How four brain-and-behavior systems relate to heavy drinking and alcohol problems in teens and young adults
Determining the Contributions of Four AARDoC Functional Domains to the Etiology of Heavy Drinking and AUD Symptoms: A Prospective, Multimodal Approach
This research looks at whether differences in four brain-and-behavior systems help explain why some adolescents and young adults drink heavily and develop alcohol problems.
Quick facts
| Grant type | R01 grant |
|---|---|
| Study type | NIH-funded research |
| Funding institution | University of Iowa NIH-funded |
| Lab location | 1 site (Iowa City, United States) |
| Project ID | NIH-11142523 on NIH RePORTER |
What this research studies
You would be followed over several years starting in adolescence or early adulthood to see how brain and behavioral measures predict changes in drinking. The team will enroll about 480 young people across three overlapping age groups who were pre-screened for higher risk of heavy drinking. They will collect multiple types of data — behavioral tests, neuroimaging, and other neurobehavioral indicators — and use an accelerated longitudinal design to capture developmental changes more quickly. The study aims to identify which functional-domain indicators precede or accompany increases in heavy drinking and alcohol use disorder symptoms.
Who could benefit from this research
Good fit: Ideal participants are adolescents and emerging adults (roughly ages 12–20) who are at elevated risk for heavy drinking.
Not a fit: People outside the adolescent/emerging-adult age range or those without elevated risk for heavy drinking are unlikely to directly benefit from participating.
Why it matters
Potential benefit: If successful, this work could help tailor prevention and treatment to the specific brain-and-behavior patterns that lead to heavy drinking in young people.
How similar studies have performed: Previous studies have linked these AARDoC domains to alcohol problems, but this large, prospective, multimodal design is a novel approach to map their roles over adolescence and emerging adulthood.
Where this research is happening
Iowa City, United States
- University of Iowa — Iowa City, United States (Active)
Researchers
- Principal investigator: Bartholow, Bruce D — University of Iowa
- Study coordinator: Bartholow, Bruce D
About this research
- This is an active NIH-funded research project — typically early-stage science, not a clinical trial accepting patient enrollment.
- Some NIH-funded labs run parallel clinical studies or seek volunteers for related work. To check, contact the principal investigator or institution listed above.
- For full project details, budget, and progress reports, visit the official NIH RePORTER page below.