Hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis responsivity during adolescence in relation to psychopathic personality traits later in life.

Psychopathic personality traits have been linked to low physiological arousal, particularly among high risk and forensic samples. A core indicator of physiological arousal is the activity of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis; however, findings of a link between HPA axis functioning and psychopathic personality traits have been inconsistent. Furthermore, given sex differences in both HPA axis responsivity and psychopathic personality traits, the association may be expected to differ between men and women.

Classroom Disorder and Internalizing Problems Among Swedish Adolescents: Changes Between 1988 and 2011.

Background: Internalizing problems have increased among Swedish adolescents. We examined whether classroom disorder was associated with internalizing problems and whether it explained the trends in internalizing problems. Furthermore, we examined whether school contextual factors were associated with internalizing problems and whether they moderated the association between classroom disorder and internalizing problems.

Urbanicity, biological stress system functioning and mental health in adolescents.

Growing up in an urban area has been associated with an increased chance of mental health problems in adults, but less is known about this association in adolescents. We examined whether current urbanicity was associated with mental health problems directly and indirectly via biological stress system functioning. Participants (n = 323) were adolescents from the Dutch general population.

A latent class analysis of changes in adolescent substance use between 1988 and 2011 in Sweden: associations with sex and psychosomatic problems.

Aims: To characterize changes in patterns of adolescent substance use in Sweden between 1988 and 2011, and to assess whether sex and psychosomatic problems were associated with substance use and whether these associations changed over time.

Design: Secondary analysis of repeated cross-sectional survey data. Survey data were collected eight times and analyzed as four cohorts (1988-91, 1995-98, 2002-05 and 2008-11).

Mental Health Problems Among Adolescents in Sweden from 1995 to 2011: The Role of Immigrant Status and the Proportions of Immigrant Adolescents in Their Surrounding Community.

We compared the mental health of native and immigrant adolescents in Sweden from 1995 to 2011 and examined whether the municipality-level proportion of immigrant adolescents moderated the association between individual-level immigrant status and mental health. The sample (14,189 adolescents aged 15-16) was obtained from a repeated cross-sectional study conducted from 1995 to 2011. Adolescent self-report data (gender, immigrant status, economic situation, and mental health) and municipality-level data (proportion of immigrant adolescents) were used in multilevel linear regression analyses.

Towards explaining time trends in adolescents' alcohol use: a multilevel analysis of Swedish data from 1988 to 2011.

Background: Alcohol use has decreased among Swedish adolescents in the past few decades. We examined peer and parent factors (i.e.

Gene × Environment contributions to autonomic stress reactivity in youth.

Dysregulated physiological stress reactivity has been suggested to impact the development of children and adolescents with important health consequences throughout the life span. Both environmental adversity and genetic predispositions can lead to physiological imbalances in stress systems, which in turn lead to developmental differences. We investigated genetic and environmental contributions to autonomic nervous system reactivity to a psychosocial stressor.

Stress Reactivity as a Prospective Predictor of Risky Substance Use During Adolescence.

Objective: Youth who report risky substance use and who have a familial history of substance use disorders (SUDs) are at increased risk for developing SUDs themselves later in life. Physiological stress reactivity may be a potential biological mechanism underlying this increased risk. In the current study, we examined (a) whether physiological stress reactivity to a psychosocial stressor was prospectively related to risky substance use later in adolescence and (b) whether this relation was moderated by a familial history of SUDs.

Neuroticism and extraversion in relation to physiological stress reactivity during adolescence.

The current study examined mean level and change in extraversion and neuroticism across adolescence in relation to physiological stress reactivity to social evaluation. Adolescents (n=327) from the Dutch general population reported on personality measures at five annual assessments. At age 17 years, adolescents participated in a psychosocial stress procedure characterized by social evaluation during which cortisol, heart rate, pre-ejection period (PEP) and heart rate variability were assessed.

Blunted Heart Rate Response as a Potential Endophenotype of Substance Use Disorders: Evidence from High-Risk Youth.

Background: Children of parents with a substance use disorder (CPSUD) are at increased risk for developing problematic substance use later in life. Endophenotypes may help to clarify the mechanism behind this increased risk. However, substance use and externalizing symptoms may confound the relation between dysregulated physiological stress responding and familial risk for substance use disorders (SUDs).

Reasons for entering treatment reported by initially treatment-resistant patients with substance use disorders.

Many individuals with substance use disorders are resistant to entering formal treatment, despite the negative consequences that plague their own lives and the lives of concerned significant others (CSOs). Community Reinforcement and Family Training (CRAFT) has been developed as an effective strategy for helping family members who are concerned about the alcohol/drug use of a loved one who refuses to seek treatment. The present study explored reasons and feelings that played a part in these resistant individuals' (identified patients [IPs]) decision to begin treatment.

Multifactorial determinants of target and novelty-evoked P300 amplitudes in children of addicted parents.

Background: Although P300 amplitude reductions constitute a persistent finding in children of addicted parents, relatively little is known about the specificity of this finding. The major aim of this study was to investigate the association between parental rearing, adverse life events, stress-reactivity, substance use and psychopathology on the one hand, and P300 amplitude in response to both target and novel distracter stimuli on the other hand. Moreover, we assessed whether risk group status (i.

Blunted feedback processing during risky decision making in adolescents with a parental history of substance use disorders.

Risky decision making, a hallmark phenotype of substance use disorders (SUD), is thought to be associated with deficient feedback processing. Whether these aberrations are present prior to SUD onset or reflect merely a consequence of chronic substance use on the brain remains unclear. The present study investigated whether blunted feedback processing during risky decision making reflects a biological predisposition to SUD.

Cortisol levels in children of parents with a substance use disorder.

Background: Children of parents with a substance use disorder (CPSUDs) are at increased risk for the development of substance use disorders later in life, and therefore may manifest vulnerability markers for these disorders at a higher level than children from the general population. Our aim was to examine hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis activity as a potential vulnerability marker in CPSUDs as compared to healthy controls. We further examined whether having experienced more adverse life events (ALEs) accounted for differences in cortisol levels between CPSUDs and controls.

Determinants of physiological and perceived physiological stress reactivity in children and adolescents.

Aims: Abnormal physiological stress reactivity is increasingly investigated as a vulnerability marker for various physical and psychological health problems. However, studies are inconsistent in taking into account potential covariates that may influence the developing stress system. We systematically tested determinants (individual, developmental, environmental and substance use-related) of physiological and perceived physiological stress reactivity.

Parental rearing behavior prospectively predicts adolescents' risky decision-making and feedback-related electrical brain activity.

The present study examined the role of parental rearing behavior in adolescents' risky decision-making and the brain's feedback processing mechanisms. Healthy adolescent participants (n = 110) completed the EMBU-C, a self-report questionnaire on perceived parental rearing behaviors between 2006 and 2008 (T1). Subsequently, after an average of 3.

Diminished error-related brain activity as a promising endophenotype for substance-use disorders: evidence from high-risk offspring.

One of the core features of individuals with a substance-use disorder (SUD) is the reduced ability to successfully process errors and monitor performance, as reflected by diminished error-related negativities (ERN). However, whether these error-related brain abnormalities are caused by chronic substance use or rather predates it remains unclear. The present study elucidated whether hypoactive performance monitoring represents an endophenotypic vulnerability marker for SUD by using a high-risk paradigm.

Alcohol and tobacco use and heart rate reactivity to a psychosocial stressor in an adolescent population.

Background: Few studies have investigated physiological stress (re)activity in relation to substance use, especially in adolescents. Using substances is one way to stimulate physiological arousal, therefore inherent hypo-arousal may be associated with substance use in adolescents. The purpose of this study was to examine the relation of autonomic nervous system (ANS) activity with alcohol and tobacco use in adolescents.

Youth in the Netherlands study (JOiN): study design.

Background: Adolescence is a critical developmental period regarding exposure to substances. Therefore, it is important to be able to identify those adolescents who are most vulnerable to substance abuse in the (near) future. The JOiN study was specifically designed to examine two endophenotypes of adolescent substance use in a normal risk (NR) and high risk (HR) sample of adolescents: (1) behavioural disinhibition, and (2) individual differences in stress sensitivity.

The P300 event-related brain potential as a neurobiological endophenotype for substance use disorders: a meta-analytic investigation.

Endophenotypes are intermediate phenotypes on the putative causal pathway from genotype to phenotype and can aid in discovering the genetic etiology of a disorder. There are currently very few suitable endophenotypes available for substance use disorders (SUD). The amplitude of the P300 event-related brain potential is a possible candidate.

The relation between hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis activity and age of onset of alcohol use.

Aims: Hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis activity may prove a viable biomarker for identifying those susceptible to alcohol use disorders. The purpose of this study was to examine the relation of the age at which adolescents begin drinking with diurnal and stress cortisol.

Design: Adolescents' diurnal cortisol levels on a normal day and cortisol levels during a stress procedure were examined in relation to the age of onset of alcohol use.

The effects of psychiatric distress, inhibition, and impulsivity on decision making in patients with substance use disorders: A matched control study.

In the present study, the decision making abilities of patients with substance use disorders were compared to those of healthy controls and, subsequently, the impact of psychiatric distress, behavioral inhibition, and impulsivity on Iowa Gambling Task (IGT) performance were evaluated. A total of 31 patients and 31 matched healthy controls performed the IGT and completed the Symptom Checklist-90-Revised (SCL-90-R) and the Behavioral Inhibition System/Behavioral Activation System (BIS/BAS). The results confirmed that the patient group had severe impairments on the IGT relative to the controls, which appeared to be virtually unrelated to the employed measures.