A laboratory-based test of the relation between adolescent alcohol use and panic-relevant responding.

Abstract

A burgeoning literature supports a link between alcohol use and panic-spectrum problems (e.g., panic attacks, disorder) among adolescents, but the direction of influence has yet to be properly examined. From a theoretical perspective, panic-spectrum problems may increase risk for problematic drinking via affect regulation efforts (e.g., self-medication), and problematic consumption also may increase or initiate panic-relevant responding (e.g., learning or kindling models). The objective of the current investigation was to examine the role of prior alcohol use in predicting panic-relevant responding, as well as panic symptom history in predicting the desire to consume alcohol, in the context of either a voluntary hyperventilation or a low-arousal task. Participants were community-recruited adolescents aged 12-17 years (n = 92, Mage = 15.42, SD = 1.51; 39.1% girls). Results indicated that prior alcohol use predicted panic-relevant responding among those undergoing the hyperventilation task (but not the low-arousal task), and that this finding was robust to the inclusion of theoretically-relevant covariates (i.e. age, sex, negative affectivity). However, panic symptom history did not predict the desire to consume alcohol as a function of either the hyperventilation or low-arousal condition. This work sheds further light on the nature of the relation between panic-spectrum problems and problematic alcohol use in adolescence. Specifically, the current findings suggest that frequent alcohol use may increase panic vulnerability among adolescents, whereas acute panic symptoms may not elicit the immediate (self-reported) desire to drink.

Research Review: Pediatric anxiety disorders – what have we learnt in the last 10 years?

“…Matthew and colleagues examined the relationship between alcohol use in adolescents and panic disorder – which typically emerges in late adolescence (Mathew, Norton, Zvolensky, Buckner, & Smits, 2011) and found that prior alcohol use among adolescents was associated with increased panic‐related symptoms using a hyperventilation challenge paradigm. In this cohort, the history of panic attacks was not associated with a desire to consume alcohol, suggesting that the ‘self‐medication hypothesis’ may not entirely explain this association (Blumenthal, Cloutier, Zamboanga, Bunaciu, & Knapp, 2015). The relationship between cannabis use and the development (and maintenance) of anxiety disorders has become clearer in recent years.…”

Adolescent Alcohol and Stress Exposure Rewires Key Cortical Neurocircuitry

“… Cloutier et al (2019) found that adolescent females with higher baseline social anxiety levels are more likely to consume their first alcoholic beverage within a year of exposure to an acute social stressor. However, anxiety symptoms alone do not necessarily lead to an increased urge to drink immediately in non-alcohol naïve adolescents ( Blumenthal et al, 2015 ), indicating that there are other factors at play in the relationship between adolescent alcohol consumption and anxiety that require further study (with access to alcohol likely being relevant). The same must be said of other common comorbidities of AUD, including MDD and conduct disorder due to the tendency to use alcohol as a coping method for psychological distress ( Zaso et al, 2021 ) and as a negative reinforcer among late-stage adolescents ( Obasi et al, 2016 ).…”

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“…Piemēram, smēķētāji tic, ka smēķēšana var palīdzēt nomierināties, regulēt emocionālos un ķermeniskos stāvokļus (Mathew et al, 2011). Otrā hipotēze ir, ka alkohola un citu vielu lietošana ilgtermiņā vai atteikšanās lietot šīs vielas (absistences sindroms) rada fiziskas sajūtas, kas līdzinās panikas simptomiem, tādējādi ilgtermiņā un mijiedarbībā ar panikas traucējumu kognitīvo komponenti veicinot panikas simptomu turpmāko attīstību (Blumenthal et al, 2015).…”

“…Zinātnieki noskaidroja, ka pusaudži, kas alkoholu lietojuši vairākas reizes pēdējā gada vai pēdējā mēneša laikā, salīdzinājumā ar tiem pusaudžiem, kas nekad nebija mēģinājuši vai bija pamēģinājuši, bet nav turpinājuši lietot alkoholu, pašnovērtējuma aptaujā atzīmēja biežākus panikas simptomus un kontrolētajā hiperventilācijas eksperimentā uzrādīja vairāk fizisko reakciju, kas saistītas ar panikas simptomiem (Blumenthal et al, 2012). Turklāt pusaudžu pašnovērtētā panikas simptomu vēsture pozitīvi korelēja ar panikas simptomiem hiperventilācijas eksperimenta laikā (Blumenthal et al, 2015). Pusaudžu panikas simptomiem netika atklāta saistība ar tabakas smēķēšanas biežumu (Blumenthal et al, 2012;.…”