Research article summary (published 30 Aug 2008):

Working memory capacity moderates the predictive effects of drug-related associations on substance use.

Full Abstract

Some theories suggest that spontaneously activated, drug-related associations in memory may have a "freer reign" in predicting drug use among individuals with lower working memory capacity. This study evaluated this hypothesis among 145 at-risk youth attending continuation high schools (CHS). This is the 1st study to evaluate this type of dual-process interaction in the prediction of drug use among a sample of at-risk adolescents. The CHS students completed assessments of drug-related memory associations, working memory capacity, and drug use. Control variables included age, gender, ethnicity, and acculturation. Robust multiple regression using least trimmed squares estimation indicated that there was a significant linear by linear interaction between working memory capacity (assessed with the self-ordered pointing task) and drug-related associations (assessed with verb generation and cue-behavior association tasks) in the prediction of alcohol and cigarette use. Consistent with dual-process cognitive theories, drug-related associations in memory predicted drug use more strongly in students with lower levels of working memory capacity. These findings add to the literature implicating the influence of dual cognitive processes in adolescent risk behaviors. (c) 2008 APA, all rights reserved.

Author information

Author/s: Grenard, Jerry L (JL); Ames, Susan L (SL); Wiers, Reinout W (RW); Thush, Carolien (C); Sussman, Steve (S); Stacy, Alan W (AW);

Affiliation: Institute for Health Promotion and Disease Prevention Research, Keck School of Medicine, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA 91803, USA. grenard(-atsign-)usc.edu

Grants: DA16094 (Agency:NIDA NIH HHS)

Journal and publication information

Publication Type: Comparative Study; Journal Article; Research Support, N.I.H., Extramural; Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

Journal: Psychology of addictive behaviors : journal of the Society of Psychologists in Addictive Behaviors (Psychol Addict Behav), published in United States. (Language: eng)

Reference: 2008-Sep; vol 22 (issue 3) : pp 426-32

Dates: Created 2008/09/09; Completed 2008/10/08;

PMID: 18778136, status: MEDLINE (last retrieval date: 2/18/2009, IMS Date: )

Sourced from the National Library of Medicine. Abstract text and other information may be subject to copyright.

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MeSH headings (categories)

This article was linked to the MESH Headings shown below.

Adolescent Adolescent Psychology Alcohol Drinking - epidemiology; psychology Association Comorbidity Cues Female Health Behavior Humans Least-Squares Analysis Male

Memory Disorders - diagnosis; epidemiology; psychology Neuropsychological Tests - statistics & numerical data Probability Regression Analysis Risk Factors Risk-Taking Smoking - epidemiology; psychology Substance-Related Disorders - diagnosis; epidemiology; psychology Task Performance and Analysis Verbal Behavior Word Association Tests - statistics & numerical data

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