Health and Developmental Consequences of Youth Drug Abuse

Research Findings from May, 2003 Director's Report

This section lists selected summaries from NIDA funded research projects that investigate the developmental implications of drug use. The summaries provided were selected from recent issues of the Director's Report to the National Advisory Council on Drug Abuse. For a more comprehensive listing of NIDA funded projects see the Director's Report.

Anabolic-Androgenic Steroids (AAS) & Aggression

In a recent study, Dr. Richard Melloni and his associates examined the effects of chronic AAS exposure during adolescent development on the arginine vasopressin (AVP) V1A receptor system regulating offensive aggression. They undertook this study because clinical and basic research have demonstrated a positive correlation between long-term use of AAS and negative behavioral effects including increased aggressive behavior. Studies also report increased hypothalamic AVP and facilitation of offensive aggression in male Syrian hamsters following repeated AAS exposure. Findings from this study show for the first time that exposure to high-dose of AAS during adolescent development can dramatically increase the binding of AVP V1A receptors in intact animals. These findings are significant as they demonstrate that increases in offensive aggression resulting from adolescent AAS exposure correlate directly with increases in AVP V1A receptor binding activity in several key areas of the hamster brain implicated in aggressive responding, but not in others. From a neuroanatomical standpoint, these data implicate enhanced AVP neural signaling via AVP V1A receptor in these aggression areas as potential neural substrates for adolescent AAS-facilitated offensive aggression. DeLeon, K.R., Grimes, J.M. and Melloni, Jr., R.H. Repeated Anabolic-Androgenic Steroids Treatment during Adolescence Increases Vasopressin V1A Receptor Binding in Syrian Hamsters: Correlation with Offensive Aggression, Hormones & Behavior, 42, pp. 182-191, 2002.

Behavioral Problems in HIV-Infected Children

In an effort to increase understanding of previously-reported behavioral problems among HIV-infected children, investigators have analyzed data from the Women and Infants Transmission Study (WITS), a large multi-site, longitudinal study of maternal-infant HIV infection and the health and developmental outcomes of the children. The analyses examined influences of HIV infection, drug exposure, and family characteristics on behavioral outcomes of 307 children born to HIV-positive mothers (96 HIV-infected and 211 seroreverters). The age range of behavioral outcome assessment was 3 to 8 years. Analyses indicated a high prevalence of behavioral problems in this sample, but the multivariate analyses did not find an association between either HIV status or prenatal drug exposure and poor behavioral outcomes. The strongest associations with increased behavioral problems involved demographic characteristics. Mellins, C.A., Smith, R. and O'Driscoll, P., et al. High Rates of Behavioral Problems in Perinatally HIV-Infected Children Are Not Linked to HIV Disease. Pediatrics, 111, pp. 384-393, 2003.

Drug Use and the Risk of Major Depressive Disorder, Alcohol Dependence, and Substance Use Disorders

The Children in the Community Study is a prospective longitudinal study investigating the association between early drug use (childhood, adolescence, and early 20's) and later psychiatric disorders (in the late twenties). Utilizing data from a community-based sample of 736 adults (50% female) from upstate New York, the subjects were interviewed at mean ages of 14 years, 16 years, 22 years, and 27 years. Psychiatric disorders, measured by age-appropriate versions of the University of Michigan Composite International Diagnostic Interview (UM-CIDI), and participant drug use were assessed. Adolescent and young adult tobacco use was significantly associated with an increased risk of alcohol dependence and substance use disorders (SUDs) at mean age 27, but not with new episodes of major depressive disorder (MDD). Earlier alcohol use significantly predicted later MDD, alcohol dependence and SUDs in the late twenties, as did early marijuana use and other illicit drug use. Except for the effect of tobacco use on MDD, early drug use was significantly related to later psychiatric disorders, even after statistically controlling for age, gender, parental education, family income, and prior episodes of MDD and SUDs. Results suggest that early drug use is associated with and predicts later psychiatric disorders. Preventive implications stem from the importance of studying a range of psychiatric disorders in the context of substance use assessed over a wide age range. Brook, D.W., Brook, J.S., Zhang, C., Cohen, P. and Whiteman, M. Drug Use and the Risk of Major Depressive Disorder, Alcohol Dependence, and Substance Use Disorders. Archives of General Psychiatry, 59, pp. 1039-1044, 2002.

Earlier Marijuana Use and Later Problem Behavior in Colombian Youth

The study examined the relationship between earlier adolescent marijuana use and later adolescent behavioral problems. A community-based sample of Colombian adolescents was interviewed in 1995-1996 and 1997-1998. The time 2 (T2) sample consisted of 1151 males and 1075 females. The psychosocial measures assessed adolescent problem behavior, the peer and sibling social network, and ecological/ environmental stress and cultural domains. Logistic regression analyses included controls on demographic and time 1 (T1) dependent measures. The findings suggest that T1 adolescent marijuana use was associated with increased risks for T2 adolescent difficulty at work or school, violent experiences, peer marijuana use, and sibling marijuana problems. This study provides important evidence in this cohort of the specific relationship between T1 adolescent marijuana use and (T2) adolescent problem behavior in a society in which drug use, crime, violence, and low educational attainment are pervasive. Similar findings have been shown in previous research with U.S. adolescents. The findings suggest that early adolescent marijuana use is associated with an increase in problem behavior during later adolescence. Brook, J.S., Brook, D.W., Rosen, Z. and Rabbitt, C.R. Earlier Marijuana Use and Later Problem Behavior in Colombian Youth. Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, 42 (4), pp. 1-8, 2003.

Adolescent Substance Use Related to Risky Sex Behaviors in Early Adulthood

This study examined the developmental relationship between adolescent substance use and risky sexual behavior in young adulthood. A sample of 808 children was surveyed at age 10 and followed prospectively to age 21 years. Different trajectory groups were identified, including binge-drinking, cigarette smoking, marijuana use, and the use of other illicit drugs. Membership in these groups significantly predicted risky sexual behavior at age 21, after other substance use and early measures of sexual behavior were controlled. Early binge-drinkers had significantly more sex partners than non-binge drinkers. Late onset binge-drinkers and marijuana users had significantly more sex partners and were less likely to use condoms consistently than those who did not binge drink or use marijuana. Experimenters in cigarette smoking, who did not escalate smoking, were more likely to use condoms consistently than nonsmokers. In contrast, the use of other illicit drugs in adolescence did not predict risky sexual behavior at age 21. Guo, J., Chung, I., Hill, K.G., Hawkins, J.D., Catalano, and Abbott, R.D. Developmental Relationships Between Adolescent Substance Use and Risky Sexual Behavior in Young Adulthood. J. of Adolescent Health, 31(4), pp. 354-362, 2002.

Effects of Alcohol Misuse on Gambling Patterns in Youth

This study hypothesized that alcohol misuse would predict a pattern of increased youth gambling or a pattern of stable high gambling after controlling for key sociodemographic, socialization and individual factors. Data were analyzed from two longitudinal studies of youth living in a western New York metropolitan area. Respondents' gambling at two times over the course of 12-18 months was classified into one of five gambling pattern groups, representing flat-low, increasing, flat-medium, flat-high and decreasing levels of gambling. Alcohol misuse among males predicted increasing gambling over time or a pattern of stability of high rates of gambling even after controlling for socioeconomic status, race, age, impulsivity and parental monitoring in the family study. Higher parental monitoring and lower alcohol misuse were significant in predicting a decreasing pattern of gambling among males in the male delinquency study. For females in the family study, alcohol misuse predicted an increasing pattern of gambling only when other factors such as high impulsivity or low parental monitoring were present. Results are consistent with the notion that gambling and alcohol misuse are prevalent among youth and may be part of a common problem behavior syndrome. Barnes, G.M., Welte, J.W., Hoffman, J.H., and Dintcheff, B.A. Effects of Alcohol Misuse on Gambling Patterns in Youth. Journal of Studies on Alcohol, 63(6), pp. 767-775, 2002.