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The purpose of this study was to identify distinct trajectories of cigarette smoking from ages 14 to 32, and to examine adolescent personality factors that distinguish trajectories of smoking behavior. Participants (N = 975) were randomly selected and followed prospectively since 1975. Follow-up data on cigarette use and personality and behavioral attributes were collected at five points in time, using structured interviews given in private by trained interviewers. Of these subjects, 746 comprised the cohort used in this study. Growth mixture modeling identified five smoking trajectory groups: nonsmokers, occasional smokers, late starters, quitters, and heavy/continuous smokers. Adolescent personality and behavioral risk factors such as lower ego integration, more externalizing behavior, and lower educational aspirations distinguished the trajectory groups. No gender differences were noted. The findings supported the hypotheses indicating multiple distinct trajectory groups of smoking behavior. Smoking behavior appeared in early adolescence and most often continued into adulthood. Emotional difficulties (i.e., lower ego integration), externalizing behavior, and lower educational aspirations in early adolescence were associated both with smoking at an early age and with continuing to smoke into the thirties. To be more effective, smoking prevention programs should target personality and behavioral variations before smoking becomes habitual, particularly focused on characteristics reflecting behavioral problems as manifested in emotional difficulties, externalizing behavior, and low educational aspirations in early adolescence. The implications for research, prevention, and treatment are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Data from a 25-year community-based Prospective longitudinal study were used to investigate the role of problematic parenting in the association between a history of anti-social parental behaviour and subsequent offspring aggression during adulthood. Parents with a history of anti-social behaviour were significantly more likely than other parents were to engage in two or more types of problematic child-rearing behaviour. Problematic parenting was associated with offspring aggression during adulthood after a history of anti-social parental behaviour was controlled statistically. Anti-social parental behaviour was associated with aggressive offspring behaviour during adulthood before, but not after, problematic parenting was controlled. These findings support the hypothesis that problematic parenting tends to mediate the association between anti-social parental behaviour and subsequent offspring aggression. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This longitudinal study examines the transition to adulthood in a randomly sampled, community-based cohort of adolescents. The study compares young adult outcomes of 33 adolescents with and 148 adolescents without psychiatric disorder. After adjustment for differences in age, gender, and social class, adolescents with psychiatric disorder were 13.74 times less likely to complete secondary school (95% confidence interval (CI): 4.17, 45.17), 4.07 times less likely to be employed or in college or trade school (95% CI: 1.4, 12.3), 3.13 times more likely to be involved in criminal activity (95% CI: 1.11, 8.87), and 6.46 times more likely to have gotten pregnant themselves or to have gotten someone else pregnant (95% CI: 1.75, 23.87). While adolescents with psychiatric disorder in this community-based study had outcomes that were somewhat more favorable than those of adolescents with psychiatric disorder in prior treatment-based studies, they nonetheless are at high risk of failing to meet young adult role expectations. Am J Epidemiol 2000;152:352–62. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The objective of this study was to provide more accurate frequency estimates of breast cancer susceptibility gene 1 (BRCA1) germline alterations in the ovarian cancer population. To achieve this, we determined the prevalence of BRCA1 alterations in a population-based series of consecutive ovarian cancer cases. This is the first population-based ovarian cancer study reporting BRCA1 alterations derived from a comprehensive screen of the entire coding region. One hundred and seven ovarian cancer cases were analyzed for BRCA1 alterations using the RNase mismatch cleavage assay followed by direct sequencing. Two truncating mutations, 962del4 and 3600del11, were identified. Both patients had a family history of breast or ovarian cancer. Several novel as well as previously reported uncharacterized variants were also identified, some of which were associated with a family history of cancer. The frequency distribution of common polymorphisms was determined in the 91 Caucasian cancer cases in this series and 24 sister controls using allele-specific amplification. The rare form of the Q356R polymorphism was significantly (P = 0.03) associated with a family history of ovarian cancer, suggesting that this polymorphism may influence ovarian cancer risk. In summary, our data suggest a role for some uncharacterized variants and rare forms of polymorphisms in determining ovarian cancer risk, and highlight the necessity to screen for missense BRCA1 alterations as well as truncating mutations in this population. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The association between somatic illness and psychiatric illness is well established in adults but is less clear in childhood and adolescence. A cohort of over 700 randomly selected children in Upstate New York were studied from ages 1–10 years in 1975 to young adulthood in 1992. Psychiatric and physical health were assessed by means of follow-up youth and parent interviews at 8-, 2½- and 6-year intervals (in 1983, 1985–1986, and 1991–1993). Cross-sectional and longitudinal analyses investigated: 1) the consistency of the relation between physical illness and mental illness in childhood; 2) the specificity of major depressive disorder (MDD) in accounting for the relation; 3) the specificity of immunologically mediated medical disorders in this relation; and 4) whether this relation was attributable to risks associated with low socioeconomic status. Cross-sectionally, ill health was associated with increased risk of psychiatric disorders at all ages, with significant odds ratios (ORs) ranging from 1.76 to 3.26. In prospective analyses, ill health increased the risk of new-onset MDD at all ages (ORs = 2.05–4.48). MDD also predicted subsequent ill health, independent of prior health problems (ORs = 3.81 and 4.04). Relations were not attributable to familial socioeconomic status. Associations were particularly strong between MDD and medical disorders associated with alterations in immunologic factors (ORs = 1.83–6.41). Theories of common immune-mediated vulnerabilities to medical illness and depression are consistent with these associations. Am J Epidemiol 1998; 147: 232–9. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]