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Source: Technical Report Series
Resulting in 1 citation.
1. Kam, Chi-Ming
Collins, Linda M.
Latent Transition Analysis of Substance Use Among Adolescents in the National Longitudinal Survey
Technical Report Series No 0037. University Park, PA: The Methodology Center, The Pennsylvania State University, 2000.
Also: http://methcenter.psu.edu/pubs/00-37.pdf
Cohort(s): Children of the NLSY79
Publisher: Methodology Center, The Pennsylvania State University
Keyword(s): Alcohol Use; Behavioral Problems; Child Self-Administered Supplement (CSAS); Cigarette Use (see Smoking); Gender Differences; Modeling; Substance Use

Permission to reprint the abstract has not been received from the publisher.

The present study examines gender differences in substance use onset among 886 adolescents surveyed in the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth (NLSY). Three waves of data on adolescent substance use were analyzed using Latent Transition Analysis (LTA). To test the gateway hypothesis of substance use (Kandel & Yamaguchi, 1993; Collins, 1998a), transition probabilities of adolescent exposure to three substances, alcohol, cigarettes and marijuana, were estimated. In addition, a strategy similar to that employed by Collins, Graham, Long and Hansen (1994) was used to test gender differences in substance use onset among the NLSY adolescents. Nested models with different degrees of parameter restrictions were fitted to the data. First, a model that represents gender differences in all three sets of parameters (Big Rho's, Delta's, & Tau's) was fitted. Other models that constrained some of these parameters to be equal between gender were fitted subsequently. Model fit statistics were compared among models and the best fitting one was selected for interpretation. The results suggested that the model that represented no gender differences in all three parameter sets fit the data best. This suggests there are no gender differences in the types of substance use patterns (number and types of latent statuses), the proportion of adolescents falling into each latent status and the transition pattern of substance use. In addition, the study supports the gateway hypothesis that cigarette and alcohol usage are precursors to the use of marijuana. Due to the high percentage of non-response to substance use items in the survey as well as the weak measure of marijuana use, the present findings have to be interpreted with caution.
Bibliography Citation
Kam, Chi-Ming and Linda M. Collins. Latent Transition Analysis of Substance Use Among Adolescents in the National Longitudinal Survey. Technical Report Series No 0037. University Park, PA: The Methodology Center, The Pennsylvania State University, 2000..