Thesis
A multi-level, multi-domain, multi-modal neuroimaging study on the prediction of alcohol sipping patterns in children
Master of Science (M.S.), Drexel University
Nov 2024
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.17918/00010793
Abstract
Alcohol consumption tends to increase during the transition from childhood to adolescence, and risk factors at the individual, family, or environmental level, as well as altered brain structure and function have been associated with the likelihood of developing alcohol use disorder (AUD) or binge drinking later in life. Most studies have focused on limited subsets of multilevel or neuroimaging factors, typically emphasizing alcohol initiation, binge drinking, or AUD in cross-sectional designs rather than exploring longitudinal alcohol consumption trajectories. Our study addresses these gaps by examining a comprehensive set of multilevel, multidomain factors and multimodal brain imaging features to prospectively predict early alcohol sipping trajectories over time with large data from the Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development (ABCD) study (baseline N = 11,686, mean age = 9.92 years). We applied machine learning methods to baseline individual, family, and environmental factors as well as structural and functional brain connectivity features, analyzing these predictors separately and in combination. Key findings reveal that functional connectivity features and multilevel factors distinguish individuals with an increasing alcohol sipping trajectory from those who initially experimented with alcohol but reduced their consumption over time. Moreover, we found important structural and functional features that predicted those who increasingly sipped over time versus the ones who did not engage in alcohol experimentation. Stable interactions between age and cortical thickness, surface area and functional connectivity between the amygdala and executive or default networks suggest that accelerated cortical maturation could predict a pattern of increasing alcohol sipping over time. These trends could inform us how individual, family, and environmental factors together with brain imaging features impact the development of different alcohol sipping trajectories over time.
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Details
- Title
- A multi-level, multi-domain, multi-modal neuroimaging study on the prediction of alcohol sipping patterns in children
- Creators
- Ana Ferariu
- Contributors
- Fengqing Zhang (Advisor)
- Awarding Institution
- Drexel University
- Degree Awarded
- Master of Science (M.S.)
- Publisher
- Drexel University; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
- Number of pages
- 73 pages
- Resource Type
- Thesis
- Language
- English
- Academic Unit
- Psychological and Brain Sciences (Psychology); College of Arts and Sciences; Drexel University
- Other Identifier
- 991021970700704721