JOURNAL OF DRUG EDUCATION最新文献

Emerging adults with lower educational attainment are at elevated risk for a range of negative outcomes. Relative to college populations, far less attention has focused on reducing drinking-related risks among noncollege-attending young adults. Research that elucidates nonstudents' preferences for interventions along with differences based on drinking-related risk level is critical to the development of tailored efficacious intervention approaches. We aimed to describe nonstudent emerging adults' intervention utilization and presenting concerns, as well as intervention preferences and perceived motivators and barriers to intervention engagement. We also examined differences based on drinking-related risk status (i.e., high vs. low-risk drinkers). Our sample consisted of nonstudent drinkers (N = 184) who completed a cross-sectional, online survey. Results revealed surprisingly low intervention utilization histories. Participants largely preferred online or web-based services over other modalities, which may be related to high endorsement of access-related barriers. Certain barriers and motivators were more endorsed than others among the overall sample. High-risk drinkers had higher endorsement of barriers related to access (e.g., time, costs) and personal or emotional concerns (e.g., lack of support, shame and embarrassment) relative to low-risk drinkers. Our findings provide key insights into possible approaches for improving alcohol intervention efforts among this underserved, high-risk population.

BackgroundPrior research suggests that military personnel endorse higher rates of prescription drug misuse, cannabis, and heavy alcohol use than civilians. Factors related to substance use may differ for military personnel compared to civilians. In the present study, we examined whether combat exposure, moral injury, posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), and pain were associated with military personnel's self-reports of misuse of prescription opiates, prescription sedatives, both prescription opiates and sedatives, cannabis use, and hazardous alcohol consumption.MethodParticipants were a community sample of 238 U.S. military personnel who had deployed one or more times (71.0% males; M = 33.3 years; SD = 3.2).ResultsIn our sample, rates of past week misuse were as follows: 21.0% prescription opiates, 25.6% prescription sedatives, 16.4% both prescription opiates and sedative medications. With respect to cannabis use and alcohol consumption, 14.7% reported past-week cannabis use and 46.2% participants reported hazardous alcohol consumption above suggested clinical cut-offs. In multivariable multinomial logistic regression analyses, combat exposure and moral injury were uniquely associated with a greater likelihood of misusing prescription opiates, sedatives, and both opiates and sedatives versus no misuse. Higher PTSD symptoms scores were uniquely associated with past week cannabis use versus no use. Further, greater combat exposure was uniquely associated with a greater likelihood of engaging in hazardous alcohol use.ConclusionsThese results suggest that distinct psychosocial factors may differentially impact substance use among military personnel. Findings indicate the importance of assessing combat exposure, moral injury, PTSD, and pain to better understand substance use and treatment of military personnel.

Adverse childhood experiences (ACES) increase the risk for problematic alcohol use. However, protective factors, such as social support have been found to buffer against these consequences. The goal of this study was to highlight the connection between ACES and problematic alcohol use. Additionally, the aim was to investigate perceived social support as a moderator between ACES and problematic alcohol use and examine the domains of social support and how they individually moderate the association between ACES and social support. Data were collected using an international online subject pool (n = 350; 88.3% Caucasian, 66.9% female; 87.7% from the United Kingdom). Participants completed a battery of assessments to assess the topics of childhood trauma, perceived social support, and problematic alcohol use. Moderation analyses were used to investigate whether overall social support and the various domains of social support moderated the association between ACES and problematic alcohol use. Findings revealed that perceived family support significantly moderated the connection between ACES and alcohol use, such that the relation between ACES and problematic alcohol use was strongest at higher levels of family support (b = .24, SE = .09, p < .008, 95% CI [.06, .41]). In general, these findings contradict previous literature in that higher levels of family support did not appear to act as a buffer between ACES and problematic drinking. Future work is needed to explore additional factors that could impact the relations between social support, ACES, and problematic drinking.

We studied alcohol, tobacco, and other drug use (ATOD) among adolescents during the COVID-19 pandemic, hypothesizing that social-emotional support from teachers during the pandemic would lessen adolescent-reported use of ATOD in the last 30 days. A sample of 3,086 high school youth (51% girls; 45% youth of color) from seven U.S. communities participated in an anonymous online survey between March 2021 and July 2021. Data were analyzed using logistic regressions and structural equation modeling. Teacher social-emotional support predicted greater perceived risk from using ATOD (OR = 1.36-1.73), less 30-day ATOD use (OR = .65-.84), and greater perceived school cultural responsiveness, adolescent social-emotional competencies, and adolescent use of positive coping strategies. Social-emotional support from teachers during the COVID-19 pandemic was significantly related to students perceiving greater risk from using ATOD and reporting more social-emotional competence, which in turn contributed to less ATOD use in the last 30 days. School policies and practices that strengthen student-teacher relationships can help mitigate adolescent ATOD use.

The COVID-19 pandemic has significantly influenced substance prevention work, exacerbating existing challenges and providing new opportunities for community-based substance prevention networks (CSPNs). CSPNs are interorganizational networks that include various providers, such as nonprofits and government agencies, that collaborate to provide substance prevention services and are embedded in local communities. This study analyzes the post-pandemic adaptation of a CSPN in the United States. Through qualitative thematic analysis of interview data with network leaders, this study identifies two primary challenges: resource constraints and engagement obstacles and two primary opportunities: innovation in service delivery and data importance. The findings affirm what is known about the barriers to substance prevention and point to a novel shift in community-based substance prevention work. Particularly, CSPNs are adopting harm-reduction tactics and expanding digital outreach to support clients. As CSPNs continue to emerge, this research provides insight into the evolving landscape of substance prevention work and the critical role of community-based networks. The findings in this study offer practical implications for enhancing CSPN effectiveness and resilience in substance prevention.

Background: Substance use among college students remains an important public health issue, which may have been exacerbated by the social and behavioral health disturbances resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic. Objectives: This investigation employed egocentric social network analysis to assess associations between individual and network-level factors on students' self-reported changes in substance use behaviors 18 months into the pandemic. Methods: In Fall 2021, an online Qualtrics survey was administered at a large public university in the southwestern United States. Enrolled college students (n = 355) completed the survey voluntarily. An egocentric network analysis explored how personal network metrics influence substance use at the individual level. Multinomial logistic regression models assessed individual and network-level factors, relative to changes in students' substance use behavior patterns. Three distinct models were computed, predicting changes in (1) alcohol consumption, (2) smoking behavior, and (3) recreational drug use. Results: The majority of respondents reported no change to their smoking/vaping (54%) and recreational drug use (43%); however, alcohol use increased for a large portion of respondents (41%). When just comparing the overall proportion of respondents who either decreased or increased their substance use during the pandemic, more were found to have increased consumption of alcohol, tobacco, or other drugs as opposed to consuming less. For instance, more than half of respondents (56%) indicated their alcohol consumption had increased, while 4 out of every ten respondents indicated their recreational drug use increased. Respondents who increased their substance use during the prior 18 months perceived greater substance use behaviors among peers in their networks. Conclusions: Future investigations should explore unique network properties and influences on substance use behaviors and changes among college students in higher education institutions.

This study aims to assess whether students at schools implementing Project SUCCESS (PS) have different substance use and mental health outcomes than those at schools not implementing PS. Surveys were administered to 18,151 middle and high school students from 29 school districts and 50 schools. Multivariable logistic and linear regressions controlling for individual- and school-level characteristics were used. Students at schools with PS had lower odds of past month cigarette use, vaping, alcohol use, marijuana use, past year suicide ideation, and had fewer depressive symptoms relative to students at schools without PS. Findings suggest students at schools with PS may be less likely to engage in substance use and less likely to experience mental health challenges than students at schools without PS.

Youth are particularly vulnerable to adverse outcomes from substance use, and there is limited evaluated drug education targeting youth in Canada or the United States of America (US). This scoping review identified and synthesized existing literature on evaluated harm reduction substance use education programs for school-aged youth in Canada and the US. Following the methodological framework outlined by Arksey and O'Malley, a database search identified relevant articles published between 2012 and 2025 through MEDLINE, Scopus, APA PsycInfo, ERIC, Academic Search Complete, Social Work Abstracts, and Embase. Of 1912 unique citations, 20 studies met our inclusion criteria; of these, 18 programs were implemented in the US and two in Canada with various target populations: high school (n = 4), middle school (n = 6), elementary school (n = 2), at-risk youth (n = 3) and other (n = 5). Most programs focused on reducing substance use frequency (n = 16) and used quantitative evaluation methods (n = 16). The results highlighted a shortage of evaluated harm reduction programs for school-aged youth in Canada and the US. These findings will support the development and evaluation of a drug education strategy incorporating harm reduction principles for school-aged youth.

Pain and cannabis use are highly prevalent among emerging adults but research regarding how pain is associated with cannabis-related expectancies is limited. Emerging adults who reported past three-month cannabis use (N = 173) were recruited through an online sampling platform. Participants completed the Graded Chronic Pain Scale, Cannabis Use Disorders Identification Test - Revised, and Marijuana Effect Expectancy Questionnaire. Multiple linear regressions indicated that pain intensity and disability were associated with hazardous cannabis use and expectancies for global negative effects (ps < .001). Sex did not moderate any of these relationships (ps > .14). Findings suggest that emerging adults who experience pain report greater hazardous cannabis use and may expect more negative effects of cannabis use. Researchers and clinicians should consider assessing pain in the context of cannabis studies and interventions.

Alcohol consumption and related problems are common among college students. Prior research links behavioral economic (BE) constructs of alcohol demand and relative reinforcement (RR), and alcohol expectancies, with alcohol consumption/problems. However, research has yet to examine the associations between BE, expectancy theory, and alcohol use outcomes. In this study, college students (n = 287) completed a single online survey assessing demand, RR, alcohol expectancies, and alcohol use/problems. We examined the cross-sectional indirect association of expectancies and drinking on the relationship between demand and alcohol problems and between RR and alcohol problems. The final model showed adequate fit, χ²(26) = 67.23, RMSEA = .07, CFI = .95, SRMR = .06. Higher demand and RR were associated with stronger alcohol expectancies, which demonstrated an indirect association on the relationship between demand, and RR, and alcohol problems. Findings suggest that demand and RR may be directly related to alcohol expectancies; a relationship that has not been previously identified. Moreover, alcohol expectancies may impact the associations among demand, RR, and alcohol problems. Thus, alcohol expectancies may be an important intervention target for reducing alcohol problems. Future longitudinal research is needed to evaluate this association over time and assess if these findings have potential impact for intervention research.