1. Neuropsychological Performance in Adolescent Marijuana Users With Co-Occurring Alcohol Use: A Three-Year Longitudinal Study
- Author
-
Jacobus, Joanna, Squeglia, Lindsay M, Infante, M Alejandra, Castro, Norma, Brumback, Ty, Meruelo, Alejandro D, and Tapert, Susan F
- Subjects
Biomedical and Clinical Sciences ,Biological Psychology ,Psychology ,Paediatrics ,Pharmacology and Pharmaceutical Sciences ,Clinical Research ,Mental Health ,Drug Abuse (NIDA only) ,Behavioral and Social Science ,Alcoholism ,Alcohol Use and Health ,Neurosciences ,Pediatric ,Substance Misuse ,Basic Behavioral and Social Science ,Brain Disorders ,Underage Drinking ,Cannabinoid Research ,Mental health ,Good Health and Well Being ,Adolescent ,Adult ,Alcohol Drinking ,Cognition Disorders ,Female ,Humans ,Longitudinal Studies ,Male ,Marijuana Smoking ,Neuropsychological Tests ,Psychomotor Performance ,Young Adult ,adolescence ,cannabis ,alcohol ,cognition ,longitudinal ,Cognitive Sciences ,Experimental Psychology ,Biological psychology ,Cognitive and computational psychology - Abstract
ObjectiveThe effect of adolescent marijuana use on brain development remains unclear despite relaxing legal restrictions, decreased perceived harm, and increasing use rates among youth. The aim of this 3-year prospective study was to evaluate the long-term neurocognitive effects of adolescent marijuana use.MethodAdolescent marijuana users with concomitant alcohol use (MJ + ALC, n = 49) and control teens with limited substance use histories (CON, n = 59) were given neuropsychological and substance use assessments at project baseline, when they were ages 16-19. They were then reassessed 18 and 36 months later. Changes in neuropsychological measures were evaluated with repeated measures analysis of covariance (ANCOVA), controlling for lifetime alcohol use, and examined the effects of group, time, and group by time interactions on cognitive functioning.ResultsMJ + ALC users performed significantly worse than controls, across time points, in the domains of complex attention, memory, processing speed, and visuospatial functioning (ps
- Published
- 2015