-person study visit when they were emerging adults, and then reported on their own alcohol use approximately six months later. A negative binomial regression was fit to the data and estimated that for each standard deviation increase in reported intimate partner encouragement of alcohol use, participants’ rate of alcohol consumption increased by 109 percent six months later. These findings indicate that intimate partner encouragement of alcohol use may be a risk factor for heavy drinking among emerging adult females with a history of chronic and severe delinquency. These findings have implications for prevention, as they indicate a need to measure intimate partner encouragement of alcohol use in studies that involve high-risk emerging adult females and may suggest that intimate partners should be included in interventions intended to reduce heavy alcohol use. (Published Abstract Provided)
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