Developmental Associations Between Alcohol and Interpersonal Aggression During Adolescence

This study used yearly data from 808 males and females from the Seattle Social Development Project to explore the associations between alcohol use and interpersonal aggression from early to late adolescence. Nested structural equation modeling was used. With stability effects and cross-sectional correlations controlled, the authors examined the cross-lagged effects from alcohol use to interpersonal aggression, as well as those from interpersonal aggression to alcohol use. The data indicated a reciprocal effect of interpersonal aggression and alcohol use in later adolescence. Sex of the subject did not significantly moderate the observed relationships. When shared risk factors for alcohol use and interpersonal aggression were controlled, the relationships were not seriously attenuated. Although the results suggested that reducing one behavior will probably not have a long-term impact on the other, early prevention efforts aimed at shared risk factors may reduce both contemporaneously.