The Role of Alcohol Expectancies in the Association Between Behavioral Economic Alcohol Demand, Relative Reinforcement, and Alcohol Problems.

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.

Impact of COVID-19's Economic Burden on Alcohol-Related Problems: An Indirect Effect of Depression, Stress, and Anxiety.

The COVID-19 pandemic resulted in global monumental upheaval. Many people were displaced from their jobs and sources of income. COVID-19 was also linked to increased mental health difficulties and increased alcohol consumption and problems.

Patient Perspective on the Role of Substance-Free Activities During Alcohol Use Disorder Treatment: A Mixed-Method Study.

Behavioral economic theory of addiction proposes that substance use often takes place in environments with limited substance-free reinforcement. While increasing substance-free reinforcement is known to reduce substance use, systematic efforts to boost substance-free reinforcement is not often a focus of most alcohol treatment programs. Participants (N=21) with alcohol use disorder participated in virtual focus group sessions.

Cannabis demand and use among veterans: A prospective examination.

Objective: Cannabis demand (i.e., relative value), assessed cross-sectionally via a hypothetical marijuana purchase task (MPT), has been associated with use, problems, and dependence symptoms, among others.

The Role of Environmental Context and Physical Activity in Prescribed Opioid Use and Pain in Daily Life among Patients With Chronic Low Back Pain.

Background: Prescription opioids remain a primary treatment option for patients with chronic low back pain. However, little research has examined how patients take opioids in daily life. Behavioral economics suggest that the environmental context may contribute to patients' decisions around opioid use.

Self-compassion buffers the internalized alcohol stigma and depression link in women sexual assault survivors who drink to cope.

Background: Depression is strongly implicated in drinking to cope and the development of alcohol use disorders (AUD) in women, particularly among women with a history of sexual assault victimization (SAV). Alcohol use in women is heavily stigmatized, and substance use stigma is associated with depression. This study examined the link between internalized alcohol stigma (AS) and depression and tested whether self-compassion buffered (i.

A Smartphone Physical Activity App for Patients in Alcohol Treatment: Single-Arm Feasibility Trial.

Background: Alcohol use disorder (AUD) is a significant public health concern worldwide. Alcohol consumption is a leading cause of death in the United States and has a significant negative impact on individuals and society. Relapse following treatment is common, and adjunct intervention approaches to improve alcohol outcomes during early recovery continue to be critical.

Exploring Factors Associated With Mobile Phone Behaviors and Attitudes Toward Technology Among Adults With Alcohol Use Disorder and Implications for mHealth Interventions: Exploratory Study.

Background: Alcohol use disorder (AUD) is associated with severe chronic medical conditions and premature mortality. Expanding the reach or access to effective evidence-based treatments to help persons with AUD is a public health objective. Mobile phone or smartphone technology has the potential to increase the dissemination of clinical and behavioral interventions (mobile health interventions) that increase the initiation and maintenance of sobriety among individuals with AUD.

Behavioral activation, affect, and self-efficacy in the context of alcohol treatment for women with elevated depressive symptoms.

Women with Alcohol use disorder (AUD) are more likely than men to have co-occurring depression, drink to cope with negative affect (NA), and cite negative affect as a contributor to relapse. Among AUD treatment seekers, low behavioral activation, NA, and reduced self-efficacy in abstaining from alcohol (e.g.

Evaluating alcohol demand, craving, and depressive symptoms among women in alcohol treatment.

Background: Depression and alcohol craving predict drinking and relapse rates among alcohol treatment seekers. Alcohol demand, or one's valuation of alcohol may be another determinant of drinking. There is little known about alcohol demand and its association with depression, craving, and drinking among treatment-seeking adults.

Cannabis use in civilian college students and college student service members/veterans: the moderating effect of anxiety.

Cannabis is the most commonly used illicit drug on college campuses. Research suggests that Student Service Members/Veterans (SSM/V) may be more likely to use alcohol than civilian students, but little research has focused on cannabis use in these two samples. The purpose of the current study was to compare cannabis use frequency, cannabis use disorder (CUD) symptoms, and cannabis-related problems between civilian students and SSM/V.

Pilot trial investigating a brief behavioral economic intervention as an adjunctive treatment for alcohol use disorder.

Objective: Behavioral economic research suggests that increasing the salience of a delayed reward may improve capacity for delaying gratification and increase behavior allocated toward obtaining larger, delayed substance-free reward rather than smaller, more immediate reward such as alcohol use. This study aimed to improve the efficacy of outpatient alcohol use disorder (AUD) treatment by adding elements that target behavioral economic mechanisms of change.

Method: Forty-one (N = 41) adults in outpatient AUD treatment were recruited and 37 participants were retained at follow-up.

Assessing Cannabis Demand: A Comprehensive Review of the Marijuana Purchase Task.

The marijuana purchase task (MPT) is a behavioral economic measure of individualized cannabis value (i.e., demand).

High Opportunity Cost Demand as an Indicator of Weekday Drinking and Distinctly Severe Alcohol Problems: A Behavioral Economic Analysis.

Introduction: Behavioral economic theory views addiction as a reinforcer pathology characterized by excessive demand for drugs relative to alternatives. Complementary to this theory, Lamb and Ginsburg (Pharmacology Biochemistry and Behavior, 164, 2018, 62) describe addiction as a behavioral allocation disorder and predict that decisions to drink under increasingly stringent constraints are a central indicator of addiction. This study used a modified demand-curve paradigm to examine alcohol demand in the context of a next-day contingency (high opportunity cost demand) as a specific indicator of a severe pattern of alcohol problems.

A randomized clinical trial evaluating the efficacy of a brief alcohol intervention supplemented with a substance-free activity session or relaxation training.

Objective: Behavioral economic theory suggests that a reduction in alcohol use is most likely when there is an increase in rewarding substance-free activities. Anxiety has also been linked to heavy drinking, and strategies to reduce anxiety may enhance alcohol interventions. The goal of this 2-site randomized controlled clinical trial was to evaluate the efficacy of a brief alcohol intervention that was supplemented with either a behavioral economic substance-free activity session (SFAS) or a relaxation training (Relaxation training [RT]) session.

Dysregulation as a correlate of cannabis use and problem use.

Objective: Cannabis users with a dysregulatory risk factor may be particularly vulnerable to engaging in more frequent and problematic cannabis use. Contemporary models of dysregulated behavior suggest that dysregulation emerges due to distinct mechanisms. The current study seeks to examine the dysregulatory correlates of cannabis involvement, including working memory capacity, delay discounting, impulsivity, and reward sensitivity.

Marijuana use motives mediate the association between experiences of childhood abuse and marijuana use outcomes among emerging adults.

Introduction: Experiences of childhood sexual abuse (CSA) and childhood physical abuse (CPA) are associated with poor mental health outcomes including substance use in subsequent years. Marijuana use motives (i.e.

Alcohol family history moderates the association between evening substance-free reinforcement and alcohol problems.

Behavioral economic theories of substance abuse posit that deficits in substance-free reward increase risk for substance misuse, but little research has examined potential moderators of this relationship, including dispositional risk factors. Here, we tested the hypothesis that young adult heavy drinkers with family histories of alcohol misuse would show a stronger association specifically between low evening substance-free reinforcement and alcohol problems compared to those without a family history of alcohol misuse. Participants were 317 college students reporting heavy episodic drinking (Mage = 18.

A Behavioral Economic Analysis of Marijuana and Other Drug Use Among Heavy Drinking Young Adults.

Objective: Behavioral economic models predict that deficits in substance-free reward and future time orientation are associated with greater drug involvement, but this hypothesis has not been systematically investigated among young adult heavy drinkers. This study evaluated the association between drug use levels (heavy drinking (HD) only, HD + marijuana use, and HD + polysubstance use) and substance-free activity engagement, future orientation, and reward deprivation (comprised of reward experience and environmental suppressors of reward) among heavy drinkers.

Method: Participants were 358 college students who reported two or more past-month heavy drinking episodes (5/4 or more drinks in one occasion for a man/woman).

Polysubstance use is associated with deficits in substance-free reinforcement in college students.

Objective: Diminished availability of substance-free reinforcement is a behavioral economic risk factor for dependence. The goal of this study was to determine the incremental effects of increasing levels of substance use (heavy drinking [HD], heavy drinking and marijuana use [HD + MJ], and polysubstance use) on levels of reinforcement related to substance-free activities and related constructs among college students.

Method: Participants were 205 college students (53% female; 65% White, 26% African American; Mage = 19.

Buprenorphine treatment for hospitalized, opioid-dependent patients: a randomized clinical trial.

Importance: Buprenorphine opioid agonist treatment (OAT) has established efficacy for treating opioid dependency among persons seeking addiction treatment. However, effectiveness for out-of-treatment, hospitalized patients is not known.

Objective: To determine whether buprenorphine administration during medical hospitalization and linkage to office-based buprenorphine OAT after discharge increase entry into office-based OAT, increase sustained engagement in OAT, and decrease illicit opioid use at 6 months after hospitalization.

Family history of problem drinking is associated with less sensitivity of alcohol demand to a next-day responsibility.

Objective: Behavioral economic demand curves measure alcohol consumption as a function of price and may capture clinically relevant individual differences in alcohol-reinforcing efficacy. This study used a novel, behavioral-economic, hypothetical demand-curve paradigm to examine the association between family history of alcohol misuse and individual differences in both alcohol demand and the relative sensitivity of alcohol demand to next-day responsibilities.

Method: Participants were 207 college students (47% male, 68.

Days of heroin use predict poor self-reported health in hospitalized heroin users.

This study examined associations between substance use behaviors and self-reported health among hospitalized heroin users. Of the 112 participants, 53 (47%) reported good or better health. In multivariable logistic regression models, each day of heroin use in the last month was associated with an 8% lower odds of reporting health as good or better (OR=.