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

描述(由申请人提供)：参与儿童福利制度(CWS)的虐待青少年通常会遇到一系列早期不良经历，包括产前接触毒品和酒精、疏忽和虐待照顾，以及反复更换照料者。因此，在这些青少年中，饮酒率和滥用酒精率显著上升。尽管有大量文献表明虐待青少年的酒精使用量有所增加，但指导为这一群体发展有针对性的预防性干预服务的研究结果有限。因此，与目标一致 根据PA-10-255，这项拟议的研究旨在调查特定的早期不良经历和潜在的行为调控(即冒险和抑制控制)对虐待青少年和非虐待青少年酒精使用的发展轨迹的影响。有人认为，行为调节受到两个神经系统活动的影响，腹侧纹状体系统是冒险行为的基础，前额叶系统是抑制控制的基础，这两个神经系统之间的成熟失衡是青春期饮酒急剧增加的原因。我们将研究青春期冒险和抑制控制的发展轨迹，并将调查这些认知过程对受到虐待的青少年及其未受虐待的同龄人早期饮酒的影响。由于行为调控被认为是许多外部性问题的基础，我们还将确定这些认知过程中的缺陷是与早发性饮酒有关，还是与更广泛的外部性问题有关。此外，我们先前的研究结果表明，早期不良经历的特定维度(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，我们将调查特定的早期不良经历对冒险、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150名参与CWS的受虐待青少年和150名低收入未受虐待青少年的冒险倾向和抑制控制能力(通过青少年报告、照顾者报告，以及在激活特定神经系统的任务中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)。我们将收集从青春期早期(12-13岁)到中期(15-16岁)的四波数据，以检查在这一关键时期内冒险、抑制控制和饮酒的发展轨迹。拟议的研究结果将明确特定的认知过程，以便在未来为CWS和其他高危人群提供预防性干预服务。此外，这些结果将有助于及早识别最有可能过早饮酒的受虐青少年。

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.