title: On the interaction between drugs of abuse and adolescent social behavior.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Social factors influence drug abuse. Conversely, drugs of abuse alter social behavior. This is especially pertinent during post-weaning development, when there are profound changes in the social repertoire, and the sensitivity to the positive and negative effects of drugs of abuse is altered.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  This study aimed to provide an overview of our current understanding of the interaction between drugs of abuse and juvenile/adolescent social behavior.
  
  
  METHODS
  We first provide evidence that a characteristic form of juvenile and adolescent social behavior, i.e., social play behavior, has reinforcing properties and is affected by drugs of abuse. Next, social risk factors for drug use and addiction are described, including antisocial personality traits and early social insults. Last, we discuss research that investigates social influences on drug use, as well as the consequences of perinatal drug exposure on later social interactions.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Social play behavior is highly rewarding in laboratory animals, and it is affected by low doses of opioids, cannabinoids, ethanol, nicotine, and psychostimulants. In humans, antisocial personality traits, most prominently in the form of conduct disorder, are a prominent risk factor for drug addiction. Preclinical studies have consistently shown altered sensitivity to drugs as a result of social isolation during post-weaning development. The social environment of an individual has a profound, but complex, influence on drug use, and perinatal drug exposure markedly alters later social interactions.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The studies reviewed here provide a framework to understand the interaction between drugs of abuse and adolescent social interaction, at the preclinical and the clinical level.
authors.affiliation: Department of Science, Section of Biomedical Science and Technologies, University "Roma Tre", Rome, Italy.
authors.forename: Viviana
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Trezza
authors.forename: Petra J J
authors.initials: PJ
authors.lastname: Baarendse
authors.forename: Louk J M J
authors.initials: LJ
authors.lastname: Vanderschuren
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000818:Animals; D006801:Humans; D013287:Illicit Drugs / Q000494:pharmacology*; D012919:Social Behavior; D019966:Substance-Related Disorders / Q000503:physiopathology
chemical_list: D013287:Illicit Drugs