Prevention of Adolescent Risky Behaviors: Neural Markers of Intervention Effects
| Status: | Recruiting |
|---|---|
| Conditions: | Psychiatric |
| Therapuetic Areas: | Psychiatry / Psychology |
| Healthy: | No |
| Age Range: | 11 - 14 |
| Updated: | 2/27/2019 |
| Start Date: | December 11, 2017 |
| End Date: | December 2022 |
| Contact: | Julia K Fong, BS |
| Email: | juliakf@uci.edu |
| Phone: | (949) 824-3770 |
Adolescence is a time of biological and behavioral changes that can lead to risky and
dangerous behaviors, and African-American youth are highly vulnerable to the consequences of
risky behavior, including HIV/AIDS and violence, leading to premature death. The
investigators previously showed that an intervention program reduces HIV-risk vulnerability
behaviors in many African-American youth. The investigators aim to measure how the program
affects different regions of the brain in order to better prevent or reduce such risky
behaviors among African-American youth.
dangerous behaviors, and African-American youth are highly vulnerable to the consequences of
risky behavior, including HIV/AIDS and violence, leading to premature death. The
investigators previously showed that an intervention program reduces HIV-risk vulnerability
behaviors in many African-American youth. The investigators aim to measure how the program
affects different regions of the brain in order to better prevent or reduce such risky
behaviors among African-American youth.
Adolescence is a time of dramatic biological, behavioral and social changes. It is one of the
healthiest periods of the life-span, yet morbidity and mortality rates increase 200%, often
attributed to natural tendencies to explore and take risks that increase vulnerability to
risky and dangerous behaviors. Rapid advances in developmental neuroscience are revealing new
insights into how biology and social context interact to increase adolescents' risk-taking
behavior which is attributed to a temporal disassociation between maturational changes in two
distinct neural systems: "socio-emotional" (reward) and "cognitive-control"
(self-regulation). The socio-emotional system is stimulated by a rapid increase in
dopaminergic activity at puberty, which influences reward-seeking behavior. This increase in
reward-seeking precedes the maturation of the cognitive-control system and its connections to
the reward system. This proposal aims to apply these new insights on neurobiology of
adolescents' responses to alcohol/drug use and sex-related risk opportunities by examining
brain changes in response to a theoretically-based and empirically-tested prevention program
that targets risky behavior in African-American youth during pubertal transition. This racial
group is disproportionately affected by the high morbidity and mortality associated with
HIV-related risky behaviors and exemplifies a significant health disparity in our society.
The intervention was designed on the basis of developmental issues and socio-cultural
contextual processes germane to African-American families, and has been shown in randomized
controlled trials to delay/deter HIV-related risky behaviors in this vulnerable population.
This proposal extends the efficacy studies of the intervention by using functional magnetic
resonance imaging to quantify the biological changes in response to the intervention.
Identifying neural substrates of the intervention can facilitate refinement of the program by
focusing on the components that are most effective in changing behavioral and neural
circuitry and also aid in the development of new interventions for subgroups of youth that
don't have a positive outcome. Using a randomized controlled design, the investigators will
assess the neural substrates of risk-taking and risk-avoidant behavior before and after the
6-week computer-interactive, family-based intervention in 11-13 year-old African-American
youth. Psychological processes shown to mediate the intervention effects on behaviors that
dissuade alcohol and drug use and sexual onset (i.e. reward-drive and cognitive-emotional
self-regulation) will be assessed at baseline and 3 months post-intervention. Based on prior
studies that reported observable brain changes in response to psychosocial interventions, the
investigators' hypothesis is that a positive response to the intervention will be associated
with greater functional connectivity changes between the socio-emotional (reward-drive) and
cognitive-control (self-regulation) components of the neural circuitry compared to the
control condition, both at rest and during task-performance. They also postulate that these
neural changes will mediate the intervention's positive effects on psychological processes
involved in youth's decision to avoid HIV-risk vulnerability behaviors in the service of
long-term personal goals and positive health outcomes.
healthiest periods of the life-span, yet morbidity and mortality rates increase 200%, often
attributed to natural tendencies to explore and take risks that increase vulnerability to
risky and dangerous behaviors. Rapid advances in developmental neuroscience are revealing new
insights into how biology and social context interact to increase adolescents' risk-taking
behavior which is attributed to a temporal disassociation between maturational changes in two
distinct neural systems: "socio-emotional" (reward) and "cognitive-control"
(self-regulation). The socio-emotional system is stimulated by a rapid increase in
dopaminergic activity at puberty, which influences reward-seeking behavior. This increase in
reward-seeking precedes the maturation of the cognitive-control system and its connections to
the reward system. This proposal aims to apply these new insights on neurobiology of
adolescents' responses to alcohol/drug use and sex-related risk opportunities by examining
brain changes in response to a theoretically-based and empirically-tested prevention program
that targets risky behavior in African-American youth during pubertal transition. This racial
group is disproportionately affected by the high morbidity and mortality associated with
HIV-related risky behaviors and exemplifies a significant health disparity in our society.
The intervention was designed on the basis of developmental issues and socio-cultural
contextual processes germane to African-American families, and has been shown in randomized
controlled trials to delay/deter HIV-related risky behaviors in this vulnerable population.
This proposal extends the efficacy studies of the intervention by using functional magnetic
resonance imaging to quantify the biological changes in response to the intervention.
Identifying neural substrates of the intervention can facilitate refinement of the program by
focusing on the components that are most effective in changing behavioral and neural
circuitry and also aid in the development of new interventions for subgroups of youth that
don't have a positive outcome. Using a randomized controlled design, the investigators will
assess the neural substrates of risk-taking and risk-avoidant behavior before and after the
6-week computer-interactive, family-based intervention in 11-13 year-old African-American
youth. Psychological processes shown to mediate the intervention effects on behaviors that
dissuade alcohol and drug use and sexual onset (i.e. reward-drive and cognitive-emotional
self-regulation) will be assessed at baseline and 3 months post-intervention. Based on prior
studies that reported observable brain changes in response to psychosocial interventions, the
investigators' hypothesis is that a positive response to the intervention will be associated
with greater functional connectivity changes between the socio-emotional (reward-drive) and
cognitive-control (self-regulation) components of the neural circuitry compared to the
control condition, both at rest and during task-performance. They also postulate that these
neural changes will mediate the intervention's positive effects on psychological processes
involved in youth's decision to avoid HIV-risk vulnerability behaviors in the service of
long-term personal goals and positive health outcomes.
Inclusion Criteria:
- Subject is of African-American racial status (self-reported)
- Subject can speak and read English
- Subject and parent/legal guardian agree to participate in the 6-week PAAS program
- Subject and parent/legal guardian agree to complete all assessments
- Subject must meet MRI safety eligibility
Exclusion Criteria:
- Subject has a major medical problem (e.g. neurological disorders)
- Subject is on medication(s) that affects the central nervous system
- Subject has behavioral/emotional problems at a clinical level (parent and/or youth
report)
- Subject is pregnant or suspected of being pregnant (based on pregnancy test)
- Subject is color-blind
- Subject has claustrophobia
- Subject has metallic implants
- Subject drinks alcohol in the week prior to entry into the study (based on urine drug
screen)
- Subject uses drugs in the week prior to entry into the study (based on urine drug
screen)
We found this trial at
1
site
Irvine, California 92697
949-824-5011
Principal Investigator: Uma Rao, MD
Phone: 949-824-3770
University of California, Irvine Since 1965, the University of California, Irvine has combined the strengths...
Click here to add this to my saved trials
