The Importance of Treatment Modality in Veterans with Opioid Use Disorder: Implications for Virtual Care.

This study examined treatment utilization across in-person and virtual treatment modalities in veterans who were on medications for opioid use disorder (MOUD; N = 139). Treatment records for veterans in addiction treatment on MOUD were examined for 3-months prior to telehealth conversions ("Pre-Telehealth," 12/02/2019-03/14/2020), 3-months during the initial telehealth transition ("Telehealth," 03/15/2020-06/30/2020) and 3-months during post-telehealth transition ("Re-Entry," 07/01/2020-10/01/2020). Analyses examined the relationship between treatment modality and demographic features, psychiatric comorbidities, treatment engagement, and illness severity as measured by psychiatric emergency room (PER) utilization.

A preliminary investigation of the acute effects of delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol on pain and opioid attentional bias among persons with opioid use disorder.

Introduction: Attentional bias (AB) is believed to be an important factor in the development and maintenance of both opioid use disorder (OUD) and chronic pain. Cannabis and its main psychoactive constituent, delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), produce analgesic effects via processes that are potentially relevant to AB and is commonly used by persons with OUD. This exploratory study investigated if THC influences AB towards pain and opioid cues individuals with OUD.

The relationship of pain intensity and opioid craving with delayed methadone dose: A preliminary study of individuals with opioid use disorder.

Aims: Despite a strong theoretical link between opioid craving and pain, little is known about the temporal relationship between pain and craving and the acute experience of pain in the context of methadone treatment. Using a cross-over design, the current study evaluated the time course of pain and craving and objective experience of pain as a function of the last methadone dose.

Methods: Participants (n = 20) presented for the study in the morning and either received methadone dose as scheduled or delayed dose until the afternoon.

The influence of negative urgency and mood inductions on alcohol cognitions.

Background: Negative urgency (NU), the tendency to act rashly during negative emotional states, is a robust risk factor for alcohol misuse that is posited to function in part through alcohol-related cognitions. Nonetheless, relatively little research has examined mood-based fluctuations in such cognitions, which could help to explain how the trait of NU translates to impulsive alcohol-related behaviors. We examined how NU impacted several alcohol cognitions (positive/negative alcohol expectancies, positive/negative alcohol valuations, and alcohol craving for positive/negative emotional reinforcement) before and after negative, neutral, or positive mood inductions.

Distress tolerance, coping motives, and alcohol craving and consumption: Two experiments testing momentary responses to a mood induction.

Background: The current studies examined the relationship between state and trait distress tolerance (DT), drinking-related variables (alcohol craving and consumption), and the moderating role of drinking to cope with negative affect (i.e., coping motives).

Weight change in a national cohort of U.S. Military Veterans engaged in medication treatment for opioid use disorder.

Medication treatments for opioid use disorder (MOUD) save lives and improve outcomes for countless individuals. However, data suggest the potential for significant weight gain during methadone treatment and little is known about weight change during buprenorphine treatment. Using Veteran Health Administration administrative data from fiscal year 2017 to fiscal year 2019, two cohorts were created: 1) Veterans diagnosed with opioid use disorder (OUD) taking methadone (N = 1425); and 2) Veterans diagnosed with OUD taking buprenorphine (N = 3756).

Chronic pain and problematic substance use for veterans during COVID-19: the moderating role of psychological flexibility.

Background: Chronic pain and problematic substance use are commonly co-occurring and highly detrimental issues that are especially prevalent in U.S. veteran populations.

Integrating cognitive bias modification for pain and opioid cues into medication for opioid use disorder clinical care: Feasibility, acceptability, and preliminary results.

Background: Despite high co-occurrence, chronic pain is often unaddressed in treatment for opioid use disorder (OUD) and little is known about mechanisms that may underlie associations between pain and opioid use. Using an attentional bias (AB) task with both pain and opioid cues, we evaluated a cognitive bias modification (CBM) task administered during regularly scheduled medications for OUD (mOUD) dosing visits. The current study evaluated the feasibility, acceptability, and preliminary efficacy of the CBM task.

Trait- and State-Fear of Missing Out: Influences on Alcohol Craving and Drinking Likelihood.

Objective: A growing body of research implicates Fear of Missing Out (FoMO) as a risk factor for collegiate alcohol use. However, little research has explored the causal mechanisms of this association, which may depend on examining FoMO at both trait and state levels. We therefore examined how predispositions toward experiencing FoMO (i.

Subjective stress and alcohol use among young adult and adult drinkers: Systematic review of studies using Intensive Longitudinal Designs.

Understanding how stress dynamically associates with alcohol use could provide a finer-grain resolution of drinking behavior, facilitating development of more effective and personalized interventions. The primary aim of this systematic review was to examine research using Intensive Longitudinal Designs (ILDs) to determine if greater naturalistic reports of subjective stress (e.g.

Bystander Intoxication and Appraisal of Sexual Assault Risk: A Field Study of Emerging Adult Bargoers.

Emerging adults are especially vulnerable to experiencing alcohol-related sexual assault. While bystanders play a critical role in preventing sexual assault, little is known about how bystander alcohol intoxication affects the intervention process-particularly in naturalistic settings. We recruited 315 emerging adult bargoers ages 21-29 (46% women; 28% non-college attending; 81% White) from a high-density bar area to provide responses to a sexual assault vignette and complete a breath alcohol concentration test.

Cocaine Use Disorder (CUD): Current Clinical Perspectives.

Cocaine use disorder (CUD) is a devastating disorder, impacting both individuals and society. Individuals with CUD face many barriers in accessing treatment for CUD, and most individuals with CUD never receive treatment. In this review, we provide an overview of CUD, including risk factors for CUD, common co-occurring disorders, acute and chronic effects of cocaine use, and currently available pharmacological and behavioral treatments.

Negative urgency as a risk factor for hazardous alcohol use: Dual influences of cognitive control and reinforcement processing.

Negative Urgency (NU) is a prominent risk factor for hazardous alcohol use. While research has helped elucidate how NU relates to neurobiological functioning with respect to alcohol use, no known work has contextualized such functioning within existing neurobiological theories in addiction. Therefore, we elucidated mechanisms contributing to the NU-hazardous alcohol use relationship by combining NU theories with neurobiological dual models of addiction, which posit addiction is related to cognitive control and reinforcement processing.

Incorporating telehealth into health service psychology training: A mixed-method study of student perspectives.

Objective: Telehealth is increasingly recognized as an avenue for enhancing psychologists' capacities to meet the mental health needs of a diverse and underserved (due to barriers e.g., distance, transportation) public.

Negative urgency and alcohol-related problems: indirect links with alcohol expectancies and drinking motives.

Negative Urgency (NU), the tendency to act rashly during negative emotional states, is associated with alcohol misuse through various alcohol cognitions; however, these relationships are often examined in isolation and exclude certain alcohol cognitions. This study simultaneously modeled NU's association with alcohol-related problems through (a) beliefs about the likelihood of experiencing positive or negative effects from alcohol (i.e.

Effect of Alcohol Intoxication on Bystander Intervention in a Vignette Depiction of Sexual Assault.

Objective: Alcohol-related sexual violence remains a public health problem. Despite the popularity of sexual assault bystander intervention programs, these may be limited in addressing bystander intoxication because the effects of intoxication on intervening in a sexual assault are unknown. Therefore, we tested the effects of alcohol intoxication on the five steps of bystander intervention in a sexual assault vignette.