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Understanding Alcohol Use Trajectories From Adolescence To Young Adulthood: A Bioecological Approach, Jacqueline A. Bonsu

Theses and Dissertations--Psychology

The current study sought to better understand how alcohol use patterns develop over the transition to young adulthood by taking a bioecological approach in examining the joint influence of contextual and individual factors on drinking behaviors. Using a longitudinal design to include many factors that likely play key roles in this highly sensitive developmental period (e.g., peer norms, social activities, personality traits, access and exposure to substances), both mean levels of these variables and their change over time were considered in relation to alcohol use trajectories (AUTs). Participants were 525 students ages 18 to 25 recruited from the introductory psychology …