title: Effects of acute and chronic caffeine on risk-taking behavior in children and adolescents.
abstract: Consumption of caffeinated beverages is associated with increased risk-taking behavior. The purpose of this study was to determine if acute caffeine administration influences risk-taking behavior in a dose-dependent manner. Participants were pre- (ages 8-9) and post-pubertal (ages 15-17) children who visited the laboratory three times and consumed a beverage containing 0, 1, or 2 mg/kg of caffeine. Thirty minutes later, participants completed the balloon analogue risk task (BART), the Iowa gambling task (IGT), and a delay discounting task. The number of balloons exploded on the BART task was significantly increased after 2 mg/kg of caffeine in moderate caffeine consumers, but was decreased after 2 mg/kg of caffeine in high caffeine consumers. There were no main effects of caffeine dose on the delay discounting task or on the IGT. Post-pubertal participants showed reduced delay discounting compared with pre-pubertal participants. Finally, average daily caffeine use was significantly, positively correlated with scores on a risk-taking questionnaire. These data suggest that caffeine dose-dependently influences decision making and risk taking. More research is needed to determine the mechanism of this difference as well as the extent to which sex and pubertal phase influence these relationships.
authors.affiliation: Departments of Exercise and Nutrition Sciences and Community Health and Health Behavior, School of Public Health and Health Professions, University at Buffalo, Buffalo, NY, USA.
authors.forename: Jennifer L
authors.initials: JL
authors.lastname: Temple
authors.affiliation: Departments of Exercise and Nutrition Sciences and Community Health and Health Behavior, School of Public Health and Health Professions, University at Buffalo, Buffalo, NY, USA.
authors.forename: Amanda M
authors.initials: AM
authors.lastname: Ziegler
authors.affiliation: Departments of Exercise and Nutrition Sciences and Community Health and Health Behavior, School of Public Health and Health Professions, University at Buffalo, Buffalo, NY, USA.
authors.forename: Adam M
authors.initials: AM
authors.lastname: Graczyk
authors.affiliation: Departments of Exercise and Nutrition Sciences and Community Health and Health Behavior, School of Public Health and Health Professions, University at Buffalo, Buffalo, NY, USA.
authors.forename: Amanda
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Crandall
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D001519:Behavior / Q000187:drug effects*; D001628:Beverages / Q000009:adverse effects; D002110:Caffeine / Q000009:adverse effects*; D002648:Child; D003657:Decision Making / Q000187:drug effects*; D005260:Female; D005715:Gambling / Q000139:chemically induced; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests; D012306:Risk; D012309:Risk-Taking; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires
chemical_list: D002110:Caffeine
keywords: Balloon analogue risk task; Iowa gambling task; adolescents; caffeine; children; delay discounting; puberty; risk taking