Is (poly-) substance use associated with impaired inhibitory control? A mega-analysis controlling for confounders

Research output: Contribution to journalReview articleContributedpeer-review

Contributors

  • Mega-Analysis Cooperation - (Author)
  • Professor (rtd.) for Addiction Research
  • University of Amsterdam
  • Claremont Graduate University
  • Andrews University
  • University of Oslo
  • University of Santiago de Compostela
  • ULB Neuroscience Institute (UNI)
  • University of Liverpool (UOL)
  • The Mind Research Network
  • Leiden University
  • University of Texas at Dallas
  • University of Rochester
  • University of Vermont
  • Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH)
  • University of Melbourne
  • University of Michigan, Ann Arbor
  • University of Colorado Boulder
  • University of Liege
  • Erasmus University Rotterdam
  • University of Bamberg
  • University of California at Los Angeles
  • University of Minho
  • Monash University
  • Radboud University Nijmegen
  • Northern Kentucky University
  • Brown University
  • Liverpool John Moores University
  • Maastricht University
  • Seoul National University
  • Florida Atlantic University
  • Medical University of South Carolina
  • University of Zurich
  • California State University Los Angeles
  • University of New South Wales
  • Netherlands Cancer Institute
  • Innsbruck Medical University
  • Duke University
  • St. Vincent's Hospital Melbourne
  • University of California at Berkeley
  • Medical University of Warsaw
  • Beijing Normal University
  • Lovelace Biomedical Research Institute

Abstract

Many studies have reported that heavy substance use is associated with impaired response inhibition. Studies typically focused on associations with a single substance, while polysubstance use is common. Further, most studies compared heavy users with light/non-users, though substance use occurs along a continuum. The current mega-analysis accounted for these issues by aggregating individual data from 43 studies (3610 adult participants) that used the Go/No-Go (GNG) or Stop-signal task (SST) to assess inhibition among mostly "recreational" substance users (i.e., the rate of substance use disorders was low). Main and interaction effects of substance use, demographics, and task-characteristics were entered in a linear mixed model. Contrary to many studies and reviews in the field, we found that only lifetime cannabis use was associated with impaired response inhibition in the SST. An interaction effect was also observed: the relationship between tobacco use and response inhibition (in the SST) differed between cannabis users and non-users, with a negative association between tobacco use and inhibition in the cannabis non-users. In addition, participants' age, education level, and some task characteristics influenced inhibition outcomes. Overall, we found limited support for impaired inhibition among substance users when controlling for demographics and task-characteristics.

Details

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)288-304
Number of pages17
JournalNeuroscience and biobehavioral reviews
Volume105
Publication statusPublished - Oct 2019
Peer-reviewedYes

External IDs

Scopus 85070721793
ORCID /0000-0002-1612-3932/work/142251086

Keywords

Sustainable Development Goals

Keywords

  • Executive Function/physiology, Humans, Inhibition, Psychological, Psychomotor Performance/physiology, Substance-Related Disorders/physiopathology