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Associations between executive cognitive functioning in early adolescence and alcohol-related problems in young adulthood: results from a prospective, longitudinal study

Description
Poor executive cognitive functioning (ECF) is associated with a variety of alcohol-related problems, however, it is not known whether poor ECF precedes the onset of heavy drinking. Establishing the temporal precedence of poor ECF may have implications for our understanding of the development of Alcohol Use Disorder (AUD). The present…

Poor executive cognitive functioning (ECF) is associated with a variety of alcohol-related problems, however, it is not known whether poor ECF precedes the onset of heavy drinking. Establishing the temporal precedence of poor ECF may have implications for our understanding of the development of Alcohol Use Disorder (AUD). The present study tests associations between early-adolescent ECF and young-adult risky drinking and alcohol-related problems in a prospective study of youth followed to young adulthood. Participants completed three ECF tasks at ages 11-14 and reported on their risky drinking and alcohol-related problems at ages 18-24. A latent ECF factor was created to determine whether early-adolescent ECF was associated with drinking outcomes after controlling for relevant covariates (e.g., age, sex, family history of AUD). Early-adolescent ECF, as measured by a latent factor, was unrelated to young-adult alcohol misuse and alcohol-related problems. However, sensitivity analyses revealed that an individual ECF task tapping response inhibition predicted young-adult peak drinks in a day. Present findings suggest that ECF is not a robust predictor of risky drinking or alcohol-related problems, and that this relation may be specific to the ECF component of response inhibition.
ContributorsJones, Connor Brian (Author) / Meier, Madeline (Thesis advisor) / Chassin, Laurie (Committee member) / McClure, Samuel (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2017

Attention and Memory Problems in Everyday Life Among Young Adult Cannabis Users

Description
The need to fully understand the possible consequences of young-adult cannabis use has become increasingly critical as a result of major cannabis policy changes. The purpose of this study was to determine if young-adult users exhibit cognitive deficits on laboratory-based tests and memory and attention deficits in everyday life. Participants…

The need to fully understand the possible consequences of young-adult cannabis use has become increasingly critical as a result of major cannabis policy changes. The purpose of this study was to determine if young-adult users exhibit cognitive deficits on laboratory-based tests and memory and attention deficits in everyday life. Participants were 152 students from a large U.S. university enrolled in introductory psychology courses and the top and bottom 10% of the 12-item Yale University PRIME Screening Test for psychotic-like experiences. Participants were asked about their cannabis use and were given six cognitive tests spanning executive function and memory. To test functional impairment in memory and attention, participants were asked to nominate informants (people who knew them well) and these rated the participants on an attention problems scale of four items and a memory problems scale of three items. Results showed that individuals who used cannabis more frequently were rated as having more attention and memory problems and that, consistent with prior research, more frequent cannabis use was associated with worse memory test performance, though the association was not present between frequency of use and executive function test performance. Additionally, it was found that informant-reported attention problems were associated with poorer performance on two of the executive function cognitive tests. The present findings suggest that individuals who use cannabis more frequently experience noticeable memory and attention problems in everyday life, despite the lack of significant correlation between this functional impairment and cognitive test performance. Informant reports, therefore, may be useful in future research for understanding or predicting cognitive impairment in young adults.
ContributorsCarbajal, Lucia (Author) / Meier, Madeline (Thesis director) / McClure, Samuel (Committee member) / Department of Psychology (Contributor) / School of Molecular Sciences (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2016-12
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The Associations of Physical Activity, Sedentary Behavior, and Sleep with Cognitive Function in Adults without Cognitive Impairment

Description
This body of research sought to explore relationships between cognitive function and physical activity (PA), sedentary behavior (SB), and sleep, independently and in conjunction, in mid-life to older adults with no known cognitive impairment. Aging is associated with cognitive decline, and lifestyle behaviors such as PA, SB, and sleep, may…

This body of research sought to explore relationships between cognitive function and physical activity (PA), sedentary behavior (SB), and sleep, independently and in conjunction, in mid-life to older adults with no known cognitive impairment. Aging is associated with cognitive decline, and lifestyle behaviors such as PA, SB, and sleep, may mitigate this decline. First, a systematic review and meta-analysis was conducted to examine the effect of aerobic PA interventions on memory and executive function in sedentary adults. Second, a longitudinal study was conducted to examine the association between SB and odds of incident cognitive impairment, and SB and cognitive decline in older adults. Last, a cross-sectional study was conducted to examine the joint associations between different levels of sleep with levels of PA, and sleep with levels of sedentary time on memory and executive function. This body of research provided evidence to support the association between aerobic PA and improved cognitive function, SB and incident cognitive impairment and cognitive function declines, and the joint association of sleep and different levels of PA and ST on cognitive function by hypertension status.
ContributorsHoffmann, Nicole M (Author) / Lee, Rebecca E (Thesis advisor) / Petrov, Megan E (Thesis advisor) / Marek, Karen (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2020
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The direct & indirect links from facets of childhood trauma to arousability, impaired control, alcohol use, & alcohol-related problems.

Description

Hyper-arousal theory presumes that experiencing trauma can increase one’s sense of fight or flight responses or generalized sense of arousability (Riemann et al., 2010). While this theory has been examined in studies regarding insomnia (e.g. Schwandt et al., 2013) it has yet to be examine with dysregulated drinking outcomes such…

Hyper-arousal theory presumes that experiencing trauma can increase one’s sense of fight or flight responses or generalized sense of arousability (Riemann et al., 2010). While this theory has been examined in studies regarding insomnia (e.g. Schwandt et al., 2013) it has yet to be examine with dysregulated drinking outcomes such as impaired control over alcohol use. Impaired control over alcohol use (IC) reflects drinking beyond one’s own self-proscribed limits for one’s own drinking behaviors (Heather et al., 1993). According to multiple review papers on the topic (Leeman et al., 2012; 2014), IC is an understudied topic regarding alcohol use disorders (AUDs). Thus, we sought to explore a pathway from facets of childhood trauma (emotional, physical, & sexual abuse, & neglect) versus a supportive family to arousability to drinking outcomes (i.e. IC, alcohol use, & alcohol-related problems). Method: We fit a multiple-group structural equation model with 835 (368 women/ 467 men) university student volunteers. As our model failed the overall invariance test, χ2Δ (20 df) = 55.788, p < .001, we allowed our hypothesized model to moderate on sex. Results: The direct link from sexual abuse to both IC and alcohol-related-problems was stronger for men than women. Emotional abuse was directly linked to higher levels of arousability among women, whereas an emotionally supportive family was related to lesser degrees of arousability among men. Impaired control mediated the indirect link between higher levels of arousability and alcohol use for both sexes. Impaired control also mediated the indirect link between physical neglect and alcohol-related problems among both sexes. Higher levels of emotional abuse were indirectly linked to both more alcohol use & problems through increased arousability and in turn, more IC among women. Higher levels of sexual abuse were indirectly linked to more alcohol problems through higher degrees of impaired control among men. Conclusions: We found evidence in favor of the Hyper-arousability Theory regarding dysregulated drinking with a direct link between arousability and IC. While physical neglect appears to affect both sexes drinking behaviors, emotional abuse may play a stronger role for women than men, while sexual abuse may play a stronger role among men.
ContributorsOng, Annie (Author) / Patock-Peckham, Julie (Thesis director) / Infurna, Frank (Committee member) / McClure, Samuel (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor) / Dean, W.P. Carey School of Business (Contributor) / Department of Psychology (Contributor)
Created2021-12