Development Of Alcohol Use Problems Research Articles

Heart Rate Variability Reactivity Moderates the Indirect Link Between Child Maltreatment and Young Adult Alcohol Use Problems Via Depressive Symptoms.

Young adults with childhood maltreatment (CM) histories are particularly vulnerable to depressive symptoms and alcohol use problems. Research suggests that maltreated youth may misuse alcohol in part to alleviate depressive symptoms. However, many youths with depressive symptoms exercise self-control and abstain from heavy alcohol use. The present study aimed to examine the influence of heart rate variability reactivity (HRV-R), a psychophysiological biomarker of self-regulation, in the indirect link between CM and alcohol-use problems via depressive symptoms among low socioeconomic-status rural young adults. Two waves of data were collected from a community sample of 225 low socioeconomic-status nonmetropolitan young adults (Mage = 21.56, 52.9% female). HRV data were obtained with an electrocardiogram during a social stress task. CM was assessed through the Childhood Trauma Questionnaire. Alcohol use problems were measured using the Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test. The indirect effect of CM on alcohol use problems via elevated depressive symptoms was positive and significant (α × β = .159, P < .001). Self-regulation, indicated by high HRV-R (ie, vagal withdrawal), was found to significantly buffer the link between depressive symptoms and alcohol use problems (β = .193, P = .022). Adequate self-regulation capacities can protect maltreated youths from self-medicating alcohol use problems. This study will advance researchers' understanding of the development of alcohol use problems through unwrapping the risk and protective mechanisms underlying the association between young adults' early life stress and alcohol use behaviors. (Am J Addict 2020;29:141-150).

Polygenic Risk, Personality Dimensions, and Adolescent Alcohol Use Problems: A Longitudinal Study.

Alcohol use problems are common during adolescence and can predict serious negative outcomes in adulthood, including substance dependence and psychopathology. The current study examines the notion that alcohol use problems are driven by polygenic influences and that genetic influences may indirectly affect alcohol use problems through multiple pathways of risk, including variations in personality. We used a genome-wide approach to examine associations between genetic risk for alcohol use problems, personality dimensions, and adolescent alcohol use problems in two separate longitudinal population-based samples, the Finnish Twin Cohort (FinnTwin12) and the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children (ALSPAC). Participants were 1,035 young adults from FinnTwin12 and 3,160 adolescents from ALSPAC. Polygenic risk scores (PRS) were calculated for ALSPAC using genome-wide association results (on alcohol dependence symptoms as defined by the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fourth Edition) from FinnTwin12. A parallel multiple mediator model was tested to examine whether the association between PRS and alcohol use problems assessed at age 16 could be explained by variations in personality dimensions assessed at age 13, including sensation seeking and negative emotionality. PRS were marginally predictive of age 16 alcohol use problems; this association was partially mediated by sensation seeking. Polygenic variation underlying risk for alcohol use problems may directly influence the effects of sensation seeking, which in turn influence the development of alcohol use problems in later adolescence. These findings contribute to the increasing evidence regarding the salience of sensation seeking during early adolescence as a potential constituent in the risk pathway underlying the development of alcohol use problems.

Why is adolescence a key period of alcohol initiation and who is prone to develop long-term problem use?: A review of current available data.

BackgroundEarly adolescence is a key developmental period for the initiation of alcohol use, and consumption among adolescents is characterized by drinking in high quantities. At the same time, adolescence is characterized by rapid biological transformations including dramatic changes in the brain, particularly in the prefrontal cortex and the mesocorticolimbic dopamine system.MethodsThis article begins with an overview of the unique neural and behavioural characteristics of adolescent development that predispose these individuals to seek rewards and take risks such as initiation of drinking and high levels of alcohol intake. The authors then outline important factors associated with an increased risk for developing alcohol problems in later adolescence and young adulthood. Thereafter they address causality and the complex interplay of risk factors that lead to the development of alcohol use problems in late adolescence and young adults.ConclusionsA few recommendations for the prevention of underage drinking are presented.