Marijuana Approach Bias Retraining and Neural Response in Youth



Status:Completed
Healthy:No
Age Range:16 - 21
Updated:9/30/2018
Start Date:November 2015
End Date:October 2017

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This study aims to determine if a marijuana (MJ) Approach Avoidance Task (AAT) intervention
reduces cannabis use compared to a control condition containing no active components of AAT.
Adolescent heavy MJ users (N=40, ages 16-21) will be randomly assigned to MJ-AAT (n=20) or
control condition (MJ-Sham, n=20) for three weeks. The MJ-AAT includes six sessions designed
to reduce action tendencies to approach marijuana. The MJ-Sham includes six MJ-AAT-sham
conditions. Substance use and cognitive assessment will identify changes in MJ use patterns
and mechanisms of treatment outcomes. Additionally, using an functional magnetic resonance
imaging marijuana cue reactivity task, we will determine differences in neural response in
reward regions before and after 3 weeks of either AAT or sham treatment.


Inclusion Criteria:

- between age 16 and 21

- having >50 lifetime marijuana use episodes and a pattern of at least weekly marijuana
use for the past year (>1+/week for 52 weeks) at study entry.

Exclusion Criteria:

- not having a parent to consent (for those under age 18)

- prenatal alcohol (>2 drinks on an occasion or >4 drinks in a week) or any tobacco or
illicit drug exposure

- premature birth (<34 weeks gestation), birth weight <5 lbs, or other gestational or
perinatal complications

- history of a serious medical or neurological problems that could affect blood oxygen
level dependent (BOLD) response, brain development, or study participation, including
diabetes and recurrent migraine

- current severe Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-5) major
Axis I psychiatric disorder (i.e., exclude participants with bipolar disorder,
psychotic disorder)

- use of any illicit substance (e.g., cocaine, methamphetamines) other than alcohol or
marijuana > 100 times

- history of major neurological disorder or head trauma (with loss of consciousness >10
minutes)

- history of learning disability, pervasive developmental disorder, or other condition
requiring special education

- current use of medications that affect cerebral blood flow

- non-correctable visual or hearing problems

- non-fluent in English

- MRI contraindications (e.g., braces, claustrophobia, irremovable metal implants or
piercings)

- pregnant on day of scan

- intake of psychoactive medication as tested by urine drug screen.
We found this trial at
1
site
171 Ashley Avenue
Charleston, South Carolina 29425
843-792-1414
Principal Investigator: Lindsay M Squeglia, PhD
Phone: 842-792-5451
Medical University of South Carolina The Medical University of South Carolina (MUSC) has grown from...
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from
Charleston, SC
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