Orbitofrontal Cortex Volume and Effortful Control as Prospective Risk Factors for Substance Use Disorder in Adolescence

A Cheetham; NB Allen; S Whittle; J Simmons; M Yücel; DI Lubman

Journal article

Orbitofrontal Cortex Volume and Effortful Control as Prospective Risk Factors for Substance Use Disorder in Adolescence

A Cheetham, NB Allen, S Whittle, J Simmons, M Yücel, DI Lubman

European Addiction Research | KARGER | Published : 2017

DOI: 10.1159/000452159

Abstract

Background: Orbitofrontal cortex (OFC) dysfunction has been proposed to increase the risk for developing a substance use disorder (SUD) during adolescence. In this study, we suggest that a reduction in OFC volumes might underlie temperament-based risk factors for SUD, and examined whether smaller OFC volumes during early adolescence could predict later development of SUD. Methods and Materials: Adolescents (n = 107; 58 male, 49 female) underwent structural MRI and completed a self-report measure of temperamental effortful control at age 12. At 3 subsequent assessments (aged 15, 16, and 18) SUD was assessed via a semi-structured clinical interview. By the third assessment, 24 participants (22..

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University of Melbourne Researchers

Nick Allen Author

Sarah Whittle Author

Julian Simmons Author

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Grants

Awarded by National Health and Medical Research Council Australia (NHMRC)

Awarded by Australian Research Council

Awarded by NHMRC Career Development Fellowship

Awarded by NHMRC Senior Researcher Fellowship

Funding Acknowledgements

This work was supported by grants from the Colonial Foundation, the National Health and Medical Research Council Australia (NHMRC Program Grant 350241), and the Australian Research Council (Discovery Grants DP0878136, DP120102313). S.W. was supported by a NHMRC Career Development Fellowship (ID 1007716). M.Y. was supported by a NHMRC Senior Researcher Fellowship (ID 1021973).