Transcript DRUG ABUSE PREVENTION MESSAGES

DRUG ABUSE PREVENTION MESSAGES:
IMPACT WITH SENSATION SEEKING YOUTH
1
Donohew ,
1
Palmgreen ,
2
Joseph ,
3
Kelly
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Bardo
Lewis
Philip
Jane
Thomas
and Michael
1Dept Communication, 2Dept Anatomy & Neurobiology, 3Dept Behavioral Science and 4Dept Psychology
and
Center for Drug Abuse Research Translation (CDART)
University of Kentucky, Lexington, KY 40506
Introduction
Work from our center has offered neurobiological support for this
approach. We and others have proposed that exposure to novelty activates, at
least in part, the same neural substrate that mediates the rewarding effects of
drugs of abuse and that individual differences in response to novelty and drugs
of abuse may relate to individual differences in the mesolimbic dopamine
system of the brain.
In this poster, we describe some of the research mentioned above and
its implications for communication and prevention, including neuroimaging
evidence that high and low sensation seekers differ in their biological
predisposition to respond to emotionally arousing visual information. The
research reported here has been conducted within a framework of prevention,
funded primarily by the National Institute on Drug Abuse.
A long-term objective of our center is to translate basic research
findings to inform the design of biologically-relevant prevention intervention
strategies that can be evaluated in the field. To the extent that sensation
seeking is an antecedent predictor of drug use and abuse, this information can
be used to target individuals who are high in sensation seeking, as well as to
tailor the design of prevention interventions that specifically engage at-risk
individuals.
As shown in the figure below, all three campaigns (one in Knoxville, as
shown in upper panel, and two in Lexington, as shown in lower panel) reversed
upward development trends in 30-day marijuana use among high-sensation
seekers (P< 0.01). As expected, low sensation seekers had low use levels, and
no campaign effects were evident.
Knox County
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Campaign 2
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Study 3
In this study, we evaluated effects of the Marijuana Initiative portion of the Office of
National Drug Control Policy’s National Youth Anti-Drug Media Campaign on high and low
sensation seeking adolescents. Personal interviews were conducted via laptop with
independent monthly random samples of 100 youth from the same age cohort in each of
two moderate size communities over 48 months of the campaign, including the critical first
six months of the 9-month Initiative. The start of the Initiative was treated as an
“interruption” in time-series analyses of the combined community sample.
Given the differential response to the public service announcements, Study 3
assessed the hypothesis that high sensation seekers may attend more to the public service
announcement than low sensation seekers because they are biologically predisposed to show
a greater response to visually presented arousing stimuli. Functional magnetic resonance
imaging (fMRI) was conducted using a Siemens Trio 3.0 Tesla magnet to collect functional
brain images. A state-of-the-art 8-channel head coil was used to enhance signal resolution
and optimize measurement of subcortical brain regions, including the hippocampus, nucleus
accumbens and amygdala. Paid volunteers who were classified as either high or low
sensation seekers were assessed in an emotional induction task. Brain images were
collected while participants viewed photographs from the International Affective Picture Set,
with half of the pictures being classified as high arousal and half being classified as low
arousal.
As shown in the figure below, the Marijuana Initiative reversed upward
developmental trends in high sensation seekers’ 30-day marijuana use (P<.001) and
significantly reduced positive marijuana attitudes and beliefs in this at-risk population.
Control substances were not affected. As expected, low sensation seekers had low
marijuana use levels, and no campaign effects were detected. Other analyses indicated
that the Initiative’s dramatic depiction of negative consequences of marijuana use was
principally responsible for its effects on high sensation seekers.
Results from this neuroimaging experiment indicated that among both high and low
sensation seekers, the high arousal pictures induced more extensive brain activation
compared with low arousal pictures, especially in limbic structures. More important, however,
as shown in the figure below, limbic structures were more extensively activated in high
sensation seekers than in low sensation seekers. In particular, the right amygdala (yellow
arrow), the right insula (pink arrow) and left medial orbito-frontal cortex were more extensively
activated in the high sensation seekers.
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■■ HSS
HSS● LSS ● LSS
Marijuana Initiative
Campaign Period
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% Using Marijuana in Past 30 Days
In particular, vulnerability to drug abuse is known to be related to
sensation seeking. Sensation seeking is a personality trait defined by
Zuckerman as the general need for novel and complex experiences, including a
willingness to take risks for these experiences. High sensation seekers have
consistently been shown to use and abuse drugs more often than low sensation
seekers when assessed across various populations. In controlled laboratory
studies, high sensation seekers are also known to be more sensitive than low
sensation seekers to the rewarding effects of drugs of abuse. The association
between sensation seeking and drug use has led investigators to develop more
effective anti-drug prevention messages that specifically target high sensation
seekers. In recent years, compelling evidence has been offered that persuasive
messages with novel components can attract and hold the attention of this
prime target audience and bring about significant behavior change.
In this study, we evaluated the effectiveness of targeted televised public
service announcement campaigns in reducing marijuana use among highsensation seeking adolescents. The study used a controlled interrupted timeseries design in two matched communities (Knoxville TN and Lexington, KY).
Two televised anti-marijuana campaigns were conducted in one county
(Lexington) and one campaign in the comparison community (Knoxville). The
televised public service announcements were produced to appeal specifically to
high sensation seekers based on formative research. Personal interviews were
conducted with 100 randomly-selected teenagers monthly in each county for 32
months.
% Using Marijuana Past 30 Days
It has long been established that individuals who are high sensation
seekers are more likely to engage in drug use, risky sex, and other behaviors
which can endanger their health. Such persons have provided a challenge for
those conducting prevention campaigns intended to reduce these behaviors
and may account for the high failure rate of earlier prevention efforts.
Study 1
Study 2
These neuroimaging results indicate that neurobiological markers of emotional
reactions to visual stimuli are different between high and low sensation seekers.
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High Sensation Seekers
Low Sensation Seekers
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High > Low Arousal pictures
(p < .01)
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30-day marijuana use regression plots for high sensation-seeking (HSS) and low sensation-seeking (LSS) youth
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Bardo, M. T., Donohew, R. L. and Harrington, N. G. (1996) Psychobiology of novelty seeking and drug seeking behavior.
Behavioural Brain Research. 77, 23-43.
Donohew, L. (2006). Media, sensation seeking, and prevention. In Margarete Vollrath (ed.). Handbook of Personality and
Health. London: Wiley.
Donohew, L., Bardo, M. T., & Zimmerman, R.S. (2004). Personality and risky behavior: communication and prevention. In R.
Stelmack, ed., On the psychobiology of personality: Essays in honor of Marvin Zuckerman, pp. 223-245. London:
Elsevier.
Donohew, L., Lorch, E.P., & Palmgreen, P. (1998). Applications of a theoretic Model of Information Exposure to Health
Interventions. Human Communication Research,24 (3) 454-468.
Kelly, T. H., Delzer, T. A., Martin, C. A., Harrington, N. G., Hays, L. R. and Bardo, M. T. (in press). Behavioral effects of damphetamine and diazepam in high and low sensation seekers. Psychopharmacology.
Palmgreen, P.& Donohew, L. (2003). Effective mass media strategies for drug abuse prevention campaigns. In Handbook of
drug abuse theory, science and practice. Bukoski and and Z. Sloboda (Eds.) New York: Plenum.
Palmgreen, P., Donohew, L., Lorch, E., Hoyle, R., & Stephenson, M. (2001). Television campaigns and adolescent marijuana
use: Tests of sensation seeking targeting. American Journal of Public Health, 91, 292-296.
Palmgreen, P., Lorch, E.P., Stephenson, M., Donohew, L., & Hoyle, R., (in press). Effects of ONDCP’s Marijuana Initiative
Campaign on high sensation-seeking youth, American Journal of Public Health.
Wills, T. A., Vaccaro, D. and McNamara, G. (1994). Novelty seeking, risk taking, and related constructs as predictors of
adolescent substance abuse: an application of Cloninger’s theory. Journal of Substance Abuse 6, 1-20.
Zuckerman, M. Sensation seeking: beyond the optimal level of arousal. (1979). Erlbaum, Hillsdale CA.
Zuckerman, M. (1994). Behavioral expressions and biosocial bases of sensation seeking. Cambridge, Cambridge UK.
CONCLUSIONS
•Televised anti-drug campaigns with high reach and frequency that use
public service announcements designed for and targeted at high-sensation
seeking adolescents can significantly reduce substance use in this highrisk population (Study 1).
•Substance use prevention campaigns can be effective within an approach
utilizing dramatic negative consequence messages targeted to high
sensation seekers (Study 2).
•In a controlled laboratory setting, high sensation seekers exposed to high
arousing visual stimuli show greater activation of limbic brain structures
compared to low sensation seekers (Study 3).
•Taken together, these studies suggest that more effective anti-drug
messages may be developed when they employ stimulus materials that
maximally impact at-risk individuals as shown in neuroimaging
experiments.