Recent studies have suggested that certain aspects of cognitive impairment are present in adolescent substance abusers, and that these impairments vary with the type of substance abused. Cognitive impulsivity has been reported to be associated with abuse of multiple substances and other aspects of delinquent behavior. In addition, personality characteristics measured with psychological tests, including impulsivity, identify both adult and adolescent substance abusers. In the present study, the overlap between personality and neurocognitive measures was examined in a sample of 182 adolescent psychiatric inpatients, half of whom were substance abusers and the others matched comparison participants with no history of substance abuse. It was found that both cognitive tests and observer-rated measures (i.e., the Psychopathy Checklist) sensitive to impulsivity were specifically related to abuse of multiple substances. Aspects of inattention and depression, but not measures of psychopathic tendencies, were correlated with single substance alcohol abuse. These data suggest that adolescent patients who abuse alcohol alone versus those who abuse alcohol in addition to other drugs are considerably different and that both personality characteristics and neurocognitive functions may contribute to the differences between them.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
References
1.
Alterman, A. I.
, Petrarulo, E., Tarter, R. E., & McGowan, J. R. (1982). Hyperactivity and alcoholism: Familial and behavioral correlates. Addictive Behaviors, 7, 413-421.
2.
American Psychiatric Association
. (1980). Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders (3rd ed.). Washington, DC: Author.
3.
American Psychiatric Association
. (1987). Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders (3rd ed., rev.). Washington, DC: Author.
4.
American Psychiatric Association
. (1994). Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders (4th ed.). Washington, DC: Author.
5.
Barratt, E. S.
, & Patton, J. H. (1983). Impulsivity: Cognitive, behavioral, and psychophysiological correlates. In M. Zuckerman (Ed.), The biological bases of sensation seeking impulsivity, and anxiety (pp. 77-116). Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum.
6.
Beck, A. T.
, Ward, C. H., Mendelson, M., Mock, J., & Erbaugh, J. (1961). An inventory for measuring depression. Archives of General Psychiatry, 4, 561-571.
7.
Cleckley, H. C.
(1976). The mask of sanity (5th ed.). St. Louis, MO: Mosby.
8.
Cornblatt, B. A.
, & Erlenmeyer-Kimling, L. (1985). Global attentional deviance as a marker of risk for schizophrenia: Specificity and predictive validity. Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 94, 470-486.
9.
Delis, D. C.
, Kramer, J. H., Kaplan, E., & Ober, B. A. (1987). Manual for the California Verbal Learning Test-Research Edition. New York: The Psychological Corporation.
10.
DeObaldia, R.
, & Parsons, O. A. (1984). Relationship of neuropsychological performance to primary alcoholism and self-reported symptoms of childhood minimal brain dysfunction. Journal of Studies on Alcohol, 45, 386-392.
11.
Eysenck, H. J.
(1977). Crime and personality (3rd ed.). London: Paul.
12.
Fabian, M. S.
, & Parsons, O. A. (1983). Differential improvements in cognitive functions in recovering alcoholic women. Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 92, 81-95.
13.
Glosser, G.
, Goodglass, H., & Biber, C. (1989). Assessing visual memory disorders. Psychological Assessment, l(October), 82-91.
14.
Goldman, M. S.
(1983) Cognitive impairment in recovering alcoholics. American Psychologist, 38, 1045-1054.
15.
Goldman-Rakic, P. S.
, & Friedman H. R. (1991) The circuitry of working memory revealed by anatomy and metabolic imaging. In H. S. Levin, H. M. Eisenberg, & A. L. Benton (Eds.), Frontal Lobe Function and Dysfunction. New York: Oxford University Press.
16.
Grant, I.
(1987). Alcoholism and the brain: Neuropsychological correlates. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 55, 310-324.
17.
Grant, I.
, Adams, K. M., & Reed, R. (1986). Intermediate-duration (sub acute) organic mental disorder of alcoholism. In I. Grant (Ed.), Neuropsychiatric correlates of alcoholism (pp. 38-60). Washington DC: American Psychiatric Press.
18.
Halperin, J. M.
, Wolf, L. E., Pasculvaca, D. M., Newcorn, J. H., Healy, J. M., O'Brien, J. D., Morganstern, A., & Young, J. G. (1988). Differential assessment of attention and impulsivity in children. Journal of the Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, 27, 326-329.
19.
Hare, R. D.
(1991) Manual for the Hare Psychopathy Checklist-Revised. North Tonawanda, NY: Multi-Health Systems.
20.
Heaton, R. K.
, Chelune, G. J., Talley, J. L., Kay, G. C., & Curtiss, G. (1993). Wisconsin Card Sorting Test (WCST) manual: Revised and expanded. Odessa, FL: Psychological Assessment Resources.
21.
Hechtman, L.
, & Weiss, G. (1986). Controlled prospective 15-year followup of hyperactives as adults: Nonmedical drug and alcohol abuse and antisocial behavior. Canadian Journal of Psychiatry, 31, 557-567.
22.
Hechtman, L.
, Weiss, G., & Perlman, T. (1984). Hyper-actives as young adults: Past and current substance abuse and antisocial behavior. American Journal of Orthopsychiatry, 54, 415-425.
23.
Horton, A. M.
, Fiscella, R. A., O'Connor, K., Jackson, M., & Stone, D. G. (1987). Revised criteria for detecting alcoholic patients with Attention-Deficit Disorder, residual type. Journal of Nervous and Mental Disease, 175, 371-372.
24.
Loberg, T.
(1986) Neuropsychological findings in the early and middle phases of alcoholism. In I. Grant & K. Adams (Eds.), Neuropsychological Assessment of Neuropsychiatric Disorders (pp.415-440). New York: Oxford University Press.
25.
Moffitt, T. E.
(1993). The neuropsychology of conduct disorder. Development and Psychopathology, 5, 135-151.
26.
Newcom, J. H.
, Halperin, J. M., & Healy, J. M. (1989). Are ADH and ADHD the same or different? Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, 28, 734-738.
27.
Nuechterlein, K. H.
, Dawson, M. E, Ventura, J., Miklowitz, D. & Konishi, G. (1991). Information processing anomalies in the early course of schizophrenia and bipolar disorder. Schizophrenia Research, 5, 195-196.
28.
Nuechterlein, K. H.
, Edell, W. S., Norris, M., & Dawson, M. E. (1986). Attentional vulnerability indicators, thought disorder, and negative symptoms. Schizophrenia Bulletin, 12, 408-426.
29.
Parker, E. S.
(1982). Comments on "Cognitive functioning in men social drinkers: A replication study."Journal of Studies on Alcoholism, 43, 170-177.
30.
Parsons, O. A.
, & Fabian, M. S. (1982). Comments on "Cognitive functioning in men social drinkers: A replication study."Journal of Studies on Alcoholism, 43, 178-182.
31.
Pogge, D. L.
, Stokes, J., & Harvey, P. D. (1992). Psychometric versus attentional correlates of early onset alcohol and substance use. Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology, 20, 151-162.
32.
Ryan, C.
, & Butters, N. (1980). Further evidence for the continuum of impairment encompassing male alcoholic Korsakoff patients and chronic alcoholic men. Alcoholism: Clinical and Experimental Research, 4, 190-198.
33.
Salmon, D. P.
, Butters, N., & Heindell, W. C. (1993). Alcoholic dementia and related disorders. In R. W. Parks, R. F. Zec, & R. W. Wilson (Eds.), Neuropsychology of Alzheimer's disease and other dementias (pp.186-209). New York: Oxford University Press.
34.
Sax, K. W.
, Strakowski, S. M., McElroy, S. L., Keck, P. E., & West, S. A. (1995). Attention and formal thought disorder in pure and mixed mania. Biological Psychiatry, 37, 420-423.
35.
Spitzer, R. L.
, Williams, J. B., Gibbon, M., & First, M. B. (1990). Structured clinical interview for DSM-III-R (SCID). Washington, DC: American Psychiatric Press.
36.
Stuss, D. T.
, Stethem, L. L., & Pelchat, G. (1988). Three tests of attention and rapid information processing: An extension. Clinical Neuropsychologist, 2, 246-250.
37.
Tarter, R. E.
(1976). Neuropsychological investigations of alcoholism. In G. Goldstein & C. Neuringer (Eds.), Empirical studies of alcoholism (pp. 231-256). Cambridge, MA: Ballinger.
38.
Tarter, R. E.
(1982). Psychosocial history, minimal brain dysfunction, and differential drinking patterns in male alcoholics. Journal of Clinical Psychology, 38, 867-873.
39.
Weinberger, D. R.
(1993). A connectionist approach to the prefrontal cortex. Journal of Neuropsychiatry and Clinical Neuroscience, 5, 241-253.
40.
White, J. L.
, Moffitt, T. E., Caspi, A., Bartusch, D. J., Needles, D. J., & Stouthamer-Loever, M. (1994). Measuring impulsivity and examining its relationship to delinquency. Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 103, 192-205.
41.
Winters, K. C.
, Stone, A. A., Weintraub, S., & Neale, J. M. (1981). Cognitive and attentional deficits in children vulnerable to psychopathology. Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology, 9, 435-453.
42.
Wood, D.
, Wender, P. E., & Reimherr, F. W. (1983). The prevalence of Attention Deficit Disorder, residual type or minimal brain dysfunction in a population of male alcoholic patients. American Journal of Psychiatry, 140, 95-98.
