High-Potency Prenatal Cannabis Exposure and Birth Outcome Measures.

Pregnant women have limited information on the impact of prenatal cannabis exposure (PCE) alone. Our aim was to determine if PCE, without alcohol, tobacco, or illicit drug use, is associated with altered birth outcome measures in obstetrically low-risk women. In this observational cohort study, pregnant women were recruited between 2019 and 2022 from communities in Washington and Oregon, USA, and enrolled following their first trimester.

Organizational on-boarding practices and shifts in alcohol misuse among at-risk college recruits.

With a significant proportion of college students in many countries engaging in risky drinking behavior, this study examines the tendency of such young adults to 'mature out' of such behavior in their first year of employment after graduating, and the degree to which three mainstream organizational on-boarding experiences may expedite such 'maturing out'. Focusing on newcomers' experiences with alcohol-oriented job orientation, job empowerment, and organizational efforts to facilitate the development of supportive peer relationships, we test hypotheses regarding the direct effects of time on the change in alcohol misuse among those reporting misuse in college, as well as the degree to which individual on-boarding experiences account for the variance in young adults' maturing out trajectories over the course of their first year of employment. Findings generated from data collected from over 400 young adults over multiple waves offer important theoretical and practical implications regarding how and why particular onboarding tactics may be more or less effective in influencing newcomers' health-related behaviors.

Discovering what young adults want in electronic interventions aimed at reducing alcohol-related consequences.

Background: Despite intervention efforts, negative alcohol-related consequences continue to impact young adults. Most alcohol interventions focus on reducing alcohol consumption; however, previous research indicates that focusing solely on alcohol use may not decrease consequences. Additionally, many alcohol interventions have diminishing engagement, and few are designed with young adults involved in the development process.

General and Domain-Specific Perceived Risk Demonstrate Unique Associations with Cannabis Use, Negative Outcomes, and Motivation to Change among Undergraduate Students.

College student cannabis use is at an all-time high. Although frequent heavy cannabis use is related to cannabis problems, perceived risk of cannabis use is rapidly decreasing. Yet, it is unknown whether specific domains of risk perceptions (general and domain-specific risk, risk to others and personal risk) are related to more cannabis use or related problems.

Young Adult Alcohol and Cannabis Impaired Driving After the Opening of Cannabis Retail Stores in Washington State.

Motor vehicle crashes are a leading cause of death for young adults (YA) in the USA, and driving under the influence of alcohol (DUIA), cannabis (DUIC), and simultaneous use of both substances (DUIAC) are prominent risk factors. Trends in YA impaired driving behaviors after opening of cannabis retail stores have been understudied. We examined YA trends in DUIA, DUIC, and DUIAC from immediately prior through 5 years following the opening of cannabis retail outlets in Washington State (2014-2019).

Longitudinal examination of alcohol use motives, item-level protective behavioral strategies, and alcohol-related consequences.

Background: Alcohol misuse among college students is a public health concern. Protective behavioral strategies (PBS) can be used before, during, after, or instead of drinking to reduce alcohol use and negative consequences, but findings on their utility at the aggregate level are mixed. Although recent work has provided important information on the performance of individual PBS items, it is limited by research designs that are cross-sectional, do not examine consequences, or do not examine other important correlates, such as drinking motives.

Supervisor Undermining, Social Isolation and Subordinates' Problematic Drinking: The Role of Depression and Perceived Drinking Norms.

Findings regarding the mechanism underlying the impact of supervisor incivility on subordinate alcohol misuse remain equivocal. Specifically, some studies indicate that stress mediates the impact of supervisor incivility on subordinate alcohol misuse, while others, find no evidence for such an effect, suggesting the need to investigate other mechanisms. Extending Conservation of Resource (COR) theory and employing a longitudinal study design, this study examines two alternative mechanisms grounded on social isolation.

Cross-Substance Associations With Transitions in Cannabis and Nicotine Use in a Statewide Sample of Young Adults in Washington State.

Objective: Understanding transitions in nicotine and cannabis use has implications for prevention and efforts to reduce harmful use. Focusing on cross-substance associations, we examined how use of one substance was associated with year-to-year transitions in frequency of use of the other among young adults in the context of legalized nonmedical cannabis.

Method: A statewide sample from Washington ( = 4,039; ages 18-25 at baseline) provided up to 3 years of annual data on past-month cannabis use and nicotine use (tobacco cigarettes and e-cigarettes/vaping).

Changes in Cannabis Use From 2014 to 2019 Among Young Adults in Washington State.

Introduction: Understanding changes in cannabis use in the legalized nonmedical cannabis context is critical. Washington State, one the earliest states to implement legalization, presents a unique opportunity to examine how cannabis use and its consequences changed after the implementation of legalization for adults. With a focus on Washington State young adults, this study conducted in 2022-2023 examined changes in (1) cannabis use by sex and age, (2) preferred mode of use, and (3) cannabis use disorder symptoms.

Behavior change versus stability during the college-to-work transition: Life course and the "stickiness" of alcohol misuse at career entry.

To what extent and under what conditions do college graduates disengage from employment-incompatible behaviors during the college-to-work transition? Drawing from the life course perspective, we proposed a model highlighting considerable stability of employment-incompatible behaviors during initial months of organizational socialization. Our model predicted that maturing out of such behaviors, which is expected by employers and beneficial to career adjustment, would be more likely to occur given a conducive transition context. Using a large dataset tracking graduates from their last semester in college to up to approximately 1.

Whose Approval Matters Most? Examining Discrepancies in Self- and Other- Perceptions of Drinking.

Background: Research demonstrates that perceptions of others' attitudes toward drinking behaviors () are strong predictors of alcohol consumption and problems. Personalized normative feedback (PNF) aims to reduce the discrepancy between one's perception of others' attitudes toward drinking and others' attitudes toward drinking. An implicit assumption of PNF is that self and (perceived) other attitudes toward drinking are aligned (thus, shifting one's perceptions of others' attitudes shifts one's own attitudes).

A Cross-Cultural Comparison of Negative Alcohol-Related Consequences in the United States and Sweden: Measurement Invariance of the Rutgers Alcohol Problem Index.

Commensurate measures of alcohol-related consequences across countries and cultures are critical for addressing the global burden of hazardous alcohol use. The Rutgers Alcohol Problem Index (RAPI), developed and validated in the United States, is a popular measure of alcohol problems. This study examined measurement invariance of the RAPI across samples of U.

Injunctive Norms and Driving Under the Influence and Riding With an Impaired Driver Among Young Adults in Washington State.

Purpose: Alcohol- and cannabis-impaired driving behaviors remain a public health concern especially among young adults (i.e., ages 18-25).

Do brief motivational interventions increase motivation for change in drinking among college students? A two-step meta-analysis of individual participant data.

Background: Brief motivational interventions (BMIs) are one of the most effective individually focused alcohol intervention strategies for college students. Despite the central theoretical role of motivation for change in BMIs, it is unclear whether BMIs increase motivation to change drinking behavior. We conducted a two-step meta-analysis of individual participant data (IPD) to examine whether BMIs increase motivation for change.

Self-report methodology for quantifying standardized cannabis consumption in milligrams delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol.

There is currently no format-independent method to determine delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) in milligrams for self-report studies. Validate self-report method for quantifying mg THC from commercially available cannabis products using product labeling, which includes both net weight and product potency. 53 adult cannabis users (24 M, 29F), 21-39 years of age ( = 28.

Daily-level relationships between negative affect, negative emotion differentiation, and cannabis behaviors among a high-risk sample of young adults.

Prior research suggests that higher trait negative emotion differentiation (NED; one's ability to make subtle distinctions between different negative emotional states) is associated with consuming less alcohol when experiencing high negative affect (NA) in daily life. Yet, whether these findings extend to cannabis use behaviors is unclear. The present study used intensive daily data to test whether NED moderated the relationship between NA and cannabis behaviors.

Prom, graduation and parties: Alcohol use and normative perceptions among high school seniors during specific events.

Background: Previous research has shown that a majority of adolescents in the United States initiate and drink alcohol prior to graduating high school and nearly twenty percent of high school seniors engage in heavy episodic drinking. Despite anecdotal evidence and media portrayals of alcohol use during high school events (e.g.

Injunctive and descriptive normative feedback for college drinking prevention: Is the whole greater than the sum of its parts?

Objective: Single-component personalized normative feedback (PNF) interventions and multicomponent personalized feedback interventions (PFI) have been shown to reduce alcohol consumption among college students. The present study compared the efficacy of PNF interventions targeting descriptive norms alone (descriptive PNF), injunctive norms alone (injunctive PNF), or their combination (combined PNF), against a multicomponent PFI and an attention control condition.

Method: Undergraduates ( = 1,137) across two universities who reported a minimum of one past-month episode of heavy episodic drinking (i.

College students' virtual and in-person drinking contexts during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Background: The COVID-19 pandemic has resulted in pronounced changes for college students, including shifts in living situations and engagement in virtual environments. Although college drinking decreased at the onset of the pandemic, a nuanced understanding of pandemic-related changes in drinking contexts and the risks conferred by each context on alcohol use and related consequences have yet to be assessed.

Methods: Secondary data analyses were conducted on screening data from a large parent clinical trial assessing a college student drinking intervention (N = 1669).

Daily level predictors of impaired driving behaviors in young adults: Protocol design for utilizing daily assessments.

Background: Motor vehicle crashes remain a leading cause of death among young adults (ages 18-25) in the United States. Many drivers implicated in these crashes are under the influence of alcohol, cannabis, or the simultaneous use of alcohol and cannabis. Extremely limited research has assessed impaired driving behaviors and their predictors at the daily level.