Grant: Undergraduate Student Research Awards (USRA)

"Alcohol use disorder (AUD) and major depressive disorder frequently co-occur in emerging adulthood, yet the cognitive mechanisms underlying this comorbidity remain poorly understood. Executive functioning (EF)-including inhibitory control, cognitive flexibility, and working memory-is implicated in both disorders independently. Dual-process models of addiction highlight weakened executive control over impulsive reward systems, while cognitive models of depression emphasize deficits in inhibition and set-shifting as risk and maintenance factors. However, EF has rarely been examined in individuals with co-occurring AUD and depression as a distinct clinical group. This study will test whether emerging adults (ages 18-29) with comorbid alcohol problems and depressive symptoms show disproportionately greater EF impairments compared to those with AUD-only, depression-only, or neither condition. Participants will be classified using validated measures of alcohol use severity and depressive symptomatology, with intentional oversampling of the comorbid group to ensure adequate representation. EF will be assessed using the Delis-Kaplan Executive Function System, capturing verbal fluency, cognitive flexibility, inhibition, and set-shifting, while general cognitive ability will be estimated with an abbreviated Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale to control for IQ. By directly comparing four groups within a rigorous design, this project will determine whether EF deficits in comorbidity reflect additive burden or synergistic impairment. Findings will advance transdiagnostic models of vulnerability and inform more precise cognitive assessment and intervention approaches for high-risk emerging adults."