iank.villalta

Title of QTUG presentation:

Do Anxiety and Depression Prospectively Predict Alcohol Symptoms in Caucasian and Latino Young Adults?

List of Author and co-authors for QTUG presentation:

Villalta, I. K., Chassin, L., Pina, A. A., & Hurtado, M. G.

Abstract National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism data show that about 18 million Americans suffer from alcohol use disorders (AUD) and National Comorbidity Study data indicate that a significant proportion of those with AUD suffer from affective disorders (28% depression; 37% anxiety; Li, Hewitt, & Grant, 2004). There is also research evidence which suggests that some segments of Latinos have a higher prevalence of AUD, depression, and anxiety symptoms compared to their Caucasian counterparts (NCLR, 2004). Data corresponding to 660 young adults were analyzed to assess the cross-sectional and prospective relations from anxiety-specific (i.e., anxious arousal), depression-specific (i.e., negative affect), and shared anxiety-depression symptoms (i.e., negative affect) to alcohol dependence symptoms (ADS) in path analytic models. The invariance of the models was then tested across ethnicity, children of alcoholic (COA) status, and sex. Findings indicate that anxious arousal and negative affect are cross-sectionally related to ADS but these components of affect do not predict ADS prospectively. However, positive affect prospectively predicted ADS in an unexpected direction (higher positive affect, more ADS). The models were invariant across all groups. The findings are discussed in terms of implications for case conceptualization, treatment planning, and advancing conceptual models of AUD development.