Grants and Contracts Details
Description
Young adult alcohol misuse is an urgent, growing public health crisis, especially in young adults, who have the
highest alcohol use disorder (AUD) rates of any age group. Interventions for this population are hampered by
small effects, few options and lack of tailoring to salient risk factors. A recent review in Addiction argued that
research informing interventions has failed to account for the complexity of relationships among factors
contributing to young adult alcohol misuse. We will address this gap by examining relationships between two
crucial vulnerability factors contributing to alcohol misuse in young adults: impulsive behaviors and high-risk
subjective response to alcohol (SR). There is a lack of longitudinal data on impulsivity and SR in young adult
samples and until recently, few studies have examined relations between these theoretically-linked constructs.
We know impulsivity relates to alcohol, but less about why. Answers to “why” can point to proximal intervention
targets. Conversely, we know little about precursors to SR, which could offer distal prevention and intervention
targets to address even before onset of alcohol use/misuse. We have exciting preliminary data indicating
impulsivity and SR may be related, but the next step is a comprehensive study, designed and powered to
compare multiple impulsivity domains as predictors of SR and examine relations between them as longitudinal
predictors of alcohol misuse. At two sites, young adults, ages 21-25 (N=250, 50% female), will complete
behavioral task and self-report measures of 3 impulsivity domains (poor inhibitory control, delay discounting
and negative urgency), then report on 2 aspects of high-risk SR (elevated stimulation, dampened sedation)
during placebo-controlled, precision human lab intravenous (IV) alcohol challenge, followed by free-access IV
alcohol self-administration. Participants will also complete seven 10-day daily assessment periods over 2
years, including mobile impulsivity assessments and EMA reports of their alcohol use and SR. Recent findings
indicate daily changes in impulsivity predict subsequent drinking and consequences. These types of changes
are challenging to capture with lab methods only. Daily measures also enable modeling of both person-level
individual differences and daily, within-subject effects. However, there are no published studies relating daily
impulsivity and SR measures. In this study, we will: 1) determine relations between lab-based impulsivity and
SR; 2) determine relations between daily impulsivity and SR; and 3) relate impulsivity and SR to alcohol
misuse longitudinally. We hypothesize impulsivity will relate to heightened stimulation and less sedation
following alcohol and that SR will mediate relationships between impulsivity and alcohol misuse. Our long-term
goal is to create new interventions via back translation to animal models and design, testing and application in
randomized trials. This study will advance translational work to uncover therapeutic targets for 2 critical
vulnerability factors under-addressed in current young adult alcohol interventions. Thus, we will: 1) identify
mechanisms of alcohol action and 2) facilitate prevention and treatment research: two NIAAA priority areas.
Status | Active |
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Effective start/end date | 5/15/24 → 6/30/27 |
Funding
- Ohio State University: $74,574.00
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