Decision Making in Adolescent Substance Abusers

描述(由调查者提供)：这是一项为期5年的关于正常青少年和主要诊断不是酒精的滥用药物青少年的决策研究的申请。非药物滥用青少年将是10年级、11年级和12年级的公立高中生。相同年龄的药物滥用青少年将成为青少年药物滥用治疗中心的客户。 在最初的接触中，每个参与者都会被分配到一系列神经认知任务，以衡量前额叶皮质的功能。这将包括两个版本的爱荷华卡任务，威斯康星州卡片分类任务，Stroop任务，物体反转任务，以及对感觉寻求、冲动和寻求刺激的调查。每个参与者还将接受临床评估和结果访谈(综合青少年调查问卷或CASI)。CASI评估了七个生活功能领域，包括物质使用、学业问题、法律地位、就业史和性行为。CASI将在两年的随访期内每隔6个月进行一次。 该项目的一个目标是描述青少年物质滥用者和非滥用者的神经认知功能。另一个目标是确定物质滥用者在测试电池的任何组件上的表现是否预示着治疗完成、治疗后复发或现实生活中其他糟糕的决策。第三个目标是在非物质滥用者中确定，对于那些可能成为物质滥用者并在现实生活中参与糟糕决策的人来说，测试电池的任何组件的表现是否具有预测性。 对青少年药物滥用者或未来有药物滥用风险的个人的神经认知特征进行表征，是制定干预和预防方案的必要步骤。

DESCRIPTION (provided by investigator): This is an application for a 5-year study of decision-making in normal adolescents and substance abusing adolescents whose primary diagnosis is not alcohol. Non-substance abusing adolescents will be public high school students in grades 10, 11 and 12. Substance abusing adolescents, of the same age, will be clients at an adolescent substance abuse treatment center. At initial contact each participant will be given a battery of neurocognitive tasks that measure functions of the prefrontal cortex. These will include two versions of the Iowa Card Task, Wisconsin Card Sorting Task, Stroop task, Object Reversal task, and surveys of sensation-seeking, impulsivity and excitement seeking. Each participant will also be given a clinical assessment and outcomes interview (Comprehensive Adolescent Survey Inventory or CASI). The CASI assesses seven areas of life functioning including substance use, academic problems, legal status, employment history, and sexual behaviors. The CASI will be given at 6-month intervals during a two-year follow up period. One goal of this project is to characterize the neurocognitive functions of adolescent substance abusers and non-abusers. Another goal is to determine if substance abusers' performance on any component of the test battery is predictive of completion of treatment, post-treatment relapse, or other poor-decision making in real life. A third goal is to determine, among non-substance abusers, if performance on any component of the test battery is predictive for those who may become substance abusers and engage in poor decision-making in real life. Characterization of the neurocognitive profiles of adolescent substance abusers or of individuals who are at risk for future substance abuse is a necessary step toward the development of intervention and prevention protocols.