Experimentally Testing the Effect of Parent-Adolescent Conflict on HIV Risk

描述（由申请人提供）：美国的艾滋病毒感染率已上升至流行病水平，其中许多新感染发生在青少年中（CDC, 2009）。从事冒险行为，如药物使用，使青少年感染艾滋病毒的风险增加（Leigh & Stall, 1993）。神经学和环境方面的原因被认为是导致青少年冒险行为增加的原因：(a)青少年大脑区域的发育速度不同，影响了他们调节行为的能力，特别是评估参与特定行为的风险和回报的能力（例如，物质使用，无保护的性行为；Geier, Terwilliger, Teslovich, Velanova, & Luna, 2010 - Steinberg, 2007）；(b)家庭层面的先兆，如父母-青少年冲突与从事物质使用和冒险行为显著相关，并可能构成风险（Duncan, Duncan, Biglan, & Ary, 1998）。因此，亲子冲突可能是影响HIV风险行为的重要因素（Lam, Cance, Eke, Fishbein, Hawkins, Williams, 2007； Lester等人，2010;Rowe, Wang, Greenbaum, & Liddle, 2008）。然而，亲子冲突与青少年HIV危险行为之间的时间关系尚不清楚。此外，这种冲突可能会增加青少年发生艾滋病毒风险行为的可能性。为了调查亲子冲突在HIV风险行为中的作用，青少年将被随机分配与父母一起完成一个标准化的讨论任务，在这个任务中，他们要么讨论一个控制话题（如计划一次家庭度假），要么讨论一个冲突话题（即在家里讨论一个引起亲子冲突的话题，如“做家务”）。讨论任务结束后，所有青少年将立即完成一项实验室冒险措施。青少年还将完成对现实世界冒险行为的自我报告。本研究的主要目的是确定父母-青少年冲突和冒险行为之间是否存在因果关系，并确定在基于绩效的冒险措施中得分较高的青少年的父母-青少年冲突和艾滋病毒风险行为的相关因素。目前的物质使用被假设为冲突和危险行为之间关系的调节因子。作为一项探索性随访研究，研究人员使用功能性近红外光谱装置，研究了调节亲子冲突与危险行为之间关系的大脑皮层区域。该奖项的培训目标是在青少年冒险、奖励过程和成瘾的概念化、发展和神经行为基础方面获得坚实的基础；发展对艾滋病毒危险行为的家庭前兆进行多方法评估的背景；培养神经成像方法的背景知识。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): HIV infection rates have increased in the United States to epidemic levels, and many of these new infections occur in adolescents (CDC, 2009). Engaging in risk-taking behaviors such as substance use puts adolescents at heightened risk for HIV infection (Leigh & Stall, 1993). Neurological and environmental reasons have been suggested for this increased risk taking in adolescence: (a) regions of adolescents' brains develop at different rates, affecting their abilities to regulate their actions and in particular assess risks and rewards for engaging in specific behaviors (e.g,, substance use, unprotected sexual intercourse; Geier, Terwilliger, Teslovich, Velanova, & Luna, 2010l Steinberg, 2007); and (b) family-level precursors such as parent-adolescent conflict have been significantly associated with and may pose risk for engaging in substance use and risk-taking (Duncan, Duncan, Biglan, & Ary, 1998). Thus, parent-adolescent conflict may be an important proximal influence in HIV risk behaviors (Lam, Cance, Eke, Fishbein, Hawkins, Williams, 2007; Lester et al., 2010; Rowe, Wang, Greenbaum, & Liddle, 2008). Yet, the temporal relation between parent-adolescent conflict and adolescent HIV risk behaviors is still unknown. Further, it is possible there is a profile of adolescents for whom this conflict increases the likelihood of HIV risk behaviors. To investigate the role of parent-adolescent conflict in HIV risk behaviors, adolescents will be randomly assigned with their parent to complete a standardized discussion task in which they discuss either a control topic (i.e., planning a family vacation) or a conflict topic (i.e., discusing a topic at home that arouses parent-adolescent conflict such as "doing chores"). Immediately after the discussion task, all adolescents will complete a laboratory risk-taking measure. Adolescents will also complete a self-report measure of real-world risk taking behaviors. The primary aims of the proposed research are to determine if there is a causal link between parent-adolescent conflict and risk-taking behaviors and to identify the factors related to parent-adolescent conflict and HIV risk behaviors for adolescents who score high on the performance-based risk-taking measure. Current substance use is hypothesized to be a moderator of the relation between conflict and risk behaviors. As an exploratory follow-up and with a subsample of adolescents identified as current substance users, investigate the cortical brain regions that moderate the relation between parent-adolescent conflict and risk behaviors using a functional near-infrared spectroscopy device. Training goals for this award are to gain a solid foundation in the conceptualization, development, and neurobehavioral underpinnings of adolescent risk taking, reward processes, and addictions; develop a background in multi-method assessments of family level precursors for HIV risk behaviors; and develop a background in neuroimaging methods.