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If you could post a picture of the whole plant and describe the potting medium, estimated hours of direct and indirect sunlight, and your watering schedule, it would be really helpful for making constructive recommendations for this guy.

The usual base line requirements for these guys are lots of light, temperatures above 50 degrees Fahrenheit, and well draining potting soil. All three of these factors are indicative of these plants being native to Sub-Saharan Africa and the Arabian Peninsula. Enough sun means as much as you can give them, appropriate temperature means not letting the plant stay below 50 degrees for an extended period, and well-draining soil means adding amendments like perlite, pumice, or other small stone like bits. All of these factors combine to allow the plant to get enough but never too much water. Following these general guidelines will keep them from waffling in and out of dormancy (or worse, dying from either frost or root rot), and once you get a feel for what your plant needs, you'll both have a good time. Everybody has their own interpretation of these guidelines, and after a while, you'll be able to gauge the individual needs of your adenium by sight, touch, and other intuitive means.

Personally, I keep my adeniums in full sun for several hours a day from March until the end of October. I can get a way with this because I live in Florida. But, since we do get a handful of light frosts during the winter, I keep them in a makeshift greenhouse with growlights until the weather seems to have completely turned. My potting mix is a combination of humus, coco coir, pumices, and a variety of other bits of mineral substrate. Because my mix is mostly mineral, I fertilize using a product called dyna grow, using about half the regular dose every time I water, which is about once every 10 days. This works for me because of the climate here gets really hot in the summer, and despite being humid, the soil drys out pretty quickly. Like I said above, you'll get a feel for what works best in your environment, and for me, I usually let my plants decide when they need water by gently squeezing the caudex. If it is firm, I hold off on giving them water, and once it has a little give to it, I completely drench the pot.

To embark on your goal of making your adenium "bushier", you'll need to aggressively prune these two long branches down to the desired height. There are several helpful online guides for doing this without too much stress. Pruning will promote the growth of multiple new branches, and will cause caudex enlargement to speed up moderately. Owing to the fact that you're in zone 4b, I'd wait until late spring to do the pruning. After pruning, ease up on watering for about a week or two, and put it outside on days when the temp gets into the 60's. Be careful not to put the plant in direct sunlight for too long until it has adjusted to direct sunlight. To ease into this, start by leaving it somewhere with bright, indirect sunlight, and slowly move it into full sun for longer and longer periods each day. Since it probably won't get warm enough to set this guy outside full time until around June in your area, I'd suggest bringing it inside at night until summer really kicks off and the threat of chilly nights subsides. Alternatively, and what I personally would do in your climate, is buy a decent, but relatively inexpensive, grow light. I have have a lot of success with this light .

Be warned, adeniums are extremely dramatic plants, and often drop all their leaves for what may seem, to you, to be only slight disturbances. Such events include, temperature change, repotting, and sometimes for no reason at all. Don't panic, these are extremely resilient plants that, in a few years (maybe even less) will reward you with some of the most beautiful blossoms you've ever seen.

You're getting started on a really exciting relationship with this little guy, and I wish you the best of luck. If this leads you to the addiction most of us here suffer from, you'll soon want more plants. I have a ton of seedlings going right now, and if you decide you want to raise one, I'd gladly send one your way.

This one has been indoors from the start, under one of these lights, running it for 16 hours a day.

Does the fact that it's 18 months old count for anything? I'm getting contradictory advise

Edit: I also have it under a 45 watt grow light