title: Novelty Seeking as a Phenotypic Marker of Adolescent Substance Use.
abstract: Trait novelty seeking has been consistently implicated in substance use, yet the origins and mechanisms of novelty seeking in substance use proneness are unclear. We aimed to characterize novelty seeking as a phenotypic marker of substance use proneness in adolescence, a critical period for drug use experimentation. To this end, we parsed novelty seeking's two constituent subdimensions - exploratory excitability (drive for novel experience) and impulsiveness (careless decision-making) - and explored the individual relations of these dimensions to: (1) the use of a variety of licit and illicit substances, (2) family history of substance use, and (3) subjective drug effects. Five hundred eighty five adolescents (mean age = 14.5 years) completed surveys of key variables. Results indicated that, when accounting for the covariation among exploratory excitability and impulsiveness, impulsiveness emerged as the more salient correlate of substance use and was independently associated with initiation of nearly all drug classes. Mediation analyses of the mechanisms of novelty seeking-related risk illustrated that impulsiveness mediated the association of family history of substance use with both initiation and past 30-day frequency of use. Both impulsiveness and exploratory excitability were associated with increased positive and negative subjective drug effects, and the analyses supported a significant indirect pathway from impulsiveness to a more frequent use via positive subjective effects. Although limited by a cross-sectional design, these findings suggest that impulsiveness-like aspects of the novelty seeking construct may represent a useful phenotypic marker for early substance use proneness that potentially (1) increases initiation risk, (2) has familial origins, and (3) promotes more frequent use by altering subjective drug response.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Cognitive Science, University of Colorado Boulder, Boulder, CO, USA. ; Center for Alcohol and Addiction Studies, Brown University, Providence, RI, USA. ; Department of Psychiatry and Human Behavior, Alpert Medical School, Brown University, Providence, RI, USA.
authors.forename: L Cinnamon
authors.initials: LC
authors.lastname: Bidwell
authors.affiliation: Division of Behavioral Genetics, Department of Psychiatry, Rhode Island Hospital, Providence, RI, USA. ; Department of Psychiatry and Human Behavior, Alpert Medical School, Brown University, Providence, RI, USA.
authors.forename: Valerie S
authors.initials: VS
authors.lastname: Knopik
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, USA.
authors.forename: Janet
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Audrain-McGovern
authors.affiliation: Center for Alcohol and Addiction Studies, Brown University, Providence, RI, USA.
authors.forename: Tiffany R
authors.initials: TR
authors.lastname: Glynn
authors.affiliation: Center for Alcohol and Addiction Studies, Brown University, Providence, RI, USA.
authors.forename: Nichea S
authors.initials: NS
authors.lastname: Spillane
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, USA.
authors.forename: Lara A
authors.initials: LA
authors.lastname: Ray
authors.affiliation: Department of Human Development and Family Studies, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO, USA.
authors.forename: Nathaniel R
authors.initials: NR
authors.lastname: Riggs
authors.affiliation: Department of Preventive Medicine, Keck School of Medicine, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, USA.
authors.forename: Casey R
authors.initials: CR
authors.lastname: Guillot
authors.affiliation: Department of Preventive Medicine, Keck School of Medicine, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, USA.
authors.forename: Raina D
authors.initials: RD
authors.lastname: Pang
authors.affiliation: Department of Preventive Medicine, Keck School of Medicine, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, USA. ; Department of Psychology, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, USA.
authors.forename: Adam M
authors.initials: AM
authors.lastname: Leventhal
keywords: drug reward; family history; impulsivity; sensation seeking; subjective effects