A LONGITUDINAL INVESTIGATION OF ALCOHOL-USE AND AGGRESSION IN ADOLESCENCE

Data from a prospective, longitudinal study of males and females teste d at age 12, 15 and 18 years are used to study the relationship betwee n alcohol use and aggression. Prevalence rates for alcohol use are sim ilar for males and females. However, prevalence rates for aggressive b ehavior and alcohol-related aggression among females are lower than th ose for males and too low to permit meaningful analysis. Two series of nested structural equation models examine the interrelationships betw een alcohol use and aggressive behavior over time for all miles in the sample and for male alcohol users only. The findings indicate that ea rly aggressive behavior leads to increases in alcohol use and alcohol- related aggression, but that levels of alcohol use are not significant ly related to later aggressive behavior. Thus, the data suggest that a lcohol-related aggression is engaged in by aggressive people who drink . These data lend support to other research that indicates that early aggressive and antisocial behavior is predictive of later alcohol-rela ted problems.