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Declines in prevalence of adolescent substance use disorders and delinquent behaviors in the USA: a unitary trend?

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  25 October 2017

R. A. Grucza*
Affiliation:
Department of Psychiatry, Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, MO, USA
R. F. Krueger
Affiliation:
Department of Psychology, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN, USA
Arpana Agrawal
Affiliation:
Department of Psychiatry, Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, MO, USA
A. D. Plunk
Affiliation:
Department of Pediatrics, Eastern Virginia Medical School, Norfolk, VA, USA
M. J. Krauss
Affiliation:
Department of Psychiatry, Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, MO, USA
J. Bongu
Affiliation:
Department of Psychiatry, Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, MO, USA
P. A. Cavazos-Rehg
Affiliation:
Department of Psychiatry, Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, MO, USA
L. J. Bierut
Affiliation:
Department of Psychiatry, Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, MO, USA
*
Author for correspondence: R. A. Grucza, E-mail: gruczar@psychiatry.wustl.edu
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Abstract

Background

Downward trends in a number of adolescent risk behaviors including violence, crime, and drug use have been observed in the USA in recent years. It is unknown whether these are separate trends or whether they might relate to a general reduction in propensity to engage in such behaviors. Our objectives were to quantify trends in substance use disorders (SUDs) and delinquent behaviors over the 2003–2014 period and to determine whether they might reflect a single trend in an Externalizing-like trait.

Methods

We analyzed data from 12 to 17 year old participants from the National Survey on Drug Use and Health, a representative survey of the household dwelling population of the USA, across the 2003–2014 period (N = 210 599). Outcomes included past-year prevalence of six categories of substance use disorder and six categories of delinquent behavior.

Results

Trend analysis suggested a net decline of 49% in mean number of SUDs and a 34% decline in delinquent behaviors over the 12-year period. Item Response Theory models were consistent with the interpretation that declines in each set of outcomes could be attributed to changes in mean levels of a latent, Externalizing-like trait.

Conclusions

Our findings suggest that declines in SUDs and some delinquent behaviors reflect a single trend related to an Externalizing-like trait. Identifying the factors contributing to this trend may facilitate continued improvement across a spectrum of adolescent risk behaviors.

Information

Type
Original Articles
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2017 
Figure 0

Table 1. Estimates for mean number of six delinquent behaviors and mean number six categories of SUDs per 100 persons, by demographic group, for the 2003–2014 NSDUH adolescent samples

Figure 1

Fig. 1. Prevalence by year for each of six delinquent behaviors (a), and each of six SUD categories (b). Trend lines represent fits to log-binomial models of each variable as a function of year. Error bars represent 95% confidence intervals. Y-axes are logarithmically scaled.

Figure 2

Fig. 2. Mean by year for an average number of delinquent behaviors and SUDs per person. Trend lines represent fits to log-binomial model. Error bars represent 95% confidence intervals. Y-axis is logarithmically scaled.

Figure 3

Table 2. Average annual relative change in the prevalence of each of six delinquent behaviors, each of six substance use disorders, and the mean numbers of each, as estimated from linear trend models

Figure 4

Fig. 3. Structural (IRT) models for (a) Delinquency, (b) Substance use disorders, (c) A unidimensional externalizing model in which all SUD and DQ indicators are joined to a single factor.

Figure 5

Table 3. Comparisons of models to assess measurement invariance of the unidimensional DQ, SUD, and EXT models

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