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The Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development (ABCD) Study® is a 10-year longitudinal study of children recruited at ages 9 and 10. A battery of neuroimaging tasks are administered biennially to track neurodevelopment and identify individual differences in brain function. This study reports activation patterns from functional MRI (fMRI) tasks completed at baseline, which were designed to measure cognitive impulse control with a stop signal task (SST; N = 5,547), reward anticipation and receipt with a monetary incentive delay (MID) task (N = 6,657) and working memory and emotion reactivity with an emotional N-back (EN-back) task (N = 6,009). Further, we report the spatial reproducibility of activation patterns by assessing between-group vertex/voxelwise correlations of blood oxygen level-dependent (BOLD) activation. Analyses reveal robust brain activations that are consistent with the published literature, vary across fMRI tasks/contrasts and slightly correlate with individual behavioral performance on the tasks. These results establish the preadolescent brain function baseline, guide interpretation of cross-sectional analyses and will enable the investigation of longitudinal changes during adolescent development. This paper reports activation patterns for fMRI tasks assessing response inhibition, working memory and reward processing obtained at baseline in the longitudinal ABCD Study, providing a reference for research into adolescent brain development.

OBJECTIVE Interest continues in neuropsychological measures as cross-disorder intermediate phenotypes in understanding psychopathology. A central question concerns their specificity versus generalizability to particular forms of psychopathology, particularly for executive functioning (EF) and response speed. Three conceptual models examining these relationships were tested to clarify this picture at different levels in the diagnostic hierarchy. METHOD Participants (total n = 641, age 18-60) yielded complete structured diagnostic interviews and a neuropsychological test battery comprising measures of executive function, processing speed, and IQ. Repeated measures multivariate analysis of variance, linear regression, and structural equation modeling (SEM) were used to test (a) a specificity model, which proposes that individual disorders are associated with component EF processes and speed; (b) a severity model, which proposes that the total number of comorbid disorders explain poor EF and/or slow speed; and (c) a higher-order dimensional model, which proposes that internalizing versus externalizing disorders are differentially related to EF or speed. RESULTS EF effects were best explained by a specificity model, with distinct aspects of EF related to attention deficit hyperactivity disorder versus antisocial substance use disorders. Speed, on the other hand, emerged as a general indicator of externalizing psychopathology in the dimensional model, as well as overall severity of psychopathology in the severity model. CONCLUSIONS Granular approaches are likely to be most productive for linking EF to psychopathology, whereas response speed has underused potential as an endophenotype for psychopathology liability. Results are discussed in terms of an integrated conceptualization of neuropsychological processes and putative neural systems involved in general and specific aspects of psychopathology. (PsycINFO Database Record

Alcohol-use disorders are a major public health issue worldwide. Although drinking and problematic alcohol use usually begins during adolescence, developmental origins of the disorder can be traced back to infancy and early childhood. Identification of early risk factors is essential to understanding developmental origins. Using data from the Michigan Longitudinal Study, an ongoing, prospective, high-risk family study, this article summarizes findings of family context and functioning of both children and parents. We draw attention to the development of the self, an understudied aspect of very young children being reared in alcoholic families that exacerbates exposure to high childhood adverse experiences. We also provide evidence demonstrating that young boys are embedded in a dynamic system of genes, epigenetic processes, brain organization, family dynamics, peers, community, and culture that strengthens risky developmental pathways if nothing is done to intervene during infancy and early childhood.

Importance Incidental findings (IFs) are unexpected abnormalities discovered during imaging and can range from normal anatomic variants to findings requiring urgent medical intervention. In the case of brain magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), reliable data about the prevalence and significance of IFs in the general population are limited, making it difficult to anticipate, communicate, and manage these findings. Objectives To determine the overall prevalence of IFs in brain MRI in the nonclinical pediatric population as well as the rates of specific findings and findings for which clinical referral is recommended. Design, setting, and participants This cohort study was based on the April 2019 release of baseline data from 11 810 children aged 9 to 10 years who were enrolled and completed baseline neuroimaging in the Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development (ABCD) study, the largest US population-based longitudinal observational study of brain development and child health, between September 1, 2016, and November 15, 2018. Participants were enrolled at 21 sites across the US designed to mirror the demographic characteristics of the US population. Baseline structural MRIs were centrally reviewed for IFs by board-certified neuroradiologists and findings were described and categorized (category 1, no abnormal findings; 2, no referral recommended; 3; consider referral; and 4, consider immediate referral). Children were enrolled through a broad school-based recruitment process in which all children of eligible age at selected schools were invited to participate. Exclusion criteria were severe sensory, intellectual, medical, or neurologic disorders that would preclude or interfere with study participation. During the enrollment process, demographic data were monitored to ensure that the study met targets for sex, socioeconomic, ethnic, and racial diversity. Data were analyzed from March 15, 2018, to November 20, 2020. Main outcomes and measures Percentage of children with IFs in each category and prevalence of specific IFs. Results A total of 11 679 children (52.1% boys, mean [SD] age, 9.9 [0.62] years) had interpretable baseline structural MRI results. Of these, 2464 participants (21.1%) had IFs, including 2013 children (17.2%) assigned to category 2, 431 (3.7%) assigned to category 3, and 20 (0.2%) assigned to category 4. Overall rates of IFs did not differ significantly between singleton and twin gestations or between monozygotic and dizygotic twins, but heritability analysis showed heritability for the presence or absence of IFs (h2 = 0.260; 95% CI, 0.135-0.387). Conclusions and relevance Incidental findings in brain MRI and findings with potential clinical significance are both common in the general pediatric population. By assessing IFs and concurrent developmental and health measures and following these findings over the longitudinal study course, the ABCD study has the potential to determine the significance of many common IFs.

Children of alcoholics (COAs) are at risk for elevated internalizing and externalizing symptoms. Yet, little is known about the familial and behavioral adjustments of COAs following parental separation. Using an ecological–transactional framework, we examined how multiple risk factors contributed to the formation of different alcoholic family structures and how living in heterogeneous family structures affected COAs’ behavioral problems. The Michigan Longitudinal Study, a multiwave study on initially intact alcoholic and control families with preschool-age children (n= 503), was used to evaluate outcomes of offspring, when families either remained intact or were separated when the child was aged 12–14. Alcoholic families who later transitioned into stepfamilies were characterized with higher paternal antisociality, marital aggression, and serious family crises than alcoholic families that remained intact. COAs in stepfamilies (but not in single-parent families) exhibited higher levels of internalizing and externalizing symptoms in preadolescence compared with those in alcoholic intact families, in part because of elevated behavioral risk at age 3. Structural equation modeling indicated that the aggregated risk of stepfamily residence directly related to COAs’ internalizing and indirectly related to COAs’ externalizing problems, partially mediated by family stressors. Findings suggest targeting COAs in separated families for early intervention.

Aims Children of alcoholics (COAs) are at higher risk for developing an alcohol use disorder and substance-related problems than non-COAs. This study examined (i) the relationships between sleep rhythmicity in childhood (aged 3–5) and behavioral control in adolescence (aged 9–14) and (ii) whether sleep rhythmicity and behavioral control predicted resilience in COAs in emerging adulthood (aged 21–26). Resilience was defined as successful adaptation in spite of adversity. Resilience among COAs was operationalized in three different ways (i) absence of alcohol disorder diagnoses, (ii) absence of alcohol and drug related problems, (iii) a continuous latent variable measured by depressive symptoms, work satisfaction and relationship satisfaction. Design A prospective, longitudinal study of children assessed from early childhood (ages 3–5) to emerging adulthood (ages 21–26). Setting A community study of families at high risk for alcoholism and matched controls conducted in a 4-county area in the Midwest. Participants 715 children (75% children of alcoholics, 29% female). Measurement Data on sleep were gathered by the Dimensions of Temperament Survey (DOTS) and Child Behavior Checklist. Behavioral Control was measured by Child and Adult Q-sort. Substance use data were collected by Drinking and Drug History – Youth form. Findings Structural equation modeling analyses indicated that higher rhythmicity of sleep, lower level of tiredness and infrequent sleep difficulties predicted higher behavioral control in adolescence, which in turn predicted two resilience outcomes in young adulthood. Behavioral control significantly mediated the effect of childhood sleep rhythmicity and resilience. No group differences between COAs and controls were found. Conclusions Good sleep and higher self-regulation act as resource factors for young adults, regardless of parent alcoholism status.

The origins and expression of addiction are best understood within the context of developmental processes and dynamic systems organization and change. For some individuals, these dynamic processes lead to risk cumulative or cascade effects that embody adverse childhood experiences that exacerbate risk; predict early onset of drinking, smoking, or other substance use; and often lead to a substance use disorder (SUD) during the transitions to adolescence and emergent adulthood. In other cases, protective factors within or outside of the individual’s immediate family enable embodiment of normative stress regulatory systems and neural networks that support resilience and prevention of SUDs. A case study is provided to illustrate these processes and principles of the organization of addictive behavior. Finally, a model of risk to resilience captures the flow of development and the extent to which individual-experience relationships contribute to risk and resilience.

Given the evidence that several cognitive and emotional functions are impaired in adult alcohol-dependent patients and the possibility that some of these deficits are transmitted to their children, the objective of the present study was to test the hypothesis that the perception of complex mental states would be reduced in young adults from families with a positive family history of alcohol dependence. It was also anticipated that social-perceptual deficits would confer unique predictive ability beyond that shared with other cognitive risk factors for alcohol dependence and/or substance use risk.Data from 301 youth ages 18-21 years, recruited from an ongoing community longitudinal study of alcoholic and matched control families, were analyzed. Family history of alcohol dependence as well as alcohol-dependence diagnosis in the youth was based on diagnostic criteria in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fourth Edition. A substance use risk factor measured early problem alcohol/other drug use. The perception of mental states was measured with the computerized version of the Reading the Mind in the Eyes Test (RMET).Children of alcohol-dependent parents did not show impairment in the mental states perception task, nor did social perception skills predict alcohol dependence in the youth. Correlational analysis performed between RMET and the substance use risk factor showed no significant association between the variables.The study results do not confirm the hypothesis that behaviorally measured social perception impairment is more prevalent in the children of alcohol-dependent parents. In addition, social-perceptual deficits were not a unique marker of either alcohol dependence or high risk for alcohol dependence in this young adult sample.

This study aimed to (a) characterize gender-specific risk of onset of alcohol, nicotine, and marijuana use developmentally; (b) investigate the effects of early-onset status and frequency of nicotine and marijuana use on alcohol outcomes, controlling for the effects of alcohol use; and (c) examine gender differences in the developmental trajectories of alcohol outcomes and the effects of nicotine and marijuana use on alcohol outcomes.This study conducted secondary analysis on a longitudinal study that recruited at-risk youth through fathers' drunk-driving records and door-to-door canvassing in the midwestern United States. The sample included 160 female-male sibling pairs who were assessed on substance use and Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fourth Edition, diagnosis from early childhood to young adulthood.Although males were at higher risk for being early-onset alcohol users, females tended to be at higher risk for initiating marijuana use at younger ages. When early onset and amount of alcohol use were controlled for, early onset of nicotine and marijuana use did not contribute to alcohol outcomes, but frequencies of nicotine and marijuana use did. We also found the associations of quantity/frequency of alcohol and marijuana use with drinking problems to be stronger among females than among males.Higher frequencies of nicotine and marijuana use may contribute to worse alcohol outcomes above and beyond the effect of alcohol use. Females tend to be at higher risk than males for initiating marijuana use and meeting an alcohol use disorder diagnosis at younger ages as well as being more vulnerable to a negative impact of alcohol and marijuana use.

Alcohol Use Disorders (AUDs) are a major public health issue worldwide. Although drinking and problematic alcohol use usually begins during adolescence, developmental origins of the disorder can be traced back to infancy and early childhood. Identification of early risk factors is essential to understanding developmental origins. Using data from the Michigan Longitudinal Study, an ongoing, prospective, high-risk family study, this paper summarizes findings of family context and functioning of both children and parents. We draw attention to the development of the self, an understudied aspect of very young children being reared in alcoholic families that exacerbates exposure to high childhood adverse experiences. We also provide evidence demonstrating that young boys are embedded in a dynamic system of genes, epigenetic processes, brain organization, family dynamics, peers, community, and culture that strengthens risky developmental pathways if nothing is done to intervene during infancy and early childhood.

In a sample of 273 adult women and their families, we examined the effects of women's psychopathology history, their social support, their husbands' and children's symptomatology, family stress, and neighborhood environment on their alcohol problems, antisocial behavior, and depression over a 12-year period during their 30s and early 40s. Women's alcohol problems and antisocial behavior decreased but their depression symptoms increased over time. Women's disorder history and their partners' parallel symptomatology were associated with their symptoms. For women's antisocial behavior, their own history of alcoholism and their partners' alcohol problems were also significant risk factors. Higher levels of social support were associated with lower levels of depression in women. Children's externalizing behavior was positively correlated with their mothers' alcohol problems and antisocial behavior, whereas children's internalizing behavior was positively correlated with their mothers' depression. Neighborhood residential instability was associated with higher levels of alcoholic and depressive symptomatology in women. Intervention efforts might target women with young children by improving social support, educational or professional training opportunity, access to family counseling, and neighborhood environment.

Current models of adolescent drinking behavior hypothesize that alcohol expectancies mediate theeffects of other proximal and distal risk factors. This longitudinal study tested the hypothesis thatthe effects of parental alcohol involvement on their children’s drinking behavior in mid-adolescenceare mediated by the children’s alcohol expectancies in early adolescence. A sample of 148 initially9–11 year old boys and their parents from a high-risk population and a contrast group of communityfamilies completed measures of drinking behavior and alcohol expectancies over a 6-year interval.We analyzed data from middle childhood ( M age 10.4 years), early adolescence ( M age 13.5years), and mid-adolescence ( M age 16.5 years). The sample was restricted only to adolescentswho had begun to drink by mid-adolescence. Results from zero-inflated Poisson regression analysesshowed that 1) maternal drinking during their children’s middle childhood predicted number ofdrinking days in middle adolescence; 2) negative and positive alcohol expectancies in earlyadolescence predicted odds of any intoxication in middle adolescence; and 3) paternal alcoholismduring their children’s middle childhood and adolescents’ alcohol expectancies in early adolescencepredicted frequency of intoxication in middle adolescence. Contrary to predictions, child alcoholexpectancies did not mediate the effects of parental alcohol involvement in this high-risk sample.Different aspects of parental alcohol involvement, along with early adolescent alcohol expectancies,independently predicted adolescent drinking behavior in middle adolescence. Alternative pathwaysfor the influence of maternal and paternal alcohol involvement and implications for expectancymodels of adolescent drinking behavior were discussed.Keywords: adolescent alcohol expectancies, adolescent drinking behavior, parental drinking, parentalinfluence.

Aims Neurocognitive deficits in chronic alcoholic men are well documented. Impairments include memory, visual- spatial processing, problem solving and executive function. The cause of impairment could include direct effects of alcohol toxicity, pre-existing cognitive deficits that predispose towards substance abuse, comorbid psychiatric disorders andabuseof substancesotherthanalcohol.Cigarettesmokingoccursathigherratesinalcoholismandhasbeenlinked to poor cognitive performance, yet the effects of smoking on cognitive function in alcoholism are often ignored. We examined whether chronic alcoholism and chronic smoking have effects on executive function.Methods Alcoholism and smoking were examined in a community-recruited sample of alcoholic and non-alcoholic men (n = 240) using standard neuropsychological and reaction-time measures of executive function. Alcoholism was measured as the average level of alcoholism diagnoses across the study duration (12 years). Smoking was measured in pack-years. Results Both alcoholism and smoking were correlated negatively with a composite executive function score. For component measures, alcoholism was correlated negatively with a broad range of measures, whereas smoking was correlated negatively with measures that emphasize response speed. In regression analyses, both smoking and alco- holism were significant predictors of executive function composite. However, when IQ is included in the regression analyses, alcoholism severity is no longer significant. Conclusions Both smoking and alcoholism were related to executive function. However, the effect of alcoholism was not independent of IQ, suggesting a generalized effect, perhapsaffectingawiderangeof cognitiveabilitiesof whichexecutivefunctionisacomponent.Ontheotherhand,the effect of smoking on measures relying on response speed were independent of IQ, suggesting a more specific processing speed deficit associated with chronic smoking.

SUMMARY We describe the Michigan Longitudinal Study (MLS), an etiologic study of family risk for alcoholism over the life course, and provide an overview of findings from the first 12 years of the study. Data suggest that etiology is anchored in family diathesis and shaped by a wide range of experiences that structure differential developmental pathways. One pathway is marked by strong continuity of behavioral dysregulation, evident during the preschool years and continuing through early adolescence. Two discontinuous pathways illustrate the shifting nature of risk

The developmental trajectories of behavioral control and resiliency from early childhood to adolescence and their effects on early onset of substance use were examined. Behavioral control is the tendency to express or contain one's impulses and behaviors. Resiliency is the ability to adapt flexibly one's characteristic level of control in response to the environment. Study participants were 514 children of alcoholics and matched controls from a longitudinal community sample (Time 1 age in years: M=4.32, SD=0.89). Children with slower rates of increase in behavioral control were more likely to use alcohol and other drugs in adolescence. Children with higher initial levels of resiliency were less likely to begin using alcohol.

Impaired problem solving, visual-spatial processing, memory, and cognitive proficiency are consequences of severe alcoholism. Smoking is much more prevalent among alcoholics than the general population, yet the possible neurocognitive effects of cigarette smoking in alcoholism have not been studied, despite evidence that long-term smoking is associated with neurocognitive deficits.Determine whether smoking contributes to neurocognitive deficits associated with alcoholism.Neurocognitive function was examined in a community-recruited (n=172) sample of men. Alcohol problems/alcoholism were measured by the lifetime alcohol problems score (LAPS), DSM-IV diagnosis, and monthly drinking rate. Smoking was measured in pack-years. Neurocognitive function was measured with IQ (short version of WAIS-R), and cognitive proficiency (fast, accurate performance).Both alcoholism and smoking were negatively correlated with neurocognitive function. When alcoholism and smoking were included in regression models, smoking remained a significant predictor for both measures, but alcoholism remained significant only for IQ.Both smoking and alcoholism were related to neurocognitive function. Smoking may explain some of the relationship between alcoholism and neurocognitive function, perhaps especially for measures that focus on proficiency. Future studies are necessary to more fully understand the effects of smoking on neurocognitive function in alcoholism.

Objective To evaluate the predictive power of executive functions, in particular, response inhibition, in relation to alcohol-related problems and illicit drug use in adolescence. Method A total of 498 children from 275 families from a longitudinal high-risk study completed executive function measures in early and late adolescence and lifetime drinking and drug-related ratings at multiple time points including late adolescence (ages 15-17). Multi-informant measures of attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder and conduct disorder were obtained in early childhood (ages 3-5), middle childhood, and adolescence. Results In multilevel models, poor response inhibition predicted aggregate alcohol-related problems, the number of illicit drugs used, and comorbid alcohol and drug use (but not the number of drug-related problems), independently of IQ, parental alcoholism and antisocial personality disorder, child attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder and conduct symptoms, or age. Multivariate models explained 8% to 20% of residual variance in outcome scores. The incremental predictive power of response inhibition was modest, explaining about 1% of the variance in most outcomes, but more than 9% of the residual variance in problem outcomes within the highest risk families. Other measured executive functions did not independently predict substance use onset. Conclusion Models of alcoholism and other drug risks that invoke executive functions may benefit from specifying response inhibition as an incremental component. J. Am. Acad. Child Adolesc. Psychiatry, 2006;45(4):468-475.

In the current study, the authors tested the hypothesis that children of alcoholic parents (COAs) show deficits in social competence that begin in early childhood and escalate through middle adolescence. Teachers, parents, and children reported on the social competence of COAs and matched controls in a community sample assessed from ages 6 to 15. Hierarchical linear growth models revealed different patterns of change in social competence across development as a function of the reporter of various indicators of competence. Moreover, female COAs showed deficits in social competence in early childhood that receded in adolescence and that varied across subtypes of parent alcoholism. Implications of these findings for understanding the development of social competence in children, and at-risk children in particular, are discussed.

One component of individual risk for alcoholism may involve cognitive vulnerabilities prodromal to alcoholism onset. This prospective study of 198 boys followed between 3 and 14 years of age evaluated neurocognitive functioning across three groups who varied in familial risk for future alcoholism. Measures of intelligence, reward-response, and a battery of neuropsychological executive and cognitive inhibitory measures were used. Executive functioning weaknesses were greater in families with alcoholism but no antisocial comorbidity. IQ and reward-response weaknesses were associated with familial antisocial alcoholism. Executive function effects were clearest for response inhibition, response speed, and symbol-digit modalities. Results suggest that executive deficits are not part of the highest risk, antisocial pathway to alcoholism but that some executive function weaknesses may contribute to a secondary risk pathway.

Despite the current societal concern with underage drinking, little attention has been paid to alcohol use within the preadolescent population. This article presents the proceedings of a symposium held at the 2003 Research Society on Alcoholism meeting in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, that was organized and chaired by John E. Donovan. The intent of the symposium was to kick start research on alcohol use among elementary school children by reviewing what is known regarding drinking in childhood. Presentations included (1) The Epidemiology of Children's Alcohol Use, by John E. Donovan; (2) The Validity of Children's Self-Reports of Alcohol Use, by Sharon L. Leech; (3) Predicting Onset of Drinking From Behavior at Three Years of Age: Influence of Early Child Expectancies and Parental Alcohol Involvement Upon Early First Use, by Robert A. Zucker; and (4) Parent, Peer, and Child Risk Factors for Alcohol Use in Two Cohorts of Elementary School Children, by Carol J. Loveland-Cherry. Presentations indicated the need for better nationwide surveillance of children's experience with alcohol; suggested that children's reports of their use of alcohol tend to be reliable and valid; supported children's alcohol use schemas and parental drinking and alcoholism at child age three as independent predictors of early onset drinking; and showed that onset of drinking before fourth or fifth grade, peer pressure, and parental norms and monitoring predict elementary student alcohol use and misuse.

This study investigated whether the relationships between dimensions of early child temperament and externalizing and internalizing behavior problems differ in relation to the degree of parental psychopathology to which children are exposed. In addition, the reciprocal relation between externalizing and internalizing behavior problems, and stability patterns (i.e., autoregression) of externalizing and internalizing behavior problems were investigated using a two-group structural model. A sample of 215 boys (mean age = 4.22) and their parents were assessed when the boys were 3–5 years old and again when they were 6–8 years old. For the children of parents with two or more lifetime psychopathology diagnoses, high activity, short attention span/distractibility, and high reactivity were linked to externalizing behavior problems, whereas withdrawal was linked to internalizing behavior problems. For children from low parental psychopathology families, only reactivity was linked to externalizing behavior problems, whereas withdrawal was linked to internalizing behavior problems. Children from high parental psychopathology families (alcohol use disorder and antisocial personality disorder) showed lower stability (autoregression) estimates of behavior problems. The reciprocal relation between externalizing and internalizing behavior problems was supported when children were 6–8 years old, but not when they were 3–5 years old. © 2001 Michigan Association for Infant Mental Health.

Sixty adolescents from alcoholic families living in two large cities in Poland were examined in 2008 and 2009. Richness, stability, and certainty of their self-concepts, as well as levels of school adjustment, anxiety, and depression, were evaluated using a set of questionnaires. In a series of bivariate analyses, the strongest associations found were between richness of the self-concept and the social withdrawal syndrome, and between stability of the self-concept and depression. Both relationships remained significant, using multiple regression models, after controlling for possible confounding factors. Possible explanations and implications for the findings, as well as the study's limitations, are noted and discussed.

This study characterized developmental emergence of individual alcohol use disorder (AUD) symptoms, and evaluated their ability as early indicators of progression into alcohol dependence (AD), conditional upon gender, parental alcohol dependence, early onset of drinking, and level of delinquent behavior at onset. The two parameters of interest were (a) likelihood of specific AUD symptom appearance once drinking has begun, and (b) primacy of symptom appearance as an indicator of likelihood for eventual move into diagnosis. We analyzed prospective data from a community sample of high risk youth from childhood to early adulthood. Symptoms that were at higher probability of being experienced at drinking onset and that could serve as good indicators for the early stage of disease progression were: persistent desire or unsuccessful efforts to control alcohol use (AD4), and continued use despite having persistent or recurrent interpersonal problems (AA4). Tolerance (AD1) may serve as an indicator for the intermediate stage of progression. Young people tended to be at an elevated risk for developing AD6 (activities given up), AD7 (physical/psychological problems), and AA3 (legal problems) in later years so these symptoms may be good indicators for later stages of progression. In addition to being male, an early onset drinker, or high in delinquent behavior, drinkers who experienced AA4 or AD1 as first symptoms were at higher risk for progression to AD. We also identified two high risk clusters: late onset drinkers with AA4 as first symptom, and children of alcoholics with AD1 as first symptom.

OBJECTIVE: We examined the long-term effects of childhood familial and neighborhood risk on adolescent substance use and psychiatric symptomatology. METHOD: This study used data from an ongoing 2-decade long study that recruited alcoholic and neighborhood control families through fathers' drunk-driving records and door-to-door canvassing in a four county area. The sample included 220 male, initially 3- to 5-year-old children of the participant families, who received in-home assessments at baseline and thereafter at 3-year intervals. Parental lifetime psychopathology and offspring symptomatology at ages 18-20 were assessed by semistructured diagnostic interviews. Census tract variables were used to indicate neighborhood characteristics. RESULTS: The isomorphic parental symptomatology predicted offspring psychopathology. For marijuana-use disorder, major depressive disorder, and nicotine dependence, the other parental comorbidities were also significant predictors. Neighborhood residential instability in childhood contributed to the development of late adolescent alcohol-use disorder, marijuana-use disorder, major depressive disorder, antisocial personality disorder, and nicotine-dependence symptomatology. Although lower family socioeconomic status in childhood contributed to more adolescent marijuana-use disorder, major depressive disorder, and nicotine-dependence symptoms, neighborhood socioeconomic status did not predict adolescent psychopathology. Longitudinal changes in neighborhood environments from early childhood to adolescence had significant effects on alcohol-use disorder, marijuana-use disorder, and major depressive disorder symptoms in late adolescence. A higher frequency of family mobility from early childhood to adolescence predicted more nicotine-dependence symptoms in late adolescence. CONCLUSIONS: Findings indicate that parental psychopathology, family socioeconomic status, and neighborhood residential instability are all important risk factors for the development of substance-use disorder and other comorbid psychopathology. Intervention programming might effectively use these early parental psychopathology indicators to identify risk and might target community activity to stabilize the social environment and provide youth services to counteract the effects of family transience. Language: en

Relationships between parent and child executive functioning were examined, controlling for the critical potential confound of IQ, in a family study involving 434 children (130 girls and 304 boys) and 376 parents from 204 community recruited families at high risk for the development of substance use disorder. Structural equation modeling found evidence of separate executive functioning and intelligence (IQ) latent variables. Mother’s and father’s executive functioning were associated with child’s executive functioning (beta = 0.34 for father–child and 0.51 for mother–child), independently of parental IQ, which as expected was associated with child’s IQ (beta = 0.52 for father–child and 0.54 for mother–child). Familial correlations also showed a significant relationship of executive functioning between parents and offspring. These findings clarify that key elements of the executive functioning construct are reliably differentiable from IQ, and are transmitted in families. This work supports the utility of the construct of executive function in further study of the mechanisms and etiology of externalizing psychopathologies.

Objective Aggression and hyperactivity/inattention each are linked to risk of alcohol use disorder (AUD), but their unique contributions remain ambiguous. The present study disaggregated these two domains developmentally and examined the relation between childhood behavior trajectories and adolescent substance use. Method A total of 335 children of alcoholic and nonalcoholic fathers were studied prospectively. Parallel process latent trajectory class analysis was developed with behavioral ratings by parents and teachers of aggression and inattention/hyperactivity across ages 7 to 16. Membership in the four latent classes was used as a predictor for problem adolescence alcohol use and substance onset. Results Youths in the four latent trajectory classes differed in number of alcohol problems at age 16: healthy class (39% of sample, mean 2.1 alcohol-related problems), inattentive/hyperactive but not aggressive (33%; mean 2.7 problems), aggressive but not inattentive/hyperactive (4%, mean 5.0 problems), and comorbid (24%; mean 4.0 problems). Survival analysis revealed that the aggressive, comorbid, and inattentive/hyperactive classes had significantly earlier onsets of drinking, drunkenness, and marijuana use than the healthy class. Illicit drug use was also significantly increased in the comorbid, aggressive, and inattentive/hyperactive classes compared to the healthy class. Conclusions Three levels of behavioral risk of substance abuse exist, the highest having trajectories of increased aggressive and inattentive/hyperactive problems throughout childhood, the next involving only an increased inattentive/hyperactive behavioral trajectory, and the lowest involving those with neither type of problem. Children with both inattention/hyperactivity and aggression have the greatest need for childhood intervention to prevent substance abuse in adolescence.

This study first examined the respective relations of resiliency and reactive control with executive functioning. It then examined the relationship of these different domains to the development of academic and social outcomes, and to the emergence of internalizing and externalizing problem behavior in adolescence. Resiliency and reactive control were assessed from preschool to adolescence in a high-risk sample of boys and girls (n = 498) and then linked to component operations of neuropsychological executive functioning (i.e., response inhibition, interference control, fluency, working memory/set-shifting, planning, and alertness), assessed in early and late adolescence. Consistent, linear relations were found between resiliency and executive functions (average r = .17). A curvilinear relationship was observed between reactive control and resiliency, such that resiliency was weaker when reactive control was either very high or very low. In multivariate, multilevel models, executive functions contributed to academic competence, whereas resiliency and interference control jointly predicted social competence. Low resiliency, low reactive control, and poor response inhibition uniquely and additively predicted internalizing problem behavior, whereas low reactive control and poor response inhibition uniquely predicted externalizing problem behavior. Results are discussed in relation to recent trait models of regulation and the scaffolded development of competence and problems in childhood and adolescence.This work was supported by NIAAA Grant R01-AA12217 to Robert Zucker and Joel Nigg, NIAAA Grant R37-AA07065 to Robert Zucker and Hiram Fitzgerald, and NIMH Grant R01-MH59105 to Joel Nigg. We are indebted to the families and staff who made the study possible.

This paper summarizes the proceedings of a symposium presented at the 2005 Research Society on Alcoholism meeting in Santa Barbara, California, that spans the interval from toddlerhood to early middle adulthood and addresses questions about how far ahead developmentally we can anticipate alcohol problems and related substance use disorder and how such work informs our understanding of the causes and course of alcohol problems and alcohol use disorder. The context of these questions both historically and developmentally is set by Robert Zucker in an introductory section. Next, Maria Wong and colleagues describe the developmental trajectories of behavioral and affective control from preschool to early adolescence in a high risk for alcoholism longitudinal study and demonstrate their ability to predict alcohol and drug outcomes in adolescence. Duncan Clark and Jack Cornelius follow with a report on the predictive utility of parental disruptive behavior disorders in predicting onset of alcohol problems in their adolescent offspring in late adolescence. Next, Kenneth Leonard and Gregory Homish report on adult development study findings relating baseline individual, spouse, and peer network drinking indicators at marriage onset that distinguish different patterns of stability and change in alcohol problems over the first 2 years of marriage. In the final paper, John Schulenberg and colleagues, utilizing national panel data from the Monitoring the Future Study, which cover the 18- to 35-year age span, show how trajectories of alcohol use in early adulthood predict differential alcohol abuse and dependence outcomes at age 35. Finally, Robert Zucker examines the degree to which the core symposium questions are answered and comments on next step research and clinical practice changes that are called for by these findings.

Objective: Numerous studies have focused on the pre- dictors of recovery in persons with alcohol use disorder (AUD). Most have been retrospective and have measured only predictors of short-term recovery after the completion of treatment. This prospective study evalu- ates the role of psychological and social factors in a community sample of both alcoholics and their partners in predicting recovery over a 9- year interval. Method: Alcoholic diagnostic status and life functioning of 134 community-recruited, initially coupled men meeting criteria for a 3-year Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fourth Edition, AUD diagnosis at baseline were assessed over the 9-year pe- riod. Their partners also were assessed. Prediction involved comparing those who still had an AUD diagnosis at 9-year follow-up against those who no longer met AUD criteria. Results: Predictors of recovery in- cluded number of experiences with treatment, education, number of years of intervening recovery over the follow-up period, partner baseline AUD status and partner's social support network. Alcoholics' initial se- verity of drinking did not predict long-term outcome. Furthermore, re- covered men's partners decreased their AUD in the interim, whereas nonremitters' partners increased their AUD. The findings highlight the transitions in and out of AUD, with 62% of the men having stable drink- ing patterns of either remission or unremitting AUD diagnosis over the entire follow-up period. Conclusions: This study demonstrated the im- portance of interpersonal factors in maintaining AUD or promoting re- covery. Consideration of partner characteristics and the marital context as factors in the recovery process is essential. Future research should examine the predictors of recovery in women, in adolescents and in ra- cial groups other than white. (J. Stud. Alcohol 66: 220-228, 2005)

The Symbol Digit Modalities Test [SDMT; Smith, A. (1982). Symbol Digit Modalities Test . Los Angeles: Western Psychological Services; Smith, A. (1968). The symbol-digit modalities test: a neuropsychologic test of learning and other cerebral disorders. In J. Helmuth (Ed.), Learning disorders (pp. 83–91). Seattle: Special Child Publications] is a substitution task that is the inverse of the Digit Symbol Test [Wechsler, D. (1955). Manual for the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale (WAIS) . New York: The Psychological Corporation]. The familiar task of filling numbers in boxes, and the availability of an oral administration, make this a popular screening instrument for brain impairment. Normative data were previously reported for a variety of clinical groups, but complete information on non-clinical samples across age, education, gender, and socioeconomic status is limited. The present study examines the performance of a community-dwelling control sample across age, education, gender, and income groupings. In a multivariate model, these four variables did not impact test performance. These results support the utilization of the SDMT as a robust screening test for adult neuropsychological impairment.

We examined how family and child risk factors jointly affected stability and change in externalizing behavior over time in a prospective study of eventual alcohol use disorder. Study participants were community-recruited alcoholic and control families, and their initially preschool-aged male and female children (N = 335). Family risk varied as a function of both parental alcoholism (ALC) and antisocial personality disorder (ASPD) and was evaluated for both parents. Child risk was characterized by a set of risky temperament attributes pertaining to high activity, high reactivity, and low attention span. Externalizing behavior was used as the proxy indicator for later alcohol problems. For children in the high family risk group (involving current ALC in both parents or current ALC + ASPD comorbidity or both), child risk when children were 3–5 years old (Wave 1) directly predicted externalizing behavior when children were 6–8 years old (Wave 2), even when Wave 1 child risk was controlled for. In addition, parents' negative interaction with children at Wave 1 mediated the effect of child risky temperament on Wave 2 externalizing behavior. No such pattern was observed in the low family risk group, where only autostability effects were predictive of outcomes at Wave 2. The importance of nesting structure as an ingredient in the epigenesis of risk was discussed. Its particular relevance in understanding the process of risk transmission among offspring from antisocial alcoholic families was emphasized.

Utilizing a double-blind, placebo design, the effects of a high (0.8 mg/kg) and a low (0.4 mg/kg) dose of methylphenidate alone and in combination with behavioral parent training plus child self-control instruction were evaluated with 96 attention deficit hyperactivity disorder children. No evidence of the superiority of the combined conditions relative to medication alone was found. Some limited support was found for the hypothesis that the effects of a high dose of psychostimulant medication could be achieved by combining the low dose with a behavioral intervention. The importance of the latter finding is highlighted by the fact that both the benefits and untoward effects of the psychostimulants appear to increase with the dose.

This study examined early behavioral outcomes among young children of alcoholics (COAs) as a function of differences in subtype of paternal alcoholism. Participants were 212 children (106 girls and 106 boys, ages 3 through 8) and both of their biological parents. Families were characterized as antisocial alcoholics, nonantisocial alcoholics, and nonalcoholic controls. There were significant familial subtype group differences on parent report measures of children's total behavior problems, externalizing behavior, and internalizing behavior, and on measures of children's intellectual functioning and academic achievement. In all instances, COAs had poorer functioning than controls. In the behavior problem domain, but not for the domain of intellectual functioning, children from antisocial alcoholic families had greater problems than children from nonantisocial alcoholic families. In addition to the subtype effects, boys had higher levels of behavior problems than girls in all three areas, and older children had more internalizing problems than younger children. Maternal functioning pertaining to lifetime alcohol problem involvement and antisocial behavior also contributed to child subtype differences in internalizing behavior. Results indicate that, even at very early ages, male and female COAs are heterogeneous populations that are distinguishable by way of familial subtype membership, as well as distinguishable from their non-COA peers. Thus, findings underscore the need to consider the heterogeneity of alcoholism when looking at its effects on child development.