Furthermore, when adolescents report using multiple substances, it is difficult to determine whether they are selleck Cabozantinib using the drugs simultaneously or whether use of one substance leads to use of another. Longitudinal panel studies, in which the same individuals are followed Wortmannin chemical structure over time, provide more leverage but still leave room for alternative interpretations. For example, these studies may suffer from selection effects��that is, a construct excluded from the analysis actually ��causes�� both drug use and assumed consequence of drug use, rendering the relationship between cause and consequence spurious. Some recent analytic strategies that have been used with longitudinal data, such as propensity score analyses (Bachman et al.

2011) and fixed effects analysis (Patrick et al. 2012a; Staff et al.

2009), allow for greater control of selection effects and thus better leverage on likely causal connections. Nevertheless, despite such statistical advances, experiments in which participants are randomly assigned to experimental groups remain the gold standard for demonstrating causal connections. Finally, the use of self-report data may limit the usefulness of study findings because such data rely on participants to remember and accurately perceive their own level of substance use. Nevertheless, most studies like the MTF study rely on these measures, because they have been found to be valid and reliable (Bachman et al. 2011; O��Malley et al.

1983) and because it is very expensive and burdensome to collect physiological data (e.g., blood, urine, or hair) and/or information from multiple reporters (e.

g., parents or peers) in large-scale studies. Influence of Parents and Peers One developmental transition characteristic of adolescence is the movement away from parents and increasing Carfilzomib involvement with peers. Nonetheless, parents still play a pivotal role in adolescent experiences and in fact can sometimes counter the effects of other risk factors for AOD use. Like many other reports in the literature (e.g., Dishion and McMahon 1998; Kiesner et al. 2009), the MTF study found that parental supervision and monitoring relate to lower AOD use among 8th and 10th graders and together are one of the strongest predictors (Dever et al.

2012; Pilgrim et al. 2006). Of particular importance, this effect was equally important (i.e., invariant) across AV-951 gender and race/ethnicity (Pilgrim et al. 2006). Furthermore, parental monitoring was especially protective against substance use for high-risk�Ctaking adolescents (Dever et al. 2012). The literature for decades has indicated that peer use is one of the strongest correlates of AOD use.