Enhancing Prevention Research Related to Substance Use and Addiction: Identifying Research Gaps and Opportunities with ABCD Study Data

Through presentations and discussions, this meeting connected the fields of epidemiology, developmental neuroscience, and prevention to improve the integration of ABCD findings into prevention intervention research. ABCD data can inform our understanding of heterogeneity associated with substance use risk as well as how that heterogeneity might be leveraged to inform the development of novel interventions and/or the adaptation and tailoring of current interventions to increase the number of youth served who benefit.  The goal would be to stimulate data analyses that would lead to the development of targeted prevention intervention research.  While there are many relevant key constructs to explore within the ABCD dataset, this initial meeting will focus on trauma and self-regulation and their roles in substance use initiation.  For each construct, we will discuss its definition, how it is represented in the ABCD data, and existing or novel strategies for impacting the construct through intervention.