Data is currently being collected for the core longitudinal neuoimaging studie. In preparation and alongside, multiple measures have been developed and validated to allow better translation of human-animal findings and to capture the complex role of social context in addiction risk and resilience. An olfactory alcohol cue-reactivity task and cannabis cue-reactivity task were developed that could be used in both humans and rodents while brain activity is recorded. Regarding the olfactory alcohol cue-reactivity task, our first study indicated higher alcohol odor cue-reactivity in mesolimbic areas and higher craving in adolescents compared to adults with an Alcohol Use Disorder, suggesting adolescent risk, rather than resilience. The new measures to capture the role of social context in addiction risk and resilience that were developed include the explicit Social Attunement Questionnaire (SAQ) and the Implicit Social Attunement (ISA) task. Both measures aim to capture the extent to which individuals attune their social behavior to the behavior of their peers. Social attunement is generally higher in adolescents and young adults compared to adults. In line with our social plasticity hypothesis, our first studies using the explicit SAQ indicate that higher social attunement positively related to problematic alcohol use in adolescents and negatively in adults. Moreover, social attunement predicted 2-year escalation of alcohol use in adolescents, but de-escalation in adults. However, results from the ISA indicate the relationships are more nuanced; those adolescents and young adults who attune strongest to low peer willingness to drink have lower alcohol use related problems. The project team also developed and tested a neuroimaging social alcohol cue-reactivity task (S-ACT). We recorded brain activity while low-to-high-drinking adolescents and adults viewed images of alcohol use in social and non-social settings. As hypothesized, age moderated the associations of social alcohol cue-reactivity with recent alcohol consumption, craving, and social attunement. In sum, social attunement may be a risk factor during adolescence, but a protective factor during adulthood. However, peer feedback regarding alcohol use might both act as a protective or risk factor for alcohol use depending on the social setting, warranting more studies. Social attunement in the context of cannabis use is currently being tested.
