Jonathan Koppel

Association between attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder in adolescence and substance use disorders in adulthood

OBJECTIVES To determine whether attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) in adolescence is related to substance use disorders (SUDs) in adulthood and whether conduct disorder (CD) mediates this relationship. DESIGN A prospective design incorporating 5 assessments in participants spanning the mean ages of 14 to 37 years. Two baseline assessments were taken at ages 14 and 16 years, and 3 outcome assessments were taken between ages 27 and 37 years. SETTING United States. PARTICIPANTS A community sample of individuals initially drawn from upstate New York in 1975 and observed to a mean age of 37 years. INTERVENTIONS The Diagnostic Interview Schedule for Children was used to assess ADHD and CD and the University of Michigan Composite International Diagnostic Interview was used to assess SUDs. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE A diagnosis of SUDs given to participants in adulthood. RESULTS The odds ratios for ADHD and CD in adolescence as related to SUDs in adulthood were 1.9 and 3.5, respectively. The association between ADHD and SUDs, however, was indirect because CD served as a mediator between ADHD and SUDs. CONCLUSIONS Pediatricians should focus on adolescent ADHD when it progresses to CD because CD is a major predictor of SUDs in adulthood.

Toward a science of silence: The consequences of leaving a memory unsaid

Silence about the past permeates acts of remembering, with marked mnemonic consequences. Mnemonic silence—the absence of expressing a memory—is public in nature and is embedded within communicative acts, such as conversations. As such, silence has the potential to affect both speakers—the source of the silence—and listeners—those attending to the speaker. Although the topic of silence is widely discussed, it is rarely mentioned in the empirical literature on memory. Three factors are employed to classify silence into different types: whether a silence is accompanied by covert remembering, whether the silence is intentional or unintentional, and whether the silenced memory is related or unrelated to the memories emerging in a conversation. These factors appear to be critical when considering the mnemonic consequences. Moreover, the influence of silence on memory varies between speaker and listener. Although rarely mentioned, recent empirical research on memory clearly has a bearing on a topic of such general interest as silence.

Psychosocial factors related to cannabis use disorders

ABSTRACT The objective of this study was to explore the association between psychosocial risk and protective factors and cannabis use disorders (CUDs) in a cohort of African American and Puerto Rican young adults. A representative sample (N = 838) from the East Harlem area of New York City was assessed at 4 points in time (at mean ages 14.1, 19.2, 24.5, and 29.2). The psychosocial measures came from 6 domains: personality attributes, family, peer, work, neighborhood, and substance use. The psychosocial measures were assessed at each of the first 3 waves of the study, and CUDs were assessed at the fourth and final wave of the study. Multivariate logistic regression and a cumulative risk analysis were conducted. Increased psychological symptoms (odds ratio [OR] = 1.21; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.05–1.39; P < .01), problems resulting from cannabis use (OR = 2.69; 95% CI, 1.33–5.46; P < .01), frequent arguments with ones partner (OR = 1.84; 95% CI, 1.09–3.10; P < .05), high levels of deviance (OR = 1.81; 95% CI, 1.21–2.71; P < .01), and frequent acts of violence directed toward the participant (OR = 1.19; 95% CI, 1.01–1.42; P < .05) were all associated with an increased risk for CUDs. An increase in the number of risks was associated with an increase in the probability of having CUDs at the fourth wave (again, at a mean age of 29.2). A decrease in the number of risk factors may lead to a decrease in CUDs.

Recent Advances in Understanding the Reminiscence Bump: The Importance of Cues in Guiding Recall From Autobiographical Memory

The reminiscence bump is the increased proportion of autobiographical memories from youth and early adulthood observed in adults over 40. It is one of the most robust findings in autobiographical-memory research. Although described as a single period from which there are more memories, a recent meta-analysis that reported the beginning and ending ages of the bump from individual studies found that different classes of cues produce distinct bumps that vary in size and temporal location. The bump obtained in response to cue words is both smaller and located earlier in the life span than the bump obtained when important memories are requested. The bump obtained in response to odor cues is even earlier. This variation in the size and temporal location of the reminiscence bump argues for theories based primarily on retrieval rather than encoding and retention, which most current theories stress. Furthermore, it points to the need to develop theories of autobiographical memory that account for this flexibility in the memories retrieved.

The reminiscence bump in autobiographical memory and for public events: A comparison across different cueing methods

The reminiscence bump has been found for both autobiographical memories and memories of public events. However, there have been few comparisons of the bump across each type of event. In the current study, therefore, we compared the bump for autobiographical memories versus the bump for memories of public events. We did so between-subjects, through two cueing methods administered within-subjects, the cue word method and the important memories method. For word-cued memories, we found a similar bump from ages 5 to 19 for both types of memories. However, the bump was more pronounced for autobiographical memories. For most important memories, we found a bump from ages 20 to 29 in autobiographical memory, but little discernible age pattern for public events. Rather, specific public events (e.g., the Fall of the Berlin Wall) dominated recall, producing a chronological distribution characterised by spikes in citations according to the years these events occurred. Follow-up analyses suggested that the bump in most important autobiographical memories was a function of the cultural life script. Our findings did not yield support for any of the dominant existing accounts of the bump as underlying the bump in word-cued memories.

Trajectories of marijuana use and psychological adjustment among urban African American and Puerto Rican women

BACKGROUND The current longitudinal study examined the developmental patterns of marijuana use and their relationship with subsequent psychological adjustment in a community-based sample of urban African American and Puerto Rican women. METHOD Participants were interviewed five times over a period ranging from adolescence (mean age 14.0 years) to adulthood (mean age 32.5 years). Outcome measures included depressive symptoms, anger/hostility and the presence of a substance use disorder (abuse/dependence). RESULTS Three distinct trajectories of marijuana use were identified: non-users, increasers and quitters. Increasers reported higher levels of depressive symptoms and anger/hostility than did non-users and were more likely to meet criteria for a substance use disorder at age 32.5 years. CONCLUSIONS Our findings indicate that early-starting long-term use of marijuana is associated with psychological maladjustment among women. Prevention efforts should emphasize the long-term cost associated with marijuana use, and that the best psychological health is reported by those who abstain from the drug.

Unexpected Benefits: Pathways From Smoking Restrictions in the Home to Psychological Well-Being and Distress Among Urban Black and Puerto Rican Americans

INTRODUCTION This study examined the pathways from smoking policies in the home (no ban, partial ban, and total ban on smoking) to psychological well-being (e.g., self-esteem) and psychological symptoms (e.g., depressive symptoms) as mediated by a healthy lifestyle (engaging in exercise, eating healthful foods, and sleeping enough) and cigarette smoking among a sample of urban Black and Puerto Rican Americans. METHODS Questionnaire data were collected from 816 participants (mean age = 32 years). Structural equation modeling (SEM) was employed to examine the pathways of restrictions on smoking in the home to a healthy lifestyle, cigarette smoking, psychological well-being, and psychological distress. RESULTS The SEM showed mediational pathways linking higher levels of restrictions on smoking in the home with a healthy lifestyle, which in turn was related negatively to psychological distress and positively to psychological well-being. Higher levels of restrictions on smoking in the home were also related inversely to cigarette smoking, which was related positively to psychological distress and negatively to psychological well-being. CONCLUSIONS Findings show that higher levels of restrictions on smoking in the home are associated with a healthier lifestyle and less cigarette smoking, which in turn are associated with better psychological functioning. Greater restrictions on smoking in the home may thus support positive lifestyle choices, including exercise and nutrition, as well as psychological functioning.

The cultural life script as cognitive schema: How the life script shapes memory for fictional life stories

We tested, across three studies, the effect of the cultural life script on memory and its phenomenological properties. We focused in particular on the mnemonic effects of both schema-consistency and frequency in the life script. In addition to testing recognition (in Study 1) and recall (in Studies 2 and 3), we also collected remember/know judgements for remembered events (in Studies 1 and 2) and memory for their emotional valence (in Study 2). Our primary finding was that, across all three studies, higher-frequency events were more memorable than lower-frequency events, as measured through either recognition or recall. We also attained three additional, complementary effects: First, schema-inconsistent events received remember ratings more often than schema-consistent events (in Study 2, with a trend to this effect in Study 1); second, where an events emotional valence was inconsistent with the life script, memory for its valence was reconstructed to fit the script (in Study 2); and, third, intrusions in recall were disproportionately for life script events (in Study 3), although that was not the case in recognition (in Study 1). We conclude that the life script serves as a cognitive schema in how it shapes memory and its phenomenological properties.

Remembering President Barack Obama's inauguration and the landing of US Airways Flight 1549: A comparison of the predictors of autobiographical and event memory

We examined and compared the predictors of autobiographical memory (AM) consistency and event memory accuracy across two publicly documented yet disparate public events: the inauguration of Barack Obama as the 44th president of the United States on January 20th 2009, and the emergency landing of US Airways Flight 1549, off the coast of Manhattan, on January 15th 2009. We tracked autobiographical and event memories for both events, with assessments taking place within 2½ weeks of both events (Survey 1), and again between 3½ and 4 months after both events (Survey 2). In a series of stepwise regressions we found that the psychological variables of recalled emotional intensity and personal importance/centrality predicted AM consistency and event memory accuracy for the inauguration. Conversely, the rehearsal variables of covert rehearsal and media attention predicted, respectively, AM consistency and event memory accuracy for the plane landing. We conclude from these findings that different factors may underlie autobiographical and event memory for personally and culturally significant events (e.g., the inauguration), relative to noteworthy, yet less culturally significant, events (e.g., the plane landing).

Psychosocial predictors of nicotine dependence among women during their mid-sixties.

Although there is considerable research demonstrating the prospective association between earlier maladaptive personal attributes and later nicotine dependence, there is less work on the psychosocial mediators of this relationship. Maladaptive personal attributes appear in the form of depression, anxiety, and interpersonal sensitivity. This study was designed to assess the prospective relationship between earlier maladaptive personal attributes (mean age = 40) and later nicotine dependence ( age = 65.2) within an understudied female community sample. The participants were given self-administered questionnaires. The results supported a model by which earlier maladaptive personal attributes predicted later nicotine dependence through several indirect pathways. In addition to cigarette smoking, several domains mediated the relation of earlier maladaptive personal attributes and later nicotine dependence. These domains included internal factors (ie, later maladaptive personal attributes), interpersonal factors (ie, marital/partner conflict), later contextual factors (ie, family financial difficulty). Our multidimensional longitudinal findings have important implications for the prevention and treatment of nicotine dependence. The results identify earlier and later significant psychosocial risk factors to be targeted, and suggest the timing of interventions to reduce or eliminate nicotine dependence.