Luciana et al. (2013). This was one of the first studies to utilize a longitudinal design to examine the neurodevelopmental correlates of adolescent AU. Adolescents (n = 55; ages 14–19 at baseline), including an AU sample who transitioned into alcohol use (defined here as “alcohol initiators”; n = 30), were compared with a sample of continuous non-AU youth (n = 25; matched for estimated IQ, gender, ethnicity, socioeconomic status and externalizing behaviour). On average, AU youth consumed alcohol on 3.9 occasions per month, engaging in high-risk patterns of alcohol use (binge drinking; M = 5.4 drinks per occasion; M = 22.3 drinks per month). While AU did not differ from non-AU youth at baseline, at the 2 year follow-up (Y2), AU youth showed greater decreases in cortical thickness across the right middle frontal gyrus, with less WM development in the right hemisphere precentral gyrus, lingual gyrus, middle temporal gyrus, and anterior cingulate, compared with non-AU youth. Because of the longitudinal nature of this study, unlike cross-sectional correlational studies, these data indicate the salient and causal contribution of occasional binge drinking on adolescent brain development.
