Developmental changes in dopamine-related neurophysiology and associations with adolescent substance use and incentive-boosted cognitive control.

Practice Parameter for the Assessment and Treatment of Children and Adolescents With Substance Use Disorders

Adolescent substance use is an increasing problem in the United States, and some researchers posit a bidirectional relation between adolescent substance use and the personality trait of impulsivity (e.g., Quinn, Stappenbeck, & Fromme, 2011). Friend substance use has been shown to be a powerful predictor of adolescent substance use, with prior research suggesting a bidirectional relation between adolescent substance use and friend substance use (e.g., Simons-Morton & Chen, 2006). Extant literature has not tested the bidirectional relation between adolescent substance use and impulsivity with longitudinal data nor has it examined this relation while considering the bidirectional relation with the social context factor of friend substance use. Using three waves of longitudinal data, we tested if there was a bidirectional relation between adolescent substance use and impulsivity while also examining the influences of friend substance use. Participants were 131 adolescents (male = 55%, mean age = 13 years at Wave 1). We tested nested models and examined whether adding equality constraints degraded the model fit using a Wald test. Results of structural equation modeling indicated that, after controlling for baseline levels of substance use, impulsivity predicted adolescent and friend substance use over time, whereas adolescent and friend substance use did not predict impulsivity. Adolescents with substance using friends were likely to increase their own substance use. The findings imply that aiming at both improving adolescents’ ability to regulate impulsivity and deterring associations with friends who are using substances is essential for prevention and intervention efforts against substance use development in adolescents.

A path model was utilized to determine the relationship of demographic, family system, adolescent perceptions of parental behavior, and youth characteristics to adolescent substance abuse. Self-report questionnaire data were collected from 214 high school students at two high schools in a southwestern state. Results showed direct positive relationships of adolescent reports of parental substance use and adolescent reports of parental support with adolescent reports of substance use. Indirect relationships were found for school, gender of the adolescent, family hardiness, family coherence and parental substance use to perceived parental support to adolescent substance use. Implications are presented for prevention and intervention at multiple levels of the family system in relation to adolescent substance use.

The roles of neighborhood social cohesion, peer substance use, and adolescent depression in adolescent substance use

Investigating the effects of peer association and parental influence on adolescent substance use: A study of adolescents in South Korea

The effects of Brief Strategic Family Therapy (BSFT) on parent substance use and the association between parent and adolescent substance use

To measure the degree to which childhood and adolescent ratings of aggression, attention, and delinquency are related to adolescent substance use outcomes in youth diagnosed with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). Childhood externalizing disorders have been shown to predict adolescent maladaptive substance use, but few studies have examined the differential predictive utility of two distinct dimensions of externalizing behavior: aggression and delinquency. Ninety-seven clinically referred children with ADHD initially took part in this research protocol when they were on average 9.05 years of age, and were seen again on average 9.30 years later. Participants' parents were administered the Child Behavior Checklist (CBCL) at baseline and follow-up, and youth completed the Youth Self Report (YSR) in adolescence. At follow-up, substance use severity and diagnosis were assessed using semi-structured psychiatric interviews administered separately to parents and adolescents. Linear and binary logistic regressions were used to determine the association of CBCL- and YSR-rated attention problems, aggression, and delinquency to adolescent substance use. Childhood and adolescent delinquency, but not aggression, as rated by parents and youths, predicted adolescent substance use disorders and substance use severity (all p < .05). After accounting for the associations of delinquency and aggression with adolescent substance use, ratings of attention problems in childhood and adolescence were negatively associated with substance use outcome. Children with ADHD who exhibit high rates of delinquency are at risk for later substance use and may require targeted prevention, intervention, and follow-up services.

BackgroundAdolescent suicidal behavior may consist of different symptoms, including suicidal ideation, suicidal planning and suicidal attempts. Adolescent substance use behavior may contribute to adolescent suicidal behavior. However, research on the relationships between specific substance use and individual suicidal behavior is insufficient, as adolescents may not use only one substance or develop only one facet of suicidal behavior. Latent variables permit us to describe the relationships between clusters of related behaviors more accurately than studying the relationships between specific behaviors. Thus, the aim of this study was to explore how adolescent substance use behavior contributes to suicidal behavior using latent variables representing adolescent suicidal and substance use behaviors.MethodA total of 13,985 adolescents were recruited using a stratified random sampling strategy. The participants indicated whether they had experienced suicidal ideation, planning and attempts and reported their cigarette, alcohol, ketamine and MDMA use during the past year. Latent analysis was used to examine the relationship between substance use and suicidal behavior.ResultsAdolescents who used any one of the above substances exhibited more suicidal behavior. The results of latent variables analysis revealed that adolescent substance use contributed to suicidal behavior and that boys exhibited more severe substance use behavior than girls. However, there was no gender difference in the association between substance use and suicidal behavior.ConclusionSubstance use behavior in adolescents is related to more suicidal behavior. In addition, the contribution of substance use to suicidal behavior does not differ between genders.

ADOLESCENT ESTIMATION OF PEER SUBSTANCE USE: WHY IT MATTERS

No clear consensus exists as to whether neurodevelopmental abnormalities among substance users reflect predisposing neural risk factors, neurotoxic effects of substances, or both. Using a longitudinal design, we examined developmental patterns of the bidirectional links between neural mechanisms and substance use throughout adolescence. 167 adolescents (aged 13-14years at Time 1, 53% male) were assessed annually four times. Risk-related neural processing was assessed by blood-oxygen-level-dependent responses in the insula during a lottery choice task, cognitive control by behavioral performance during the Multi-Source Interference Task, and substance use by adolescents' self-reported cigarette, alcohol, and marijuana use. Latent change score modeling indicated that greater substance use predicted increased insula activation during risk processing, but the effects of insula activation on changes in substance use were not significant. The coupling effect from substance use to insula activation was particularly strong for adolescents with low cognitive control, which supports the theorized moderating role of cognitive control. Our results elucidate how substance use may alter brain development to be biased toward maladaptive decision-making, particularly among adolescents with poor cognitive control. Furthermore, the current findings underscore that cognitive control may be an important target in the prevention and treatment of adolescent substance use given its moderating role in the neuroadaptive effects of substance use on brain development.

Correspondence between adolescent and informant reports of substance use: Findings from the Philadelphia Neurodevelopmental Cohort

Parents' alcohol use may influence adolescent substance use and substance use intentions. Prior research has linked adolescents' emotion reactivity with parental drinking behaviors and adolescent substance use. The present study investigated whether sub-clinical maternal alcohol use relates to adolescent neural emotion reactivity and substance use intentions in early adolescence. Early adolescents (N = 70) viewed emotional images during a fMRI scan and completed a questionnaire about substance use intentions. Their mothers reported past 30-day alcohol use. Results showed that greater frequency of maternal alcohol use predicted adolescents' substance use intentions. In addition, maternal alcohol use predicted adolescent blunted responses to positive emotional images in the ventromedial prefrontal cortex (vmPFC) and bilateral anterior cingulate cortex (ACC). There was no relationship between neural emotion reactivity and adolescent substance use intentions. Findings suggest that parental alcohol use may relate to adolescent's development of reward and positive emotion processing systems, even at sub-clinical levels of drinking.

Using latent growth curve methodology, this study investigated developmental trends in adolescent, parent, and older sibling substance use across a 3-year period and the predictive effect of these trends on adolescent substance use 2 years later. Participants were 101 adolescents (50 boys and 51 girls) who were an average of 12.34 years old at the first assessment, their parents, and an older sibling. Results indicate that although both parents and siblings contribute to the level of adolescent use, only siblings appear to contribute to the adolescents' subsequent substance use development. The adolescents' developmental trajectory was the best predictor of later use, but siblings contributed to later use indirectly through their influence on adolescents' substance use development. Findings discuss the role of sibling and parent substance use on adolescent substance use and emphasize the utility of latent growth modeling in the study of developmental change.

Parental and peer influences on adolescent substance use have been well demonstrated. However, limited research has examined how parental and peer influences vary across school contexts. This study used a multilevel approach to examine the effects of school substance use norms and school racial composition in predicting adolescent substance use (a composite measure of alcohol, tobacco, and marijuana use) and in moderating parental and peer influences on adolescent substance use. A total of 14,346 adolescents from 34 schools in a mid-western county completed surveys electronically at school. Analyses were conducted using hierarchical linear modeling. Results indicated that school-level disapproval against substance use and percentage of minority students at school were negatively associated with adolescent substance use. School-level disapproval moderated the association between peer substance use and adolescent substance use, with the association being stronger when school-level disapproval was lower. School racial composition moderated the influence of parental disapproval and peer substance use on adolescent substance use. Specifically, both the association between parental disapproval and adolescent substance use and the association between peer substance use and adolescent substance use were weaker for adolescents who attended schools with higher percentages of minority students. Findings highlighted the importance of considering the role of school contexts, in conjunction with parental and peer influences, in understanding adolescent substance use.

Over time relationships between early adolescent and peer substance use