Additionally, the influence of initial problematic alcohol involvement and personality on the likelihood of getting married and/or having children and the influence of marital and/or parental status on changes in alcohol involvement and personality across time were examined. The bivariate LGMs suggested marital and/or parental status influenced changes in both neuroticism and problematic alcohol involvement. Individuals who married and/or had children tended to have steeper rates of decline in both problematic alcohol involvement and neuroticism. These results are consistent with previous research suggesting that marriage exerts a protective effect against problematic alcohol involvement (Bachman et al., 1997; Gotham et al., 2003; Kearns-Bodkin & Leonard, 2005). Additionally, the relation between marital and/or parental status and steeper rates of decline in neuroticism is consistent with the maturity principle (Caspi et al., 2005), which suggests that trends toward personality structures that reflect greater emotional stability (i.e., reverse-scored neuroticism) are linked to developmental adaptation to cope with the roles and tasks associated with adulthood (i.e., marriage/parenthood).
