Journal of studies on alcohol and drugs最新文献

Objective: Substance use patterns vary considerably in the general population, yet little is known about patterns before and during pregnancy. The purpose of this study was to describe single substance and polysubstance use (PSU) before and during pregnancy among recent births in the United States and compare exposure patterns.

Method: We used data from the Pregnancy and Risk Assessment Monitoring System (PRAMS) postpartum survey for 2016-2018 to estimate the prevalence and identify patterns of substance use by participants 1 to 3 months before and during pregnancy. Data on use of cigarettes, cannabis, opioids, amphetamines, heroin, and cocaine were available for seven states. We used latent class analysis to identify patterns of substance use and tested whether participants with those patterns differed by age, income, race/ethnicity, and pre-pregnancy alcohol use. Analyses were weighted using PRAMS' state-level weights.

Results: We studied 15,429 participants representing 384,918 live, singleton births. Approximately half (51.3%) were 20-29 years old, 42.3% were above 200% of the Federal Poverty Level, and 73.3% were non-Hispanic White. We identified seven latent classes of maternal substance use: minimal users (70.7%), pre-pregnancy cigarette users (10.5%), persistent cigarette users (6.8%), pre-pregnancy cannabis users (5.5%), broad PSU (3.6%), opioid-only users (1.9%), and persistent cigarette/opioid co-users (1.0%). Participants in these groups differed significantly by age, income, race/ethnicity, and pre-pregnancy alcohol use (p < .001).

Conclusions: This novel empirical classification of single substance and PSU could help to further our understanding of the impact of PSU on perinatal health and to design interventions for maternal substance use.

Objective: A low level of response (LR) to alcohol is a known risk factor for alcohol use disorder (AUD). Although higher total body water (TBW) is associated with lower blood alcohol concentrations and reduced responses following alcohol consumption, the relationship between morphometric measures such as body mass index (BMI) and LR is less clear. This study aimed to examine the relationship between BMI and LR to alcohol and the contribution of TBW to this relationship.

Method: Participants (n = 1,086) enrolled in the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism Natural History Protocol were assessed for LR to alcohol using the Self-Rating of the Effects of Alcohol (SRE) Questionnaire. BMI was estimated using height and weight, and TBW was based on height, weight, age, and sex. Participants were categorized based on BMI into three groups: normal weight (18.5-25.0 kg/m²; n = 430), overweight (25.0-30.0 kg/m²; n = 403), and obese (≥30.0 kg/m²; n = 253). Associations between the BMI group and SRE scores for the most recent 3-month period (SRE-Recent) and the effect of TBW were analyzed using analysis of variance. Linear regression analysis was conducted to estimate the proportion of variation in SRE-Recent, as explained by BMI and TBW.

Results: BMI category was associated with LR, with the normal weight group showing higher responses (lower SRE-Recent scores) to alcohol than the overweight or obese groups. After controlling for TBW, the relationship became nonsignificant. Linear regression models confirmed these findings.

Conclusions: Higher BMI is associated with lower LR to alcohol. However, TBW seems to account for this relationship, suggesting that concentrations achieved following alcohol consumption may be the primary determinant of BMI-related differences in LR. Future work should replicate these findings and examine these relationships throughout the life span and in individuals with AUD.

Objective: More than half of U.S. college students are harmed by the drinkers around them. If findings from research on adults generalize to college students, then there will be consequences associated with these alcohol-related harms to others (AHTOs). This study aimed to determine whether harms from others' drinking were associated with key academic and mental health indicators of the college experience.

Method: Data were from a probability-based sample of college students (n = 1,822, 64.9% cisfemale, 68.6% White, 11.3% Black, 15.6% Hispanic/Latinx) conducted October-November 2021. Predictors included domains of five AHTOs: harassment, physical, sexual, academic, and babysitting drinkers. Six binary outcomes included (a) satisfied with college, (b) satisfied with academic performance, (c) grade point average (GPA) of 3.0 or greater, (d) depression, (e) suicidal ideation, and (f) mental distress.

Results: Harassment AHTOs were associated with lower college satisfaction (adjusted odds ratio [aOR] = 0.57, 95% CI [0.38, 0.84]) and suicidal ideation (aOR = 1.74, 95% CI [1.08, 2.82]). Physical AHTOs were associated with lower odds of academic satisfaction (aOR = 0.33, 95% CI [0.19, 0.59]) and GPA of 3.0 or greater (aOR = 0.42, 95% CI [0.22, 0.83]). Academic AHTOs were associated with lower odds of being satisfied with college (aOR = 0.27, 95% CI [0.14, 0.52]) and one's academic performance (aOR = 0.27, 95% CI [0.14, 0.50]) and higher odds of mental distress (aOR = 2.27, 95% CI [1.31, 3.94]). Finally, sexual AHTOs were associated with higher odds of depression (aOR = 2.77, 95% CI [1.34, 5.77]).

Conclusions: AHTOs are associated with mental health and academic challenges on college campuses. Longitudinal studies should investigate whether these associations persist over time.

Objective: One in five college women experiences sexual assault. Feminist scholars have called for the use of programming that empowers women by increasing their ability to recognize and resist sexual assault. One such program, the Enhanced Assess, Acknowledge, Act Sexual Assault Resistance Education Program (EAAA), has demonstrated lower rates of sexual assault up to 24 months. EAAA could be further enhanced by directly targeting women's risky alcohol and cannabis use, two known risk factors for sexual assault, within an integrated framework. This study evaluated the acceptability and preliminary efficacy of an integrated version of EAAA with enhanced alcohol and new cannabis content.

Method: College women (n = 14) ages 18-24 who reported engaging in past-month heavy alcohol use, cannabis use, and simultaneous alcohol and cannabis use participated in the adapted program. Women completed a baseline assessment, measures of acceptability at strategic points during the program, and a post-program assessment.

Results: Women rated the program very high in likability, quality, organization, relevance, and usefulness and were likely to recommend it to other women. Overall, acceptability and usability ratings for EAAA+ were high. Content analysis of open-ended questions indicated that some women wanted more cannabis and/or alcohol content included.

Conclusions: Results indicate that the adapted content is acceptable for the target population and has promising pre-post changes on alcohol, cannabis, and sexual assault-related outcomes.

Objective: There is a robust body of work demonstrating that certain drinking practices, such as pregaming or playing drinking games, are linked to heavier, riskier patterns of drinking among college students. However, less attention has been paid to other drinking practices that are relatively common among undergraduates, such as daytime drinking (i.e., drinking before 4:00 P.M.).

Method: Using data from an intensive longitudinal study (bursts of daily data over 12 months; 6,842 total days of data) collected from a high-risk sample of college students (N = 403), the present study tested daytime drinking as both a proximal (daily-level drinking outcomes) and distal (alcohol use disorder symptoms) risk factor for hazardous drinking.

Results: Daytime drinking was reported by more than 70% of the sample and on approximately 15% of drinking days. Daily-level findings indicated that compared with non-daytime drinking days, daytime drinking days were significantly associated with more drinks consumed, more high-risk drinking practices (i.e., heavy episodic or high-intensity drinking), and greater subjective intoxication. Longitudinal analyses identified frequent daytime drinking as a risk factor for increased hazardous drinking behavior, particularly among individuals who were younger or reported lower hazardous drinking at baseline.

Conclusions: Findings add to a sparse literature supporting daytime drinking as a risky drinking practice among college students. Future work should aim to further characterize contextual and psychosocial factors associated with daytime drinking practices.

Objective: For thousands of years, people have used alcohol to reduce their sensitivity to physical and emotional pain. Previous research has shown that alcohol increases the pain threshold. Previous research has also shown that the pain threshold is positively associated with aggression. This research tests the novel hypothesis that the relationship between alcohol and aggression is mediated by an increased pain threshold.

Method: To replicate findings, two independent laboratory experiments were conducted (Experiment 1: N = 543; Experiment 2: N = 327). In both experiments, heavy social drinkers were randomly assigned to consume either an alcohol or placebo beverage. Next, they reported their pain level to electric shocks that increased in a stepwise manner until the level was described as "painful," which was defined as the pain threshold level. Finally, they delivered painful electric shocks to an ostensible opponent each time they won a competitive reaction time task. Participants won half of the 34 trials (randomly determined). Shock intensity and duration levels were standardized and summed across the 34 trials to create a more comprehensive measure of aggression.

Results: Participants who consumed an alcoholic beverage had a higher pain threshold level than those who consumed a placebo beverage. The less pain participants felt themselves, the more pain they inflicted on their ostensible partner via electric shock. Results were nearly identical across both experiments.

Conclusions: These findings provide novel evidence regarding one possible reason why intoxicated people behave more aggressively than sober people do. Alcohol intoxication increases aggression partially through its effect on increasing the pain threshold.

Objective: As the legalization of adult-use cannabis has expanded to include almost half of the states in the United States, substance use-related enforcement responsibilities for state and local law enforcement agencies may have changed. We assessed the use of cannabis and alcohol enforcement strategies at local and state levels and in legal and nonlegal cannabis states.

Method: We conducted surveys of 1,024 local law enforcement agencies, 53 state alcohol beverage control agencies, and 48 state patrol agencies. We calculated the prevalence of cannabis enforcement strategies and their analogous alcohol strategies and analyzed differences across legal and nonlegal cannabis states. We assessed associations between cannabis enforcement strategies, cannabis legalization status, and agency and jurisdiction characteristics.

Results: Cannabis enforcement strategies were less common than their analogous alcohol strategies. The percentage of agencies conducting enforcement of cannabis-impaired driving and public use of cannabis did not differ significantly across agencies in legal and nonlegal states. Agencies in cannabis-legal states (compared with nonlegal states) were more likely to train officers in identifying cannabis impairment among drivers (risk ratio [RR] = 1.23, 95% CI [1.08, 1.42]). Several local agency and jurisdiction characteristics were associated with a higher likelihood of conducting cannabis enforcement, but results were inconsistent across strategies.

Conclusions: Our study shows that cannabis enforcement strategies were used less than analogous alcohol strategies in legal and nonlegal jurisdictions, suggesting that increased cannabis enforcement could lead to reductions in public health harms. This study provides a foundation for much-needed research on cannabis and alcohol enforcement during a changing cannabis legalization landscape.