The Role of Risk Taking and Inhibitory Control on Alcohol Use in Maltreated Youth

描述（由申请人提供）：受虐待的青少年参与儿童福利系统（CWS）通常会遇到一系列早期不良经历，包括产前暴露于药物和酒精，忽视和虐待护理，以及反复的护理过渡。因此，在这些青少年中，酒精使用和滥用的比率显著上升。尽管有大量文件表明，受虐待的青少年中饮酒的情况有所增加，但指导为这一人群制定有针对性的预防干预服务的研究结果有限。因此，与目标相一致， 的PA-10-255，所提出的研究旨在调查特定的早期不良经历和行为调节背后的认知过程的影响（即，风险承担和抑制控制）对受虐待青少年和非受虐待青少年酒精使用发展轨迹的影响。有人认为，行为调节受到两个神经系统活动的影响腹侧纹状体系统潜在的风险承担和前额叶系统潜在的抑制性控制，这些神经系统之间的成熟不平衡导致了青少年饮酒的急剧增加。我们将研究整个青春期的风险承担和抑制控制的发展轨迹，并将调查这些认知过程对早发性酒精使用的影响，在虐待青少年和他们的非虐待同龄人。由于行为调节被认为是许多外化问题的基础，我们还将确定这些认知过程中的缺陷是否与早发性酒精使用有关，或者更广泛地与外化问题有关。此外，我们先前的研究结果表明，早期不良经历的具体方面（例如，身体忽视的严重程度和照顾者转变的次数）与关键神经生物学系统的改变有关。因此，我们将研究特定的早期不良经历对冒险行为、抑制控制和早发性酒精使用的发展轨迹的影响。为了实现这些目标，我们将评估风险承担倾向和抑制控制能力（通过青少年报告，照顾者报告，以及激活特定神经系统的任务的行为和电生理表现）和早发性酒精使用（通过青少年和照顾者报告）在150名受虐待的青少年参与CWS和150名低收入，nonmaltreated青少年。我们将收集从青少年早期（12-13岁）到中期（15-16岁）的四波数据，以研究在这个关键时期冒险，抑制控制和酒精使用的发展轨迹。拟议的研究结果将确定具体的认知过程，以针对未来的预防性干预服务的CWS和其他高危人群。此外，这些结果将有助于早期识别最有早发性饮酒风险的麦芽青少年。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): Maltreated adolescents involved with the child welfare system (CWS) have typically encountered a host of early adverse experiences, including prenatal exposure to drugs and alcohol, neglectful and abusive care, and repeated caregiver transitions. Consequently, the rates of alcohol use and abuse are significantly elevated among these adolescents. Despite extensive documentation of increased alcohol use among maltreated adolescents, there are limited research findings to guide the development of targeted preventive intervention services for this population. Thus, consistent with the objectives of PA-10-255, the proposed study is designed to investigate the impact of specific early adverse experiences and the cognitive processes underlying behavioral regulation (i.e., risk taking and inhibitory control) on the developmental trajectories of alcohol use in maltreated adolescents and nonmaltreated adolescents. It has been argued that behavioral regulation is influenced by the activity of two neural systems-the ventral striatal system underlying risk taking and the prefrontal system underlying inhibitory control-and that a maturational imbalance between these neural systems contributes to the dramatic increase in alcohol use in adolescence. We will examine the developmental trajectories of risk taking and inhibitory control across adolescence and will investigate the impact of these cognitive processes on early-onset alcohol use in maltreated adolescents and their nonmaltreated peers. Because behavioral regulation is believed to underlie a number of externalizing problems, we will also determine whether deficits in these cognitive processes are related to early-onset alcohol use specifically or to externalizing problems more broadly. In addition, our prior research findings have shown that specific dimensions of early adverse experiences (e.g., severity of physical neglect and number of caregiver transitions) are associated with alterations in key neurobiological systems. Hence, we will investigate the impact of specific early adverse experiences on the developmental trajectories of risk taking, inhibitory control, and early-onset alcohol use. To accomplish these aims, we will assess risk-taking propensity and inhibitory control ability (via adolescent report, caregiver report, and behavioral and electrophysiological performance on tasks that activate specific neural systems) and early-onset alcohol use (via adolescent and caregiver reports) in 150 maltreated adolescents involved with the CWS and 150 low-income, nonmaltreated adolescents. We will collect four waves of data from early (12-13 years) to middle (15-16 years) adolescence to examine the developmental trajectories of risk taking, inhibitory control, and alcohol use across this critical period. The results of the proposed study will pinpoint specific cognitive processes to target in future preventive intervention services for the CWS and other at-risk populations. Additionally, these results will aid in the early identification of the maltreted adolescents most at risk for early-onset alcohol use.