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Biomedical subjects

M T Lynskey

Publications and source records attributed to M T Lynskey.

At least 37 records · Page 2Linked to original sources
PubMed1996

Factors associated with continuity and changes in disruptive behavior patterns between childhood and adolescence.

The relationships between disruptive behaviors in middle childhood (7 to 9 years) and conduct disorder in adolescence (14 to 16 years) were studied in a birth cohort of New Zealand children. Latent class analysis suggested strong behavioral continuity, with children showing early disruptive behaviors having odds of adolescent conduct disorder that were over 16 times higher than children who did not display early disruptive behavior. Nonetheless, in the region of 12% of children showed a discontinuous history, with 5% of children showing an early onset of conduct problems and later remission while 7% showed later onset conduct problems. Children showing discontinuous histories of behavior problems came from backgrounds in which levels of risk were intermediate between those of children who showed a persistent pattern of conduct problems and those who were consistently nonproblem children. Peer factors played an influential role in behavioral change in adolescence, with individuals showing late onset of conduct problems having high rates of affiliation with delinquent peers but those showing remission of problem behaviors in adolescence having relatively low rates of such affiliations.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1996

Alcohol misuse and juvenile offending in adolescence.

The associations between alcohol misuse and juvenile offending during the period from 15 to 16 years of age were studied in a birth cohort of New Zealand adolescents. This analysis showed that young people who misused alcohol had significantly (p <0.001) higher rates of both violent and property offences. These associations were similar for males and females. Further analysis suggested that a substantial component of the association between alcohol misuse and juvenile offending arose from shared risk factors that were common to both outcomes. These risk factors included measures of family social background, family and parental characteristics, individual characteristics and adolescent peer affiliations. After adjustment for antecedent risk factors there was no significant association between alcohol misuse and odds of property offences. However, young people who abused alcohol had odds of violent offending that were 3.2 times (p< 0.001) the odds of those offences for young people who did not misuse alcohol. It is concluded: (a) that a large component of the association between alcohol misuse and juvenile offending arises because of the effects of shared risk factors that are associated with both outcomes; (b) none the less, the unexplained association between alcohol misuse and violent offending may suggest the presence of a direct cause and effect association in which adolescent alcohol misuse is associated with increased risks of violent offending.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1996

Origins of comorbidity between conduct and affective disorders.

OBJECTIVE: This analysis used methods of structural equation modeling to assess the extent to which comorbidity between conduct and affective disorders could be explained by (1) common or correlated causal factors that influenced both outcomes or (2) reciprocal causation between these conditions. METHOD: Data were obtained during the course of a 16-year longitudinal study of a birth cohort of New Zealand children. The data analyzed comprised measures of conduct and affective disorders at ages 15 and 16 years and data on a series of antecedent childhood factors. RESULTS: Structural equation modeling suggested that a substantial component of the comorbidity between conduct and affective disorders arose because the risk factors associated with the development of conduct disorders in teenagers overlapped and were correlated with the risk factors for adolescent affective disorders; of the shared variance between conduct disorder and affective disorders, more than two thirds was explained by common risk factors. These conclusions were replicated using diagnostically scored measures and methods of categorical data analysis. Model extensions suggested an absence of direct causal pathways between conduct and affective disorders. CONCLUSIONS: A substantial amount of the correlation and comorbidity between conduct and affective disorders arises because the risk factors and life pathways that predispose adolescents to one outcome are also associated with the risk factors and life pathways that predispose adolescents to the other outcome. Nonetheless, even after control for common causal factors, there was evidence of some unexplained comorbidity between conduct and affective disorders.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1996

Childhood sexual abuse and psychiatric disorder in young adulthood: I. Prevalence of sexual abuse and factors associated with sexual abuse.

OBJECTIVE: To present accounts of the prevalence of childhood sexual abuse (CSA) and social, family, and related factors that are associated with increased risk of CSA, using data gathered during an 18-year longitudinal study of a New Zealand birth cohort. METHOD: A birth cohort of more than 1,000 children born in Christchurch (New Zealand) was studied prospectively to the age of 16 years. At age 18, retrospective reports of CSA were obtained. RESULTS: Of the cohort, 10.4% (17.3% of females and 3.4% of males) reported having experienced CSA before the age of 16 years. Rates of severe abusive experiences involving intercourse were lower: 5.6% of females and 1.4% of males reported abuse involving attempted or completed intercouse. Multivariate analyses that the risk of CSA was elevated among females (p < .0001), those exposed to high levels of marital conflict (p < .005), those reporting low parental attachment (p < .001), those reporting high levels of paternal overprotection (p < .005), and those with parents who reported alcoholism/alcohol problems (p < .05). The level of prediction of CSA from childhood and family factors was not sufficient to identify individuals at risk of CSA with any degree of accuracy. CONCLUSIONS: CSA was not an uncommon experience in this cohort. Those most likely to be exposed to CSA were girls reared in families in families characterized by high levels of marital conflict and impaired parenting and in families having parents with adjustment problems.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1996

Childhood sexual abuse and psychiatric disorder in young adulthood: II. Psychiatric outcomes of childhood sexual abuse.

OBJECTIVE: This is the second in a series of articles that describe the prevalence, correlates, and consequences of childhood sexual abuse (CSA) in a birth cohort of more than 1,000 New Zealand children studied to the age of 18 years. This article examines the associations between reports of CSA at age 18 and DSM-IV diagnostic classifications at age 18. METHOD: A birth cohort of New Zealand children was studied at annual intervals from birth to age 16 years. At age 18 years retrospective reports of CSA prior to age 16 and concurrently measured psychiatric symptoms were obtained. RESULTS: Those reporting CSA had higher rates of major depression, anxiety disorder, conduct disorder, substance use disorder, and suicidal behaviors than those not reporting CSA (p < .002). There were consistent relationships between the extent of CSA and risk of disorder, with those reporting CSA involving intercourse having the highest risk of disorder. These results persisted when findings were adjusted for prospectively measured childhood family and related factors. Similar but less marked relationships between CSA and nonconcurrently measured disorders were found. CONCLUSIONS: The findings suggest that CSA, and particularly severe CSA, was associated with increased risk of psychiatric disorder in young adults even when due allowance was made for prospectively measured confounding factors.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1996

Adolescent resiliency to family adversity.

The factors associated with adolescent resiliency to childhood adversity were examined in a birth cohort of 940 New Zealand adolescents studied to the age of 16 years. Resilient teenagers were defined by: (a) high exposure to family adversity during childhood and (b) an absence of a wide range of externalising problems during adolescence including substance abuse, juvenile offending and school problems. Resilient teenagers were characterised by significantly higher IQ (p < .001), lower novelty seeking (p < .01) and lower affiliations with delinquent peers (p < .005) with these factors acting accumulatively to influence the probability of resilience to externalising problems.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1996

Alcohol misuse and adolescent sexual behaviors and risk taking.

OBJECTIVE: The aims of this study were to examine the associations between alcohol misuse and measures of early onset sexual activity and sexual risk-taking behaviors during adolescence and the extent to which any association between these two sets of behaviors could be explained by common risk factors that predisposed individuals to both outcomes. METHODS: Data were gathered during the course of a 16-year longitudinal study of a birth cohort of 953 New Zealand children and included: (1) self-report measures of early onset sexual activity (before the age of 16 years), multiple partners (three or more), and unprotected intercourse during the interval from 15 to 16 years; and (2) prospectively measured risk factors, including social background, childhood adversity, novelty seeking, and affiliations with delinquent peers. RESULTS: Adolescents who reported misusing alcohol had odds of early onset sexual activity, multiple partners, and unprotected intercourse that were 6.1 to 23.0 times those of young people who did not misuse alcohol. After adjustment for common or correlated risk factors, the adjusted odds ratios between alcohol misuse and early onset sexual activity and unprotected intercourse were reduced but remained statistically significant. However, no significant association between alcohol misuse and multiple partners was found after adjustment for common or correlated risk factors. CONCLUSIONS: Much of the apparent association between alcohol misuse and teenage sexual activity and risk taking seems to arise through the influence of common family, individual, and peer factors. However, alcohol misuse may also place teenagers at greater risk of initiating early onset sexual intercourse and engaging in unprotected intercourse.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1995

Childhood conduct problems, attention deficit behaviors, and adolescent alcohol, tobacco, and illicit drug use.

The relationships between conduct problems and attention deficit behaviors at age 8 years and the use of alcohol, tobacco, and illicit drugs at 15 years were studied in a birth cohort of over 900 New Zealand children. The analysis showed that while early conduct problems were significantly associated with later substance use there were no significant associations between early attention deficit behaviors and later substance use once the correlations between conduct problems and attention deficit behaviors were taken into account. These associations persisted after control for a range of potentially confounding covariates. Children who showed tendencies to conduct problems at age 8 consumed 1.5 to 1.9 times more alcohol and had rates of alcohol-related problems, daily cigarette smoking, and illicit drug use that were 1.9 to 2.0 times higher than children with low conduct problem scores. It is concluded that attention deficit behaviors, in the absence of conduct problems, are not associated with later substance use. However, even when due allowance is made for social and contextual factors associated with both early conduct problems and later substance use, early conduct problems are a risk factor for later substance use.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1995

The stability of disruptive childhood behaviors.

The stability of child conduct and oppositional defiant behaviors during the period from 7 to 15 years was studied in a birth cohort of New Zealand children. These data were analyzed using two methods. In the first method the observed state to state changes in childhood behavioral tendencies were analyzed using empirical transition matrices. These results suggested that children classified as cases showed high rates of symptom remission, with approximately 50% of cases being classified as noncases 2 years later. In the second approach the data were analyzed using a latent Markov model which took account of errors of measurement in the classification of children. This analysis suggested the presence of strong continuities in childhood problem behaviors, with only 14% of children showing remission of behavioral problems within a 2-year period. The differences in the estimates yielded by the empirical transition matrices and the latent analyses were explained by the fact that there were relatively high probabilities that children who were cases were misclassified as a result of measurement errors.

Acting Out↗
PubMed1995

The role of peer affiliations, social, family and individual factors in continuities in cigarette smoking between childhood and adolescence.

The continuity between early smoking experimentation and smoking at age 16 years was analysed for a birth cohort of New Zealand children. This analysis suggested that when due allowance was made for errors in reports of smoking behaviours, there was evidence of relatively strong continuity (r = 0.60) between early smoking experimentation and cigarette smoking at age 16 years. Further analysis suggested that the continuities between early smoking experimentation and later smoking arose from three pathways that linked early smoking experimentation to later smoking. First there was evidence to suggest that children who engaged in early smoking experimentation tended to affiliate with adolescent peer groups whose members smoked. In turn, these peer group affiliations reinforced pre-existing tendencies to cigarette smoking. Secondly, a small component of the apparent continuity between early smoking experimentation and later smoking arose because of common social, individual and contextual factors that were associated with both smoking experimentation and later smoking. Finally, there was evidence of moderate direct continuity in cigarette smoking behaviour over time. The implications of these findings for the development of smoking prevention programmes are discussed and it is concluded that effective programmes need to be embedded in a developmental approach which attempts to reduce both early smoking experimentation and the effects of peer pressure in adolescence on the development of cigarette smoking.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1995

The prevalence and risk factors associated with abusive or hazardous alcohol consumption in 16-year-olds.

This paper examines the prevalence of abusive or hazardous alcohol consumption at age 16 years and the risk factors associated with such behaviour using data from a longitudinal study of a birth cohort of 953 children. Drinking behaviour was assessed on the basis of self-report measures of the frequency of alcohol consumption, reports of the typical and largest amounts of alcohol consumed and the frequency of alcohol-related problems. These measures were combined using latent class analysis methods to identify a group of adolescents (9.3% of the sample) who were characterized by high levels of abusive or hazardous drinking behaviour. Analysis of the risk factors associated with abusive/hazardous drinking identified three factors which were predictive of this behaviour at age 16 years: gender (p < 0.001); the largest amount of alcohol consumed at age 14 years (p < 0.05); and the extent of affiliation with substance using peers (p < 0.001). Further analysis suggested that the effects of other social, familial and individual risk factors on alcohol abuse were mediated via their effect on early drinking behaviour or via their influences on peer affiliations in adolescence. A tentative model of the pathways to adolescent alcohol abuse is discussed.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1995

Childhood circumstances, adolescent adjustment, and suicide attempts in a New Zealand birth cohort.

OBJECTIVE: To estimate the prevalence of attempted suicide during adolescence in a birth cohort of New Zealand children studied to the age of 16 years and to examine the relationships among adolescent problems of adjustment, psychopathology, childhood circumstances, and risks of adolescent suicide attempts. METHOD: Attempted suicide, adolescent problems of adjustment, psychopathology, and childhood circumstances were assessed as part of a longitudinal study of a birth cohort of 954 New Zealand children studied at annual intervals to the age of 16 years. RESULTS: By 16 years, 3.0% of the sample (4.2% of girls and 1.9% of boys) reported having made a suicide attempt. There were strong associations between attempted suicide and rates of adolescent problem behaviors or psychopathology; teenagers having problems of adjustment or psychiatric disorders were up to 22 times more likely to attempt suicide. Risks of attempted suicide were also higher among children from disadvantaged or dysfunctional family backgrounds. A loglinear model fitted to the measures of attempted suicide, adolescent psychopathology, problems of adjustment, and childhood circumstances suggested the presence of a causal chain process in which childhood problems were significantly (p < .005) related to increased risks of later psychopathology and problems of personal adjustment which were, in turn, related to significantly (p < .05) increased rates of attempted suicide. CONCLUSIONS: A common pathway that leads to increased vulnerability to suicidal behavior involves early disadvantageous childhood and family circumstances, which lead to increased risks of adolescent psychopathology and problems of adjustment, which lead to increased risks and vulnerability to adolescent suicidal behaviors.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1995

Suicide attempts and suicidal ideation in a birth cohort of 16-year-old New Zealanders.

OBJECTIVE: To describe the prevalence of suicide attempts and suicidal ideation in a birth cohort of New Zealand children studied to the age of 16 years; to examine the extent to which risks of suicide attempts and suicidal ideation varied with levels of adolescent psychopathology, problems of adjustment, and exposure to adverse conditions during childhood; and to examine the extent to which those attempting suicide could be distinguished from those reporting suicidal ideation alone. METHOD: Data were gathered on suicide attempts, suicidal ideation, psychiatric diagnoses, adjustment problems, and childhood factors during the course of a 16-year longitudinal study of a birth cohort of New Zealand children. RESULTS: Twelve percent of this cohort reported suicidal ideation before the age of 16 years and 3% attempted suicide. The extent to which young people expressed suicidal tendencies varied with the extent to which the young person met criteria for psychiatric disorder, the extent of adjustment problems, and the extent to which the young person had been exposed to adverse family circumstances. Those attempting suicide were distinguished from those reporting suicidal ideation by having significantly higher rates of psychopathology (p < .05), higher rates of adjustment problems (p < .005), and greater exposure to childhood and family adversity (p < .05). CONCLUSION: The results of this analysis were consistent with a dimensional model of suicidal behaviors in which those attempting suicide are distinguished from those reporting suicidal ideation alone by having a greater burden of psychosocial risk factors including psychiatric disorder, adjustment problems, and adverse childhood circumstances.

Adjustment Disorders↗
PubMed1995

Maternal depressive symptoms and depressive symptoms in adolescents.

The relationship between maternal depressive symptoms and rates of adolescent (15-16 years) depressive symptoms was studied in a birth cohort of 934 New Zealand children. There was a clear correlation between maternal depressive symptoms and subsequent depressive symptoms in adolescent females (r = .44) but no association (r = -.01) between maternal depressive symptoms and depressive symptoms in adolescent males. Subsequent analysis suggested that the correlation between maternal depression and depressive symptoms in adolescent females was largely explained by the associations of both measures with a series of social and contextual factors including social disadvantage, marital discord and family adversity. It is concluded that maternal depression is only associated with depression in adolescence insofar as maternal depression is associated with social disadvantage, marital discord or family adversity.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1994

AIDS knowledge and condom use in a birth cohort of 16 year olds.

AIMS: The aims of this study were to examine levels of AIDS knowledge and contraceptive practices in a birth cohort of 16 year old Christchurch born children. METHODS: The study was based on the birth cohort of young people participating in the Christchurch Health and Development Study. At age 16 years 953 subjects were questioned about: (a) levels of AIDS knowledge using a 16 item AIDS knowledge questionnaire; (b) rates of sexual activity; (c) patterns of contraceptive use. RESULTS: Members of this cohort had a generally very high knowledge of AIDS with 92% of the sample responding correctly to 14 or more of the 16 AIDS knowledge questions. Just over a quarter of this sample were sexually active during their 16th year and it was estimated that condoms were used in 59% of all sexual acts reported by sample members. There was a clear tendency for rates of condom use to decline with increasing sexual experience with this decline being due to the fact that as teenagers become more sexually experienced condoms were progressively replaced by other contraceptive methods. Those with high levels of AIDS knowledge used condoms at a higher rate of those with low levels of AIDS knowledge even when due allowance was made for the frequency of sexual activity and other potentially confounding factors. CONCLUSIONS: The results of this study suggest that publicity and education about AIDS has been successful in producing high levels of knowledge about this condition in this cohort. However, this knowledge was not directly translated into high levels of condom use largely as a result of the fact that as teenagers became increasingly sexually experienced there was a tendency for condom use to be replaced by other methods of contraception and notably the contraceptive pill.

Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome↗
PubMed1994

Alcohol consumption and associated problems in a birth cohort of 15 year olds.

AIMS: This study documents patterns of alcohol consumption and alcohol abuse in a birth cohort of 965 Christchurch born children studied to the age of 15 years. Additionally, the study documents the associations between measures of alcohol consumption and a range of other aspects of adolescent development. METHOD: Data on patterns of alcohol use, alcohol related problems and other aspects of adolescent development were collected at age 15 years on the basis of self report, parental reports and official records. RESULTS: For most sample members the consumption of alcohol was both infrequent (28.4% were classified as nondrinkers and 23.9% had drunk alcohol only once or twice in the preceding year) and moderate. However, 6.7% reported weekly drinking and 3.3%-6.8% of the sample reported drinking the equivalent of at least 90 mL of pure alcohol on the last or typical drinking occasion. 19.1% of the sample reported experiencing problems as a result of their drinking and 4.9% of the sample met criteria for alcohol abuse. Measures of alcohol consumption were found to be highly associated with measures of daily cigarette smoking, cannabis use, sexual activity, police contact and depression. CONCLUSIONS: While overall levels of alcohol consumption in this cohort were moderate there was evidence of a minority of adolescents who consumed alcohol frequently, in large amounts or who experienced alcohol related problems. Measures of frequent, heavy or problem alcohol use were found to be highly associated with a range of other aspects of adolescent development.

Adolescent↗