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. 2005 Oct;30(9):1690-701.
doi: 10.1016/j.addbeh.2005.07.016. Epub 2005 Aug 10.

Joint trajectory analysis of treated adolescents' alcohol use and symptoms over 1 year

Tammy Chung  1 , Stephen A Maisto, Jack R Cornelius, Christopher S Martin, Kristina M Jackson
Affiliations

Joint trajectory analysis of treated adolescents' alcohol use and symptoms over 1 year

Tammy Chung et al. Addict Behav. 2005 Oct.

Abstract

Objective: This study characterized treated adolescents' alcohol use and symptom trajectories over 1 year to describe the form of use trajectories and symptom trajectories, and the joint probability of membership in alcohol use and symptom trajectory groups.

Method: 109 teens (age 14-18, 66% male, 94% white), recruited from addictions treatment, with a lifetime DSM-IV alcohol diagnosis, reported on daily alcohol use and symptoms in monthly phone contacts using the Time Line Follow-Back method. A group-based modeling method jointly estimated trajectories of use and symptoms.

Results: Four alcohol use trajectories were identified: "Abstinent" (31%), Low (36%), Increasing (28%), and High Use (5%). Three alcohol symptom trajectories were identified: Very Low severity (44%), Mild (44%), and High severity (12%). The most frequent joint outcome was "Abstinent" and Very Low symptom severity (32%).

Conclusions: Symptom severity was moderately related to alcohol use pattern over 1 year. Findings have implications for moving beyond relapse defined as a return to "any use" to consideration of treatment outcome in terms of a broader pattern of alcohol use and problems.

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Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Mean number of drinking days by alcohol use trajectory groups over 1 year.
Fig. 2
Fig. 2
Mean DSM-IV symptom count by alcohol symptom trajectory groups over 1 year.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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