If drug use during adolescence retards the development of ECF and this enhances the risk for emergence of SUD and other disorders, then efforts to prevent early drug use itself will be a major focus of attention. Indeed, national campaigns to prevent drug use emphasize this trajectory. This explanation is consistent with considerable research indicating that drug abusers exhibit deficits in reward processing (Bechara, 2004; Bechara & Martin, 2004; Goudriaan, Grekin, & Sher, 2007). It is also possible, however, that early impulsive and disruptive behavior leads to the use of drugs that then interferes with the normal development of age appropriate ECF. From the perspective of this explanation, early intervention to treat impulsive and disruptive behavior should reduce the likelihood of progressing on the dysfunctional trajectory.
