Publications by authors named "Craig Fryer"

First-generation Latinx immigrant youth from the Northern Triangle (NT; El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras) face unique risks for experiencing stressors across the phases of migration, which could exacerbate their mental health. This study aimed to (a) identify and characterize unique latent profile groups based on response patterns to immigrant minority stress and psychosocial protective factor items and (b) examine the associations of latent profile membership with depression and anxiety symptoms among NT immigrant youth, controlling for study covariates (i.e.

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Introduction: Blunt and hemp wraps, as a means of consuming cannabis, have emerged into the retail space where the prevalence has been increasing since 2017. There is limited epidemiological research on the prevalence of use of these products across the U.S.

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Background: College students situated at the nexus of racial and sexual and gender minority (SGM) identities may experience multiple identity-related oppressions. We assessed whether racist microaggressions and lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, or questioning (LGBTQ)-related minority stressors (ie, family rejection, identity concealment, racialized heterosexism and/or cisgenderism, internalized LGBTQ-phobia, and victimization) are associated with greater psychological distress among SGM college students of color (SOC) (students who identified as Hispanic/Latinx and/or any nonwhite race).

Methods: Participants were a subset of SOC (n = 200) from a larger nonprobability cross-sectional study of SGM college students.

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Article Synopsis
  • The study investigates the usage patterns of tobacco and marijuana products among young adults in the U.S., highlighting a significant prevalence of use within the past 30 days and beyond.
  • Data was collected from a survey involving 1,189 young adults aged 18-34, focusing on various tobacco and marijuana products, revealing that a large majority have used at least one of these substances.
  • Findings suggest that expanding the definition of current use from the past 30 days to include usage patterns over the past 6 months could provide better insights into poly-substance use trends among this demographic.
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Background: Although socioeconomic disparities in outcomes of peripheral artery disease (PAD) have been well studied, little is known about relationship between severity of PAD and socioeconomic status. The objective of this study was to examine this relationship.

Methods: Patients who had operations for severe PAD (rest pain or tissue loss) were identified in the National Inpatient Sample, 2005-2014.

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Introduction: Little filtered cigars and cigarillos (LCCs) are consumed infrequently, co-administered with marijuana, and concurrently used with other tobacco products. Reliance on the past 30-day use estimate, a marker of tobacco user status, may underestimate the dynamic nature of intermittent LCC and other tobacco product use. We developed a framework to capture the intermittent nature of exclusive LCC use and dual/poly use with cigarettes and large cigars using broader timing of last product use categories and product use modality (e.

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We examined the smoking behaviors of U.S. young adults ages 18-36 regarding little cigars and cigarillos (LCCs) during the COVID-19 pandemic.

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  • Community Health Centers (CHCs) provide essential healthcare and support services to underserved populations, aiming to improve access and reduce health disparities, particularly for patients with cardiometabolic risk factors.
  • A study analyzed data from the 2014 Health Center Patient Survey involving 2,358 adult patients with such risk factors to investigate how enabling services (non-clinical support) affected healthcare access and usage patterns.
  • Results showed that users of enabling services were significantly less likely to delay or forgo care and more likely to attend routine check-ups, but interestingly, those with multiple risk factors experienced increased emergency room visits, raising questions about the overall impact of these services on healthcare behaviors.
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  • This study investigated the impact of health warning labels (HWLs) on waterpipe menus and how they influenced young adult smokers' attention and attitudes towards waterpipe tobacco smoking (WTS).
  • A randomized experiment was conducted with 96 participants using virtual reality, comparing menus with and without HWLs to measure visual attention and posttest attitudes.
  • Results showed that HWL captured more attention, led to negative attitudes toward WTS, increased perceived health risks, and heightened intentions to quit, suggesting that HWLs can effectively communicate the risks of WTS.
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  • The study investigates the link between socioeconomic status (SES) and outcomes after lower extremity arterial reconstruction for severe peripheral arterial disease (PAD).
  • Data from over 131,000 patients showed that those in the lowest median household income quartile had higher rates of amputations and readmissions compared to those in the highest quartile.
  • The findings suggest that lower SES is tied to poorer surgical outcomes, highlighting the need for addressing these socioeconomic disparities to improve patient care.
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  • The study explored how health information on waterpipe lounge menus affects young adults' perceptions of the risks and harms associated with waterpipe tobacco smoking (WTS).
  • Participants aged 18 to 24 who regularly smoke waterpipe were randomly shown menus with either warning messages or information on nicotine content.
  • The results indicated that those who saw warning messages felt that WTS posed greater health risks, while those shown nicotine content believed there was a higher risk of heart attack, suggesting that such health information can effectively educate this age group on the dangers of WTS.
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Introduction: Local governments are pursuing policies to limit the availability of menthol cigarettes at the point-of-sale. Although African Americans are disproportionately impacted by menthol cigarettes, little is known about African American smokers' perspectives on emerging menthol policy. The purpose of this study was to fill a gap in the literature by exploring African American adult (25+) smoker perspectives on menthol and a local menthol sales restriction.

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Though many African American churches offer health promotion activities to their members, less is known about organizational factors that predict the availability of this programming. This study examines organizational capacity as a predictor of the amount and type of health programming offered by a convenience sample of 119 African American churches. Leaders completed a survey of health promotion activities provided in the previous 12 months and a measure of organizational capacity.

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The co-occurring use of tobacco and marijuana among young adults is an important behavioral phenomenon within the field of substance use. Studying tobacco and marijuana use together among young adults can provide important insight into patterns of initiation and continuation. The primary goal of this study was to examine characteristics associated with co-use among young adults and to discover the ways experiences of co-users can help contextualize trends in co-use.

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Background: Prior research has documented a strong association between cigarette and marijuana use among young adults; it is critical to study patterns and risk factors for co-use.

Methods: Appended, cross-sectional National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) data were used to assess prevalence and correlates of cigarette and marijuana co-use among young adults (ages 21-30) over a 10-year period (2005-2014). Respondents (unweighted sample = 4,948) were classified into four categories regarding past-month behavior: neither use, cigarette-only use, marijuana-only use, and co-use of both.

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The use of active transportation (AT), such as walking, cycling, or even public transit, as a means of transport offers an opportunity to increase youth physical activity and improve health. Despite the well-known benefits of AT, there are environmental and social variables that converge on the AT experiences of low-income youth and youth of color (YOC) that have yet to be fully uncovered. This study uses an intersectional framework, largely focusing on the race-gender-class trinity, to examine youth AT within a context of transportation inequity.

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Background: Although Hispanic women have the highest cervical cancer incidence rate, African American women account for a disproportionate burden of cervical cancer incidence and mortality when compared with non-Hispanic white women. Given that religion occupies an essential place in African American lives, delivering health messages through a popular communication delivery channel and framing them with important spiritual themes may allow for a more accessible and culturally appropriate approach to promoting cervical cancer educational content to African American women.

Objective: The aim of this paper was to describe the design and development of the CervixCheck project, a spiritually based short message service (SMS) text messaging pilot intervention to increase cervical cancer awareness and Papanicolaou test screening intention among church-attending African American women aged 21 to 65 years.

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Background: Substance use is prevalent and is associated with academic performance among adolescents. Few studies have examined the association between abstinence from all substances and academic achievement.

Methods: Data from a nationally representative sample of 9578 12th graders from the 2015 Monitoring the Future survey were analyzed to examine relationships between abstinence from substance use and 4 academic variables: skipping school, grades, academic self-efficacy, and emotional academic engagement.

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Racism is a fundamental cause of racial and ethnic disparities in health outcomes. Researchers have a critical role to play in confronting racism by understanding it and intervening on its impact on the health and well-being of minority populations. This requires new paradigms and theoretical frameworks that are responsive to structural racism's present-day influence on health, health disparities, and research.

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Article Synopsis
  • This study investigated if using marijuana as a young adult increases the likelihood of using little cigars or cigarillos (LCC) and large cigars (LC) later on.
  • Data was collected over 8 waves from a national group of young adults aged 18-34, analyzing patterns of substance use while adjusting for factors like demographics and other alcohol/tobacco use.
  • Results indicated that those who had tried marijuana were significantly more likely to start using LCC within 6 months, while prior use of LCs or LCCs did not predict later marijuana use, highlighting a unique link between marijuana and LCC use.
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Background: Mission of Mercy (MOM) emergency dental clinics are a resource for populations lacking access to dental care. We designed a MOM event incorporating health equity components with established community partners who shared a common vision of addressing the oral health, physical health, and social service needs of Maryland and Washington, DC area residents. Although studies have explored associations between oral and chronic health conditions, few studies to our knowledge have examined the relationship between these conditions and receipt of dental services.

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Background: Little is known about how adolescents who smoke both cigarettes and cigar products obtain and use these products. This study sought to explore cigarette and cigar acquisition and situational use among high school smokers.

Methods: Data are drawn from the 2011 Cuyahoga County Youth Risk Behavior Survey.

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Sleep disturbances can accompany alcohol use disorders during various phases of the disease. This analysis utilized a mixed methods approach to assess whether sleep-related beliefs and/or behavior of individuals who are alcohol dependent were associated with sleep quality both pre- and postdischarge from a clinical research facility providing inpatient alcohol rehabilitation treatment. Individuals with higher self-efficacy for sleep (SE-S) reported better sleep quality at both time points.

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