Session: Abstracts of Distinction: Understanding Alcohol, Marijuana and e-Cigarette Use during Young Adulthood: New Contributions of Person-Centered Approaches (Society for Prevention Research 25th Annual Meeting)

Latent class analysis (LCA) and latent transition analysis (LTA) are statistical tools that prevention scientists are turning to with increasing frequency to explain population heterogeneity by identifying underlying subgroups of individuals. The subgroups (i.e., classes) are comprised of individuals who are similar in their responses to a set of observed variables; subgroup membership is inferred from responses to the observed variables. Prevention scientists may be interested in using LCA and LTA to identify and describe subgroups and their prevalences, model change over time in subgroup membership, and/or link subgroup membership to risk factors and negative outcomes. Recent methodological advances with LCA and LTA have made it easier than ever for prevention scientists to incorporate latent classes into their theories and analyses.

Often referred to as “person-centered” methods, LCA and LTA are concerned with within-individual patterns of behaviors (or other characteristics) across multiple dimensions. This is in contrast to “variable-centered” methods, such as regression analysis, that are concerned with between-individual relations among variables. This symposium focuses on new contributions by studies using LCA and LTA in order to provide a solid understanding of these approaches in the context of substance use epidemiology and etiology.

All of the talks in this symposium use LCA and/or LTA to make unique contributions to our understanding of substance use during young adulthood. We start by examining alcohol use, the most common substance used during this time. Our first speaker uses LTA to understand for whom and when a natural “maturing out” of risky alcohol use occurs. Next, we examine marijuana use, not only the second most common substance used during this time, but one that is critically important as laws continue to change quickly in the U.S. Our second speaker uses LTA to understand patterns of marijuana use and reasons for use, and to examine how individuals’ reasons for use change over time. Finally, we examine e-cigarette use (i.e., vaping), a quickly emerging, critical public health issue among young adults. Our third speaker uses LCA to understand the myriad patterns of reasons for vaping. Our discussant is a world-renowned expert in alcohol and other substance use among adolescents and adults, and in risk and protection in these populations, as well as in the implementation and evaluation of substance use intervention programs. She will bring our three talks together by highlighting the unique contributions that can be made by person-centered methods like LCA and LTA, as well as the implications of our three studies and opportunities for prevention scientists.