Empirical Profiles of Alcohol and Marijuana Use, Drugged Driving, and Risk Perceptions.

Objective: The present study sought to inform models of risk for drugged driving through empirically identifying patterns of marijuana use, alcohol use, and related driving behaviors. Perceived dangerousness and consequences of drugged driving were evaluated as putative influences on risk patterns.

Method: We used latent profile analysis of survey responses from 897 college students to identify patterns of substance use and drugged driving.

Social contextual risk factors for stimulant use among adolescent American Indians.

Objective: Stimulants are the most common and efficacious treatment for Attention-Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD). We examined the relationship between stimulant misuse and social factors that could be malleable to prevention among American Indian (AI) adolescents.

Method: Participants were AI students (N=3498) sampled from 33 schools in 11 states.

Craving and acute effects of alcohol in youths' daily lives: Associations with alcohol use disorder severity.

Identifying factors associated with the progression from recreational to pathological drinking in youth holds high clinical and theoretical importance. The present study tested cross-sectional associations of alcohol use disorder (AUD) severity with putative mechanisms of AUD progression among youth ages 15-24 years, namely acute subjective effects of alcohol and craving. Male (n = 44) and female (n = 42) youth completed ecological momentary assessments when not drinking, just before drinking, and while drinking in the natural environment via handheld wireless devices.

Subjective alcohol responses in a cross-sectional, field-based study of adolescents and young adults: Effects of age, drinking level, and dependence/consequences.

Background: Adolescents are physically, cognitively, socially, and emotionally different than adults in ways that may partially explain why alcohol misuse typically develops during this period. Ample animal-science evidence and nascent ecological evidence points toward developmentally limited differences in sensitivity to alcohol's stimulatory and sedative effects. Field-based research methods were used to test for such age-related differences in a sample of adolescents through young adults.

Latent growth classes of alcohol-related blackouts over the first 2 years of college.

Alcohol-related blackouts are common among college student drinkers. The present study extends prior work by examining latent growth classes of blackouts and several predictors of class membership. Participants (N = 709 college drinkers) completed a baseline survey at college entry and biweekly online assessments throughout freshman and sophomore years.

Emerging Pharmacologic Treatments for Adolescent Substance Use: Challenges and New Directions.

Adolescence is a key period in the development of substance use and misuse. Substance use typically begins during adolescence and prevalence rates for many substance use disorders peak before age 21 years. Yet, despite clinical demand, treatments for youth rely almost entirely on psychosocial interventions that yield only modest benefit.

Within-person associations between daily motivation and self-efficacy and drinking among problem drinkers in treatment.

Gaining a better understanding of the change process holds promise to improve alcohol treatment. Ecological momentary assessment (EMA) coupled with intensive longitudinal data (ILD) approaches have been proposed as promising methods that can advance change process research but have been used infrequently in alcohol use disorder (AUD) treatment research. The current study used these approaches to examine the within-person associations of motivation and self-efficacy and drinking among treatment-seeking problem drinkers.

Acute subjective response to alcohol as a function of reward and punishment sensitivity.

Individual differences in subjective response to alcohol play a crucial role in the development of heavy drinking and related problems. In light of this, a growing focus of research has been identifying factors that contribute to differences in response. The aim of the present study was to determine whether individual differences in the subjective experience of rewarding and aversive effects of alcohol are a specific manifestation of general differences in reward and punishment sensitivity.

Topiramate and motivational enhancement therapy for cannabis use among youth: a randomized placebo-controlled pilot study.

Cannabis misuse accounts for nearly all of the substance abuse treatment admissions among youth in the United States. Most youth do not experience sustained benefit from existing psychosocial treatments; however, medication development research for treating adolescent cannabis misuse is almost nonexistent. We conducted a double-blind, placebo-controlled, pilot study to test the potential efficacy of topiramate plus motivational enhancement therapy (MET) for treating cannabis use among adolescents.

An event-level investigation of hangovers' relationship to age and drinking.

Animal and human data suggest that adolescents experience hangover effects that are distinct from adults. The present study used ecological momentary assessment (EMA) methods to examine the temporal relationships between drinking and hangovers, and how this varied by age and sex. We hypothesized that alcohol's dose-dependent effects on hangover severity are more pronounced among adolescents and young adults than older drinkers.

Undifferentiated negative affect and impulsivity in borderline personality and depressive disorders: A momentary perspective.

Individuals with borderline personality disorder (BPD) often report experiencing several negative emotions simultaneously, an indicator of "undifferentiated" negative affect. The current study examined the relationship between undifferentiated negative affect and impulsivity. Participants with a current BPD (n = 67) or depressive disorder (DD; n = 38) diagnosis carried an electronic diary for 28 days, reporting on emotions and impulsivity when randomly prompted (up to 6 times per day).

Ecological evidence that affect and perceptions of drink effects depend on alcohol expectancies.

Aims: (1) To compare affective changes over drinking and non-drinking days among frequent drinkers and (2) to evaluate whether drinkers' expectations influence affective changes and perceived pleasure and relief from drinking.

Design: Observational study involving ecological momentary assessments collected via electronic diaries during the course of 3 weeks.

Setting: Drinkers' usual settings in Columbia, MO, USA.

Resilience in Organ Transplantation: An Application of the Connor-Davidson Resilience Scale (CD-RISC) With Liver Transplant Candidates.

End-stage liver disease (ESLD) is a chronic and debilitating condition associated with substantial psychological stress, morbidity, and mortality. The Connor-Davidson Resilience Scale (CD-RISC; Connor & Davidson, 2003 ) is a commonly used resilience measure. This research examined the validity of the CD-RISC among ESLD patients (N = 120) using exploratory factor analysis.

The Protective Behavioral Strategies Scale-20: improved content validity of the Serious Harm Reduction subscale.

Excessive drinking in college leads to serious harms, but students who use protective behavioral strategies (PBS) avoid negative consequences by drinking in a safer manner. This study aimed to increase the content validity of the Serious Harm Reduction (SHR) subscale of the most widely used measure of PBS, the Protective Behavioral Strategies Scale (PBSS: Martens et al., 2005).

Biobehavioral mechanisms of topiramate's effects on alcohol use: an investigation pairing laboratory and ecological momentary assessments.

Topiramate reduces drinking, but little is known about the mechanisms that precipitate this effect. This double-blind randomized placebo-controlled study assessed the putative mechanisms by which topiramate reduces alcohol use among 96 adult non-treatment-seeking heavy drinkers in a laboratory-based alcohol cue reactivity assessment and in the natural environment using ecological momentary assessment methods. Topiramate reduced the quantity of alcohol heavy drinkers consumed on drinking days and reduced craving while participants were drinking but did not affect craving outside of drinking episodes in either the laboratory or in the natural environment.

Relations Among Caffeine Consumption, Smoking, Smoking Urge, and Subjective Smoking Reinforcement in Daily Life.

Caffeine consumption and cigarette smoking tend to occur within the same individuals and at the same time. One potential explanation for this co-use is that caffeine consumption increases subjective smoking reinforcement. Electronic diaries were used to collect momentary reports of smoking, caffeine consumption, temptation/urge to smoke, and subjective smoking reinforcement in 74 prequit smokers.

Characterizing subjective responses to alcohol among adolescent problem drinkers.

Theoretical models of alcoholism emphasize the acute reinforcing properties of alcohol as chief determinants of drinking, and animal research suggests adolescents are uniquely sensitive to these effects. Human studies of these phenomena, however, are virtually nonexistent. We used ecological momentary assessment methods to capture adolescents' subjective responses to alcohol in real time in their natural environments.

Spirituality and treatment of addictive disorders.

Spirituality is generally protective against the initiation of alcohol and drug use and progression to disordered use. In addition, mutual-help organizations, such as Alcoholics Anonymous, were founded on spiritual principles, and reliance on a "higher power" is a central component of the 12 steps. Despite this, spirituality is not commonly addressed in formal treatment of addictions.

Sport-related achievement motivation and alcohol outcomes: an athlete-specific risk factor among intercollegiate athletes.

Intercollegiate athletes report greater alcohol consumption and more alcohol-related problems than their non-athlete peers. Although college athletes share many of the same problems faced by non-athletes, there are some consequences that are unique to athletes. Studies have demonstrated that alcohol negatively affects athletic performance including increased dehydration, impeded muscle recovery, and increased risk for injury.

Testing measurement invariance of the protective behavioral strategies scale in college men and women.

This study tested whether the measurement parameters of the Protective Behavioral Strategies Scale (PBSS; Martens et al., 2005) were equivalent for men and women in a college student sample. Multi-group confirmatory factor analyses tested whether a similar 3-factor latent structure was shared across gender groups and whether item origins (i.

Perceived danger while intoxicated uniquely contributes to driving after drinking.

Background: Previous findings suggest that alcohol alters perceptions of risky behaviors such as drinking and driving. However, studies testing these perceptions as a predictor of drinking and driving typically measure these perceptions while participants are sober. This study tested whether the perceived danger of driving after drinking assessed while intoxicated was associated with increased willingness to drive and self-reported drinking-and-driving behavior over and above perceptions assessed while sober.

The development and psychometric evaluation of the Smokeless Tobacco Expectancies Scale (STES).

Expectancies regarding the effects of various psychoactive substances are important predictors of the initiation and maintenance of substance use. Although measures of outcome expectancies exist for several addictive substances, there is currently no measure to assess smokeless tobacco (ST) expectancies in an adult population. This article presents 2 studies leading to the development and psychometric evaluation of the Smokeless Tobacco Expectancies Scale (STES).

Marijuana use, driving, and related cognitions.

The purpose of the present study was to examine cognitive risk factors for driving after use of marijuana. We tested whether marijuana outcome expectancies and specific cognitions about driving after marijuana use were uniquely associated with the likelihood and frequency of driving while high (DWH) and riding with a high driver (RWHD). Participants were college students recruited from introductory psychology classes at a Midwestern university who reported ever using marijuana in their lifetime and reported having access to a car or driving at least once a month (n = 506).

Direct and indirect effects of impulsivity traits on drinking and driving in young adults.

Objective: Impulsivity is strongly associated with alcohol-related risk-taking behavior, and this association has been found to be mediated by alcohol cognitions. The current study expanded this literature by comparing the relative association of distinct impulsivity traits with a specific risky behavior--drinking and driving. We then tested whether drinking-and-driving expectancies uniquely mediated this relation over and above other cognitions about alcohol and drinking and driving.

Acute alcohol effects on impulsivity: associations with drinking and driving behavior.

Aims: Although drink drivers exhibit higher levels of trait impulsivity, no studies have tested the hypothesis that drink drivers experience increased impulsivity while intoxicated. We tested this hypothesis for two impulsivity constructs: delay discounting and behavioral inhibition.

Design: A within-subjects study comparing performance of drink drivers and non-drink drivers on behavioral measures of impulsivity in alcohol and no-beverage sessions.