Substance use patterns in 9-10 year olds: Baseline findings from the adolescent brain cognitive development (ABCD) study.

BACKGROUND: The Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development ™ Study (ABCD Study®) is an open-science, multi-site, prospective, longitudinal study following over 11,800 9- and 10-year-old youth into early adulthood. The ABCD Study aims to prospectively examine the impact of substance use (SU) on neurocognitive and health outcomes. Although SU initiation typically occurs during teen years, relatively little is known about patterns of SU in children younger than 12. METHODS: This study aims to report the detailed ABCD Study® SU patterns at baseline (n = 11,875) in order to inform the greater scientific community about cohort's early SU. Along with a detailed description of SU, we ran mixed effects regression models to examine the association between early caffeine and alcohol sipping with demographic factors, externalizing symptoms and parental history of alcohol and substance use disorders (AUD/SUD). PRIMARY RESULTS: At baseline, the majority of youth had used caffeine (67.6 %) and 22.5 % reported sipping alcohol (22.5 %). There was little to no reported use of other drug categories (0.2 % full alcohol drink, 0.7 % used nicotine, <0.1 % used any other drug of abuse). Analyses revealed that total caffeine use and early alcohol sipping were associated with demographic variables (p's<.05), externalizing symptoms (caffeine p = 0002; sipping p = .0003), and parental history of AUD (sipping p = .03). CONCLUSIONS: ABCD Study participants aged 9-10 years old reported caffeine use and alcohol sipping experimentation, but very rare other SU. Variables linked with early childhood alcohol sipping and caffeine use should be examined as contributing factors in future longitudinal analyses examining escalating trajectories of SU in the ABCD Study cohort.

Baseline brain function in the preadolescents of the ABCD Study.

The Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development (ABCD) Study® is a 10-year longitudinal study of children recruited at ages 9 and 10. A battery of neuroimaging tasks are administered biennially to track neurodevelopment and identify individual differences in brain function. This study reports activation patterns from functional MRI (fMRI) tasks completed at baseline, which were designed to measure cognitive impulse control with a stop signal task (SST; N = 5,547), reward anticipation and receipt with a monetary incentive delay (MID) task (N = 6,657) and working memory and emotion reactivity with an emotional N-back (EN-back) task (N = 6,009). Further, we report the spatial reproducibility of activation patterns by assessing between-group vertex/voxelwise correlations of blood oxygen level-dependent (BOLD) activation. Analyses reveal robust brain activations that are consistent with the published literature, vary across fMRI tasks/contrasts and slightly correlate with individual behavioral performance on the tasks. These results establish the preadolescent brain function baseline, guide interpretation of cross-sectional analyses and will enable the investigation of longitudinal changes during adolescent development.

Risky Sexual Behaviors, Substance Use, and Perceptions of Risky Behaviors Among Criminal Justice Involved Women Who Trade Sex.

This study examined risky sexual behaviors, Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (4th ed.; DSM-IV)-defined alcohol and substance use disorders, and perceptions of risky behaviors among community released, justice-involved women, who are currently trading sex (CTS), formerly traded sex (FTS), or have never traded sex. Data were derived from 266 sexually active women recruited from a Municipal Drug Court System in St. Louis, Missouri. In an adjusted multinomial regression model, being dependent on alcohol and cocaine was the most robust correlate of sex-trading status (adjusted odds ratio [AOR]: CTS = 4.21, FTS = 4.66). Perceptions of sexual risk and HIV were significantly associated with CTS (AOR = 3.39), however, not FTS. Other significant correlates of sex trading status included age, lifetime injection drug use, lower education, child sexual abuse, and unstable housing. Gender-specific interventions tailored toward currently and formerly sex-trading women are needed.

Morbidity in a population of low-income, female users of MDMA and other drugs.

Few previous studies have reported on the overall health of drug-using women. To investigate this, 696 low-income women aged 18-31 were recruited in a cross-sectional study from gynecological care clinics in Texas between 2001 and 2003. Compared to exclusive marijuana users and non-drug users, women who used MDMA and those who used other illicit drugs but not MDMA reported more gynecological conditions, medical conditions, depressive symptoms, and physical somatic complaints. We concluded that young, low-income women who used more than one illicit drug experience significantly more physical and psychological morbidity. Generalization of this study results may be limited to young women with low income but not to other populations.

Gender and race matching preferences for HIV post-test counselling in an African-American sample.

This study tested whether having racially and gender-matched counsellors for HIV Post-test counselling were preferred. In the NIDA-funded EachOneTeachOne study, 115 African American respondents (19-68) were asked would they rather talk to someone of the same sex and race. Forty-three percent of the counsellor-respondent pairs were race concordant, and 58% were gender concordant. Chi-square statistics examined effects of gender, race and match. Out of those who desired a gender-match, 89% were men compared to 11% of women. Only 9% of African-Americans reported that they would feel more comfortable talking to an African-American counsellor. The sample size dropped due to non-response of the matching reference questions. Among the 39 race-counsellor concordant respondents (n=98), 23% expressed a preference for a race matched counsellor while no one with a race discordant counsellor expressed such a preference. Among the 56 respondents with a gender concordant counsellor (n=102), 27% said they would prefer a gender matched counsellor in the future; only 7% of those with a gender discordant counsellor expressed such as preference. Previously matched respondents were more likely to desire matched counsellors, but the majority still did not. Assumptions that race and gender matching are imperative are not supported by these findings.

Reliability of the services assessment for children and adolescents.

OBJECTIVE: This study examined the test-retest reliability of a new instrument, the Services Assessment for Children and Adolescents (SACA), for children's use of mental health services. METHODS: A cross-sectional survey was undertaken at two sites. The St. Louis site used a volunteer sample recruited from mental health clinics and local schools. The Ventura County, California, site used a double-blind, community-based sample seeded with cases of service-using children. Participating families completed the SACA and were retested within four to 14 days. The reliability of service use items was calculated with use of the kappa statistic. RESULTS: The SACA- Parent Version had excellent test-retest reliability for both lifetime service use and previous 12-month use. The SACA also had good to excellent reliability when administered to children aged 11 and older for lifetime and 12-month use. Reliability figures for children aged nine and ten years were considerably lower for lifetime and 12-month use. The younger children's responses suggested that they were confused about some questions. CONCLUSIONS: This study demonstrates that parents and older children can reliably report use of mental health services by using the SACA. The SACA can be used to collect currently unavailable information about use of mental health services.

The epidemiology of pathological gambling.

Increased attention has been given to the disorder of pathological gambling, especially since the formation of the latest Presidential Commission to study its social and economic impact on the nation. Researchers have experienced difficulty in establishing the prevalence of pathological gambling disorder attributable to several factors, namely: debate and confusion on the best way to define and classify the disorder; assessments of the disorder that are not diagnostic or comprehensive; and, methodological weaknesses in the majority of gambling studies caused primarily by sampling biases. This article summarizes prevalence estimates of pathological gambling disorder in the general population and for subpopulations while addressing the difficulties inherent in their interpretation. Recommendations are offered for future research into this disorder.

Gender differences in risk factors for trauma exposure and post-traumatic stress disorder among inner-city drug abusers in and out of treatment.

Over the past two decades there has been a growing awareness of the comorbidity between post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and substance use disorders in the general population. The purpose of these analyses was to examine, in a population of drug users, the role of gender in (1) predicting the nature of the traumatic event and PTSD symptoms, (2) patterns of substance use disorders in relation to trauma exposure and PTSD symptoms, (3) comorbidity of other psychiatric disorders with trauma exposure and PTSD, and (4) the temporal association of substance use disorder, exposure to trauma, and PTSD. Drug abusers (n = 464) were interviewed using the Diagnostic Interview Schedule for DSM-III-R (DIS) and the Composite International Diagnostic Interview-Substance Abuse Module (CIDI-SAM). Although more women than men met criteria for DSM-III-R PTSD, there were no gender differences on endorsement for a traumatic event. Adult antisocial behavior, affective disorder, schizophrenia, other anxiety disorder and polysubstance use predicted exposure to an event, whereas, only schizophrenia and other anxiety disorder predicted PTSD. In men, drug use preceded the exposure to an event, while in women, the onset age for both drug use and exposure to an event were nearly identical. This work suggests implications for gender-based education and prevention interventions.

Diagnostic concordance of DSM-III-R, DSM-IV, and ICD-10 inhalant use disorders.

The diagnostic concordance of DSM-III-R, DSM-IV, and ICD-10 inhalant use disorders was assessed using the sample of lifetime inhalant users (n=76) participating in the DSM-IV Field Trial for Substance Use Disorders. Substantially smaller proportions of lifetime inhalant users met DSM-IV inhalant abuse or dependence criteria than met comparable DSM-III-R or ICD-10 criteria. DSM-III-R and ICD-10 performed similarly, although DSM-III-R tended to be more inclusive vis-à-vis diagnoses of inhalant dependence. Kappa coefficients indicated a moderate degree of concordance between the three nosologies for inhalant use disorder diagnosis rates. Inclusion of possible withdrawal symptomatology criteria (that are not normally included) in the DSM-IV and ICD-10 criteria sets for inhalant dependence exerted little effect on diagnosis rates.

The Service Assessment for Children and Adolescents (SACA): adult and child reports.

OBJECTIVE: To describe differences in parent-child responses to the Service Assessment for Children and Adolescents (SACA). METHOD: Studies were done at UCLA and Washington University based on service-using and community subjects drawn from community households or public school student lists, respectively. Results are presented for 145 adult-youth pairs in which the youth was 11 or older. RESULTS: The SACA adult-youth correspondence for lifetime use of any services, inpatient services, outpatient services, and school services ranged from fair to excellent (kappa = 0.43-0.86, with most at 0.61 or greater). Similarly, the SACA showed a good to excellent correspondence for services that had been used in the preceding year (kappa = 0.45-0.77, with most greater than 0.50). The parent-youth correspondence for use of specific service settings in the above generic categories ranged from poor to excellent (kappa = 0.25-0.83, with half at 0.50 or greater). CONCLUSIONS: The SACA has better adult-youth correspondence than any service use questionnaire with published data, indicating that both adult and youth reports are not needed for all research on mental health services. This is especially encouraging news for researchers working with high-risk youth populations, in which a parent figure is often not available.

Substance dependence and other psychiatric disorders among drug dependent subjects: race and gender correlates.

Persons in drug treatment with drug dependence were interviewed with the NIMH Diagnostic Interview Schedule to ascertain DSM-III-R disorders. Lifetime prevalence rates were 64% for alcohol dependence, 44% for antisocial personality disorder (ASPD), 39% for phobic disorders, 24% for major depression, 12% for dysthymia, 10% for generalized anxiety disorder, 3% for panic disorder, 3% for mania, 3% for obsessive compulsive disorder, 2% for bulimia, 1% for schizophrenia, and 1% for anorexia. When stratified by race and age, significant main effects were seen, but there were no significant interactions except in "any non-substance disorder" and in the mean number of non-substance use disorders. Caucasians had a higher mean number of drug dependence disorders and higher overall rates of "any other" disorder than African-Americans, and Caucasians and males had higher mean numbers of non-substance use disorders than African-Americans and females, respectively. This was related to rates of alcohol, cannabis, and hallucinogen dependence, and ASPD rates that were higher among men than women and higher among Caucasian respondents than African-American for alcohol, cannabis, hallucinogen, opiate and sedative dependence, major depression, dysthymia, and generalized anxiety disorder. In contrast, women had higher rates than men of amphetamine dependence, phobic disorder, major depression, dysthymia, panic disorder, obsessive compulsive disorder, and mania. African-Americans had higher rates than Caucasians of amphetamine, cocaine, and phencyclidine dependence, but for no comorbid disorders were the rates higher among African-Americans than Caucasians. The differences according to gender in rates of disorders among substance dependent persons are consistent with the results of general population surveys, but the differences in rates according to race are in contrast to these same community surveys. Limitations in the utility of the concept of race as a valid category diminish the generalizability of the findings; however, one possible explanation is differential treatment seeking in African-American and Caucasian populations that would result in the differences seen.

Psychiatric disorders among drug dependent subjects: are they primary or secondary?

The relationship between substance use disorders and comorbid psychiatric conditions was investigated among 425 persons in drug treatment who met DSM-III-R criteria for drug dependence. Using the NIMH Diagnostic Interview Schedule to ascertain DSM-III-R psychiatric disorders among these drug dependent subjects, lifetime prevalence rates were 64% for alcohol abuse/dependence, 44% for antisocial personality disorder, 39% for phobic disorders, 24% for major depression, 12% for dysthymia, and 10% for generalized anxiety disorder. We found that antisocial personality disorder and phobias generally had onsets prior to the onset of drug dependence (that is, they were primary disorders). The majority of drug dependent persons with generalized anxiety disorder reported an onset after the onset of drug dependence (that is, they had secondary generalized anxiety). Alcohol dependence, depression, and dysthymia were divided nearly evenly between earlier (primary disorder) and later (secondary disorder). These results are consistent with the body of literature indicating the importance of antisocial syndromes in the etiology of substance abuse and the literature indicating the complex, varying nature of the relationship of psychiatric disorders to substance dependence. Finally, a precise nomenclature for "age of onset," "primary," and "secondary" was developed for this study that is critical to understanding these issues and is recommended for other studies.

Homelessness and gender in out-of-treatment drug users.

This study examines 5225 out-of-treatment crack users and drug injectors drawn from five different geographic areas to examine selected factors associated with homelessness. Of these crack users, 27% considered themselves undomiciled, and 60% had previously entered some type of drug treatment. Logistic regression found that substance abusers who were married, female, and persons of color were less likely to be without a home when other variables were controlled. Trading sex for money and perceived chance of getting acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) were associated positively with homelessness, while participating in methadone detoxification and methadone maintenance programs seemed to offer some protection from homelessness.

The effects of psychiatric comorbidity on response to an HIV prevention intervention.

Drug abusers with psychiatric comorbidity are at high risk for becoming exposed to HIV. To address this compelling public health issue, our randomized HIV prevention study compares the effectiveness of the NIDA standard HIV testing and counseling protocol to a four session, peer-delivered, educational intervention for out-of-treatment cocaine users with and without antisocial personality disorder (ASPD) and major depression. Among the 966 out-of-treatment cocaine users who have completed the 3 month follow-up, all groups, regardless of assignment to standard vs. peer-delivered intervention or psychiatric status, improved significantly in: crack cocaine use, injection drug use, number of IDU sex partners and overall number of sex partners, but not in condom use. Nevertheless, when stratified by psychiatric status, ASPD was associated with significantly less improvement in crack cocaine use (P = 0.04) and with a trend for less improvement in having multiple sex partners and having IDU sex partners (P = 0.06 and 0.08, respectively). ASPD status was not associated with change in injection drug use or condom use. Depression was associated with a trend (P = 0.07) for greater improvement in crack cocaine use but not in any of the other behaviors. When examining the standard and peer intervention groups separately, no consistent differences in the association of psychiatric comorbidity with outcome were discerned between the two groups. We conclude that persons with ASPD and depression respond well to standard HIV prevention interventions, but these psychiatric disorders respectively attenuate and enhance response somewhat. Behavioral interventions tailored for persons with these conditions may be indicated if long-term change in HIV risk behaviors is to be achieved.

Reliability of substance use disorder diagnoses among African-Americans and Caucasians.

Cross cultural research on substance use disorders (SUD) demands diagnostic measures and criteria that apply equally well to persons of different ethnic backgrounds. To evaluate the reliability of SUD in different ethnic groups, comparisons were made of the one week test/retest agreement on DSM-IV lifetime dependence disorders for 196 African-American (AA) and 107 Caucasian (C) respondents using the Composite International Diagnostic Interview-Substance Abuse Module (CIDI-SAM). Overall we found excellent reliability, using kappa (k) statistics, in diagnosing both AA and C respondents with alcohol dependence (AA k = 0.78; C k = 0.80) and opiate dependence (AA k = 0.77; C k = 0.71), good reliability for diagnosing both AA respondents (k = 0.63) and C respondents with cocaine dependence (k = 0.67), and to good reliability for both AA and C respondents with cannabis dependence (AA k = 0.50; C k = 0.69). Reliability of the dependence/abuse criteria was consistent with the overall diagnostic reliability but some variation was noted. No significant differences in the kappas were found between the two ethnic groups for any of the substance dependence diagnoses, and only one dependence or abuse criterion (continued use of cocaine despite physical/psychological problems) differed significantly between AA and C respondents. These initial results indicate that DSM-IV dependence diagnoses as measured by the CIDI-SAM apply equally well to AA and C respondents.

Problem gambling and comorbid psychiatric and substance use disorders among drug users recruited from drug treatment and community settings.

Little is known about gambling rates of drug users recruited from drug treatment compared with those recruited from the community. We use the Diagnostic Interview Schedule (DIS) to provide lifetime prevalence estimates of problem gambling (i.e., at least one gambling problem) and DSM-III-R pathological gambling (i.e., at least four gambling problems) and describe the association between gambling and psychiatric disorders for drug users recruited from drug treatment settings (n = 512) and from the community (n = 478). We also report the relative risk of being a recreational and problem gambler in this sample. The sample was first interviewed in 1989-90 as a part of two NIDA-funded St. Louis-based studies. The prevalence of problem gambling in the overall sample was 22% and the prevalence of pathological gambling was 11%. There were no statistically significant differences in problem and pathological gambling rates for subjects recruited from drug treatment and those recruited from the community. The conditional prevalence rates, that is, the rate of problem and pathological gambling only among gamblers were 27% and 13.5%, respectively. Major findings indicate that problem gambling was associated with Antisocial Personality Disorder (ASPD), even after controlling for recruitment source and socio-demographic characteristics. In fact, when examining the temporal order of these disorders, we found that pathological gambling was always secondary to ASPD, occurring on average 11.4 years after the onset of ASPD. Problem gamblers, compared with everyone else, were more likely to be male, African-American, recruited from drug treatment, have ASPD and be dependent on illicit drugs. Multinomial logistic regression analysis predicted the relative risk of being a recreational and problem gambler (compared with a nongambler) in this sample according to socio-demographics, ASPD, and dependence on illicit drugs. Results imply that screening for gambling problems will need to be broad-based among drug users.

Childhood victimization and drug abuse: a comparison of prospective and retrospective findings.

This study examined whether childhood victimization increases risk for drug abuse using prospective and retrospective victimization information. Substantiated cases of child abuse/neglect from 1967 to 1971 were matched on gender, age, race, and approximate social class with nonabused/nonneglected children and followed prospectively into young adulthood. Between 1989 and 1995, 1,196 participants (676 abused/neglected and 520 control) were administered a 2-hr interview, including measures of self-reported childhood victimization and drug use/abuse (the National Institute of Mental Health Diagnostic Interview Schedule--Version III--Revised). Prospectively, abused/neglected individuals were not at increased risk for drug abuse. In contrast, retrospective self-reports of childhood victimization were associated with robust and significant increases in risk for drug abuse. The relationship between childhood victimization and subsequent drug problems is more complex than originally anticipated.

Reaching and enrolling drug users for HIV prevention: a multi-site analysis.

Since 1994, several sites have participated in a NIDA Cooperative Agreement for AIDS Community-based Outreach/Intervention Research Program to examine rates of HIV risk behaviors and evaluate HIV risk reduction interventions among out-of-treatment drug injection and crack cocaine and heroin smokers. We studied the process and outcome of community outreach for recruitment of drug users in AIDS research and education projects in three metropolitan areas: St. Louis, MO; San Antonio, TX, and Durham and Wake Counties, NC. There were two primary areas of focus: (1) the level of accuracy among community health outreach workers (CHOWs) in identifying potentially eligible persons for HIV prevention, and (2) overall effectiveness in recruiting and enrolling persons in formal assessment and intervention studies. We found cross-site and within-site differences in levels of accuracy and in recruitment and enrollment yields. Drug users who had never been in treatment and drug users who had never been tested for HIV infection were underrepresented at all sites. We discuss the factors which may have contributed to cross-site and within-site differences. The findings suggest a need for continued study, refinement, and evaluation of community outreach strategies in order to enroll a broad spectrum of vulnerable groups in HIV prevention activities.

Inhalant use among urban American Indian youth.

AIMS: To assess the prevalence of inhalant use among urban American Indian youth and to examine differences between inhalant users and non-users. DESIGN: Baseline (T1) self-report questionnaires completed in 5th-6th grade and at seven annual follow-up assessments (T2-T8). SETTINGS: Seattle metropolitan area. PARTICIPANTS: Two hundred and twenty-four Indian youth. MEASUREMENTS: Youth-completed measures of substance use, ethnic self-identity, involvement in traditional Indian activities, family conflict, family history of alcoholism, peer and sibling deviance, self-esteem, delinquency, aggression, anxiety, depression, sensation seeking, conduct disorder and alcohol dependence. FINDINGS: Lifetime inhalant use was reported by 12.3% of adolescents. At T1, inhalant users had significantly lower perceived self-worth and average annual household incomes and significantly greater density of familial alcoholism and expression of aggressive and delinquent conduct than non-users. Aggressive behavior was the most important T1 predictor of inhalant use. Lifetime conduct and alcohol dependence disorders were 3.3 and 2.6 times more prevalent among inhalant users than non-users at T5. Inhalant users had more extensive deviant peer networks, were more sensation-seeking, and evidenced lower perceived self-worth than non-users at T8. CONCLUSIONS: Inhalant use was less prevalent in this particular sample of urban Indian adolescents than in most studies of reservation Indian youth. As with other studies of inhalant abuse, aggressive and delinquent males of low SES and low-perceived self-worth with family histories of alcohol dependence, were at highest risk for inhalant use.

Understanding HIV risks of chronic drug-using men who have sex with men.

Focus groups and individual structured interviews were conducted in six cities with 98 predominantly street-recruited men who had a recent history of smoking crack or injecting drugs and who reported having had sex with other men (MSM) in the past year. Twenty-six focus groups explored the cultural and social context of participant's drug use and sexual activity and addressed outreach and HIV prevention issues pertinent to this population. Narrative summaries developed from verbatim focus group transcripts identified seven themes: (a) sexual orientation and gender identity; (b) interactions within and between MSM networks; (c) drug use, sexual activity and personal relationships; (d) HIV transmission bridges; (e) preferred HIV information sources; (f) HIV knowledge, prevention practices and risk behaviours; and (g) availability of HIV and drug-related services. Of the 98 MSM drug users, 42% identified publicly as gay or homosexual; 35% identified publicly, but only 21% privately, as heterosexual. A total of 51% had one or more female sex partners in the past year. There was a high frequency of unprotected sex in conjunction with drug use and a distinct preference for having sex when high. For most participants, drug use rather than sexual orientation formed the core of personal identity. Participants reported associating primarily with other drug users, usually MSM, and had limited contact with people who did not use drugs and the mainstream gay community. Participants' sexual and drug-injecting activities were judged to be a bridge for transmission of HIV to both people who used drugs and those who did not.