# Adolescent predictors of perceived family quality and alcohol misuse in adulthood

> **NIH NIH R03** · UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN AT ANN ARBOR · 2020 · $78,000

## Abstract

Abstract
We propose to analyze data from the Flint Adolescent Study (FAS; R01 DA007484-14, PI: Zimmerman), a
longitudinal study following an at-risk sample of adolescents into young adulthood over a span of 19 years. We
will examine the link between family environment in adolescence and young-adulthood alcohol misuse, family
stress, and child temperament. In addition, this study will integrate census and police crime data to examine
how contextual stressors commonly experienced by African Americans (e.g. neighborhood disadvantage,
community violence, and perceived discrimination)1 may modulate these relationships. The study sample
includes African-American youth at-risk for deleterious outcomes as a result of low school achievement status,
typically low socio-economic status individuals coming from depressed, notoriously violent communities.
Researchers have sought to describe consistent patterns of alcohol use in both adolescence and early
adulthood. Yet, these developmental patterns of alcohol use may not be generalizable to African Americans
who often report different alcohol use relative to their white counterparts. Furthermore, although researchers
have examined the dynamic associations between parents' alcohol problems, parenting, and child
temperament, few have examined how family processes interplay with the trajectory of alcohol use and
perceived child temperament. Finally, more work is needed to determine whether and how contextual stress
can exacerbate difficulties during the transition to adulthood caused by early risk factors of alcohol misuse. To
address these gaps in the literature, we will determine if different patterns of alcohol use during the transition to
adulthood predict the trajectories of alcohol use in adulthood (Aim 1). We will then examine a conceptual
model of how alcohol use trajectories in responses to negative family environments in adolescence may be a
precursor for later family stress, alcohol misuse and perceived child temperament in young adulthood (Aim 2).
We will then determine if several dimensions of contextual stressors differentially affect the relationships
between early negative family environment and young adult outcomes (Aim 3). We will use structural equation
modeling and latent class growth curve modeling to test our hypotheses. Results from this secondary data
analysis will help inform interventions that focus on family factors during adolescence for preventing alcohol
misuse later in life. The findings may also shed the light on how contextual stress influences the relations of
family stress, alcohol use and child development, especially among vulnerable populations.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 9976030
- **Project number:** 1R03AA027751-01A1
- **Recipient organization:** UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN AT ANN ARBOR
- **Principal Investigator:** Hsing-Fang Hsieh
- **Activity code:** R03 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2020
- **Award amount:** $78,000
- **Award type:** 1
- **Project period:** 2020-09-01 → 2022-08-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/9976030

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 9976030, Adolescent predictors of perceived family quality and alcohol misuse in adulthood (1R03AA027751-01A1). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-22 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/9976030. Licensed CC0.

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