Child psychopathology risk factors for drug abuse: overview.

Introduces the special section on Child Psychopathology Risk Factors for Substance Use Disorders. This article summarizes important principles, the current literature, contributions to this section, and issues for future research. Psychopathological conditions are strongly associated with substance use disorders, and some childhood psychopathological conditions may constitute precursors to this comorbidity. Conduct disorder constitutes a strong risk factor for substance use disorders, and bipolar disorder, although more rare, may also constitute a significant risk. Data for other child psychiatric conditions are mixed or lacking; however, important subgroups may be at risk and merit further attention. Underlying characteristics, such as temperament and self-regulation, merit further study as possible explanatory variables. Such studies hold the key for targeting and improving preventive and therapeutic interventions.     

Central masking: Some steady-state and transient effects

The contralateral threshold shift was investigated as a function of various parameters of the masking and masked stimuli. Because of a measured high acoustic attenuation between the ears, the threshold shift is interpreted as central masking. Both steady-state and pulsed maskers were used and their effect on the contralateral threshold was determined as a function of the masker intensity, the frequency difference between the masking and masked tones, the time delay from the masker onset, and the duration of an intermittent masker.