Language Deficits in Children at High Risk for Drag Abuse

Effects of Family History of Alcohol Use Disorders on Spatial Working Memory BOLD Response in Adolescents

“…The functional consequences of these findings may be evident in the poorer neurocognitive and academic performance of some individuals (Corral et al, 1999; Giancola et al, 1996; Hegedus et al, 1984; Najam et al, 1997; Poon et al, 2000), or mark behavioral disinhibition. However, in this sample, youth with greater familial AUD did not score differently from FHN youth on neuropsychological tests, and measures of behavioral inhibition were not linked to this pattern of activation.…”

“…Underlying neurobiological mechanisms have been proposed as moderating this increased risk, as FHP youth often perform differently than FHN controls on tests of neurocognitive function. For example, nonabusing FHP adolescent males performed worse than FHN boys on tests of language functioning and academic achievement (Giancola et al, 1993; Hegedus et al, 1984; Najam et al, 1997; Poon et al, 2000; Sher et al, 2000; Tarter et al, 1984; Viken et al, 1999), organization of new information (Peterson et al, 1992), executive cognitive functioning (Giancola et al, 1996; Harden and Pihl, 1995), perseveration (Giancola et al, 1993), working memory (Corral et al, 1999; Harden and Pihl, 1995; Ozkaragoz et al, 1997), nonverbal memory (Sher et al, 1991), visuospatial skills (Berman and Noble, 1995; Corral et al, 1999; Garland et al, 1993; Ozkaragoz and Noble, 1995; Ozkaragoz et al, 1997; Sher et al, 1991) and attention (Tarter et al, 1989). Multigen-erational transmission (Conrod et al, 1995; LeMarquand et al, 1999; Peterson et al, 1996; Pihl and Bruce, 1995), high familial density (Hill et al, 2000a), early AUD onset in father (Tarter et al, 1989), active paternal alcoholism (Ozkaragoz et al, 1997), and genotypic features (Berman and Noble, 1995) increase the link between FHP and cognitive functioning.…”

What's the story? An exploration of narrative language abilities in male juvenile offenders

“…Deficits on test-based measures of language ability (e.g. resolving ambiguity, drawing inferences from implied or incomplete messages, interpreting figurative language, such as metaphor, analogies, and humour) have also been identified in young people at risk for substance abuse (Najam et al, 1997).…”

Narrative change in psychotherapy: differences between good and bad outcome cases in cognitive, narrative, and prescriptive therapies

“…factor for drug abuse in adolescence (Najam, 1998;Snow, 2000). Recently, several authors have suggested that treatment for patients addicted to drugs should include opportunities to construct their identities and promote change, as suggested by Ricoeur's theory of narrative identity (Ricoeur, 1984;Taieb, Revah-Le´vy, Baubet, & Moro, 2005).…”