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Co-occurring social-emotional issues may increase substance use among adolescent boys

Beginning in sixth grade, boys with co-occurring social, learning, anxiety and conduct problems were at increased risk for aggressive behavior and substance use through eighth grade, according to study findings published in the Journal of Early Adolescence.

“While social-emotional, learning, and conduct problems are independently associated with increased risk of aggressive behavior and substance use, studies illustrate that configurational patterns of co-occurring problems explain problem behaviors to some degree,” Kevin Tan, PhD, from the School of Social Work, University of Illinois, and colleagues wrote. “However, none have looked at how patterns of co-occurring problems of social-emotional concerns relate to aggression and substance use.”

Researchers assessed patterns of co-occurring social skills, anxiety, learning and conduct problems among 2,632 urban boys from 37 U.S. schools and their associated aggression and substance use behaviors through middle school at four time points starting in the fall term of sixth grade and ending in the spring term of eighth grade. They surveyed participants on their verbal, relational and physical aggression and their use of cigarettes, alcohol and marijuana in the previous 30 days at each time point, according to a press release.

Teachers reported measures of student learning problems, social skills deficits, anxiety and

conduct/delinquent issues via the Behavioral Assessment System for Children Scale. Overall aggression and substance use were measured using the Problem Behavior Frequency Scale.

Analysis revealed four risk patterns:

• a “low-all” group across the four domains (61.3%);
• a “poor social skills” group with co-occurring learning, conduct problems and anxiety (16.9%);
• a “positive social skills” group with problems in learning, anxiety and conduct (15.5%); and
• a “high all” group with social-cognitive problems.

The results showed that boys with significant problems in all four domains — social skills, anxiety, learning and conduct — were most likely to engage in aggression and substance use, according to the press release.

“The combination of characteristics, rather than any single factor, appears to predict variation in self-regulatory abilities against problem behaviors,” Tan and colleagues wrote in the full study. “Furthermore, consistent with other studies, these patterns are key to understanding risk and behaviors.”

Physical aggression and substance use increased the least throughout the middle school years for boys in the “low-all” group. The “positive social skills” group demonstrated an average increase, whereas the “poor social skills” group showed higher levels of problem behaviors in sixth and seventh grade, according to the study. Boys in the “high all” group experienced the fastest increase in problem behaviors and the highest levels of aggression and substance use in eighth grade.

"Understanding these configurations of social-emotional, learning and conduct problems can help us understand how they elevate or decrease students' risks for different outcomes," Tan said in the release. "There are opportunities here for schools to provide early prevention and interventions to address any problems before they become severe." – by Savannah Demko

Disclosure: The authors report no relevant financial disclosures.