Criminal career duration: Predictability from self-reports and official records.

Criminal career duration has not been well investigated. There are very few longitudinal data sets that last long enough and enough subjects to investigate criminal career duration, and especially the characteristics and risk profiles of especially life course persistent offenders. The aim of the study was to describe the predictability of criminal career duration based on both official records and self-reports of offending, and to put the results in the context of the Moffitt theory of "adolescent limited" and "life course persistent" offenders. The Pittsburgh Youth Study (n = 1517) is a seminal longitudinal study based on a community sample of high-risk boys from the city of Pittsburgh. Data was used from the oldest sample of boys in the PYS (N = 506). The participants were first assessed on average at age 12, and data was used up until age 36 for self-reported offending, and age 40 for police charges. The analyses were conducted on moderate and serious violence and moderate and serious theft. Career duration was based on self-reports and official charges in combination. The results show the extent to which commonly accepted and well validated risk factors predict criminal career duration with a special focus on individuals showing high rate/persistent offending in adolescence. Results show more pathways of delinquent development than have previously been described by Moffitt, (Psychological Review, 1993, 100(4), 674-701). Results also show that there is limited predictability of delinquency and offending over time. In addition, results show that only a small number of risk factors distinguish high and low rate adolescent offenders who become continuous offenders. Examples are peer factors. Implications for policy making and intervention science are discussed.

A brief validated screen to identify boys and girls at risk for early marijuana use.

To guide recruitment, the ABCD Study requires a method for identifying children at high risk for early-onset substance use that may be utilized during the recruitment process. This study was undertaken to inform the development of a brief screen for identifying youths' risk of early-onset substance use and other adverse outcomes. To be acceptable by participants in this context, consideration of potential items was limited to child characteristics previously determined to be potentially pertinent and parental cigarette smoking. To focus the analyses on a single target substance use outcome pertinent to the stated goals of the ABCD Study, early-onset marijuana use was selected. Utilizing data collected prior to the initiation of the ABCD Study, four longitudinal data sets were used in nine secondary data analyses to test, replicate and validate a brief screening assessment for boys and girls to identify those at risk for early-onset marijuana use by ages 14-15. The combination of child externalizing problems reported by the parent (4 items: destroys things belonging to his/her family or others; disobedience at school; lying or cheating; steals outside the home) and parent smoking (1 item) proved to be the optimal screen. This was largely replicated across the four data sets. Indicators of predictive efficiency were modest in magnitude and statistically significant in 8 out of the 9 analyses. The results informed the screen's optimal threshold for identifying children at risk for early-onset marijuana use. The addition of child internalizing problems did not improve these predictions. Further analyses showed the predictive utility of the screen for several other substance use outcomes at ages 15 to 18, including alcohol and nicotine use. The results support the use of a short screening assessment to identify youth at risk for early-onset substance use in the ABCD Study and other research.

Adolescent Executive Dysfunction in Daily Life: Relationships to Risks, Brain Structure and Substance Use.

During adolescence, problems reflecting cognitive, behavioral and affective dysregulation, such as inattention and emotional dyscontrol, have been observed to be associated with substance use disorder (SUD) risks and outcomes. Prior studies have typically been with small samples, and have typically not included comprehensive measurement of executive dysfunction domains. The relationships of executive dysfunction in daily life with performance based testing of cognitive skills and structural brain characteristics, thought to be the basis for executive functioning, have not been definitively determined. The aims of this study were to determine the relationships between executive dysfunction in daily life, measured by the Behavior Rating Inventory of Executive Function (BRIEF), cognitive skills and structural brain characteristics, and SUD risks, including a global SUD risk indicator, sleep quality, and risky alcohol and cannabis use. In addition to bivariate relationships, multivariate models were tested. The subjects (n = 817; ages 12 through 21) were participants in the National Consortium on Alcohol and Neurodevelopment in Adolescence (NCANDA) study. The results indicated that executive dysfunction was significantly related to SUD risks, poor sleep quality, risky alcohol use and cannabis use, and was not significantly related to cognitive skills or structural brain characteristics. In multivariate models, the relationship between poor sleep quality and risky substance use was mediated by executive dysfunction. While these cross-sectional relationships need to be further examined in longitudinal analyses, the results suggest that poor sleep quality and executive dysfunction may be viable preventive intervention targets to reduce adolescent substance use.

Mirtazapine in comorbid major depression and an alcohol use disorder: A double-blind placebo-controlled pilot trial.

This was a first double-blind, placebo-controlled pilot study to evaluate the efficacy of the novel antidepressant medication mirtazapine for treating both the depressive symptoms and the level of alcohol consumption of subjects with comorbid major depressive disorder and an alcohol use disorder (MDD/AUD). The results of two previous studies of mirtazapine in MDD/AUD subjects had suggested efficacy for mirtazapine for decreasing their level of depressive symptoms, but level of alcohol consumption had not been assessed in those studies. All subjects in this 12-week pilot study were randomized to either mirtazapine or placebo, and also received motivational enhancement therapy. Between-group analyses involving the outcome measures of depressive symptoms, level of alcohol consumption, and level of alcohol craving indicated no significant differences between groups, possibly because of limited sample size. However, within-group t tests in the mirtazapine group showed a significant decrease in depressive symptoms by week 2, also noted at all subsequent assessments (weeks 3, 4, 6, 8, 10, and 12) during the 12-week study. In contrast, no significant decrease in depressive symptoms was noted in the placebo group until week 8. No evidence of efficacy was found for mirtazapine for decreasing level of alcohol consumption in MDD /AUD subjects.