Overview

Broadly, our substantive research focuses on how individuals develop over time, and how transactions with their social and environmental context at the macro and micro level influence that development. We are interested in how that development leads to individual differences in alcohol and marijuana use over time. We have many important collaborators across the University of Washington and the United States, and much of our work has been conducted in conjunction with them. Below is a summary of our major lines of research and key publications; you may find all of our publications on the Publications page.

Development of self-regulation

Much of our recent work has attempted to understand how cognitive and emotional aspects of self-regulation develops across adolescence, how context shapes their development, and how these forms of self-regulation may either enhance or buffer the effects of other risk factors on problematic alcohol and drug use. We are interested in how to measure self-regulation across multiple methods at the state and the trait level and how those measurement models of regulatory abilities map on to risk for substance use. Moreover, we are interested in how multiple domains of self-regulation develop across adolescence and how the environmental and interpersonal context influences variability in that development. These studies may be found on the Publications page or sorted by topic here

We are also interested in understanding how some of these self-regulatory mechanisms might influence the development of other behaviors that might be driven by poor self-regulation, like risky sexual behaviors, aggression and delinquency, and binge eating.

We have studied self-regulation using both task and self-report measures, and have written a review on how different measurement models of self-regulation often fail to converge in multi-method studies.

We have collaborated with our colleagues on several studies applying behavioral measures of self-regulation.

In our lab, we have conducted several experimental studies looking at how contextual factors, such as rejection by peers or negative affect, may impair self-regulatory abilities.

Using largely self-report data, we have shown that individual differences in aspects of poor-self regulation strengthen the association between cognitive and emotional risk factors and substance use behaviors. Individuals with poor self-regulation generally show stronger associations between thoughts and beliefs about alcohol or emotional problems and alcohol and eating problems.

A number of studies of ours and our collaborations with colleagues have illustrated how individual differences in the development of self-regulation are linked to both social context and risk for psychopathology.


The development of alcohol and drug use and disorders

This line of research has focused on the developmental psychopathology of substance use disorders, with a focus on adolescence and young adulthood as high-risk periods for the emergence of initial use and the development of problems. We study how adolescents and young adults come to use alcohol and drugs, and how that use progresses into problematic use and dependence. This research reflects a collaborative effort between the Dr. King, the KingLab and many other investigators across the United States. These studies may be found on the Publications page or sorted by topic here

Our work has shown that young adults with more extensive histories of alcohol-related consequences tend to rate those consequences as less negative, and rate positive consequences as more likely to occur.

In several studies we have examined how exposure to stressful life events at the trait and state level may shape the developmental trajectory of alcohol use in adolescence.

Dr. King’s early research at Arizona State University and the University of Pittsburgh focused on understanding varying aspects of the development of substance use disorders during adolescence and young adulthood.


Between and within individual differences in the development of psychopathology

Much of our research has highlighted the importance of studying development at both the between and within individual level, to better understand the developmental processes that lead to psychopathology. We have used both EMA and longitudinal (yearly) models to study these change processes. These studies may be found on the Publications page or sorted by topic here

Co-occurrence among externalizing behaviors

Some of our prior work focused on how externalizing behaviors co-occur, how they might be predicted by early risk factors, and how best to model their co-occurrence over time. These studies may be found on the Publications page or sorted by topic here

Cultural differences in health and risk behaviors

Some of our work has examined the influence of cultural context on the development of substance use. We have largely focused on how cultural development in youth (referred to as acculturation) may influence the development of risk for substance use and disorders, and how cultural differences may account for differences in risk across ethnic groups. These studies may be found on the Publications page or sorted by topic here