Difficult Temperament and Drug Use: Analyses from the New York Longitudinal Study

This study examined the role of the Thomas and Chess conceptualization of “difficult” temperament or behavioral style and tobacco, alcohol and marijuana use in the 133 subjects of the New York Longitudinal Study. Results indicate that the possession of difficult temperamental characteristics (slow adaptability, withdrawal responses, negative mood, high intensity of reactions, and biological irregularity) at age five and in early adulthood are associated with tobacco, alcohol and marijuana use in young adulthood. Further results indicate that the continued use of marijuana throughout adolescence and alcohol and tobacco use from ages thirteen through sixteen were related to the subjects' difficult temperament characteristics in young adulthood.