Papers by Michael Vanyukov
The Journal of Pediatrics, Oct 1, 2020
Objective.-t To evaluate the accuracy of detecting 16 year old male (N=465) and female (N=162) yo... more Objective.-t To evaluate the accuracy of detecting 16 year old male (N=465) and female (N=162) youths who subsequently manifest opioid use disorder (OUD) at 25 years of age. We hypothesized that the combined measures of two components of etiology, heritable risk and substance use, accurately detect youths who develop OUD. Study design.-Heritable risk was measured by the transmissible liability index (TLI). Severity of the prodrome presaging OUD was quantified by the revised Drug Use Screening Inventory (DUSI-R) containing the consumption frequency index (CFI) documenting substance use events during the past month and the overall problem density (OPD) score indicating co-occurring biopsychosocial problems. Diagnosis of OUD was formulated by a clinical committee based on results of the Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-IV in conjunction with medical and social history records. Results.-Bivariate analysis shows that the TLI, CFI, and OPD scores at 16 years of age predict OUD at 25 years. Multivariate modeling indicates that the TLI combined with the CFI predict OUD with 86% accuracy (sensitivity = 87%; specificity = 62%). The TLI and CFI at 16 years of age mediate the association between parental substance use disorder and OUD in offspring at 25 years of age, indicating that these measures respectively evaluate risk and prodrome. Conclusion.-These results demonstrate the feasibility of identifying youths requiring intervention to prevent OUD.
Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Oct 1, 2017
14.8 days, respectively). COM patients had twice the mean number of SUD diagnoses (mean ¼ 2.14) c... more 14.8 days, respectively). COM patients had twice the mean number of SUD diagnoses (mean ¼ 2.14) compared to referred students (mean ¼ 0.90). Cannabis and alcohol use disorders were most common. The mean number of co-occurring psychiatric disorders was similar in both settings (COM ¼ 1.97, SB ¼ 1.45), with ADHD, MDD, and GAD most common. SB youth showed a greater reduction in the change in 28-day substance use (mean ¼-13 days; Cohen's d ¼ 1.22) compared to COM patients (-3.2 days; Cohen's d ¼ 0.28). A greater proportion of COM youth achieved abstinence (58.9%) and at least one month of sustained abstinence (38.7%) by the end of treatment compared to those who received a briefer eightweek version (42.3% and 23.5%, respectively). Overall 50 percent of COM patients with MDD, 76 percent of patients with GAD, and 64 percent of patients with ADHD achieved remission of these disorders by the end of treatment. Conclusions: To our knowledge Encompass is among the first evidencebased interventions that fully integrates the treatment of SUD and common co-occurring psychiatric disorders in adolescents. Encompass can be feasibly implemented in community-and school-based settings and produces significant reductions in substance use and in symptoms of co-occurring MDD, GAD, and ADHD.
Development and Psychopathology, May 24, 2017
The critical term credible interval was mistakenly changed editorially to confidence interval in ... more The critical term credible interval was mistakenly changed editorially to confidence interval in the footnote to Table 4. The entire corrected table and page are reprinted herein. We sincerely regret this error and any problems or misunderstandings it may have caused.
Behavior Genetics, Aug 2, 2009
On p. 241, left column, line 3 from the top, it should read ''higher'' (onset age) instead of ''l... more On p. 241, left column, line 3 from the top, it should read ''higher'' (onset age) instead of ''lower''. Corrected text should read …. the disorder is more likely to have already developed in individuals with higher liability, whereas those with lower liability (one of the manifestations of which is a higher onset age) have not yet realized their risk.
Journal of Addiction Medicine, Nov 1, 2015
Objective-This longitudinal investigation examined the hypothesis that subjective experience duri... more Objective-This longitudinal investigation examined the hypothesis that subjective experience during consumption of preferred drugs mediates the association of transmissible risk for substance use disorder (SUD) measured in childhood and adolescence and SUD diagnosis in adulthood. Transmissible risk denotes the psychological characteristics having intergenerational continuity between parents and their biological children. Methods-The transmissible liability index (TLI) was administered to 483 10-12 year old boys (baseline). Follow-up evaluations were conducted when the boys attained 12-14, 16, 19 and 22 years of age using age-specific versions of the TLI. Frequency of consumption of the participant's three most preferred drugs, affect on an ordinary day, affect while under influence of the preferred substances and presence/absence of current SUD were assessed at 22 years of age. Results-Consumption frequency of preferred drugs among boys mediates the association of transmissible risk during childhood and adolescence and SUD diagnosis in adulthood. Severity of negative affect on a drug-free day predicts frequency of consumption of preferred drugs which, in turn, predicts severity of negative affect during the drug use event. Neither affect on a drug-free day nor affect during the drug use event mediates the association of transmissible risk and SUD. Conclusions-Affect on drug-free days, and while under influence of preferred substances covary with consumption frequency; however, affect is not related to transmissible SUD risk or SUD outcome.
Drug and Alcohol Dependence, 2013
Background-Research has shown involvement of hormones of the hypothalamic pituitary adrenal (HPA)... more Background-Research has shown involvement of hormones of the hypothalamic pituitary adrenal (HPA) axis and hypothalamic pituitary gonadal (HPG) axis in the regulation of behaviors that also contribute to SUD risk and its intergenerational transmission. Neighborhood environment has also been shown to relate to hormones of these two neuroendocrine systems and behaviors associated with SUD liability. Accordingly, it was hypothesized that 1) parental SUD severity and neighborhood quality correlate with activity of the HPG axis (testosterone level) and HPA axis (cortisol stability), and 2) transmissible risk during childhood mediates these hormone variables on development of SUD measured in adulthood. Method-Transmissible risk for SUD measured by the Transmissible Liability Index (TLI; Vanyukov et al., 2009) along with saliva cortisol and plasma testosterone were prospectively measured in boys at ages 10-12 and 16. Neighborhood quality was measured using a composite score encompassing indicators of residential instability and economic disadvantage. SUD was assessed at age 22. Results-Neither hormone variable cross-sectionally correlated with transmissible risk measured at ages 10-12 and 16. However, the TLI at age 10-12 predicted testosterone level and cortisol stability at age 16. Moreover, testosterone level, correlated with cortisol stability at age 16, predicted SUD at age 22.
Behavior Genetics, Dec 11, 2014
Transmissible Liability Index (TLI), developed employing a high-risk design and item response the... more Transmissible Liability Index (TLI), developed employing a high-risk design and item response theory, enables quantification of the latent trait of liability to drug use disorders (DUD) in children. TLI has been shown to have high heritability and predict DUD in young adulthood. This study extends prior research and determines the genetic contribution of DUD liability measured by TLI to adult liability as indexed by DUD diagnosis. The study utilizes data from a twin sample tracked from age 11 to age 25. In addition to confirming TLI's high heritability and predictive validity, it shows that the genetic component of variance in TLI assessed in childhood accounts for over half of the genetic variance in DUD diagnosis and the entire phenotypic relationship between the two liability measures. This validates TLI as an early measure of DUD liability and supports its utility in early-age genetic and other mechanistic studies of DUD.
Biological Psychiatry, 2009
Background-The role of testosterone in the development of behaviors presaging cannabis use and su... more Background-The role of testosterone in the development of behaviors presaging cannabis use and subsequently cannabis use disorder was investigated in a prospective study of 208 boys. It was theorized that adverse neighborhood correlates with testosterone level that in turn potentiates behaviors predisposing to cannabis consumption and subsequently diagnosis of cannabis use disorder. Methods-Proportion of boarded-up dwellings in the 1990 census tract and testosterone level were recorded at baseline (age 10-12), followed by assessments of assaultiveness and testosterone level (age 12-14), social dominance/norm-violating behavior (age 16), cannabis use (age 19), and cannabis use disorder (age 22). Results-Percent of vacant dwellings correlates with testosterone level that in turn predicts assaultive behavior sequentially leading to social dominance/norm-violating behavior, cannabis use, and cannabis use disorder. Externalizing behaviors and cannabis use disorder are not directly predicted by neighborhood quality. Conclusion-Elevated testosterone level intermediates the association between neighborhood adversity and aggressive socially deviant behaviors presaging cannabis use and cannabis use disorder.
Clinical Psychology Review, Sep 1, 2002
American Journal of Drug and Alcohol Abuse, May 1, 2013
Background-Knowledge of where substance use and other such behavioral problems frequently occur h... more Background-Knowledge of where substance use and other such behavioral problems frequently occur has aided policing, public health, and urban planning strategies to reduce such behaviors. Identifying locales characterized by high childhood neurobehavioral disinhibition (ND), a strong predictor of substance use and consequent disorder (SUD), may likewise improve prevention efforts. Objectives-The distribution of ND in 10-12-year olds was mapped to metropolitan Pittsburgh, PA, and tested for clustering within locales. Methods-The 738 participating families represented the population in terms of economic status, race, and population distribution. ND was measured using indicators of executive cognitive function, emotion regulation, and behavior control. Innovative geospatial analyzes statistically tested clustering of ND within locales while accounting for geographic barriers (large rivers, major highways), parental SUD severity, and neighborhood quality. Results-Clustering of youth with high and low ND occurred in specific locales. Accounting for geographic barriers better delineated where high ND is concentrated, areas which also tended to be characterized by greater parental SUD severity and poorer neighborhood quality. Conclusions and Significance-Offering programs that have been demonstrated to improve inhibitory control in locales where youth have high ND on average may reduce youth risk for SUD and other problem behaviors. As demonstrated by the present results, geospatial analysis of youth risk factors, frequently used in community coalition strategies, may be improved with greater statistical and measurement rigor.
Drug and Alcohol Dependence, 2020
This is a PDF file of an article that has undergone enhancements after acceptance, such as the ad... more This is a PDF file of an article that has undergone enhancements after acceptance, such as the addition of a cover page and metadata, and formatting for readability, but it is not yet the definitive version of record. This version will undergo additional copyediting, typesetting and review before it is published in its final form, but we are providing this version to give early visibility of the article. Please note that, during the production process, errors may be discovered which could affect the content, and all legal disclaimers that apply to the journal pertain.
Drug and Alcohol Dependence, Jun 1, 2012
Background-Employed as a quantitative measure of substance use disorder (SUD) risk, the transmiss... more Background-Employed as a quantitative measure of substance use disorder (SUD) risk, the transmissible liability index (TLI) can be useful for detecting youths requiring prevention intervention. This study was conducted to develop and evaluate a computer adaptive test (CAT) version of the TLI to identifying individuals at risk for SUD. Methods-In the first sample (N=425) of male and female subjects were recruited under aegis of the Center for Education and Drug Abuse Research in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, having a mean age of 18.8 years. A provisional CAT version of the TLI was assessed using simulation procedures. In sample 2, twins were recruited at the 2010 Twinsburg Festival in Twinsburg, Ohio. The CAT and paper and pencil (P&P) versions of the TLI were administered to 276 twin pairs having a mean age of 19.94 years. Results-The simulated CAT version of the TLI predicted cannabis use disorder two years after initial study with 4% less accuracy (72% vs. 68%) than P&P version but with 78% reduction of items. In the twin sample, the CAT version predicted alcohol and drug use (OR=1.7 [2.1], p<.001) with 64% and 65% accuracy (sensitivity=75% [75%] and specificity =64% [65%]). Conclusions-This study demonstrated that the CAT version of the TLI is an accurate and efficient measure of risk for SUD. The CAT version of the TLI potentially affords the opportunity for efficient screening of risk so that timely interventions can be implemented to prevent occurrence of SUDs having frequently lifelong consequences.
Addiction, May 3, 2011
Aims-This study examined the contribution of transmissible risk, in conjunction with family and p... more Aims-This study examined the contribution of transmissible risk, in conjunction with family and peer contextual factors during childhood and adolescence, on development of cannabis use disorder in adulthood. Design-The family high risk design was used to recruit proband fathers with and without substance use disorder and longitudinally track their sons from late childhood to adulthood. Setting-The families were recruited under aegis of the Center for Education and Drug Abuse Research in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Participants-The oldest son in the family was studied at ages 10-12, 16, 19, and 22. Measurements-The transmissible liability index (TLI) (Vanyukov et al., 2009) along with measures of quality of parent child relationship, cooperative behavior at home, social attitudes, and peer milieu were administered to model the developmental pathway to cannabis use disorder. Findings-Affiliation with socially deviant peers and harboring non-normative attitudes (age 16) mediate the association between transmissible risk for SUD (age 10-12) and use of illegal drugs (age 19) leading to cannabis use disorder (age 22). Conclusions-Deviant socialization resulting from transmissible risk and poor parent-child relationship is integral to development of cannabis use disorder in young adulthood.
Drug and Alcohol Dependence, Dec 1, 2011
Objective-Toward meeting the need for a measure of individual differences in substance use disord... more Objective-Toward meeting the need for a measure of individual differences in substance use disorder (SUD) liability that is grounded in the multifactorial model of SUD transmission, this investigation tested to what degree transmissible SUD risk is better measured using the continuous Transmissible Liability Index (TLI) (young adult version) compared to alternative contemporary clinical methods. Method-Data from 9,535 18-to 30-year-olds in the 2001-2002 National Epidemiologic Survey on Alcohol and Related Conditions, a U.S. representative sample, were used to compute TLI scores and test hypotheses. Other variables were SUDs of each DSM-IV drug class, clinical predictors of SUD treatment outcomes, treatment seeking and usage, age of onset of SUDs and substance use (SU), and eligibility for SUD clinical trials. Results-TLI scores account for variation in SUD risk over and above parental lifetime SUD, conduct and antisocial personality disorder criteria and frequency of SU. SUD risk increases twoto four-fold per standard deviation increment in TLI scores. The TLI is associated with SUD treatment seeking and usage, younger age of onset of SU and SUD, and exclusion from traditional clinical trials of SUD treatment. Conclusions-The TLI can identify persons with high versus low transmissible SUD risk, worse prognosis of SUD recovery and to whom extant SUD clinical trials results may not generalize. Recreating TLI scores in extant datasets facilitates etiology and applied research on the full range of transmissible SUD risk in development, treatment and recovery without obtaining new samples.
Drug and Alcohol Dependence, Jun 1, 2012
Background-This study was conducted to test whether non-normative socialization mediates the asso... more Background-This study was conducted to test whether non-normative socialization mediates the association between transmissible risk measured in childhood and cannabis use disorder manifested by young adulthood, and whether the sequence of drug use initiation ("gateway", i.e., consuming legal drugs before cannabis, or the reverse) increases accuracy of prediction of cannabis use disorder. Methods-Sons of fathers with or without substance use disorders (SUD) related to illicit drugs were tracked from 10-12 to 22 years of age to model the association between transmissible risk for SUD, socialization (peer deviance), order of drug use initiation ("gateway" or reverse sequence), and development of cannabis use disorder. Path analysis was used to evaluate relationships among the variables. Results-Non-normative socialization mediates the association between transmissible risk measured during childhood and cannabis use disorder manifest by young adulthood. The sequence of drug use initiation did not contribute additional explanatory information to the model. Conclusions-The order of drug use initiation does not play a substantial role in the etiology of cannabis use disorder.
American Journal of Psychiatry, Dec 1, 2006
Neuroscience & Biobehavioral Reviews, Oct 1, 2003
Variation in the risk for and severity of substance use disorders (SUD) in the population is caus... more Variation in the risk for and severity of substance use disorders (SUD) in the population is caused by multiple organismic (genetic, biochemical, psychological) and environmental factors. Whereas drug- or drug-class-specific liability mechanisms exist, a substantial proportion of variance in the risk is shared between specific liabilities, reflecting mechanisms that determine common liability to SUD. Data from epidemiologic, clinical, psychological, physiological, biochemical, and family and genetic studies reviewed in this paper indicate the existence of mechanisms and characteristics shared in common by liabilities to SUD related to different drugs. These mechanisms can be conceptualized as common liability to SUD, a latent trait accounting for a substantial portion of variation in SUD risk and severity and determined by all factors influencing the probability of SUD development. An accompanying paper describes an approach to the quantitative estimation of this trait.
Psychology of Addictive Behaviors, 2002
This study examined the psychometric characteristics of an index of substance use involvement usi... more This study examined the psychometric characteristics of an index of substance use involvement using item response theory. The sample consisted of 292 men and 140 women who qualified for a Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (3rd ed., rev.; American Psychiatric Association, 1987) substance use disorder (SUD) diagnosis and 293 men and 445 women who did not qualify for a SUD diagnosis. The results indicated that men had a higher probability of endorsing substance use compared with women. The index significantly predicted health, psychiatric, and psychosocial disturbances as well as level of substance use behavior and severity of SUD after a 2-year follow-up. Finally, this index is a reliable and useful prognostic indicator of the risk for SUD and the medical and psychosocial sequelae of drug consumption.
Addictive Behaviors, Mar 1, 2015
Background-Psychological items discriminating children of fathers diagnosed with an illicit drug-... more Background-Psychological items discriminating children of fathers diagnosed with an illicit drug-related substance use disorder and normal controls are indicators of a unidimensional construct termed transmissible liability index (TLI) (Vanyukov et al., 2009). TLI is a highly heritable (
American Journal of Drug and Alcohol Abuse, 2008
Previous research has shown that a trait termed neurobehavior disinhibition (ND) measured in chil... more Previous research has shown that a trait termed neurobehavior disinhibition (ND) measured in childhood predicts substance use disorder by young adulthood. The present investigation extends these findings by determining the degree to which peer environment mediates the association between ND and development of cannabis use disorder (CUD). ND was measured in a sample of 216 boys 10-12 years of age. The peer environment was assessed at age 16. Current CUD was determined at age 22. Paternal and maternal SUD predicted son&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;#39;s ND which, in turn, predicted son&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;#39;s peer environment and, subsequently, son&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;#39;s cannabis use frequency and CUD. Peer environment mediated the association between ND and cannabis use and ND and CUD. Maternal and paternal SUD predicted the peer environment. Parental SUD, son&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;#39;s ND, and son&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;#39;s peer environment predicted CUD at age 22 with 84% accuracy.
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Papers by Michael Vanyukov