A developmental cascade model for early adolescent onset substance use: The role of early childhood stress

Contains fulltext : 199688.pdf (publisher's version ) (Open Access)Backgrounds and aims: Despite the link between stress and addictive behavior in adulthood, little is known about how early life stress in families predicts the early emergence of substance use in adolescence. This study tested a developmental cascade model, proposing that early stressful life events and negative parent-child interaction covary, and both disrupt the refinement of inhibitory control, which evolves into problem behavior in middle/late childhood and subsequent substance use exploration in early adolescence. Methods: Data came from the Early Steps Multisite study, a community sample of at-risk families in the metropolitan US areas of Pittsburgh (Pennsylvania), Eugene (Oregon), and Charlottesville (Virginia) with children aged 2 at the start of the study and 14 at the last measurement (N = 364). Structural equation modeling was used to test the proposed model. Results: Early stressful life events and negative parent-child interaction assessed at ages 2 to 5 were negatively related to inhibitory control at ages 7 and 8. Low levels of inhibitory control were prognostic of childhood problem behavior at ages 9 and 10. Finally, late childhood problem behavior was associated with substance use at age 14. Parental drug use was directly related to substance use at age 14. Conclusions: Early life stress may disrupt child inhibitory control, which can cascade into behavioral and peer problem behavior in childhood and, in turn, heighten the risk for early adolescent substance use.9 p

Reversible magnetization of MgB2 single crystals with a two-gap nature

We present reversible magnetization measurements on MgB2 single crystals in magnetic fields up to 2.5 T applied parallel to the crystal's c-axis. This magnetization is analyzed in terms of the Hao-Clem model, and various superconducting parameters, such as the critical fields [Hc(0) and Hc2(0)], the characteristic lengths [xi(0) and lambda(0)], and the Ginzburg-Landau parameter, kappa, are derived. The temperature dependence of the magnetic penetration depth, lambda(T), obtained from the Hao-Clem analysis could not be explained by theories assuming a single gap. Our data are well described by using a two-gap model.Comment: 20 pages, 1 table, 4 figures, will be published in Phys. Rev.

School-based prevention for adolescent Internet addiction: prevention is the key. A systematic literature review

Adolescents’ media use represents a normative need for information, communication, recreation and functionality, yet problematic Internet use has increased. Given the arguably alarming prevalence rates worldwide and the increasingly problematic use of gaming and social media, the need for an integration of prevention efforts appears to be timely. The aim of this systematic literature review is (i) to identify school-based prevention programmes or protocols for Internet Addiction targeting adolescents within the school context and to examine the programmes’ effectiveness, and (ii) to highlight strengths, limitations, and best practices to inform the design of new initiatives, by capitalizing on these studies’ recommendations. The findings of the reviewed studies to date presented mixed outcomes and are in need of further empirical evidence. The current review identified the following needs to be addressed in future designs to: (i) define the clinical status of Internet Addiction more precisely, (ii) use more current psychometrically robust assessment tools for the measurement of effectiveness (based on the most recent empirical developments), (iii) reconsider the main outcome of Internet time reduction as it appears to be problematic, (iv) build methodologically sound evidence-based prevention programmes, (v) focus on skill enhancement and the use of protective and harm-reducing factors, and (vi) include IA as one of the risk behaviours in multi-risk behaviour interventions. These appear to be crucial factors in addressing future research designs and the formulation of new prevention initiatives. Validated findings could then inform promising strategies for IA and gaming prevention in public policy and education

The social exigencies of the gateway progression to the use of illicit drugs from adolescence into adulthood

Item does not contain fulltextBackground: There is limited empirical integration between peer clustering theory and the Gateway framework. The goal of the present study was to test the hypothesis that friendship associations partly predict gateway escalations in the use of drugs from adolescence to adulthood. Method: This longitudinal study analyzed 3 waves of data from a community sample of 711 male and female participants without a history of illicit drug use reporting drug use at age 17, 22, and 27. Substance use assessments including tobacco, alcohol, cannabis, onset and abuse/dependence tendency of illicit drugs other than cannabis (i.e., cocaine, methamphetamine, and opiates), and friends' reported use of illicit drugs. Structural equation modeling was used to test the hypothesized model. Results : Participants' cannabis use level at age 17 was positively associated with perceived friends' drug use at age 22, which in turn predicted participants' onset of illicit drug use between ages 22 and 27. Moreover, progression of tobacco use throughout age 17 to 22 was associated with an increased onset of illicit drug use between ages 22 and 27. Apart for an effect of cannabis use at age 22 on abuse and dependence tendency to various drugs at age 28, results were similar. Conclusions: During this period of development, the availability and selection of drug-using friends contributes to the progression to potentially more rewarding and damaging illicit drugs. These findings suggest the need to attend to the peer ecology in prevention and support the common practice of using abstaining peers in treatment for drug dependence.7 p

Adolescence effortful control as a mediator between family ecology and problematic substance use in early adulthood: A 16-year prospective study

Item does not contain fulltextThis study examined the mediated effect of early adolescence familial context on early adulthood problematic substance use through effortful control in late adolescence. The sample consisted of a community sample of 311 adolescents and their families comprising the control group within a randomized trial intervention. Parental monitoring and parent-child relationship quality (P-C RQ) were measured annually from ages 11 to 13. Effortful control was measured by self-reports and parent and teacher reports at ages 16 to 17. Self-reports of problematic tobacco, alcohol, and marijuana use were measured at ages 18 to 19, 21 to 22, 23 to 24, and 26 to 27. Structural equation modeling was employed to test hypothesized models. Only P-C RQ was found to be significantly associated with adolescent effortful control. As expected, higher levels of adolescent effortful control were associated with lower problematic substance use through early adulthood, controlling for previous substance use levels. Mediation analyses showed that effortful control significantly mediated the relationship between P-C RQ and problematic substance use. Higher relationship quality between youth and parents in early adolescence is associated with higher effortful control, which in turn relates to a lower level of problematic substance use in early adulthood.15 p

Estimation of intrafamilial DNA contamination in family trio genome sequencing using deviation from Mendelian inheritance

With the increasing number of sequencing projects involving families, quality control tools optimized for family genome sequencing are needed. However, accurately quantifying contamination in a DNA mixture is particularly difficult when genetically related family members are the sources. We developed TrioMix, a maximum likelihood estimation (MLE) framework based on Mendel’s law of inheritance, to quantify DNA mixture between family members in genome sequencing data of parent–offspring trios. TrioMix can accurately deconvolute any intrafamilial DNA contamination, including parent–offspring, sibling–sibling, parent–parent, and even multiple familial sources. In addition, TrioMix can be applied to detect genomic abnormalities that deviate from Mendelian inheritance patterns, such as uniparental disomy (UPD) and chimerism. A genome-wide depth and variant allele frequency plot generated by TrioMix facilitates tracing the origin of Mendelian inheritance deviations. We showed that TrioMix could accurately deconvolute genomes in both simulated and real data sets. © 2022 Yoon et al.; Published by Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Press.11Nsciescopu

Circadian acclimatization of performance, sleep, and 6-sulfatoxymelatonin using multiple phase shifting stimuli

Misalignment between the environment and one’s circadian system is a common phenomenon (e.g., jet lag) which can have myriad negative effects on physical and mental health, mental and physiological performance, and sleep. Absent any intervention, the circadian system adjusts only 0.5-1.0 h per day to a shifted light-dark and sleep-wake schedule. Bright light facilitates circadian adjustment, but in field studies, bright light is only modestly better than no stimulus. Evidence indicates that exercise and melatonin can be combined with bright light to elicit larger shifts but no study has combined all of these stimuli or administered them at the times that are known to elicit the largest effects on the circadian system. The aims of this study are to compare the effects of different treatments on circadian adjustment to simulated jet lag in a laboratory. Following 2 weeks of home recording, 36 adults will spend 6.5 consecutive days in the laboratory. Following an 8 h period of baseline sleep recording on the participant’s usual sleep schedule on Night 1 (e.g., 0000-0800 h), participants will undergo a 26 h circadian assessment protocol involving 2 h wake intervals in dim light and 1 h of sleep in darkness, repeated throughout the 26 h. During this protocol, all urine voidings will be collected; mood, sleepiness, psychomotor vigilance, and pain sensitivity will be assessed every 3 h, forehead temperature will be assessed every 90 min, and anaerobic performance (Wingate test) will be tested every 6 h. Following, the circadian assessment protocol, the participant’s sleep-wake and light dark schedule will be delayed by 8 h compared with baseline (e.g., 0800-1400 h), analogous to travelling 8 times zones westward. This shifted schedule will be maintained for 3 days. During the 3 days on the delayed schedule, participants will be randomized to one of 3 treatments: (1) Dim Red Light + Placebo Capsules, (2) Bright Light Alone, (3) Bright Light + Exercise + Melatonin. During the final 26 h, all conditions and measures of the baseline circadian protocol will be repeated. Acclimatization will be defined by shifts in circadian rhythms of aMT6s, psychomotor vigilance, Wingate Anaerobic performance, mood, and sleepiness, and less impairments in these measures during the shifted schedule compared with baseline. We posit that Bright Light Alone and Bright Light + Exercise + Melatonin will elicit greater shifts in circadian rhythms and less impairments in sleep, mood, performance, and sleepiness compared with Dim Red Light + Placebo Capsules. We also posit that Bright Light + Exercise + Melatonin will elicit greater shifts and less impairments than Bright Light Alone. Copyright © 2022 Youngstedt, Elliott, Patel, Zi-Ching Mak, Raiewski, Malek, Strong, Mun, Peters, Madlol, Tasevska, Rasoul, Nguyen, Vargas Negrete, Adaralegbe, Sudalaimuthu, Granholm, Finch, Eksambe, Malready and Parthasarathy.Open access journalThis item from the UA Faculty Publications collection is made available by the University of Arizona with support from the University of Arizona Libraries. If you have questions, please contact us at [email protected]

School-based prevention for adolescent Internet addiction: prevention is the key. A systematic literature review

Adolescents’ media use represents a normative need for information, communication, recreation and functionality, yet problematic Internet use has increased. Given the arguably alarming prevalence rates worldwide and the increasingly problematic use of gaming and social media, the need for an integration of prevention efforts appears to be timely. The aim of this systematic literature review is (i) to identify school-based prevention programmes or protocols for Internet Addiction targeting adolescents within the school context and to examine the programmes’ effectiveness, and (ii) to highlight strengths, limitations, and best practices to inform the design of new initiatives, by capitalizing on these studies’ recommendations. The findings of the reviewed studies to date presented mixed outcomes and are in need of further empirical evidence. The current review identified the following needs to be addressed in future designs to: (i) define the clinical status of Internet Addiction more precisely, (ii) use more current psychometrically robust assessment tools for the measurement of effectiveness (based on the most recent empirical developments), (iii) reconsider the main outcome of Internet time reduction as it appears to be problematic, (iv) build methodologically sound evidence-based prevention programmes, (v) focus on skill enhancement and the use of protective and harm-reducing factors, and (vi) include IA as one of the risk behaviours in multi-risk behaviour interventions. These appear to be crucial factors in addressing future research designs and the formulation of new prevention initiatives. Validated findings could then inform promising strategies for IA and gaming prevention in public policy and education