Neural Mechanisms Underlying the Protective Effects of Familism on Drug Use among

描述(由申请者提供)：拉美裔青少年吸毒率较高，并且比其他美国青少年更早开始使用毒品。鉴于吸毒的严重后果，必须找出与文化有关的因素，以加强在这一群体中减少吸毒的努力。家族主义是一种对拉丁裔家庭很重要的特定类型的家庭联系，意味着儿童在支持和帮助其家庭方面的作用。最近的研究表明，在拉丁裔中，家族主义是一个与文化相关的防止吸毒的保护因素，但它的作用机制尚不清楚。发展神经科学的证据表明，冒险行为在青春期增加，部分原因是大脑神经回路的变化。与社会情绪系统相比，参与自我调节的认知控制系统发展较慢，社会情绪系统涉及奖励评估和敏感性。这种神经失衡可能会阻碍对风险的适当评估，并使年轻人倾向于做出有风险的决定。家族主义可能通过影响这些神经系统及其与现实生活中的冒险行为的相关性而发挥作用。这项拟议的研究将利用一项多方法、纵向的研究计划，包括日常日记和功能磁共振成像(FMRI)，以检查家族主义缓冲拉丁裔青年不吸毒的神经机制。这项研究还将研究神经对冒险行为的反应如何随着时间的推移预测药物使用行为的变化。在此之前，还没有研究过文化对危险行为的神经关联的作用。方法：对32名无吸毒史的墨西哥裔青少年进行为期两周的日常日记，考察其家庭救助行为。然后，参与者将接受功能磁共振扫描，在扫描中，他们完成一项家庭援助和冒险任务。一年后，参与者将完成对他们的药物使用和冒险行为的测量。分析将考察家庭援助的个体差异(在每日日记中测量)在多大程度上与在冒险任务中做出冒险决定时认知控制增强和奖励系统活动减少相关。此外，分析还将检验家族主义对神经冒险敏感性的缓冲作用是否可以预测青少年现实生活中危险行为的变化，包括较少的药物启动、与危险朋友的联系、感觉寻求和外化行为。 公共卫生相关性：这项研究将使人们更好地理解认知控制和奖励系统如何与家族主义以及现实生活中的药物使用和冒险行为有关。这一知识有可能为设计成功的干预措施提供信息，这些干预措施可以有效地针对这些系统，以帮助减少拉美裔青年的毒品启动。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): Latino adolescents have higher rates of drug use and begin using drugs at an earlier age than other U.S. youth. Given the serious consequences of drug use, it is imperative to identify culturally relevant factors that can enhance the development of efforts to reduce drug use among this population. Familism is a specific type of family connection important to Latino families that implies the children's role in the support and assistance of their family. Recent research suggests that familism is a culturally relevant protective factor against drug use among Latinos, but the mechanisms by which it functions are not well understood. Evidence from developmental neuroscience suggests that risk taking behavior increases during adolescence partly due to changes in the brain's neural circuitry. The cognitive control system, which is involved in self-regulation, develops more slowly relative to the socio-emotional system, which is involved in reward evaluation and sensitivity. This neural imbalance may hinder appropriate evaluation of risk and bias youth towards risky decisions. Familism may function by influencing these neural systems and their correlates to real-life risk taking. The proposed research will utilize a multi-method, longitudinal program of research, including daily diaries and functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), to examine the neural mechanisms by which familism buffers Latino youth from drug use. This study will also examine how neural responses to risk taking predict behavioral changes in drug use behaviors over time. No previous studies have examined the role of culture on the neural correlates of risky behavior. METHOD: Thirty-two Mexican origin adolescents who have no history of drug use will complete a daily diary for two weeks examining their family assistance behaviors. Participants will then come in for an fMRI scan, in which they complete a family assistance and risk taking task. One year later, participants will complete measures of their drug use and risk taking behaviors. Analyses will examine the extent to which individual differences in family assistance (as measured during the daily diary) correlate with increased cognitive control and reduced reward system activity when making risky decisions during the risk taking task. In addition, analyses will examine whether the buffering effects of familism on neural sensitivity to risk taking predict changes in adolescents' real-life risk behaviors including less drug initiation, association with risky friends, sensation seeking, and externalizing behavior. PUBLIC HEALTH RELEVANCE: This research will lead to an increased understanding of how the cognitive control and reward systems relate to familism and real-life drug use and risk taking behaviors. This knowledge has the potential to inform the design of successful interventions that can efficiently target these systems to help reduce drug initiation among Latino youth.