Development of Substance Use in Girls

描述（由申请人提供）：对女性物质使用、物质相关问题和物质使用障碍 (SUD) 的长期发展知之甚少。与男性相比，女性至少在两个方面似乎更容易受到药物滥用和依赖：她们从开始使用药物到 SUD 的发展更快，并且更有可能出现共病精神病理学。此外，与男性相比，女性过早开始物质使用导致 SUD 的风险更高。拟议研究的主要目标是调查频繁物质使用、物质相关问题和 SUD 发展的早期阶段。该提案描述了 NIMH 资助的匹兹堡女孩研究（N = 2,451；52% 非洲裔美国人，41% 白种人）的子研究，该研究对四个年龄组女孩的反社会行为和犯罪行为的发展进行了调查，最初在 5 至 8 岁进行评估。主要研究目前正在进行第五次年度评估（9 至 12 岁），并将持续另外 4 年。拟议的研究要求 NIDA 继续提供早期资助，以支持对与女孩早期吸毒相关的前体和解释因素进行检查。拟议的研究通过对儿童、主要看护者和教师进行五年一次的跟踪评估，将这一调查范围延伸到 10 岁至 17 岁的发育时期，我们预计女孩的药物使用、药物相关问题和共病将会增加。拟议研究的目的是：（1）描述女孩在从童年到青春期的过渡过程中物质使用的发展顺序，包括物质使用和跨物质使用； (2) 结合合并症的发展过程，特别是精神病理学和其他行为问题，检查女孩物质使用的发展顺序； (3) 确定女孩物质使用不同发展顺序的近端和远端风险和保护因素（通用的和女性特有的）。这三个目标与已收集的早期药物使用和态度数据相结合，将童年因素与青春期药物使用联系起来。匹兹堡女孩研究是美国为数不多的能够研究从童年到青春期这些关系的研究之一。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): The long-term development of female substance use, substance-related problems, and substance use disorders (SUDs) is poorly understood. In at least two ways, females appear more vulnerable to substance abuse and dependence compared to males: they demonstrate more rapid development from onset of use to SUD, and a higher propensity to develop comorbid psychopathology. In addition, early onset of substance use carries a higher risk of developing an SUD among females compared with males. The main goal of the proposed research is to investigate the early phases in the development towards frequent substance use, substance-related problems, and SUD. This proposal describes a substudy to the NIMH-funded Pittsburgh Girls Study (N = 2,451; 52 percent African-American, 41 percent Caucasian), an investigation of the development of antisocial behavior and delinquency in four age cohorts of girls, initially assessed at ages 5 to 8. The main study is now in its fifth yearly assessment (ages 9 to 12), and will continue for another 4 years. The proposed study requests a continuation of earlier funding by NIDA, which supported examination of the precursors and explanatory factors associated with girls' early substance use. The proposed research, through five yearly follow-up assessments of the child, the main caretaker, and teachers, extends this line of inquiry into the developmental period from age 10 to 17, when we expect that girls' substance use, substance- related problems, and comorbid conditions will increase. The aims of the proposed research are to: (1) describe developmental sequences of substance use by girls during the transition from childhood into adolescence within and across substances; (2) examine developmental sequences of substance use by girls in conjunction with the developmental course of comorbid conditions, especially psychopathology and other behavior problems; and (3) determine proximal and distal risk and protective factors (both generic and female-specific) for different developmental sequences of substance use by girls. These three aims, in conjunction with the data on early substance use and attitudes already collected, will link childhood factors to substance use during adolescence. The Pittsburgh Girl Study is one of the very few studies in the USA that can examine these relationships from childhood through adolescence.