NCJ Number
192622
Journal
Journal of Child & Adolescent Substance Abuse Volume: 10 Issue: 4 Dated: 2001 Pages: 111-121
Date Published
2001
Length
11 pages
Annotation
This study investigated the association between executive cognitive functioning (ECF), negative affectivity (NA), and drug use in adolescent males.
Abstract
It has been shown that having a parent with a substance use disorder (SUD) places an adolescent at a high risk for developing a SUD. A family history of SUD may also be related to low executive cognitive functioning (ECF). Cognitive abilities associated with ECF include attentional control, goal planning, problem-solving, abstract reasoning, cognitive flexibility, hypothesis generation, temporal response sequencing, and the ability to organize and adaptively use information in working memory. Low ECF has been reported in high average risk (HAR) individuals. An additional risk factor for adolescent SUD, negative affectivity (NA), is defined as proclivity to experience stress, fear, and hostility. It is thought that a reason for drug use is that it alleviates unpleasant emotions. The purpose of this investigations was to determine whether HAR adolescents had lower ECF capacity and higher NA compared to low average risk (LAR) adolescents; determine whether low ECF and high NA were significantly related to one another in HAR and LAR adolescents; identify whether low ECF and high NA accounted for specific or shared variance in relation to adolescent drug use; and determine whether the correlation between ECF and NA with drug use was moderated by a family history of SUD. The subjects were 250 boys who were 15-17 years of age. The HAR and LAR groups consisted of 90 and 160 HAR and LAR groups of boys, respectively. NA was measured using the Multidimensional Personality Questionnaire. Drug use frequency and problems were measured using the Drug Use Screening Inventory. The results showed that family history moderated the relation between ECF and drug use frequency and problems. The family moderation effect was not observed for NA. The analyses also indicated that low ECF was associated with high NA. The correlational analysis showed that ECF and NA were associated with increased drug use frequency and drug use problems. This raised the question of whether ECF and NA accounted for unique or shared variance in drug use. In conclusion, low ECF and high NA appeared to be attributes of adolescent males at high risk for SUD. A family history of SUD moderated the relation between ECF and drug use. Low ECF was associated with greater drug use in the HAR group of adolescents and not the LAR group. The findings indicated that the effectiveness of drug prevention programs may be improved by including emotional coping and ECF abilities in high-risk youth. Tables, references