Developmental Factors in Addiction: Methodological Considerations

Age-related patterns of substance use and their association with childhood predictors suggest the value of applying a developmental perspective to the study of addiction. This chapter focuses on methodological issues in research on developmental factors in addiction. It focuses on methodological issues in studies of substance use during childhood and adolescence, and particularly on longitudinal studies, which are well suited for examining developmental trajectories and prospective predictors of addiction outcomes. Research on developmental factors is critical to an understanding of substance use disorders for multiple reasons. The chapter provides a brief discussion of some of the major risk pathways that have been proposed and illustrates their conceptual and methodological implications when studying addiction from a developmental perspective. This edition first published 2013