Tracking Adolescents after Bariatric Surgery: Substance, HIV, and Suicide Risks
The transition to emerging adulthood is a developmental period distinguished by age-related trends in high-risk behavior engagement, with alcohol, tobacco, and substance use, risky sexual behavior. Additionally, suicidal behavior may be experienced having initial onset and increasing rates in adolescence, followed by a peak in emerging adulthood and subsequent decline in the mid-twenties.
As bariatric surgery emerges as a viable treatment for adolescents with extreme obesity (BMI>40 kg/m2), it is imperative to identify the unique needs of the adolescent patient whose post-operative course occurs across this critical developmental phase.
The focus of TeenVIEW3 (R01DA033415) is the longer-term (36, 48-month) observation of these high-risk behavior trajectories during the transition to emerging adulthood. TeenVIEW3 is enrolling bariatric and non-operative comparison participants from the Teen-LABS consortium ancillary TeenView/TeenView2 (R01DK080020), which together provide the first prospective, controlled, observational studies of the psychosocial outcomes of adolescent bariatric surgery over the first four post-operative years.
TeenVIEW3 includes an examination of the effects of rapid changes in weight and psychosocial status resulting from bariatric surgery on trajectories of HIV/sexual-risk behaviors, alcohol/tobacco/drug use and suicide behaviors. It also includes an assessment of other developmentally important factors (e.g., dysregulation, impulsivity, reward-seeking, peer/family contexts) that may help explain the pathway from bariatric surgery to high-risk behaviors.
Findings from TeenVIEW3 hold promise for a substantial and long-term impact and will define clinical practice guidelines for this specific age group and vulnerable clinical population.
Data collection is ongoing.