In conclusion, the results from the current study emphasize the importance of considering developmental stages to examine the directional relationship between alcohol use and antisocial behavior, as we observed different patterns of relationships between the 2 behaviors at different ages. Although the overall pattern of associations between alcohol use and antisocial behavior was mostly equivalent between males and females, the significant effect from alcohol use to antisocial behavior during late adolescence was primarily driven by males. This might indicate that the patterns of the directional relationship between antisocial behavior and alcohol use shift between adolescence and adulthood and begin to evidence sex differences. ALSPAC’s ongoing data collection will allow us to investigate how the relationships between the 2 behaviors changes during the transition to adulthood and whether sex difference observed in our study persists beyond adolescence.
