Publications by authors named "Melissa L Gasser"

Objective: A movement of parents refusing vaccines for their children has contributed to increasingly large outbreaks of diseases that are preventable by vaccines. Research has identified multiple factors that relate to parents' vaccination behaviors (i.e.

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Objective: Recent research has revealed positive associations between alcohol use and physical activity. However, findings from these studies have been inconsistent, and longitudinal designs have been underutilized. Therefore, the present study examined longitudinal associations between physical activity and alcohol use in a sample of young adults.

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Multiple studies indicate that implicit alcohol-related associations (i.e., indices of relatively fast, spontaneous processes) predict drinking.

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Background: This paper provides an overview of the self-concept as it relates to substance use. Self-concept has a long history in psychological theory and research; however, substance self-concept (e.g.

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Objective: There is considerable excitement about implicit alcohol associations (IAAs) as predictors of college-student hazardous drinking; however, few studies have investigated IAAs prospectively, included multiple assessments, or controlled for previous drinking. Doing so is essential for showing the utility of these associations as predictors, and ultimately, targets for screening or intervention. Therefore, 3 IAAs (i.

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Drinking identity (viewing oneself as a drinker) is a potential risk factor for problematic drinking in US undergraduate samples. Whether that risk extends to a broader, more general US sample is unknown. Additionally, there are critical, unanswered questions with respect to moderators of the drinking identity-problematic drinking relationship; an important issue for designing prevention efforts.

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There is preliminary evidence that approach avoid training can shift implicit alcohol associations and improve treatment outcomes. We sought to replicate and extend those findings in US undergraduate social drinkers (Study 1) and at-risk drinkers (Study 2). Three adaptations of the approach avoid task (AAT) were tested.

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Background: Historically, US federal policy has not supported harm reduction interventions, such as safe injection facilities (SIFs) and needle and syringe programs (NSPs), which can reduce the burden associated with injection drug use. Given recent increases in abuse of both legal and illegal opioids, there has been a renewed debate about effective ways to address this problem. The current study (1) assessed participants' support for SIFs and NSPs, and (2) evaluated several demographic factors (e.

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Introduction: As research on implicit (in the sense of fast/reflexive/impulsive) alcohol associations and alcohol advances, there is increasing emphasis on understanding the circumstances under which implicit alcohol associations predict drinking. In this study, we investigated habitualness of drinking (i.e.

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Introduction: Implicit drinking identity (i.e., cognitive associations between the self and drinking) is a reliable predictor of drinking.

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Unlabelled: Approximately 10% of US college students are engaged in non-medical use of prescription stimulants (NMUPS) and that use is linked to concerning health, educational, and societal consequences. Few studies have assessed normative perceptions surrounding NMUPS. Accordingly, we examined self-reported use and normative perceptions for NMUPS and demographic factors that may be associated with them.

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Background And Objectives: Prominent theories suggest that explicit and implicit cognitive biases are critical in the development and maintenance of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). However, studies evaluating implicit PTSD-related cognitive biases are rare, and findings are mixed. We developed two adaptions of the Implicit Association Test (IAT), the "traumatized self" IAT (evaluations of the self as traumatized vs.

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