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Biomedical subjects

L Chassin

Publications and source records attributed to L Chassin.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed2001

From adolescence to adulthood: age-related changes in beliefs about cigarette smoking in a midwestern community sample.

The current study used a cohort-sequential design to examine age-related changes in health-relevant beliefs from the middle school years through age 37 in a large, midwestern, community sample (N=8,556). Results suggest systematic age-related changes such that beliefs in the personalized risks of smoking declined in middle school and then increased, beliefs in generalized health risks increased beginning in the middle school years, and values placed on health as an outcome decreased in the high school years and then increased. These findings suggest that intervention programs must counter declining personalized risk perceptions among middle school students and declining values placed on health among high school age students.

Adolescent↗
PubMed2001

Do adolescent symptomatology and family environment vary over time with fluctuations in paternal alcohol impairment?

This study tested whether adolescent internalizing problems, externalizing problems, heavy alcohol use, fathers' parenting, and family conflict varied over time with fluctuations in fathers' alcohol impairment and also whether children of recovered alcoholic fathers differed from children of nonalcoholic fathers. Fathers and adolescent children (N = 267 families) were interviewed in 3 annual assessments. Results showed that adolescent symptomatology and the family environment did not vary over time as a function of different trajectories of paternal alcohol impairment. However, children of recovered alcoholic fathers exhibited more symptomatology than did children of nonalcoholic fathers. Even though paternal alcoholism has remitted in these families, children of recovered alcoholic fathers might remain on a general higher risk trajectory relative to children of nonalcoholic fathers.

Adolescent↗
PubMed2001

Relationship between beta-cell responsiveness and fasting plasma glucose in Caucasian subjects with newly presenting type 2 diabetes.

AIMS: beta-cell responsiveness was related to fasting plasma glucose to gain further understanding of pathophysiology of Type 2 diabetes. METHODS: An insulin secretion model gave fasting beta-cell responsiveness M0 (ability of fasting glucose to stimulate beta-cell) and postprandial beta-cell responsiveness MI (ability of postprandial glucose to stimulate beta-cell) by analysing glucose and C-peptide time-concentration curves sampled every 10-30 min over 240 min during a meal tolerance test (MTT; 75 g CHO, 500 kcal). Caucasian subjects with newly presenting Type 2 diabetes according to WHO criteria (N = 83, male/female: 65 : 18, age: 54 +/- 10 years, body mass index (BMI): 30.9 +/- 5.2 kg/m2, fasting plasma glucose (FPG): 11.0 +/- 3.2 mmol/L; mean +/- SD) and Caucasian healthy subjects (N = 54, m/f: 21 : 33, age: 48 +/- 9 years, BMI: 26.1 +/- 3.7 kg/m2, FPG: 5.1 +/- 0.4 mmol/L) were studied. RESULTS: A continuum inverse relationship between MI and FPG was observed. In the diabetes group, MI was closely related to FPG (rs = -0.74, P < 0.0001) and explained 60% intersubject FPG variability with the use of an exponential regression model. CONCLUSIONS: In newly presenting Type 2 diabetes in Caucasian subjects a close inverse association exists between postprandial beta-cell responsiveness and FPG.

Aged↗
PubMed2000

Home smoking restrictions and adolescent smoking.

The prevention of adolescent smoking has focused on peer influences to the relative neglect of parental influences. Parents socialize their children about many behaviors including smoking, and parental rules about their child's smoking have been related to lower levels of adolescent smoking. Moreover, among adults, indoor smoking restrictions have been associated with decreased smoking. Accordingly, the current study tested the relation of adolescent smoking to home smoking policy (rules regulating where adults are allowed to smoke in the home). Results showed that restrictive home smoking policies were associated with lower likelihood of trying smoking for both middle and high school students. However, for high school students this relation was restricted to homes with non-smoking parents. Home smoking policies were not associated with current regular smoking for either middle or high school students. Home smoking policies may be useful in preventing adolescent smoking experimentation, although longitudinal and experimental research is necessary to confirm this hypothesis.

Adolescent↗
PubMed2000

The relation of personality to alcohol abuse/dependence in a high-risk sample.

The current study had two goals. The first goal was to test the mediational role of young adult personality in the relation between parental alcoholism and young adult alcoholism. The second was to examine the associations between personality and alcohol use motives and reasons to limit drinking in order to explore possible mechanisms by which personality may influence alcohol abuse/dependence. Multilevel modeling techniques were used to analyze data obtained from a community sample of young adult children of alcoholics and demographically matched controls. Results revealed that young adult neuroticism and agreeableness each, in part, mediated the effect of parental alcoholism on young adult alcoholism. Moreover, individuals high in neuloticism reported stronger coping motives to use alcohol, individuals low in agreeableness reported stronger coping motives and weaker upbringing reasons to limit drinking, and individuals low in conscientiousness reported stronger coping and enhancement motives to use alcohol, and weaker performance reasons to limit drinking.

Adolescent↗
PubMed2000

The natural history of cigarette smoking from adolescence to adulthood in a midwestern community sample: multiple trajectories and their psychosocial correlates.

Previous research on the natural history of smoking has focused on overall group trajectories without considering the possibility of risk subgroup variation. To address this limitation, the authors of the present study aimed to identify subgroups with varying trajectories of smoking behavior. The authors accomplished this within a cohort-sequential study of a large community sample (N = 8,556) with measurements spanning ages 11-31. After removing 2 a priori groups (abstainers and erratics), the authors empirically identified 4 trajectory groups--early stable smokers, late stable smokers, experimenters, and quitters--and psychosocial variables from adolescence and young adulthood were significantly distinguished among them. Given recent advances in quantitative methods, it is now feasible to consider subgroups of trajectories within an overall longitudinal design.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1999

The psychosocial characteristics of alcohol users versus problem users: data from a study of adolescents at risk.

Most previous research has assumed that adolescent alcohol use and problem use represent a continuum and are influenced by the same psychosocial factors, with problem use representing more severe psychosocial impairment. The current study evaluated this assumption by identifying the correlates of adolescent alcohol use and those of problem use. Using a community sample of adolescent children of alcoholics (COAs) and a demographically matched comparison group (non-COAs), a typology of adolescent alcohol use was created, and alcohol use groups were compared on variables chosen from nine psychosocial domains. The correlates of problem alcohol use were different from those of moderate use. Problem use was associated with fundamental family disruptions and poor psychological functioning. In contrast, the determinants of moderate alcohol use reflected unconventionality and socialization specific to alcohol. Few psychosocial variables distinguished abstainers from light drinkers. Intervention and methodological implications of these findings are discussed.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1999

The relation of adolescent substance use to young adult autonomy, positive activity involvement, and perceived competence.

The current paper uses data from a longitudinal study of a high-risk sample to test the relation between adolescent alcohol and drug use and later young adult autonomy, positive activity involvement, and perceived competence. Participants (children of alcoholics and demographically matched controls) were assessed in three annual interviews in adolescence (mean age: 12.7 years at Time 1) and then again 5-7 years later, in young adulthood (median age: 20 years). Path analyses and latent growth curve models tested the effects of adolescent substance use on both self-reported and collateral-reported outcomes, controlling for correlated risk factors (parental alcoholism, adolescent psychopathology, and parental support), preexisting levels of the outcome, and concurrent young adult substance use. Results showed that adolescent drug use had a significant, unique negative effect on later autonomy and perceived competence. Alcohol use effects were more complex. Adolescent heavy drinking was associated with less positive adult outcomes, but more so in collateral reports than in self-reported outcomes. Moreover, young adult heavy drinking was either uncorrelated with or positively correlated with higher levels of perceived competence, suggesting different developmental significance of alcohol use in adolescence than in young adulthood.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1999

A longitudinal study of children of alcoholics: predicting young adult substance use disorders, anxiety, and depression.

This study tested the specificity of parent alcoholism effects on young adult alcohol and drug abuse/dependence, anxiety, and depression, and tested whether adolescent symptomatology and substance use mediated parent alcoholism effects. Participants were from a longitudinal study in which a target child was assessed in adolescence and young adulthood with structured interview measures (N = 454 families at Time 1). Results showed unique effects of parent alcoholism on young adult substance abuse/dependence diagnoses over and above the effects of other parental psychopathology. There was some evidence of parent alcoholism effects on young adult depression and of maternal alcoholism effects on young adult anxiety, although these were not found consistently across subsamples. Mediational models suggested that parent alcoholism effects could be partially (but not totally) explained by adolescent externalizing symptoms.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1999

Academic achievement in adolescent children of alcoholics.

OBJECTIVE: The current study tested whether adolescent children of alcoholics (COAs) showed poorer academic performance than did demographically matched controls, and whether such parent alcoholism effects varied as a function of heterogeneity within the COA sample. In addition, controlling for parent educational attainment, we examined whether relations between parental alcohol dependence and academic performance could be accounted for by COAs' lower levels of task orientation, heightened levels of environmental stress, lowered levels of family organization and less parental involvement in their school activities. METHOD: A sample of 221 adolescent COAs and 196 demographically matched controls (53% boys, mean [+/-SD] age = 12.7+/-1.46 years), and their parents, were included in the current study. Adolescents were selected from a larger 3-year longitudinal study in which participants were interviewed three times at annual intervals. Those who were interviewed at Time 3 and who had academic achievement data were included in the current analyses. Demographic information and diagnoses of parental alcoholism were collected at Time 1, and data on potential mediators were collected at Time 3. Academic achievement data were collected at Time 3 from school records. RESULTS: Multiple regression analyses indicated that COAs received lower school grades than did their non-COA peers (mean = 2.19+/-1.08 vs 2.54+/-1.01, respectively). COAs with two alcoholic parents (mean = 1.80+/-1.17) and COAs with at least one parent diagnosed alcohol dependent (mean = 2.01+/-1.01) showed particularly low grades. Parental alcohol dependence was also associated with lower math achievement scores (mean = 48.52+/-24.68 vs 62.47+/-26.71). Evidence indicated that adolescents' task orientation mediated the relation between parental alcohol dependence and adolescent grades (indirect effect, t = -2.93, 289 df, p < .01), and between parental alcohol dependence and adolescent math achievement (indirect effect, t = -1.99, 194 df, p < .01). Adolescents' life stress did not mediate the relations of interest after controlling for task orientation. CONCLUSIONS: The current study confirmed that COAs, particularly those whose parents are alcohol dependent as opposed to having a diagnosis of alcohol abuse, achieve relatively lower academic outcomes in comparison to non-COA peers. Adolescent task orientation partially mediated the relations between parent alcohol dependence and academic achievement, indicating that academic difficulties in COAs may be partly due to impaired motivation and organization.

Achievement↗
PubMed1998

Pathways of risk for accelerated heavy alcohol use among adolescent children of alcoholic parents.

The current study examined two questions. First, do internalizing symptoms and externalizing behavior each mediate the relations between parent psychopathology (alcoholism, antisocial personality disorder, and affective disorder) and growth in adolescent heavy alcohol use? Second, are there gender differences in these mediated pathways? Using latent curve analyses, we examined these questions in a high-risk sample of 439 families (53% children of alcoholic parents; 47% female). Collapsing across gender, adolescent-reported externalizing behavior mediated both the relation between parent alcoholism and growth in heavy alcohol use and the relation between parent antisociality and growth in heavy alcohol use. Parent-reported externalizing behavior only mediated the relation between parent antisociality and growth in heavy alcohol use in males. No support was found for internalizing symptoms as a mediator of these relations. Avenues are suggested for further exploring and integrating information about different mediating processes accounting for children of alcoholics' risk for heavy alcohol use.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1998

Maternal socialization of adolescent smoking: the intergenerational transmission of parenting and smoking.

A longitudinal multigenerational design was used to examine the intergenerational transmission of smoking and the correlated transmission of parental support and control. Whether maternal socialization of adolescent smoking (both general parenting practices and smoking-specific strategies) would predict adolescent smoking both directly and indirectly by affecting peer affiliations was tested. There was strong evidence for the intergenerational transmission of cigarette smoking and for the relation between peer smoking and adolescent smoking. Both general parenting practices and smoking-specific discussion and punishment were significantly related to adolescents' smoking, especially for adolescent-reported parenting. Support for the intergenerational transmission of parenting practices emerged only in mothers' reports of support. Results suggest expanding current peer-focused prevention efforts to include parental socialization strategies.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1998

Prospective differential prediction of adolescent alcohol use and problem use: examining the mechanisms of effect.

This prospective study tested the assertion that psychopathology would predict both adolescent alcohol use and problem use, whereas socialization factors would predict only use, and explored mechanisms by which predictors led to problem use in a community sample of families (N = 216). Externalizing symptoms, parental alcoholism, peer influences, and parental support were indirectly related to negative consequences through their effects on use level. Externalizing symptoms, internalizing symptoms, peer influences, and parental approval of use directly predicted consequences, controlling for the indirect effects through use level. Internalizing pathology potentiated the relation between consumption and consequences, whereas parental support and control mitigated this relation. Collectively, findings provided mixed support for the assertion that psychopathology would predict both use and problem use, whereas socialization factors would predict only use.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1998

Pancreatic beta-cell responsiveness during meal tolerance test: model assessment in normal subjects and subjects with newly diagnosed noninsulin-dependent diabetes mellitus.

A model-based method was developed to quantify pancreatic beta-cell responsiveness during a meal tolerance test (MTT). C peptide secretion was related in a linear fashion to glucose concentration, whereas the standard population model was used to derive transfer rate constants of the two compartmental model of C peptide kinetics. Two indexes of pancreatic beta-cell responsiveness were defined: 1) postprandial sensitivity M(I) (ability of postprandial glucose to stimulate beta-cell), and 2) basal sensitivity M0 (ability of fasting glucose to stimulate beta-cell). The method was evaluated using plasma glucose and C peptide measured over 180 min with a 10- to 30-min sampling interval during a MTT (75 g carbohydrates; 500 Cal) performed in 16 normal subjects (7 men and 9 women; age, 50 +/- 10 yr; body mass index, 29.2 +/- 3.6 kg/m2; fasting plasma glucose, 5.1 +/- 0.5 mmol/L; mean +/- SD) and 16 body mass index-matched subjects with newly diagnosed noninsulin-dependent diabetes mellitus (NIDDM; 15 men and 1 woman; age, 50 +/- 9 yr; body mass index, 29.3 +/- 3.7 kg/m2; fasting plasma glucose, 12.6 +/- 3.2 mmol/L). M(I) and M0 indexes were estimated with very good precision (coefficient of variation, < 15%). Subjects with NIDDM demonstrated lower postprandial sensitivity M(I) (17.7 +/- 11.4 vs. 90.0 +/- 43.3 x 10(-9)/min; NIDDM vs. normal, P < 0.001) and basal sensitivity M0 (5.4 +/- 2.2 vs. 10.3 +/- 4.9 x 10(-9)/min; P < 0.005). Deconvolution analysis documented that the relationship between C peptide secretion and glucose concentration is approximately linear during MTT in both normal subjects (plasma glucose range, 5-8 mmol/L) and subjects with NIDDM (12-17 mmol/L). We conclude that pancreatic responsiveness during glucose stimulation (M(I)) and under basal conditions (M0) can be obtained from this novel method during MTT in healthy and disease states.

Adult↗
PubMed1997

The relation between adolescent alcohol use and peer alcohol use: a longitudinal random coefficients model.

Longitudinal latent growth models were used to examine the relation between changes in adolescent alcohol use and changes in peer alcohol use over a 3-year period in a community-based sample of 363 Hispanic and Caucasian adolescents. Both adolescent alcohol use and peer alcohol use were characterized by positive linear growth over time. Not only were changes in adolescent alcohol use closely related to changes in peer alcohol use, but the initial status on peer alcohol use was predictive of later increases in adolescent alcohol use and the initial status on adolescent alcohol use was predictive of later increases in peer alcohol use. These results are inconsistent with models positing solely unidirectional effects between adolescent alcohol use and peer alcohol use.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1997

Substance use initiation among adolescent children of alcoholics: testing protective factors.

OBJECTIVE: Past research suggests that adolescent children of alcoholics (COAs) are at heightened risk for alcohol and drug use. However, not all COAs use substances during adolescence. The current study investigated whether five factors (self-awareness, perceived control, family organization, behavioral coping and cognitive coping) buffer COA risk for substance use initiation during adolescence. METHOD: A community sample of 454 COA and matched control families was recruited to participate in a 3-year longitudinal study, involving annual computer-assisted interviews with adolescents and their parents. Subjects were selected for the current study if they had complete data at all three assessment periods and showed either abstinence throughout the study or substance use initiation after the first wave of assessment. A subsample of 267 (127 COAs, 147 controls; 147 male) of the original participants was included in the current analyses. RESULTS: Logistic regress on analyses found some support for the buffering hypothesis in that COAs with greater perceived control or extreme (very low or high) levels of cognitive coping were less likely to initiate substance use than their peers. Main effects suggested that adolescents reporting high family organization and either very low or very high levels of behavioral coping were less likely to initiate substance use over the course of the study. CONCLUSIONS: These findings suggest that highly organized families and behavioral coping efforts may deter substance use initiation. Moreover, perceived control over one's environment and cognitive coping may buffer adolescents from the risk associated with parent alcoholism for substance use.

Adaptation, Psychological↗
PubMed1997

A critical analysis of COA research.

Five experts respected for their significant contributions to the scientific literature on children of alcoholics (COA's) offer their perspectives in a panel discussion format. The panel members reflect on the historical roots of COA research and comment on its current status and future direction. Enriched by the panelists' variety of backgrounds, research interests, and approaches, the discussion emphasizes the need to consider multiple variables that influence the risk for alcoholism among COA's.

Alcoholism↗