Dataset Information

Adolescent Cannabis Use and Conduct Problems: The Mediating Influence of Callous-Unemotional Traits.

ABSTRACT: Cannabis use has been linked to an increased risk of engaging in conduct problem behaviors. However, little existing research has considered intervening processes and shared risk factors that may contribute to this association. The current investigation examines whether callous-unemotional traits, which have shown associations with adolescent cannabis use and conduct problem development, may exhibit a mediating influence on this relationship. Using a longitudinal cohort of youth (n = 390) at increased risk for escalating in their use of cannabis, we found that baseline cannabis use (age~15) was associated with higher levels of trait-like conduct problems (ages~16 & 17), even after controlling for important autoregressive and cross-lagged effects, along with a number of other shared risk factors (e.g., co-occuring substance use, age, sex). Findings also revealed that callous-unemotional traits partially mediated this relationship, with the hypothesized model accounting for approximately one-third of the variance in the conduct problem outcome (R²=.34). These results indicate that callous-unemotional traits may play an important intermediary role in the association between cannabis use and the development of problem behaviors.

SUBMITTER: Hawes SW

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7394462 | biostudies-literature | 2020 Jun

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Adolescent Cannabis Use and Conduct Problems: The Mediating Influence of Callous-Unemotional Traits.

Hawes Samuel W SW Pacheco-Colón Ileana I Ross J Megan JM Gonzalez Raul R

International journal of mental health and addiction 20180712 3

Cannabis use has been linked to an increased risk of engaging in conduct problem behaviors. However, little existing research has considered intervening processes and shared risk factors that may contribute to this association. The current investigation examines whether callous-unemotional traits, which have shown associations with adolescent cannabis use and conduct problem development, may exhibit a mediating influence on this relationship. Using a longitudinal cohort of youth (<i>n</i> = 390) ...[more]

PMID: 32742245

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Project description:ObjectiveLearning to successfully navigate the social world, in particular when to trust others and how to work together with them, is crucial to well-adjusted social development. This is especially the case during adolescence, when individuals are undergoing significant biological and social changes. Adolescents with conduct problems (CP) tend to have difficulties in social relationships and to display aggressive behaviors as well as reduced cooperation with others. This pattern appears to be particularly pronounced in adolescents with CP and high callous-unemotional traits (CP/HCU). However, very little is currently known about the mechanisms that might drive reduced cooperative behaviors in adolescent CP, and whether these differ for individuals with high vs low levels of CU traits.MethodWe used a series of economic games to assess how adolescents with CP/HCU (n = 46), CP, and lower levels of CU traits (CP/LCU) (n = 46), and typically developing adolescents (TD) (n = 59) interacted with social (human) and non-social (computer) partners that varied in their degree of cooperation (trustworthy vs untrustworthy and friendly vs unfriendly), and whether this related to group differences in social preferences (aversion to inequality) and prior beliefs.ResultsAdolescents with CP (both HCU and LCU) had more difficulty than TD adolescents in differentiating between trustworthy and untrustworthy social environments in our task. Adolescents with CP/LCU also had more difficulty coordinating with friendly and unfriendly social partners to produce rewarding outcomes than TD adolescents. Surprisingly, we saw no relationship between participants' inequality aversion or prior beliefs and social learning in our games.ConclusionThese findings indicate that, under controlled experimental conditions, adolescents with CP have more difficulty learning to differentiate between social environments that vary in cooperation, particularly adolescents with CP/LCU. These findings were not explained by inequality aversion or prior beliefs. Our findings also raise important questions regarding methods used to understand the mechanisms underlying social behaviors in adolescents with CP.

Dataset Information

Adolescent Cannabis Use and Conduct Problems: The Mediating Influence of Callous-Unemotional Traits.

Publications

Adolescent Cannabis Use and Conduct Problems: The Mediating Influence of Callous-Unemotional Traits.

Similar Datasets

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