Economic Environment During Infancy Linked With Substance Use, Delinquent Behavior in Adolescence

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/12/121231161047.htm

Dec. 31, 2012 — The larger economic environment during infancy may be associated with subsequent substance use and delinquent behavior during adolescence, according to a report published Online First by Archives of General Psychiatry, a JAMA Network publication.

The current economic crisis has received much attention from policy makers, although the focus has been on short-term effects, while the long-term influences of such financial crises, especially on young children, have generally not been examined, according to the study background.

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According to the study results, exposure to a 1 percent deviation from mean regional unemployment rates at the age of 1 year was associated with an increase in the odds ratios of engaging in marijuana use (1.09), smoking (1.07), alcohol use (1.06), arrest (1.17), gang affiliation (1.09), and petty (1.06) and major theft (1.11). No significant associations were noted with the use of hard drugs and assaultive behavior, the results indicate.

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