Biomedical subjects

Judith S Brook

Publications and source records attributed to Judith S Brook.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources

PubMed2007

Personality disorders in early adolescence and the development of later substance use disorders in the general population.

Assessments of personality disorder (PD) and conduct disorder (CD) in a random community sample at mean age 13 were employed to predict subsequent substance abuse disorder (SUD), trajectories of symptoms of abuse or dependence on alcohol, marijuana, or other illicit substances, and hazard of initiating marijuana use over the subsequent decade. Personality disorders and conduct disorder were associated with diagnoses and symptoms of SUDs in every model and their effects were independent of correlated family risks, participant sex, and other Axis I disorders. Specific elevated PD symptoms in early adolescence were also associated with differential trajectories of already initiated SUD symptoms as well as elevated risk for future onset of SUD symptoms. For several models the greatest of these effects were shown for borderline PD and for conduct disorder, the predecessor of adult antisocial PD. Passive-aggressive PD also showed independent elevation effects on substance use symptoms for alcohol and marijuana. Analyses over 30 years suggest that Cluster B PD (borderline, histrionic, narcissistic) are independent risks for development of SUD and warrant clinical attention.

Adolescent↗

PubMed2006

Parenting behaviors associated with risk for offspring personality disorder during adulthood.

CONTEXT: Research has suggested that some types of parental child-rearing behavior may be associated with risk for offspring personality disorder (PD), but the association of parenting with offspring PD has not been investigated comprehensively with prospective longitudinal data. OBJECTIVE: To investigate the association of parental child-rearing behavior with risk for offspring PD during adulthood. DESIGN: The Children in the Community study, a prospective longitudinal investigation. SETTING AND PARTICIPANTS: A community-based sample of 593 families interviewed during childhood (mean age, 6 years), adolescence (mean ages, 14 and 16 years), emerging adulthood (mean age, 22 years), and adulthood (mean age, 33 years) of the offspring. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE: The Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-IV Personality Disorders. RESULTS: Ten types of parenting behavior that were evident during the child-rearing years were associated with elevated offspring risk for PD during adulthood when childhood behavioral or emotional problems and parental psychiatric disorders were controlled statistically. Parental behavior in the home during the child-rearing years was associated with elevated risk for offspring PD at mean ages of 22 and 33 years. Risk for offspring PD at both assessments increased steadily as a function of the number of problematic parenting behaviors that were evident. Low parental affection or nurturing was associated with elevated risk for offspring antisocial (P = .003), avoidant (P = .01), borderline (P = .002), depressive (P = .02), paranoid (P = .002), schizoid (P = .046), and schizotypal (P<.001) PDs. Aversive parental behavior (eg, harsh punishment) was associated with elevated risk for offspring borderline (P = .001), paranoid (P = .004), passive-aggressive (P = .046), and schizotypal (P = .02) PDs. CONCLUSIONS: Parental behavior during the child-rearing years may be associated with risk for offspring PD that endures into adulthood. This risk may not be attributable to offspring behavioral and emotional problems or parental psychiatric disorder, and it may not diminish over time. Low parental nurturing and aversive parental behavior during child rearing may both be associated with elevated risk for offspring PDs.

Adolescent↗

PubMed2006

Personality disorder traits evident by early adulthood and risk for eating and weight problems during middle adulthood.

OBJECTIVE: The current article investigates the association of personality disorder (PD) with the subsequent development of eating and weight problems. METHOD: Psychiatric interviews were administered to a community-based sample of 658 individuals at mean ages 14, 16, 22, and 33 years. RESULTS: Individuals with PD by age 22 were at an elevated risk for eating disorders at mean age 33 years. PDs were associated with risk for onset of binge eating, purging, daily dietary restriction, and obesity among individuals without a history of these problems. Borderline and histrionic PD symptoms were associated with recurrent binging and purging at mean age 33 years. Antisocial and schizotypal symptoms were associated with recurrent binging and obesity at mean age 33 years. Depressive PD symptoms were associated with recurrent binging and dietary restriction at mean age 33 years. CONCLUSION: PD symptoms, evident by early adulthood, may be associated with the risk for the development of eating and weight problems by middle adulthood.

Adolescent↗

PubMed2006

The Effects of Parental Tobacco and Marijuana Use and Personality Attributes on Child Rearing in African-American and Puerto Rican Young Adults.

This study assessed the effect of the interrelationship of mothers' and fathers' tobacco and marijuana use with their personality attributes on some of their child rearing behaviors. We used a longitudinal design to analyze the data of 258 males and females who were seen four times over a 13-year period from early adolescence through young adult parenthood. Thirty-one percent of the multiple regression analyses revealed significant interactions between the effect of tobacco or marijuana use and a personality attribute on child rearing. The majority of these significant interactions suggested that protective personality characteristics were offset by substance use risks resulting in less adequate child rearing. If these results are substantiated in an experimental intervention, it suggests that having resilient personality attributes does not protect against the negative effects of tobacco or marijuana use on child rearing.

Journal Article↗

PubMed2006

Predictors of drug use among South African adolescents.

PURPOSE: To determine the association of frequency of illegal drug use with five groups of factors: environmental stressors, parental drug use, parental child rearing, peer drug use, and adolescent personal attributes. METHODS: 1468 male (45%) and female (55%) adolescents, aged 12 to 17 years (mean 14.76, SD 1.51), were interviewed at home in Durban and Capetown, South Africa. Independent measures assessed environmental stressors, parental child rearing, parental drug use, peer drug use, and adolescent personal attributes. The dependent variable was the adolescents' frequency of illegal drug use. RESULTS: Regression analyses showed that personal attributes and peer substance use explained the largest percentage of the variance in the adolescents' frequency of illegal drug use. In addition, both of the parental factors and the environmental stressors contributed to the explained variance in adolescent drug use above and beyond the two more proximal domains at a statistically significant level. CONCLUSIONS: Knowing the contribution of more proximal vs. more distal risk factors for illegal drug use is useful for prioritizing targets for interventions. Targeting changes in the more proximal predictors (e.g., adolescent personal attributes) may be more effective as well as more feasible than trying to produce changes in the more distal factors, such as environmental stressors.

Adolescent↗

PubMed2006

Aggressive behaviors in the adolescent children of HIV-positive and HIV-negative drug-abusing fathers.

This study examined aggressive behaviors in the adolescent children of HIV-positive and HIV-negative drug-abusing fathers. Data were collected via individual structured interviews of low-income, predominantly African American and Hispanic, father-child dyads (N = 415). Structural Equation Modeling was used to assess the interrelationship of several latent constructs with respect to adolescent aggression. Results showed a mediational model linking paternal attributes (including HIV status) and ecological factors with the father-child relationship, which impacted peer influences and the adolescent's vulnerable personality, which was the most proximal construct to aggressive behaviors. Ecological factors were also mediated by peer influences and directly linked with adolescent aggression.

Adolescent↗

PubMed2006

Perceptions of sexual risk behaviours and substance abuse among adolescents in South Africa: a qualitative investigation.

The study examined South African adolescents' beliefs and attitudes regarding drug use, sexual risk behaviour and relationships between the two behaviours. Eleven single-gender focus groups were held among male and female Grade 8 and 11 students from three schools in Cape Town. The adolescents' opined that drugs' reinforcing effects were the main factor underlying their use, and that sexual risk behaviours resulted from girls' limited power in sexual relationships and boys' perceived invulnerability to HIV infection and the positive status associated with having multiple partners. Drug use was considered to exacerbate underlying vulnerabilities to risky sexual behaviour mainly due to drugs' effects on adolescents' inhibitions, rational thinking, and safer sex negotiation skills. The findings suggest that adolescent HIV intervention programmes should address the risks posed by drug use on sexual behaviour.

Adolescent↗

PubMed2006

Peer and parental influences on longitudinal trajectories of smoking among African Americans and Puerto Ricans.

The purpose of this study was to identify distinct trajectories of smoking behavior during a period extending from adolescence (mean age = 14 years) to young adulthood (mean age = 26 years) among African American and Puerto Rican adolescents/young adults, to examine ethnic and gender differences in group membership, and to assess the ability of peer and parental smoking to distinguish among trajectory groups. A community-based sample of 451 African American and Puerto Rican adolescents was interviewed four times during adolescence and in early adulthood, covering a span of 12 years. For both ethnic/racial groups, four distinct trajectories were identified: Nonsmokers, maturing-out smokers, late-starting smokers, and early-starting continuous smokers. Compared with Puerto Ricans, African Americans were over-represented in the nonsmoking group, whereas Puerto Ricans were over-represented in the early-starting continuous group. Females were more likely than males to be early-starting continuous smokers than late starters. Adolescents who were exposed to peer and parental smoking in early adolescence were more likely to belong to trajectory groups characterized by higher levels of smoking. These findings show that exposure to peer and parental smoking in early adolescence constitutes a risk factor for engaging in elevated levels of smoking behavior at an early age and for continued smoking into adulthood for urban African Americans and Puerto Ricans. To be most effective, smoking prevention programs should address peer group and family influences on adolescent smoking.

Adolescent↗

PubMed2006

Chronic versus episodic irritability in youth: a community-based, longitudinal study of clinical and diagnostic associations.

OBJECTIVE: Irritability is both a normal developmental phenomenon and a common psychiatric symptom in children. In psychiatric nosology, a distinction is made between chronic and episodic irritability. This study examines the validity of this distinction. METHODS: A sample of 776 youths received Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM)-based structured interviews at three time points. Questions regarding episodic and chronic irritability were used to create scales measuring these constructs; associations with age, gender, and diagnosis were examined. RESULTS: Episodic and chronic irritability differed in their associations with age. The longitudinal stability within irritability type was stronger than between types. In longitudinal analyses, chronic irritability at time 1 (mean age 13.8 +/- 2.6 years) predicted attention deficit/ hyperactivity disorder at time 2 (mean age 16.2 +/- 2.8 years) and major depression at time 3 (mean age 22.1 +/- 2.7 years). Episodic irritability at time 1 predicted simple phobia and mania at time 2. CONCLUSIONS: Episodic and chronic irritability in adolescents appear to be stable, distinct constructs. Further research is needed to elucidate the longitudinal associations of each with specific psychiatric diagnoses.

Adolescent↗

PubMed2006

Paternal, perceived maternal, and youth risk factors as predictors of youth stage of substance use a longitudinal study.

This longitudinal study examined paternal, perceived maternal, and youth risk factors at Time 1 (T1) (e.g., substance use, violent victimization, parental rules) as predictors of the stage of substance use in the adolescent child at Time 2 (T2). Participants (N = 296) consisted of drug-abusing fathers and one of their adolescent children, aged 12 to 20 years. Fathers and youths were each administered structured interviews separately and in private. Adolescents were re-interviewed approximately one year later. Pearson correlation analyses showed that the paternal, perceived maternal, and youth risk factors were significantly related to adolescent stage of substance use at T2. With an increase in risk factors, there was an increase in T2 stage of substance use in the child. Findings imply that father-oriented treatment programs should focus on how paternal behaviors, such as illegal drug use, inadequate parenting skills, and a poor father-child relationship contribute to youth problem behaviors, including alcohol, tobacco, and illicit drug use.

Adaptation, Psychological↗

PubMed2006

Predictors of rebellious behavior in childhood parental drug use, peers, school environment, and child personality.

This study assesses the interrelationships among several sets of variables and rebellious behavior in a sample of Puerto Rican and African American elementary school-aged children. The independent sets of variables (domains) were child personality attributes, parental attributes, including parental marijuana use, peer factors, school environment, and ethnic identification and discrimination. The dependent or outcome variable was children's rebellious behavior. Children and their mothers were interviewed in their homes. Pearson correlations and hierarchical multiple regression analyses were used to assess the extent to which the independent variables were related to the children's rebellious behavior. Each of the domains was associated with children's rebellious behavior without control on the remaining domains. With control on the remaining domains, child personality accounted for the most variance in childhood rebellious behavior. With control on child personality, only the school environment remained significant. Children with personality traits that are associated with rebellious behavior may have parents who exhibit antisocial behavior and use marijuana. Furthermore, these children may be at risk for other problem behaviors, including legal drug use, and would benefit from interventions which address primarily their personality characteristics, but also their school environments.

Adult↗

PubMed2006

South African adolescents: pathways to risky sexual behavior.

This study tested a developmental model of pathways to risky sexual behavior among South African adolescents. Participants comprised 633 adolescents, 12-17 years old, recruited from households in Durban, South Africa. Data were collected using in-person interviews. Topics included adolescents' sexual behaviors, household poverty levels, vulnerable personality and behavioral attributes, parent-child relations, and deviant peers. Structural equation modeling was used to assess the pathways to risky sexual behavior among the adolescents. The goodness-of-fit index (GFI) was .93. One major pathway indicated that family poverty was associated with difficulty in the parent-child relationship. This was related to vulnerable personality and behavioral attributes and to association with deviant peers, which, in turn, were related to risky sexual behavior. Findings suggest that poverty, parent-child relations, personality and behavioral vulnerabilities, and peer influences should be among factors addressed by prevention and intervention programs to reduce sexual risk behaviors by South African adolescents.

Adolescent↗

PubMed2006

Cigarette smoking in the adolescent children of drug-abusing fathers.

OBJECTIVE: This study examined the longitudinal predictors of cigarette smoking in a sample of at-risk adolescents whose fathers were drug abusers (N = 296). METHODS: At time 1, structured interviews were administered, separately and in private, to male and female youth (X age = 16.3) and their fathers; adolescents were reinterviewed approximately 1 year later (at time 2). Structural equation modeling was used to examine the interrelationship of time 1 paternal tobacco and illicit drug use, father-child relations, adolescent psychological adjustment, and peer group factors and adolescent smoking at time 2. A supplementary analysis assessed the same model with control on the adolescent's age, gender, frequency of contact with the father, and the father's treatment status. RESULTS: The structural equation model showed a mediational pathway linking paternal tobacco and drug use to a weak and conflictual father-child relationship, which was associated with greater adolescent maladjustment, which in turn was related to deviant peer affiliations, which predicted adolescent smoking at time 2. There was also a direct path from paternal tobacco and drug use to adolescent time 2 smoking. The supplementary analysis found no significant differences between the models with and without control. CONCLUSIONS: Findings provide evidence of the mechanisms that underlie the association between paternal drug use characteristics and smoking in the adolescent child. Clinical implications suggest the importance of the father-child relationship to smoking prevention programs for at-risk youth.

Adolescent↗

PubMed2006

The relationship of personality and behavioral development from adolescence to young adulthood and subsequent parenting behavior.

The purpose of the study was to examine the association of parental personality, behavior, and substance use during adolescence and adulthood as related to the later parent-offspring relationship. The sample consisted of 297 parents (M age 32 yr.), who were first interviewed at earlier points in their lives in childhood and early adolescence at six points in time, extending from 1983 to 2002. Multiple regression models showed that parents with certain earlier personality and behavioral attributes, e.g., more rebelliousness and more frequent tobacco use, had a more difficult relationship with their children. Findings indicated an association between the cumulative number of psychosocial risk factors in the parents and difficulties in the parent-child relationship. The findings suggested that interventions designed to decrease youths' substance abuse may increase the likelihood that later when they are parents they will form nurturing relationships with their children.

Adolescent↗

PubMed2006

Smoking involvement during adolescence among African Americans and Puerto Ricans: risks to psychological and physical well-being in young adulthood.

The major aim of this study was to examine the longitudinal association between adolescent smoking involvement and self-reported psychological and physical outcomes in young adulthood. Participants included 333 African Americans and 329 Puerto Ricans who were surveyed in 1990 in their New York City schools and interviewed in 1995 and 2000-2001, primarily in their homes. The psychological outcomes included ego integration, symptoms of depression, anxiety, and interpersonal difficulty. The physical health measures included a general health rating, number of illnesses, and symptoms of ill health. Also, three scales measured problems due to alcohol, marijuana, and other illicit drug use. Smoking involvement varied by age, sex, and ethnicity but not by socioeconomic status nor by late adolescent parental status. Analysis showed that the relationships between adolescent smoking involvement and psychological and physical health problems in young adulthood remained significant even with control on demographic factors, earlier levels of the outcome variables, and marijuana use. The relationships between smoking behavior and problems with alcohol, marijuana and other illicit drug use were particularly strong. Thus, adolescent smoking seems to have a wide range of clinical implications for young adulthood.

Adaptation, Psychological↗

PubMed2005

Dissociative disorders among adults in the community, impaired functioning, and axis I and II comorbidity.

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the association of dissociative disorder (DD) with impaired functioning and co-occurring Axis I and personality disorders among adults in the community. METHOD: Psychiatric interviews were administered to a sample of 658 adult participants in the Children in the Community Study, a community-based longitudinal study. RESULTS: Depersonalization disorder (prevalence: 0.8%), dissociative amnesia (prevalence: 1.8%), dissociative identity disorder (prevalence: 1.5%), and dissociative disorder not otherwise specified (prevalence: 4.4%), evident within the past year, were each associated with impaired functioning, as assessed by the clinician-administered Global Assessment of Functioning Scale. These associations remained significant after controlling for age, sex, and co-occurring disorders. Individuals with anxiety, mood, and personality disorders were significantly more likely than individuals without these disorders were to have DD, after the covariates were controlled. Individuals with Cluster A (DD prevalence: 58%), B (DD prevalence: 68%), and C (DD prevalence: 37%) personality disorders were substantially more likely than those without personality disorders were to have DD. CONCLUSIONS: DD is associated with clinically significant impairment among adults in the community. DD may be particularly prevalent among individuals with personality disorders.

Adult↗

PubMed2005

Substance use and multiple victimisation among adolescents in South Africa.

The aims of the study were to examine the relationship between multiple victimisation and drug use, and the role of drug use and other intra-personal, peer, parental and environmental factors in predicting multiple victimisation among adolescents in South Africa. A cross-sectional design was employed. The participants comprised 1474 male and female adolescents aged between 12 and 17 years, from Durban and Cape Town. They completed questionnaire measures assessing demographic characteristics; self, peer and parental drug use; self and peer delinquency; parental child-centredness and rules; and community drug availability and exposure to violence on television. A measure of multiple victimisation assessed whether or not the respondents had experienced two or more different types of violence in their lifetime. There was a significant association between frequency of tobacco, alcohol and marijuana use and multiple victimisation. Significant predictors of multiple victimisation in multiple logistic regression analyses were variables within intra-personal, peer, parental and environmental domains. Victimisation prevention programmes in South Africa should be comprehensive and target adolescents' drug use as well as their other psychosocial risk factors.

Adolescent↗

PubMed2005

Personality disorder traits associated with risk for unipolar depression during middle adulthood.

Data from the Children in the Community Study, a prospective longitudinal investigation, were used to investigate the association of personality disorder (PD) traits, evident by early adulthood, with risk for the development of unipolar depressive disorders by middle adulthood. Antisocial, borderline, dependent, depressive, histrionic, and schizotypal PD traits, identified between ages 14 and 22, were significantly associated with risk for dysthymic disorder (DD) or major depressive disorder (MDD) by a mean age of 33 after a history of unipolar depression and other psychiatric disorder was controlled statistically. Individuals without a history of unipolar depression who met diagnostic criteria for > or =1 PD by a mean age of 22 were at elevated risk for DD or MDD by a mean age of 33 years. Individuals identified as having a DSM-IV Cluster A (paranoid, schizoid, or schizotypal) or Cluster C (avoidant, dependent, obsessive-compulsive) PD by a mean age of 22 years were at elevated risk for recurrent or chronic unipolar depression. The findings of this study suggest that some types of PD traits that become evident by early adulthood may contribute to an increased risk for the development or recurrence of unipolar depressive disorders by middle adulthood.

Adolescent↗