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

描述（由申请人提供）：拉丁美洲青少年的吸毒率较高，并且比其他美国青少年开始吸毒的年龄更早。鉴于吸毒的严重后果，必须查明与文化有关的因素，以加强减少这一人群吸毒的努力。家庭主义是一种特殊类型的家庭联系，对拉丁美洲家庭很重要，这意味着儿童在支持和帮助家庭方面的作用。最近的研究表明，家庭主义是拉丁裔中与文化相关的防止吸毒的保护因素，但其作用机制尚不清楚。来自发育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。与自我调节有关的认知控制系统相对于与奖励评估和敏感性有关的社会情感系统发展得更慢。这种神经失衡可能会阻碍对风险的适当评估，并使青年人倾向于做出危险的决定。家族主义可能通过影响这些神经系统及其与现实生活中冒险行为的相关性来发挥作用。拟议的研究将利用多种方法，纵向研究计划，包括每日日记和功能性磁共振成像（fMRI），以检查家庭主义缓冲拉丁美洲青年吸毒的神经机制。这项研究还将研究神经反应如何冒险预测随着时间的推移吸毒行为的行为变化。以前的研究没有检查文化对危险行为的神经相关性的作用。实验方法：32名没有吸毒史的墨西哥裔青少年将完成为期两周的每日日记，检查他们的家庭援助行为。然后，参与者将接受功能性磁共振成像扫描，在扫描中，他们将完成一项家庭援助和冒险任务。一年后，参与者将完成他们的药物使用和冒险行为的测量。分析将检查家庭援助的个体差异（在日常日记中测量）与在冒险任务中做出风险决定时增加认知控制和减少奖励系统活动的相关程度。此外，分析将检查是否缓冲效应的家庭主义对神经敏感性的风险承担预测青少年的现实生活中的风险行为，包括减少药物启动，与危险的朋友，感觉寻求和外化行为的变化。 公共卫生相关性：这项研究将导致认知控制和奖励系统如何与家庭主义和现实生活中的药物使用和冒险行为的理解增加。这些知识有可能为成功的干预措施的设计提供信息，这些干预措施可以有效地针对这些系统，以帮助减少拉丁美洲青年的药物启动。

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.