UMTRI Project

Alcohol-Related Risk Behavior: Adolescent to Young Adult

Sponsor: National Institutes of Health
Investigators: Jean T. Shope, C. Raymond Bingham
07/01/2002 - 06/30/2008

This ongoing study is a competing renewal of the previous grant "Psychosocial Correlates of Adolescent Driving Behaviors: Implications for Prevention," 1991-1996, which was renewed 1997-2002. Young adults (age 21-34) have the highest rate of at-risk drinking and drinking/driving of any age group. Using Problem Behavior Theory as the main conceptual approach, this study will advance theory explaining the development of these behaviors, providing in-depth understanding of their increasing, decreasing, stable, or variable patterns over time. The study will address three aims: 1) Characterize longitudinal young adult patterns of at-risk drinking and drinking/driving; 2) Determine adolescent characteristics that predict young adult at-risk drinking and drinking/driving; and 3) Develop new statistical models and estimation methods for analyzing combined multiple series of longitudinal data.