Georgiades Anastasia, Godwin Jennifer, Andrade Fernanda C, Copeland William E, Davisson Erin K, Kuhn Cynthia M, Burnell Kaitlyn, Hoyle Rick H
Department of Psychology and Neuroscience, Duke University, Durham, NC, USA.
Center for Child and Family Policy, Duke University, Box 90545, Durham, NC 27708-0545, USA.
Subst Use Misuse. 2025;60(2):244-256. doi: 10.1080/10826084.2024.2423366. Epub 2024 Nov 11.
Understanding factors associated with early onset of substance use is critical as using alcohol or drugs at a young age is a strong predictor of later substance dependency. Experiencing stressful life events is associated with increased risk for early substance use in youth. Hair cortisol concentration (HCC) is considered a biomarker of psychological stress experienced over longer periods of time. We examined whether HCC could predict early substance use engagement in youth followed over 5 years.
Participants were 395 young adolescents (50% female, age range 10-15 years, = 12.3, = 1.1 at baseline). Demographic data, socioeconomic factors, and substance use habits were collected at four waves between 2015 and 2021. HCC was assayed from hair collected at a home visit between Wave 1 and Wave 2. Analytic models tested HCC in relation to latent class membership of substance use and whether HCC moderated the relation between self-reports of stress and substance use.
HCC did not add to the prediction of early substance use engagement in any of the models, while self-reports of stressful life events and everyday discrimination predicted early substance use engagement in the models comparing 'Early' vs 'Late/No' substance use class membership.
We found no evidence of HCC to be associated with early substance use engagement in youth. Nevertheless, our results do confirm that self-reports of stressful everyday life experiences predict earlier substance use engagement, underscoring the role of psychosocial stressors as significant predictors of substance use engagement in youth.
了解与物质使用早期开始相关的因素至关重要，因为年轻时饮酒或吸毒是日后物质依赖的有力预测指标。经历压力性生活事件与青少年早期物质使用风险增加有关。头发皮质醇浓度（HCC）被认为是较长时间段内所经历心理压力的生物标志物。我们研究了HCC是否能预测随访5年的青少年的早期物质使用情况。
参与者为395名青少年（50%为女性，年龄范围10 - 15岁，基线时平均年龄 = 12.3岁，标准差 = 1.1岁）。在2015年至2021年期间的四个时间点收集了人口统计学数据、社会经济因素和物质使用习惯。在第1波和第2波之间的一次家访中收集头发样本并检测HCC。分析模型测试了HCC与物质使用潜在类别成员身份的关系，以及HCC是否调节了压力自我报告与物质使用之间的关系。
在任何模型中，HCC都没有增加对早期物质使用情况的预测，而在比较“早期”与“晚期/无”物质使用类别成员身份的模型中，压力性生活事件和日常歧视的自我报告预测了早期物质使用情况。
我们没有发现证据表明HCC与青少年早期物质使用情况有关。然而，我们的结果确实证实，压力性生活经历的自我报告预测了更早的物质使用情况，强调了心理社会压力源作为青少年物质使用情况重要预测指标的作用。
