# Consequences of Substance Use on the Development of Impulse Control

> **NIH NIH R01** · UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS HLTH SCIENCE CENTER · 2021 · $9,504

## Abstract

Project Summary/Abstract
 The parent grant is a longitudinal study designed to elucidate mechanisms driving the initiation and
progression of substance use is consistent with NIDA and NIMH's recently outlined strategic plans (NIDA,
2016; NIH CRAN, 2015; NIMH, 2015) prioritizing research on the period between adolescence and young
adulthood. Defining features of typical adolescent development are increases in sensation seeking followed by
more gradual increases in impulse control (described by the Dual Systems model). The discrepancy between
developing sensation seeking and impulse control are theorized to result in risk-taking behaviors like
substance use. In at-risk youth, these developmental processes may be further discrepant, which may be one
mechanism for increased rates and severity of substance use involvement. This renewal project has been
documenting the relationship of sensation seeking and impulse control since before substance use onset (10
to 12 years old at study entry), and this renewal will continue to assess these processes and outcomes into
young adulthood. More specifically, we continue longitudinal assessments (every 6 months) of our at-risk (due
to family history of substance use disorder) and control youth to monitor changes in substance use, impulse
control, environmental, sensation seeking, risk and resiliency factors. Outcomes are interpreted from the
perspective of the Dual Systems model, and importantly, this work will extend this model by testing: (1)
whether impulse control and sensation seeking develop independently from one another; (2) whether impulse
control and sensation seeking development has additive or interactive effects on substance use involvement;
(3) how the onset and escalation of substance use affects subsequent development of impulse control and
sensation seeking; (4) how processes identified in the Dual Systems model develop among adolescents and
young adults with family history risk; and (5) how social and environmental factors influence risk and resiliency
for substance use and are interpreted in the context of the Dual Systems model. Interpreting these findings
within the context of the Dual Systems model will help to refine and extend the key premises of this model, as
well as reveal more detail about developmental mechanisms of substance use involvement.
 As a part of this project, we offer a training opportunity for the 2021 NIDA Summer Research Internship
Program. We will provide participants in this internship program with training in (1) clinical research in
substance use; (2) assessment of substance use including advanced assessment tools using biosensors as
well as conventional paper-based assessment; (3) data entry and management; and (4) academic writing and
presentations on the topic of substance use disorder.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10400331
- **Project number:** 3R01DA026868-10S1
- **Recipient organization:** UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS HLTH SCIENCE CENTER
- **Principal Investigator:** Donald M Dougherty
- **Activity code:** R01 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2021
- **Award amount:** $9,504
- **Award type:** 3
- **Project period:** 2010-05-15 → 2023-04-30

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10400331

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10400331, Consequences of Substance Use on the Development of Impulse Control (3R01DA026868-10S1). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-22 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10400331. Licensed CC0.

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