Journal of studies on alcohol and drugs最新文献

Objective: Previous research has demonstrated different cannabis-related outcomes depending on the goal of cannabis use (i.e., recreational, medical, a hybrid of both), underscoring the need to identify variables associated with specific goals of use, particularly in understudied populations.

Method: This report used data from a national survey of menopausal individuals using nonprobability sampling. Respondents reporting current regular (≥1x/month) cannabis use (medical n = 35; recreational n = 61; and hybrid n = 102) were included in multivariate logistic regression analyses examining demographic, clinical (e.g., menopause-related symptomatology), and cannabis-related variables associated with the goal of cannabis use.

Results: Overall, an increased number of medical conditions was associated with medical and hybrid use relative to recreational use (ps ≤ .047), and greater menopause-related symptomatology was associated with medical relative to hybrid use (p = .001). Lower education level was associated with hybrid relative to recreational use (p = .010). Lastly, more varied modes of use was associated with hybrid use relative to medical and recreational use (ps ≤ .001).

Conclusions: Results suggest that medical and hybrid consumers with more medical conditions and more severe clinical symptoms that are not sufficiently alleviated by conventional treatments may be more open to cannabinoid-based therapies. In addition, because a lower education level is often associated with recreational cannabis use, results suggest that hybrid consumers may begin as recreational consumers who then expand their use for medical purposes. Further, more varied modes of use for hybrid consumers may reflect different product selections based on the goal of use. Future research should investigate the etiology of hybrid cannabis use and predictors of long-term outcomes associated with goals of use.

Objective: Despite an abundance of public discourse about the opioid crisis in the media, there is little research characterizing opioid-related content on TikTok, a popular video-based social media platform. This study sought to examine how opioids are portrayed on TikTok.

Methods: This study used mixed-methods to analyze top opioid-related posts marked with the hashtag "#opioids" collected in May 2023. Holistic coding was used to topically categorize multimedia content in posts and to quantify the frequency of mentioning opioid-related content areas (eg. overdose, pain, fentanyl). Template analysis methods were then used to develop themes.

Results: 115 posts were analyzed. The most frequently used opioid-related topic codes include prescription opioids (58.3% of posts), pain (47.0%), overdose (35.7%), and fentanyl (34.8%). Posts were most commonly about challenges to accessing prescription opioids for pain management (37.4%), opioid policy (36.5%), and negative consequences of using opioids (32.2%). Qualitative analysis yielded themes about the potential dangers associated with using opioids, treatment and recovery from opioid use disorder, and barriers to obtaining prescription opioids for pain management.

Conclusions: This study revealed polarizing opinions within opioid-related content on TikTok. The two main stances, dangers of non-medical opioid use and advocacy for availability of prescription opioids for pain management, represent nationwide tensions between the opioid and chronic pain crises. The vast audience TikTok garners presents an opportunity for disseminating opioid education, harm reduction strategies, and opioid use disorder treatment options that were largely absent among the posts analyzed.

Objective: More than half of United States 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 Oct-Nov 2021. Predictors included domains of five alcohol-related harms to others (AHTOs): harassment, physical, sexual, academic, and babysitting drinkers. Six binary outcomes included 1) Satisfied with college, 2) Satisfied with academic performance, 3) grade point average (GPA) ≥ 3.0, 4) Depression, 5) Suicidal ideation, and 6) Mental distress.

Results: Harassment AHTOs were associated with lower college satisfaction (aOR=0.54, 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 ≥ 3.0 (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.

Background: The I³ Model posits that men are more likely to engage in sexual aggression (SA) when instigation (e.g., their masculinity is threatened) and impellance are high (e.g., high trait anger), and inhibition is low (e.g., alcohol intoxication). This study investigates the independent and interactive effects of trait anger and acute intoxication on men's SA propensity after exposure to a masculinity threat.

Methods: Cisgender heterosexual men (n = 120, aged 21-30) completed a self-report measure of trait anger, were randomly assigned to consume an alcoholic or nonalcoholic beverage and engaged in the Sexual Imposition Paradigm (SIP) which assessed laboratory-based SA propensity toward a female confederate. Prior to the SIP, all men's masculinity were threatened via feedback from a personality test which indicated that they were less masculine than other men.

Results: The interaction between trait anger and beverage condition was significant. When intoxicated SA propensity increased among men with higher trait anger, whereas for sober men, their SA propensity decreased with higher trait anger.

Discussion: Consistent with the I³ Model, individual differences in trait anger may be a critical risk factor for men's SA under the influence of alcohol. These findings have implications for intervention programming. Anger often arises as a response to feeling vulnerable, such as when men's masculinity is threatened. Thus, the integration of established, evidenced-based approaches to regulate anger into SA interventions may be a promising approach to reduce SA, particularly among men who have consumed alcohol.

Objective: Hookup behaviors (HUBs; i.e., sexual activity outside an exclusive relationship with no mutual expectation of romantic commitment) are prevalent on college campuses and are linked with alcohol use and sexual assault. There is limited understanding of risk factors for consensual and coercive HUBs. We examined the proximal associations between alcohol use and consensual and coercive HUBs and the moderating influence of positive urgency and alcohol-related sexual affect and drive expectancies among college men.

Method: Ninety-nine college men completed a baseline assessment and 60 consecutive daily surveys assessing their alcohol use and HUBs.

Results: An alcohol use day increased the odds of a consensual and coercive HUB, compared to no HUB. An alcohol use day decreased the odds of a consensual HUB, versus a coercive HUB, in the models that included alcohol-related sexual affect and drive expectancies. Only alcohol-related sexual affect expectancies was a significant moderator. An alcohol use day significantly associated with a consensual HUB, compared to no HUB, among college men at low, B = .93, p = .009, OR = 2.53 (95% CI: 1.27, 5.06), and high, B = 1.93, p < .001, OR = 6.87 (95% CI: 4.32, 10.92), levels of alcohol-related sexual affect expectancies.

Conclusions: Results suggest that greater alcohol-related sexual affect expectancies may increase the odds of an alcohol-facilitated consensual HUB among college men. An alcohol use day increases the odds of engaging in a HUB and increases the odds of a coercive HUB, compared to a consensual HUB. Additional research is needed to identify risk factors for coercive HUBs.

Objective: The primary aim of this study was to assess and adjust for measurement non-equivalence (bias) by sex, race/ethnicity, and co-occurring social identities (sex x race/ethnicity) for the Marijuana Effect Expectancies Questionnaire-Brief (MEEQ-B) among Black, Latinx, and Non-Latinx white youth. The second aim was to determine how group comparisons change after accounting for possible measurement bias.

Method: Black, Latinx, and Non-Latinx white youth from the Adolescent Brain and Cognitive Development Study Follow-up 3 (n=8,982; mean age=12.91; SD=0.65; 47.28% female; 15.03% Black, 22.93% Latinx, 62.04% Non-Latinx white) completed the MEEQ-B. Moderated nonlinear factor analysis (MNLFA) generated positive and negative expectancies factor scores accounting for non-equivalence. Analyses contrasted group differences by sex, race/ethnicity, and these co-occurring social identities using original (unadjusted) versus MNLFA-generated scores adjusted for measurement non-equivalence.

Results: Measurement non-equivalence was observed for positive and negative expectancies across sex, race/ ethnicity and their co-occurring social identities. MNLFA revealed between-group differences at the factor and item level. Further, comparisons of original (unadjusted) and MNLFA-generated adjusted scores revealed that unadjusted scores underestimated or did not detect some group differences in positive expectancies identified using adjusted scores, and unadjusted scores underestimated how much lower negative expectancies were in Black and Latinx relative to non-Latinx white youth.

Conclusions: Results highlight the need for caution when interpreting scores of a measure like the MEEQ-B that has not undergone measurement equivalence testing and demonstrate how failing to adjust for non-equivalence can result in biased estimates of positive and negative expectancies, particularly when used with diverse populations.

Objective: An inability to correctly perceive chemosensory stimuli can lead to a poor quality of life. Such defects can be concomitant with excess alcohol consumption, but a large-scale cohort study linking these effects is lacking. This study aimed to investigate the impact of chronic alcohol consumption on chemosensory function by analyzing data from the NHANES 2013-2014, involving 395 participants categorized by alcohol intake behavior: 219 no-intake, 136 light-intake, and 40 risky-intake groups.

Methods: Chemosensory function was assessed using a self-reported Chemosensory Questionnaire along with objective tests for taste (quinine solution) and smell (appetitive and hazardous odors). Adjusted regression analyses were conducted, controlling for age, gender, smoking status, and multiple pairwise comparisons. Weighted regression analyses were also performed.

Results: Risky drinkers had significantly lower odds of identifying quinine (bitter taste) compared to light drinkers (OR = 0.37, p-adjusted = 0.04). Risky drinkers also had higher odds of identifying appetitive odors like strawberry (OR = 5.44, p-adjusted = 0.03) but lower odds for detecting hazardous odors like natural gas (OR = 0.11, p-adjusted = 0.001) compared to light drinkers. Additionally, light drinkers identified the leather scent more effectively than no drinkers (OR = 2.54, p = 0.02).

Conclusions: Chronic alcohol consumption, particularly at risky levels, is associated with altered chemosensory function. These findings emphasize the importance of assessing chemosensory symptoms in individuals with alcohol-related behaviors.

Objective: Personalized normative feedback interventions show efficacy in reducing health risk behaviors (e.g., alcohol use, sexual aggression). However, complex personalized normative feedback interventions may require manual methods of inputting participant data into graphics, which introduces error, and automated approaches require substantial technical costs and funding and may limit the types of feedback that can be provided.

Method: To make personalized normative feedback more accessible, we outline a method of using easily accessible software programs including IBM Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS), Microsoft Excel, and Microsoft PowerPoint, to create and display complex personalized normative feedback graphics. We also describe methods through which personalized normative feedback graphics can be created within a larger preventive intervention for alcohol and sexual assault in college men.

Results: We first provide step-by-step instructions for collecting data and then creating semi-automated syntax files within SPSS and Excel to merge participant data into complex personalized normative feedback graphics in Excel. To do so, we append annotated syntax in text and in supplemental material. Next, we outline the process of creating risk feedback graphics, whereby individual items or exact wording of items are displayed back to the participant. Finally, we provide guidance regarding the process of translating graphics from Excel for viewing via PowerPoint without having to manually update PowerPoint slides for each presentation.

Conclusions: Via the described syntax and graphic generation, researchers are then able to create semi-automated personalized normative feedback and risk feedback graphics. This tutorial may help in increasing the dissemination of complex personalized normative feedback interventions.

Objective: As the legalization of adult-use cannabis has expanded to include almost half of the states in the U.S., 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 non-legal 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 non-legal 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 of public use of cannabis did not differ significantly across agencies in legal and non-legal states. Agencies in cannabis legal states (compared to non-legal states) were more likely to train officers in identifying cannabis impairment among drivers (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 non-legal 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.