# Sensitivity to Cannabis Effects and Cue Reactivity as Markers of a Developing Disorder in Adolescents

> **NIH NIH R01** · BROWN UNIVERSITY · 2024 · $657,703

## Abstract

PROJECT SUMMARY
Cannabis use disorder (CUD) is a significant public health concern with origins in adolescence. Cannabis use
escalates during the teenage years, and early cannabis use predicts the development of later problems. Leading
etiological theories suggest that repeated cannabis use as the brain develops produces changes in reward
systems. Over time, these instrumental brain changes alter cannabis effects and increase the incentive salience
of cannabis cues, ultimately conferring risk for CUD. This longitudinal study pairs ecological momentary
assessment (EMA) in the natural environment and a gold-standard human laboratory (HLAB) paradigm to
monitor changes in subjective cannabis effects, cue reactivity, and CUD symptoms across the formative
adolescent years. Leveraging smartphone (EMA) reports in natural settings allows for studying adolescents’
reactions to the typically higher potency THC products and varied formulations (e.g., oils, edibles) favored by
teenagers. The use of an accelerated longitudinal design allows for charting development from ages 13 to 19
through multicohort assessments completed in a shorter timeframe. We aim to recruit 224 adolescents (ages 13
to 16 at study outset, n = 56 per age cohort) who endorse cannabis use in the past month. Adolescents will
complete a baseline HLAB protocol with follow-ups at 1, 2, and 3 years. Each yearly assessment point will also
include a 28-day measurement burst of EMA in daily life. Multiple domain latent growth curve modeling will: (Aim
1) characterize age-related changes in sensitivity to rewarding cannabis effects over adolescence (ages 13 to
19); (Aim 2) test prospective relations of CUD symptom progression with change in sensitivity to rewarding
cannabis effects; and (Aim 3) test prospective relations of CUD progression with responses to cannabis cues in
the natural environment and HLAB. The proposed longitudinal study extends the investigative team’s prior
research showing cross-sectional associations of CUD severity with subjective cannabis effects and cue
reactivity among adolescents. Our proposal is highly innovative, as well-studied etiological CUD constructs are
assessed across adolescence in real-world and laboratory settings using well-operationalized, multidimensional
assessments. Further, disaggregating individual differences in change from overall age trends through an
accelerated longitudinal design is a sensitive approach that is distinctively innovative. Our proposal addresses a
key priority identified by the NIDA Epidemiology Research Branch by efficiently combining the advantages of
longitudinal research with behavioral and laboratory-based measures to inform understanding of CUD etiology
(NOT-DA-19-066). This proposal will support efforts to prevent the progression of an incubating or emerging
CUD by enhancing scientific understanding of the trajectory to more severe harms. Providing new empirical
evidence of malleable processes that can serve as targets of pre...

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10839924
- **Project number:** 5R01DA055600-02
- **Recipient organization:** BROWN UNIVERSITY
- **Principal Investigator:** Hayley Treloar Padovano
- **Activity code:** R01 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2024
- **Award amount:** $657,703
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2023-05-15 → 2028-02-28

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10839924

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10839924, Sensitivity to Cannabis Effects and Cue Reactivity as Markers of a Developing Disorder in Adolescents (5R01DA055600-02). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-25 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10839924. Licensed CC0.

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