The goal of this application is to extend a line of research examining markers of risk for alcohol dependence and co-morbid disinhibitory problems. Specifically, this application proposes a first aim of investigating the predictive influence of personality traits related to self-control and responsibility, cognitive capacity (in the forms of IQ and working memory), and social investment on patterns of change and continuity in alcohol dependence and co-morbid disinhibitory problems (i.e., marijuana, and other drug dependence, and conduct and antisocial personality disorders).
A second aim i s designed tp examine concurrent trends in related neural activation, as assessed via functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) using the Balloon Analogue Risk Task. Focusing on the development of these problems in late adolescence will allow for two important questions to be addressed: 1) What developmental trajectories of alcohol and co-morbid disinhibitory problems can be predicted from assessing the development of personality traits related to self-control and responsibility, cognitive capacity, and social investment? and 2) How do individual differences in risk-related neural activation prospectively predict developmental patterns of problems and how do developmental patterns of neural activation correspond to observed patterns of development among personality traits related to responsibility and self-control, cognitive capacity, social investment, and alcohol problems? Addressing these questions will facilitate the third aim of piloting an intervention using social investment inducements and cognitive remediation, as well as help establish the Pi's long-term career goal of developing sophisticated models of self-regulation for alcohol dependence and co-morbid disinhibitory problems. The above aims will be addressed using a 24-month five-wave longitudinal study of approximately 220 college-aged participants, a monthly diary design using 100 college-aged participants, and a pilot intervention with neuroimaging using 40 college-aged participants. Previous research indicates such participants are well suited for addressing ontogenetic questions due to the developmental dynamism of the major constructs and outcomes of interest in late adolescence and early adulthood.
Because the plan ofthe current application seeks to predict one ofthe leading behavioral contributors to mortality (i.e., alcohol dependence) using a conceptually and methodologically integrative framework, it explicitly addresses the NIH mission of producing knowledge related to the behavior of living systems and the application of that knowledge to extend healthy life and reduce the burdens of illness and disability.
