Self-Cognitions, Risk Factors for Alcohol Problems, and Drinking in Preadolescent Urban Youths

• NCJ Number: 232795
• Journal: Journal of Child and Adolescent Substance Abuse Volume: 19 Issue: 5 Dated: November-December 2010 Pages: 406-423
• Author(s): Colleen Corte; Laura Szalacha
• Date Published: November 2010
• Length: 18 pages
• Grant Number(s): P30 NRO9014; K12 HD055892-01
• Sponsoring Agency: National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD); National Institute for Nursing Research; UIC College of Nursing; Midwest Nursing Research Society
• Publication Format: Article
• Publication Type: Research (Applied/Empirical)
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America

Annotation

This study examined relationships among the total array of self-cognitions in an attempt to determine whether self-cognitions are related to known antecedents for alcohol problems prior to regular alcohol use.

Abstract

In this study the authors examine relationships between self-structure and known antecedents for alcohol problems in 9- to 12-year-old primarily Black and Latino youths (N = 79). Parental alcohol problems and being female predicted few positive and many negative self-cognitions and a future-oriented self-cognition related to alcohol ("drinking possible self"). Nineteen percent of the sample reported ever drinking, but 40 percent of those with a "drinking possible self" reported ever drinking. Compared to never drinkers, youths who reported ever drinking had fewer self-cognitions. The self-structure may be an important mechanism through which parental alcohol problems and antisocial behavior lead to early alcohol use, and a viable target of interventions aimed at preventing early alcohol use. (Published Abstract) Tables and references