Substance dependence, family history of alcohol dependence and neuropsychological functioning in adolescence

Aims. It was hypothesized that adolescent substance dependence moderates th e relationship between family history of alcohol dependence and neuropsycho logical functioning. Design. This study compared the neuropgrcholagical fun ctioning of nonabusing and alcohol and drug-dependent adolescents with and without a family history of alcohol dependence using hierarchical multiple regressions and general factorial analyses. Setting. Substance-dependent ad olescents were recruited and rested in inpatient alcohol and drug abuse tre atment programs after 3 weeks of abstinence. A matched sample of non-abusin g adolescents was recruited from the same San Diego-area communities. Parti cipants. Substance-dependent adolescents (n = 101) met DSM-III-R criteria f or dependence on alcohol and at least one other substance. Non-abusing adol escents (n = 50) had no substance use disorders. Groups were comparable on socio-economic status. Participants were 44% female, ages 13-18, and had no serious head injuries or neurological disorders. Measurements. Information was gathered on demographics, family history, substance involvement, and c onduct disorder behaviors and adolescents were administered neuropsychologi cal tests covering language, visuospatial, verbal memory, attention and exe cutive functioning domains. Findings. The hypothesis was supported for lang uage and attention tests. Substance involvement interacted with family hist ory of alcohol dependence to predict language and attention functioning. Fa mily history negative non-abusers performed better than the other adolescen ts. Conclusions. The pattern of results suggests that family history of alc ohol dependence and adolescent substance use are separate risk factors for poorer neuropsychological performance in youth.