Anticipating problem alcohol use developmentally from childhood into middle adulthood: what have we learned?

This commentary reviews and comments on six major longitudinal studies from the United States, Great Britain and Finland, that test predictive models of drinking and problem drinking behavior across a developmental span of one to two generations. The large Ns, in two instances involving population samples, and the broad and study-overlapping variable domains make this collection of studies unique and of special interest vis-à-vis the issue of cross-study replicability of findings. Significant cross-study commonalities are noted, involving the strong cross-study replicability of an undercontrol/externalizing domain as both a childhood and adolescent predictor of problem drinking outcomes in early to middle adulthood, the relative autostability of heavy and problem use of alcohol over intervals of time as long as a generation, the utility of early drinking behavior as an index for later drinking outcomes, the relative parallelism (with some exceptions) of male and female findings, albeit with greater predictability of male over female drinking outcomes and the relatively tighter relational networks of drinking and other behavioral characteristics for males. This impressive group of quasi-replications also points the field to address several next-step questions, including: (i) the need to parse the undercontrol/externalizing domain to identify those subcomponential process characteristics that are causal to heavy and problem drinking outcomes; (ii) the need to develop models that will handle more effectively the uneven relationships of negative activity to drinking outcomes, in some instances operating protectively, in other instances operating as risk factors; (iii) the need for more carefully articulated, theoretically driven process models that will specify the ordering, developmental saliency and mediational properties of risk and protective factors as they come on line; and (iv) the need for more developmental testing of trait/context interaction models of problem drinking development.NIAAA R37 AA07065 and R01 AA12217Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/64509/1/#164, Zucker 2008, Anticipating problem alcohol use developmentally from childhood into middle adulthood.pd

Assessment of culture and environment in the Adolescent Brain and Cognitive Development Study: Rationale, description of measures, and early data.

Neurodevelopmental maturation takes place in a social environment in addition to a neurobiological one. Characterization of social environmental factors that influence this process is therefore an essential component in developing an accurate model of adolescent brain and neurocognitive development, as well as susceptibility to change with the use of marijuana and other drugs. The creation of the Culture and Environment (CE) measurement component of the ABCD protocol was guided by this understanding. Three areas were identified by the CE Work Group as central to this process: influences relating to CE Group membership, influences created by the proximal social environment, influences stemming from social interactions. Eleven measures assess these influences, and by time of publication, will have been administered to well over 7,000 9-10 year-old children and one of their parents. Our report presents baseline data on psychometric characteristics (mean, standard deviation, range, skewness, coefficient alpha) of all measures within the battery. Effectiveness of the battery in differentiating 9-10 year olds who were classified as at higher and lower risk for marijuana use in adolescence was also evaluated. Psychometric characteristics on all measures were good to excellent; higher vs. lower risk contrasts were significant in areas where risk differentiation would be anticipated

Sleep Problems in Early Childhood and Early Onset of Alcohol and Other Drug Use in Adolescence

Background : No prospective studies exist on the relationship between sleep problems early in life and subsequent alcohol use. Stimulated by the adult literature linking sleep problems to the subsequent onset of alcohol use disorders in some adults, we examined whether sleep problems in early childhood predicted the onset of alcohol and other drug use in adolescence and whether such a relationship was mediated by other known predictors of this relationship, namely, attention problems, anxiety/depression, and aggression in late childhood. Methods : This study is part of an ongoing longitudinal study of the development of risk for alcohol and other substance use disorders. Study participants were 257 boys from a community-recruited sample of high-risk families. Results : Mothers’ ratings of their children's sleep problems at ages 3 to 5 years significantly predicted an early onset of any use of alcohol, marijuana, and illicit drugs, as well as an early onset of occasional or regular use of cigarettes by age 12 to 14. Additionally, although sleep problems in early childhood also predicted attention problems and anxiety/depression in later childhood, these problems did not mediate the relationship between sleep problems and onset of alcohol and other drug use. Conclusions : This is, to our knowledge, the first study that prospectively examines the relationship between sleep problems and early onset of alcohol use, a marker of increased risk for later alcohol problems and alcohol use disorders. Moreover, early childhood sleep problems seem to be a robust marker for use of drugs other than alcohol. Implications for the prevention of early alcohol and other drug use are discussed.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/65934/1/01.ALC.0000121651.75952.39.pd

Childhood Sleep Problems, Response Inhibition, and Alcohol and Drug Outcomes in Adolescence and Young Adulthood

To our knowledge, no prospective studies examine the relationships among childhood sleep problems, adolescent executive functioning, and substance outcomes (i.e., substance use and substance-related problems). In this study, we examined whether childhood sleep problems predicted adolescent sleep problems and response inhibition. We also tested whether adolescent sleep problems and poor response inhibition mediated the relationship between childhood sleep problems and substance (alcohol and drug) outcomes in young adulthood.Study participants were 292 boys and 94 girls (M = 4.85, SD = 1.47) from a community sample of high-risk families and controls.When compared to their counterparts, those with trouble sleeping in childhood were twice as likely to have the same problem in adolescence. Childhood overtiredness predicted poor response inhibition in adolescence. Persistent trouble sleeping from childhood to adolescence and response inhibition in adolescence mediated the relationship between childhood sleep problems and drug outcomes in young adulthood, whereas overtiredness in childhood directly predicted alcohol use outcomes and alcohol-related problems in young adulthood.This is the first study showing a long-term relationship between childhood sleep measures and subsequent alcohol and drug outcomes. The developmental and clinical implications of these findings were discussed. Prevention and intervention programs may want to consider the role of sleep problems and response inhibition on substance use and abuse.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/79313/1/j.1530-0277.2010.01178.x.pd

A time‐varying effect model for examining group differences in trajectories of zero‐inflated count outcomes with applications in substance abuse research

Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/136025/1/sim7177_am.pdfhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/136025/2/sim7177.pd

Darkfield-Confocal Microscopy detection of nanoscale particle internalization by human lung cells

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Concerns over the health effects of nanomaterials in the environment have created a need for microscopy methods capable of examining the biological interactions of nanoparticles (NP). Unfortunately, NP are beyond the diffraction limit of resolution for conventional light microscopy (~200 nm). Fluorescence and electron microscopy techniques commonly used to examine NP interactions with biological substrates have drawbacks that limit their usefulness in toxicological investigation of NP. EM is labor intensive and slow, while fluorescence carries the risk of photobleaching the sample and has size resolution limits. In addition, many relevant particles lack intrinsic fluorescence and therefore can not be detected in this manner. To surmount these limitations, we evaluated the potential of a novel combination of darkfield and confocal laser scanning microscopy (DF-CLSM) for the efficient 3D detection of NP in human lung cells. The DF-CLSM approach utilizes the contrast enhancements of darkfield microscopy to detect objects below the diffraction limit of 200 nm based on their light scattering properties and interfaces it with the power of confocal microscopy to resolve objects in the z-plane.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Validation of the DF-CLSM method using fluorescent polystyrene beads demonstrated spatial colocalization of particle fluorescence (Confocal) and scattered transmitted light (Darkfield) along the X, Y, and Z axes. DF-CLSM imaging was able to detect and provide reasonable spatial locations of 27 nm TiO₂particles in relation to the stained nuclei of exposed BEAS 2B cells. Statistical analysis of particle proximity to cellular nuclei determined a significant difference between 5 min and 2 hr particle exposures suggesting a time-dependant internalization process.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>DF-CLSM microscopy is an alternative to current conventional light and electron microscopy methods that does not rely on particle fluorescence or contrast in electron density. DF-CLSM is especially well suited to the task of establishing the spatial localization of nanoparticles within cells, a critical topic in nanotoxicology. This technique has advantages to 2D darkfield microscopy as it visualizes nanoparticles in 3D using confocal microscopy. Use of this technique should aid toxicological studies related to observation of NP interactions with biological endpoints at cellular and subcellular levels.</p

Anticipating Problem Drinking Risk from Preschoolers' Antisocial Behavior: Evidence for a Common Delinquency-Related Diathesis Model

Objective: Early first drinking (EFD) experiences predict later alcohol problems. However, the longitudinal pathway from early childhood leading to EFD has not been well delineated. Based on documented links between drinking behaviors and chronic antisocial behaviors, this article tests a common diathesis model in which precursive patterns of aggression and delinquent behaviorVfrom preschool onwardVanticipate EFD. Method: Participants were 220 male children and their parents in a high risk for substance use disorder prospective study. Early first drinking was defined as having had a first drink by 12 to 14 years of age. Stacked structural equation models and configural frequency analyses were used to compare those with and without EFD on aggression and delinquent behavior from ages 3 to 5 years through 12 to 14 years. Results: Delinquent behavior and aggression decreased normatively throughout childhood for those with and without EFD, although those with EFD showed precocious resurgences moving into early adolescence. Early first drinking was associated with delinquent behavior more than aggression. Early drinkers were more delinquent at most agesVwith a direct effect of preschool predisposition on adolescent behavior only within the EFD group. Early first drinking was disproportionately likely among individuals with high levels of delinquent behavior at both 3 to 5 and 12 to 14 years of age but uncommon among individuals with low levels of delinquent behavior during those two age periods. Conclusions: Early first drinking and delinquent behavior share a common diathesis evident before school entry. Intervention and prevention programs targeting problem drinking risk should focus on dismantling this emergent primarily delinquency-related developmental trajectory. J. Am. Acad. Child Adolesc. Psychiatry, 2009;48(8):820Y827. Key Words: substance use, drinking onset, antisocial behavior, child development, continuity.NIAAA-R37 AA07065, Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan Foundation.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/64506/1/#169 Mayzer jaacap preschool ASB and Prob drink.pd

Affective Circuitry and Risk for Alcoholism in Late Adolescence: Differences in Frontostriatal Responses Between Vulnerable and Resilient Children of Alcoholic Parents

Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/65950/1/j.1530-0277.2007.00605.x.pd

Resiliency in Adolescents at High Risk for Substance Abuse: Flexible Adaptation via Subthalamic Nucleus and Linkage to Drinking and Drug Use in Early Adulthood

Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/92431/1/acer1741.pd