Antisocial Characteristics and Early Life Adversity Predict Substance Use Disorders in Young Adults: The Oklahoma Family Health Patterns Project - Abstract
Objective: A family history (FH+) of alcoholism or other substance use disorders (SUD) is an SUD risk factor in the offspring, although not all FH+ develop an SUD. To explore SUD predictors, we examined the joint impact of antisocial characteristics and exposure to early life adversity (ELA) among physically healthy young adults.
Methods: We tested 727 persons, 18-30 years of age, diagnosed with (N = 220) and without (N = 507)an SUD to identify the strongest predictors, including: (a) a family history of SUD (FH+), (b) manifestation of antisocial tendencies using the Socialization scale of the California Personality Inventory (CPISo), and (c) exposure to ELA,(d) along with symptoms of depression.
Results: Recursive partitioning for SUD showed that antisocial CPI-So scores were the best single predictor of SUD status, correctly classifying 68% of the sample. CPI-So scores were progressively more antisocial in persons who had an SUD, were FH+, and had greater ELA (all ps ? .0002). Principal components analysis found that CPI-So items comprising Home Life and Family Relationships along with Impulsivity and Norm Violation accounted for most of the variance in SUD status.
Conclusion: Antisocial characteristics predicted SUD status in adulthood. FH+ persons are prone to antisocial characteristics and they are frequently
exposed to ELA, which in turn may foster manifestation of an externalizing phenotype. Future studies on FH+ interactions with ELA exposure are called for in
studies of SUD, focusing on social connectedness and disinhibition as two risk-prone behavioral phenotypes.