Developmental Cognitive Neuroscience of Adolescent Sexual Risk and Alcohol Use

Ewing, Sarah W. Feldstein; Ryman, Sephira G.; Gillman, Arielle S.; Weiland, Barbara J.; Thayer, Rachel E.; Bryan, Angela D.

doi:10.1007/s10461-015-1155-2

Cited by 37 publications

(30 citation statements)

References 66 publications

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“…Youth decision-making about condom use appears to be intricately tied to interpersonal emotional issues within romantic and sexual relationships, rather than via more global cognitive models of risk 8 . Thus, relationship factors are likely to play a large role in adolescent condom use 9 .…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

A Question of Love and Trust? The Role of Relationship Factors in Adolescent Sexual Decision Making

Ewing

Bryan

2015

Journal of Developmental &Amp; Behavioral Pediatrics

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Objective While representing only 25% of the sexually active population, 50% of all new STI infections occur among young people, mostly due to inconsistent condom use. Critically, the majority of adolescent sexual activity takes place in the context of romantic relationships, thus it is important to understand how relationship factors may influence decision-making about the use, or not, of protection. Method We utilized a mixed method approach to investigate the extent to which relationship length, degree of trust or love in the relationship, and frequency of intercourse influence both perceptions of the probability of condom use and self-reported condom use in the context of relationships among a diverse sample of high risk adolescents (ages 12–19). Results Participants were least likely to use condoms if they were in relationships with high trust/love and high frequency of intercourse. Importantly, sexual experience status was a strong moderator of primary effects. Conclusion The perspective of motivated cognition provides a useful theoretical framework to better understand adolescent decision-making about condom use, particularly for sexually experienced youth.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

A Question of Love and Trust? The Role of Relationship Factors in Adolescent Sexual Decision Making

Ewing

Bryan

2015

Journal of Developmental &Amp; Behavioral Pediatrics

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“…While the amygdala has been less prominent throughout the adult addiction literature, the developmental adolescent and young adult health risk literature increasingly supports the amygdala in cannabis and other illicit substance use (Filbey and Dunlop 2014; Schacht et al 2012; Yip et al 2016). In other words, there may be something about the nature of appetitive rewards or cues during adolescence, that particularly activates limbic processing relative to adulthood (Feldstein Ewing et al 2016a, b, c). …”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…These steps are fundamental to guiding appropriate and developmentally-responsive methods in prevention and intervention efforts. For example, while the integration of neuroimaging into treatment devleopment is an emerging area (Feldstein Ewing et al 2016a, b; c; Feldstein Ewing et al 2016a, b; c), the significant involvement of brain behavioral control areas (e.g., OFC, IFG) and emotion regulation areas (e.g., amygdala) suggest that effective prevention and intervention efforts for adolescent overweight/obesity may need to include content articulated to improving control over urges and emotionally-driven decision-making around food consumption, presented in a manner that is sensitive and responsive to this age group. However, while individual-level efforts for adolescent overweight/obesity exist (Kong et al 2013), successful treatment efforts for adolescent overweight/obesity are complicated by the nature in which food is purchased and offered in adolescent living situations, which are inherently family-based (Rhee et al 2016).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Overweight adolescents’ brain response to sweetened beverages mirrors addiction pathways

Ewing

Claus

Hudson

et al. 2016

Brain Imaging and Behavior

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Many adolescents struggle with overweight/obesity, which exponentially increases in the transition to adulthood. Overweight/obesity places youth at risk for serious health conditions, including type 2 diabetes. In adults, neural substrates implicated in addiction (e.g., orbitofrontal cortex (OFC), striatum, amygdala, and ventral tegmental area) have been found to be relevant to risk for overweight/obesity. In this study, we examined three hypotheses to disentangle the potential overlap between addiction and overweight/obesity processing by examining (1) brain response to high vs. low calorie beverages, (2) the strength of correspondence between biometrics, including body mass index (BMI) and insulin resistance, and brain response and (3) the relationship between a measure of food addiction and brain response using an established fMRI gustatory cue exposure task with a sample of overweight/obese youth (M age = 16.46; M BMI = 33.1). Greater BOLD response was observed across the OFC, inferior frontal gyrus (IFG), nucleus accumbens, right amygdala, and additional frontoparietal and temporal regions in neural processing of high vs. low calorie beverages. Further, BMI scores positively correlated with BOLD activation in the high calorie > low calorie contrast in the right postcentral gyrus and central operculum. Insulin resistance positively correlated with BOLD activation across the bilateral middle/superior temporal gyrus, left OFC, and superior parietal lobe. No relationships were observed between measures of food addiction and brain response. These findings support the activation of parallel addiction-related neural pathways in adolescents’ high calorie processing, while also suggesting the importance of refining conceptual and neurocognitive models to fit this developmental period.

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“…Like desirable foods and addictive substances, sexual stimuli have also been shown to reduce impulse control (12). Furthermore, neural activity in the prefrontal cortex during response inhibition correlates with both substance use and sexual risk in adolescents (13, 14) suggesting the efficacy of the neurobiological model in the domain of risky sex as well. Similarly, the amygdala and striatum have been implicated in the processing of sexual stimuli (15, 16).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Prefrontal Cortical Activity During the Stroop Task: New Insights into the Why and the Who of Real-World Risky Sexual Behavior

Barkley-Levenson

Xue

Droutman

et al. 2018

Annals of Behavioral Medicine

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Background Research suggests that deficits in both executive functioning and trait impulsivity may play a role in risky sexual behavior. At the neural level, differences in regulation of the prefrontal cortex have been linked to impulsivity, measured neurocognitively and through self-report. The relationship between neurocognitive measures of executive control and trait impulsivity in predicting risky sexual behavior has not been investigated. Purpose To investigate the relationship between neural functioning during the Stroop task and risky sexual behavior, as well as the effect of individual differences in urgent (positive and negative) impulsivity on this relationship. Methods 105 sexually active men who have sex with men (MSM) completed the Stroop task during functional magnetic resonance imaging scanning. They also completed impulsivity inventories and self-reported their risky sexual behavior (events of condomless anal sex in the last 90 days). Results Risky participants had greater activation than safe participants during the color congruent condition of the Stroop task in anterior cingulate cortex/dorsomedial prefrontal cortex, dorsolateral prefrontal cortex, left frontal pole, and right insula. Across these regions, this neural activation mediated the link between (positive and/or negative) urgent impulsivity and risky sexual behavior. Conclusions Findings suggest that the brains of men who engage in risky sexual behavior may employ a different distribution of cognitive resources during tasks of executive functioning than men who practice safe sex, and that this may relate to differences in the prefrontal cortical/fronto-insular system responsible for impulse control.

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Developmental Cognitive Neuroscience of Adolescent Sexual Risk and Alcohol Use

Cited by 37 publications

References 66 publications

A Question of Love and Trust? The Role of Relationship Factors in Adolescent Sexual Decision Making

A Question of Love and Trust? The Role of Relationship Factors in Adolescent Sexual Decision Making

Overweight adolescents’ brain response to sweetened beverages mirrors addiction pathways

Prefrontal Cortical Activity During the Stroop Task: New Insights into the Why and the Who of Real-World Risky Sexual Behavior

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