Experimental and clinical psychopharmacology最新文献

Various avenues exist for quantifying the effects of reinforcers on behavior. Numerous nonlinear models derived from the framework of Hursh and Silberberg (2008) are often applied to elucidate key metrics in the operant demand framework (e.g., Q₀, P_MAX), with each approach presenting respective strengths and trade-offs. This work introduces and demonstrates an adaptive task capable of elucidating key features of operant demand without relying on nonlinear regression (i.e., a targeted form of empirical P_MAX). An adaptive algorithm based on reinforcement learning is used to systematically guide questioning in the search for participant-level estimates related to peak work (e.g., P_MAX), and this algorithm was evaluated across four varying iteration lengths (i.e., five, 10, 15, and 20 sequentially updated questions). Equivalence testing with simulated agent responses revealed that tasks with five or more sequentially updated questions recovered P_MAX values statistically equivalent to seeded P_MAX values, which provided evidence suggesting that quantitative modeling (i.e., nonlinear regression) may not be necessary to reveal valuable features of reinforcer consumption and how consumption scales as a function of price. Discussions are presented regarding extensions of contemporary hypothetical purchase tasks and strategies for extracting and comparing critical aspects of consumer demand. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2025 APA, all rights reserved).

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has stated its intention to reduce the nicotine content of combustible cigarettes to render them less addictive. This study evaluated the impact of providing adults who smoke with both very low nicotine content cigarettes (VLNCCs) and electronic cigarettes (ECs) of varying nicotine content on measures of human abuse potential. Participants (n = 213) were adult combustible cigarette users. They smoked their usual brand cigarettes (UBCs) during Phase 1 (baseline; week 1) and were provided with and encouraged to exclusively use VLNCCs during Phase 2 (weeks 2-4). During dual-product Phases 3 (weeks 5-7) and 4 (weeks 8-10), participants received both VLNCCs and ECs (assigned to one of two EC devices in higher or lower nicotine concentrations and choice of flavor), with instructions to use them freely in Phases 3 and 4. Assessments included product use, exposure, acceptability, risk perception, and withdrawal-related measures. Results indicated that participants used significantly fewer UBCs during the VLNCC and dual-product phases and smoked fewer VLNCCs during the dual-product phases than the VLNCC-only phase. Neither EC liquid nicotine concentration nor flavor influenced product use. The three study product phases resulted in less product liking and more withdrawal symptoms than the UBC phase. These results suggest that adults who smoke are able to switch much of their tobacco product use from UBCs to VLNCCs and will substitute combustible UBCs and VLNCCs with noncombustible nicotine-containing ECs, but most remain dual users, at least in the short term. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2025 APA, all rights reserved).

The association between inhibitory control and alcohol use has been well established. However, studies comparing the effects of alcohol cues on disinhibition in heavy and light drinkers have reported mixed results. The present study used a crowdsourcing platform, Prolific, to assess the effects of alcohol-related cues on inhibitory control in light drinkers versus heavy drinkers. Eligible participants were categorized as light or heavy drinkers based on National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism classifications. Participants (43 women and 65 men) then completed the Attentional Bias-Behavioral Activation task to assess inhibitory control. Subjects were randomized to either an alcohol or neutral-go condition. Inhibitory failures (IF) were measured as pressing a key when the assigned go cue was presented before the no-go cue. Analyses revealed a significant Drinking Status × Condition interaction, F(1, 99) = 5.656, p = .019, η_p² = 0.054. IF were greater in the alcohol-go compared to the neutral-go condition for heavy drinkers, t(46) = -1.848, p = .036, d = 0.538, but not light drinkers (p = .226, d = 0.197). Additionally, heavy drinkers had more IF than light drinkers in the alcohol-go condition, t(55) = -2.152, p = .018, d = 0.571, but not in the neutral-go condition (p = .266, d = 0.180). Results demonstrated that alcohol images disrupt inhibitory control in heavy drinkers but not light drinkers. The results from the present study extend research by using a crowdsourcing platform to replicate findings of disinhibition in heavy drinkers but not in light drinkers. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2025 APA, all rights reserved).

There has been an alarming increase in e-cigarette dependence among young adults, many of whom would like to quit vaping nicotine but are finding it difficult to do so. Episodic future thinking (EFT), a cognitive intervention involving imagining future events, has been shown to reduce cigarette craving, demand intensity, and self-administration among cigarette smokers but has not been tested with e-cigarette users. This study tested if a brief EFT intervention decreases delay discounting and smoking choice using a within-subjects experimental design administered via Zoom. Daily young adult e-cigarette users attended a baseline session and two counterbalanced experimental sessions: (a) EFT in which participants preexperienced and described positive future events and (b) standardized episodic thinking, a control intervention in which participants described their experiences watching three short videos. Measures of craving, mood, and delay discounting across three commodities: Money, e-cigarette products, and food were completed pre- and postmanipulation. As predicted, monetary delay discounting showed a greater decrease following EFT relative to standardized episodic thinking (p = .006; η_p² = .229). There were no effects on craving or mood. Participants also completed a 40-min vaping versus money choice task. Approximately 70% of participants chose to abstain for the full 40 min after EFT compared to 60% after the control condition, a nonsignificant difference (p = .184). Additional research is needed to support the efficacy of EFT as an intervention for helping e-cigarette users increase their ability to abstain. The study demonstrates the feasibility of conducting experimental research on e-cigarettes in a virtual setting. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2025 APA, all rights reserved).

Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) has a significant impact on quality of life and affects more than 13 million individuals in the United States, with limited treatments available. EXUVIA (NCT05401565) was a Phase 2, randomized, placebo-controlled, double-blind trial, conducted across eight sites in the United States. The study aimed to assess the efficacy, safety, and pharmacokinetics of balovaptan, a highly selective vasopressin 1a receptor antagonist, in adults with PTSD. Between August 2022 and October 2023, a total of 57 adult participants (aged 18-60 years) were screened, and 29 participants were randomly allocated (1:1) to receive either balovaptan (13/29 [44.8%]) or placebo (16/29 [55.2%]). No meaningful differences were observed for balovaptan (-17.2 [± 10.7]) versus placebo (-15.6 [± 10.7]) as measured by the primary endpoint of change from baseline at Week 12 in Clinician-Administered PTSD Scale for Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fifth Edition total symptom severity score. No meaningful differences for balovaptan versus placebo were observed at Week 12 for any secondary endpoints. Balovaptan was well tolerated with no new safety findings. The number of participants with at least one adverse event of any intensity was 9/13 (69.2%) in the balovaptan group and 7/16 (43.8%) in the placebo group. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2025 APA, all rights reserved).

The impact of cannabis on cognitive and psychomotor function is important to understand, given the role of the endocannabinoid system in these critical processes. The literature has shown robust acute negative effects of cannabis on cognition and psychomotor skills during intoxication, and to a lesser degree, persisting effects following short-term abstinence up to 4 weeks. However, whether these decrements resolve after long-term cessation of use remains unclear. We evaluated cognitive and psychomotor function in 31 adults with current cannabis use during unrestricted use (UNR) and after a 3-day abstinence (RES), 23 adults with former cannabis use (> 90 days abstinent; FU), and 58 nonusing controls (CON) using the cognition and motor batteries of the National Institutes of Health Toolbox. Linear mixed models showed no significant differences in cognitive and motor performance between UNR, RES, and FU groups. Group effects emerged such that CON outperformed UNR on the Oral Reading Recognition Test, and CON outperformed both UNR and RES on the Picture Vocabulary Test. In terms of psychomotor function, FU, RES, and UNR performed better than CON on the Grip Strength Test. In this comprehensive examination of cognitive and psychomotor performance in adults with cannabis use with 3 days to > 90 days of abstinence, our results indicated that the cognitive impacts of chronic, heavy cannabis use are observable during short-term abstinence but remit after > 90 days of abstinence. This highlights widespread impacts of cannabis use abstinence across cognitive and psychomotor domains. Future studies are needed to evaluate whether these effects are also observable with use reduction, as opposed to abstinence. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2025 APA, all rights reserved).

Drinking to cope is associated with many negative alcohol-related outcomes among college students, such as increased alcohol use, drinking-related problems, and alcohol use disorders. Previous experimental studies have shown that students exposed to a stressor, compared to those not exposed to a stressor, drink more and have stronger urges to drink, presumably to cope with the stressor. However, no such study has tested this effect using a remote-based stressor, which may be more common for students because of the recent increase in online learning. As such, the present study aimed to (a) test the impact of an acute stressor on state anxiety and alcohol craving and (b) investigate trait-level drinking characteristics as potential moderators of the impact of the acute stressor. Participants were 137 (M_age = 19.9, SD_age = 2.0; 82.5% female; 41.6% White) college students who consumed alcohol in the past month. Using a between-subjects experimental design, we assigned participants randomly to an experimental (i.e., acute stress) condition or control (i.e., neutral) condition, and they completed a premanipulation battery of alcohol-related attitudes and behaviors and a postmanipulation measure of alcohol craving. On average, participants in the experimental condition reported greater increases in anxiety than those in the control condition, but there were no differences found in alcohol craving. However, for both anxiety and craving, greater increases from pre- to postmanipulation were found when trait-level anxiety and trait-level drinking were high, respectively. Thus, heavier drinking college students may be at greater risk for craving alcohol in response to stress than those who typically drink less. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2025 APA, all rights reserved).

Protective behavioral strategies (PBS) are behaviors that individuals use to mitigate harm related to risky behaviors. Though measures have been validated to assess alcohol- and cannabis-specific PBS use, an opioid-specific PBS measure has yet to be validated. The present study developed and validated a tool to assess the extent of PBS employed by individuals who use licit and/or illicit opioids. We recruited a community sample of adults who endorsed past-month opioid use (n = 345) via online platforms to complete a baseline survey, and 277 participants (80.2%) also completed the 1-month follow-up survey. From PBS measures of other substances, harm reduction strategies found in the literature, and expert feedback, we developed the 60-item Opioid Protective Behavioral Strategies Scale (OPBSS). We removed 14 items based on item and exploratory factor analyses, resulting in 46 retained items. A two-factor solution was supported: strategies focused on managing opioid use (Controlled Opioid Use) and preventing opioid-related harm (Serious Harm Reduction). The OPBSS subscales demonstrated high internal consistencies, fair-to-excellent test-retest reliability, significant positive associations with PBS measures for other substances, and robust associations with risky opioid use and opioid-related negative consequences, both concurrently and prospectively when controlling for other opioid characteristics. The 46-item OPBSS has promising psychometric properties. Importantly, more opioid PBS predicted less risky opioid use and related consequences, suggesting that opioid PBS may be a beneficial opioid prevention effort. However, additional psychometric work is needed to determine which PBS are most suitable for populations with distinct opioid use patterns. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2025 APA, all rights reserved).

Simultaneous alcohol and cannabis (SAM) use and alcohol mixed with energy drinks (AmED) days are associated with heavier drinking and negative consequences compared to alcohol-only days. However, it remains unclear if SAM and AmED days differ from one another in terms of consumption and negative consequences. It also remains unclear how often days characterized by both SAM + AmED occur and if these days are associated with incremental risk for heavier drinking and negative consequences. College students who engage in SAM use and AmED completed a 30-day timeline followback interview. Day-level data on drinking days were curated to test whether days characterized by alcohol only, SAM use only, AmED use only, or SAM + AmED were associated with increased drinking quantity, negative alcohol consequences, and positive alcohol consequences. Twenty-one percent of drinking days were AmED days, 19% were SAM days, and 15.4% were SAM + AmED days. SAM-only, AmED-only, and SAM + AmED days were associated with increased drinking and negative consequences compared to alcohol-only days. However, SAM-only and SAM + AmED (but not AmED-only) days were associated with more positive consequences than alcohol-only days. SAM-only and AmED-only days did not differ in drinking quantity or consequences, whereas SAM + AmED days were associated with increased drinking and negative (but not positive) consequences compared to both SAM-only and AmED-only days. Combined SAM + AmED days are common and associated with increased risk for negative outcomes. Prevention efforts should consider how to reduce the occurrence of SAM + AmED use and how to reduce risk on days when it does occur. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2025 APA, all rights reserved).

Impaired control (i.e., difficulty adhering to limits on alcohol use) prospectively predicts self-reported alcohol-related problems in undergraduates yet remains understudied. In particular, there is little evidence regarding whether brief interventions can reduce impaired control. An efficacious, very brief, web-based intervention focused on protective behavioral strategy (PBS) use may be well suited to reducing impaired control, but there is also little evidence regarding relationships between impaired control and PBS use. Data were analyzed from a randomized controlled trial of U.S. Tertiary Health Research Intervention via Email (Leeman et al., 2016) that yielded evidence of reduced weekly and peak alcohol use among undergraduates who drink heavily (N = 208). Multilevel models were tested to determine efficacy in reducing impaired control over alcohol use. The parent trial tested variants providing both direct (e.g., avoiding drinking games) and indirect (e.g., securing a designated driver) PBS, direct only or indirect only. Given this focus of the parent trial, self-reported PBS use was included in the model. U.S. Tertiary Health Research Intervention via Email did not significantly reduce impaired control over alcohol use compared to a control condition (p = .15-.96), and there was no significant main effect of time or interactions with time. However, direct and indirect PBS use was significantly inversely related to impaired control. An efficacious, very brief web-based intervention associated with decreased alcohol use did not decrease impaired control over alcohol significantly. More intensive, or longer, interventions may be needed to reduce impaired control. Greater PBS use was associated with less impaired control; thus, interventions that increase PBS use may decrease impaired control. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2025 APA, all rights reserved).