Title:Exploring the Relationship of Functional Network Connectivity to Latent Trajectories of Alcohol Use and Risky Sex
Volume: 12
Issue: 4
Author(s): Rachel E. Thayer, Erika Montanaro, Barbara J. Weiland, Tiffany J. Callahan and Angela D. Bryan
Affiliation:
Keywords:
Adolescence, alcohol, default mode, functional connectivity, juvenile justice, risky sex.
Abstract: Alcohol use is a major risk factor associated with unprotected sexual behavior, leading to higher risk of
sexually transmitted infections (STI) including the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV). Emerging largely crosssectional
data suggest functional network connectivity strength is associated with problematic alcohol use, and as
evidence supports a relationship between risky sexual behaviors and alcohol use, we hypothesized that functional
connectivity might be associated with both categories of risk behavior. As part of a sexual risk reduction intervention
study, juvenile justice-involved adolescents (N = 239) underwent a baseline functional magnetic resonance imaging scan
and completed questionnaires about their alcohol use and risky sexual behavior at 3-month intervals over 12 months of
follow up. To test both cross-sectional and longitudinal relationships between alcohol use and sexual risk behaviors, we
estimated a parallel process latent growth model that simultaneously modeled the trajectories of alcohol use and sexual
risk behavior. Functional connectivity strength was included as an exogenous variable to evaluate its relationship with
level of risk and change in risk over time in both behaviors. Associations were found between baseline alcohol use and
risky sex, and between longitudinal trajectories of alcohol use and risky sex. Network functional connectivity strength of
the dorsal default mode network was associated with initial and longitudinal alcohol use, which may suggest that selfawareness
of the effects of alcohol could serve as a useful target to decrease subsequent risky sexual behavior in
adolescence.
