Appetitive Motivation and Regulatory Processes in Adolescent Ketamine Users

Area of Science:

• Neuroscience
• Psychology
• Addiction Research

Background:

• Ketamine is the most prevalent illicit drug among adolescents in Taiwan.
• Addictive behaviors in adolescents may stem from an imbalance between appetitive and regulatory systems.
• Dual process models offer a framework for understanding substance use disorders.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate appetitive and regulatory processes in adolescent ketamine users.
• To compare adolescent ketamine users with matched healthy controls.
• To examine the dual process model in the context of adolescent ketamine use.

Main Methods:

• Thirty adolescent ketamine users and 32 healthy controls participated.
• Participants completed the Affective Priming Task (APT), Stop-Signal Task (SST), and Iowa Gambling Task (IGT).
• The Drug Use Disorders Identification Test: Extended (DUDIT-E) was also administered.

Main Results:

• Controls exhibited higher outcome expectancies for ketamine use than users.
• No significant differences were found in Affective Priming Task performance.
• Adolescent ketamine users showed poorer performance in hot executive functions (IGT) but intact cold executive functions (SST).

Conclusions:

• Adolescent ketamine users may not exhibit the predicted imbalanced dual processes.
• Findings suggest a need for revised therapeutic approaches for adolescent ketamine users.
• Increased advocacy regarding ketamine's adverse effects is recommended, especially on campuses.