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Teenagers who are easily distracted and impulsive are most likely to become drug addicts, it has been claimed.

Researchers say that how the teenager's brain handles memory is key.

They say that an 11-13 year old's ability to focus on a task and ignore distractions was key.

Researchers say executive attention, a component of working memory that involves a person's ability to focus on a task and ignore distractions while processing relevant goal-oriented information, is key.

The University of Oregon researchers say executive attention, a component of working memory that involves a person's ability to focus on a task and ignore distractions while processing relevant goal-oriented information, is key. 

The findings, drawn from a long-term study of 382 adolescents in a mostly at-risk urban population, provide a rare, early view of adolescents' entry into the use of alcohol, tobacco and marijuana.

Atika Khurana, a professor in the Department of Counseling Psychology and Human Services., led the research in the quarterly journal Development and Psychopathology, which was carried out with researchers at the University of Pennsylvania and Children's Hospital of Philadelphia.

They focused on 11- to 13-year-old children as they began to explore risky and sensation-seeking experiences that often mark the road to independence and adulthood. 

Previous studies generally have relied on adult recall of when individuals began experimenting, with early drug use thought to be a marker of later substance abuse problems. 

'Not all forms of early drug use are problematic,' Khurana said. 

'There could be some individuals who start early, experiment and then stop. 

'And there are some who could start early and go on into a progressive trajectory of continued drug use.

'We wanted to know what separates the two?'

The pattern that emerged was that early drug experimentation more likely to lead into progressive drug use among young people whose impulsive tendencies aren't kept in check by strong working memory ability. 

Later assessments of the participants, who have now reached late adolescence, are being analyzed, but it appears that the compulsive progression, not just the experimentation, of drug use is likely to lead to disorder, Khurana said.

'Prefrontal regions of the brain can apply the brakes or exert top-down control over impulsive, or reward seeking urges,' Khurana said. 

The pattern that emerged was that early drug experimentation more likely to lead into progressive drug use among young people whose impulsive tendencies aren't kept in check by strong working memory ability.

'By its nature, greater executive attention enables one to be less impulsive in one's decisions and actions because you are focused and able to control impulses generated by events around you. What we found is that if teens are performing poorly on working memory tasks that tap into executive attention, they are more likely to engage in impulsive drug-use behaviors.

'The findings suggest new approaches for early intervention since weaknesses in executive functioning often underlie self-control issues in children as young as 3 years old, she said. 

A family environment strong in structured routines and cognitive-stimulation could strengthen working memory skills, she said.

For older children, interventions could be built around activities that encourage social competence and problem solving skills in combination with cognition-building efforts to increase self-control and working memory. 

The latter allows people to temporarily store, organize and manipulate mental information and is vital for evaluating consequences of decisions.

'We need to compensate for the weakness that exists, before drug experimentation starts to help prevent the negative spiral of drug abuse,' Khurana said.