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Neurocognitive
Prerequisites for Drug Abuse Prevention
Principal
Investigator: Diana Fishbein, Ph.D.
RTI International
Co-Principal
Investigator: M.J. Paschall, Ph.D.
Several
programs for adolescent substance abuse are reportedly "effective"
for a significant number of participants; however, there is
invariably a substantial subgroup that does not respond favorably.
It is critical that underlying mechanisms for these differences
are identified in order to improve prevention efficacy. Integrity
of executive cognitive function (ECF) and its modulation of
emotional arousal levels may represent significant dimensions
of regulatory processes related to risk for substance abuse
and may play a principle role in differential responses to
programming. ECF is subserved by the brain's prefrontal cortex
and its limbic circuitry to regulate behavioral inhibition,
sensitivity to rewards and penalties, and decision-making.
Deficits in ECF have been associated with both liability to
substance abuse and relapse. The premise behind the present
study is that differences in these neurocognitive-emotive
processes also contribute to differential responses to preventive
interventions.
This study is based in the Johns Hopkins University Prevention
Intervention Research Center (JHU PIRC), and focuses on a
subsample of 150 African-American adolescents from low-income
Baltimore neighborhoods who have a history of conduct problems,
and who have been involved in an ongoing epidemiological study.
The study will make use of data already collected as part
of the ongoing epidemiological study at JHU PIRC, and will
include a number of neuropsychological and physiological measures,
including the RDMT. Half of the adolescents will be exposed
to a brief social-cognitive skills building intervention (Positive
Adolescent Choices Training) that was developed specifically
for African-American youth in low-income urban settings. All
of the adolescents will complete a set of interactive virtual
reality vignettes to assess short-term effects of the intervention
on their social-cognitive skills (conflict resolution, negotiation,
emotional control, decision making). This innovative study
will help to determine whether decision-making ability and
other neuropsychological factors (e.g., impulsivity, attention
control) compromise the effectiveness of prevention programs,
or whether these factors are potentially modifiable through
targeted interventions.
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