Decision-making and facial emotion recognition as predictors of substance-use initiation among adolescents.
This 4-year longitudinal study examined whether performance on a decision-making task and an emotion-processing task predicted the initiation of tobacco, marijuana, or alcohol use among 77 adolescents. Of the participants, 64% met criteria for an externalizing behavioral disorder; 33% did not initiate substance use; 13% used one of the three substances under investigation, 18% used two, and 36% used all three. Initiation of substance use was associated with enhanced recognition of angry emotion, but not with risky decision-making. In conclusion, adolescents who initiate drug use present vulnerability in the form of bias towards negative emotion but not toward decisions that involve risk.
Ernst
Monique
M
Mood and Anxiety Disorders Program, National Institute of Mental Health, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD 20892, USA. ernstm@mail.nih.gov
Luckenbaugh
David A
DA
Moolchan
Eric T
ET
Temple
Veronica A
VA
Jenness
Jessica
J
Korelitz
Katherine E
KE
London
Edythe D
ED
Kimes
Alane S
AS
D000293:Adolescent; D000428:Alcohol Drinking / Q000453:epidemiology*; D002648:Child; D003657:Decision Making; D004644:Emotions; D005149:Facial Expression; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D008297:Male; D002189:Marijuana Abuse / Q000453:epidemiology*; D012307:Risk Factors; D012309:Risk-Taking; D012907:Smoking / Q000453:epidemiology*