My PhD thesis examined the effect of peer influence on the development of adolescent alcohol use. Peer influence is one of the most salient and consistent predictors for drinking behaviour among young people. It is important to understand the relative contribution of the processes of peer influence (whereby adolescents transition to alcohol use in the presence of alcohol-using peers) and peer selection (whereby those using alcohol initially in the absence of alcohol-using friends then subsequently seek out drinking peers) so that appropriate prevention strategies can be applied at different stages in adolescence. Using cross-national, prospective data from state-representative samples of students in Grades 5, 7 and 9 in Victoria, Australia and Washington State, USA from the International Youth DevelopmentStudy, I used Latent Transition Analysis to identify a range of transition groups with adolescents moving in and out of their latent peer classes over time and explored predictors associated with these transitions. The findings provide the firmest estimates to date of the prevalence of peer influenced alcohol use transitions and demonstrate age and country variations.

Merel and Nadia, two child psychology students from the Netherlands spent eight weeks doing a student placement within two of our research projects. They  were at the Centre for Adolescent Health  to write their bachelor’s thesis.

They told us “It was a great experience being here. It was a pleasure to see how the Murdoch Childrens Research Institute and Royal Children’s Hospital research teams operate. All the co-workers are interested in each other’s project. It was a wonderful experience being here and to meet all the nice staff! We learned a lot about what research is and it was great to see how the staff worked together and were very helpful to each other. We loved our internship at the Centre for Adolescent Health  and to see the brand new hospital with all the child friendly facilities. It is amazing that everything is just there in one hospital. We had a great time!”

• The PhD thesis examined the effect of peer influence on the development of adolescent alcohol use. Peer influence is one of the most salient and consistent predictors for drinking behaviour among young people.
• It is important to understand the relative contribution of the processes of peer influence (whereby adolescents transition to alcohol use in the presence of alcohol-using peers) and peer selection (whereby those using alcohol initially in the absence of alcohol-using friends then subsequently seek out drinking peers) so that appropriate prevention strategies can be applied at different stages in adolescence.
• Using cross-national, prospective data from state-representative samples of students in Grades 5, 7 and 9 in Victoria, Australia and Washington State, USA from the International Youth Development Study, Latent Transition Analysis was used to identify a range of transition groups with adolescents moving in and out of their latent peer classes over time and explored predictors associated with these transitions.
• The findings provide the firmest estimates to date of the prevalence of peer influenced alcohol use transitions and demonstrate age and country variations.

The CATS study is a new and unique longitudinal study of children in metropolitan Melbourne as they approach adolescence.  The study began in 2012 and is following over 1200 children from grade 3 (8-9 years of age). It will cover the experiences of children and their families, their changing social context as they move into secondary school, and the biological changes of puberty. Findings from this study will be used to determine which children are most at risk as they pass through puberty and the middle years of school, and to see if certain modifiable factors may be a target for preventative interventions.

Find out more information on our website: http://www.mcri.edu.au/cats

Check out our new video to learn more about CATS! http://www.mcri.edu.au/truthaboutcats/]

You can also keep up to date through our facebook page: www.facebook.com/cats.study.9

This paper reports on research from the Longitudinal Study of Australian children, in which parents of children were interviewed over time, and asked questions on puberty, behaviour, emotional, social and school functioning. 

Lead researcher, Dr Fiona Mensah, says the study provides new evidence of pre-existing and persistent early childhood differences in socio-emotional well being amongst children who experience early puberty. 

“There is a heightened risk for behaviour and emotional problems during puberty; and children who reach puberty earlier than their peers have more of these difficulties in adolescence.”  

Professor George Patton says the study supports a ‘life course’ hypothesis.

“Understanding what lies behind early puberty may also tell us much about the origins of emotional and behavioural problems of children and adolescents.”

The study was published in the Journal of Adolescent Health.

George Patton was interviewed by the ABC. To listen to the interview click here.

 Fiona and George write Conversation piece

There has been a good deal of interest in a question about whether very early adolescent heavy cannabis use may cause ongoing problems even when someone stops cannabis use.  The early teens are a time of rapid brain development involving those parts involved in emotional control.  Studies in rats have suggested large doses of cannabinoids (the active ingredients in cannabis) may alter longer terms patterns of anxiety.  Other studies in humans have raised a question about early cannabis users have reduced intelligence later in adulthood.  We found that in our study of two thousand young Victorians a two-fold higher rate of anxiety problems in the later twenties even where an individual was no longer using cannabis.  We could not account for it by other aspects of an individual’s lifestyle or their earlier history of mental health problems.  It is consistent with a view that heavy (at least weekly) early teen cannabis use does increase the risks for later anxiety problems.

Degenhardt L, Coffey C, Romaniuk H, Swift W, Carlin JB, Hall WD, Patton GC. The persistence of the association between adolescent cannabis use and common mental disorders into young adulthood. Addiction. 2013; 108(1): 124-33.