Researcher digs for roots of binge drinking

Star News Online
What if a simple test could predict which children are at risk of becoming binge drinkers? That's one goal of a research project being conducted by a UNCW psychology professor with the help of the New Hanover County Department of Social Services. Kate Nooner, an assistant professor of psychology at the University of North Carolina Wilmington, spoke this week before a meeting of the New Hanover County social services board, which approved Nooner's request to follow for three years as part of her study 30 maltreated youth ages 11 to 13 who are in the DSS system. "Alcohol is really damaging to the entire brain," Nooner said, while other substances, such as cocaine, affect only a portion of the brain. "And it typically is one of the first substances that children use when they start using substances."
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