The association between hormonal contraceptive use and smoking, negative affect, and cessation attempts in college females.

Exogenous and endogenous female hormones influence nicotine use and cessation, potentially through mechanisms such as anxiety and negative affect. In the present study, college females using all types of hormonal contraceptives (HC) were compared to those not using HC to determine the potential influence on current smoking, negative affect, and current and past cessation attempts. Differences between progestin-only and combination HC were also examined.

Risk Factors for Substance Use across the Lifespan.

Substance use is a perennial public health concern with associated health risks and economic impacts on society. In this article, we present a selective review of the epidemiological and clinical literatures on alcohol and substance use from a lifespan developmental perspective. We compare and contrast risk factors for the initiation of use and the development of a substance use disorder in adolescence, young adulthood, middle-age and later life.

The association between problematic alcohol use, risk perceptions, and e-cigarette use.

Use of e-cigarettes among college students has escalated, in part due to the perception that they are less harmful than traditional cigarettes and have other benefits such as circumventing smoking bans. College students also drink more heavily than other age groups, and e-cigarettes are associated with alcohol, especially among students who engage in problematic drinking. The present study sought to determine if an interaction between problematic alcohol use and increased perceptions of benefits and decreased perceptions of risks of e-cigarettes would predict whether participants had ever used an e-cigarette.

Dual users of e-cigarettes and cigarettes have greater positive smoking expectancies than regular smokers: a study of smoking expectancies among college students.

In the present study, we sought to determine the differences among college students using e-cigarettes, cigarettes, or both products (dual users) on smoking outcome expectancies and the role of smoking expectancies and e-cigarette use in cessation attempts. We surveyed 1,370 undergraduate college students from November 2014 to November 2016. : Participants completed questionnaires regarding demographics, smoking status/history, and expectancies.

Financial strain mediates the relationship between socioeconomic status and smoking.

Introduction: Smoking is the leading cause of preventable death accounting for about 0.48 million deaths in the US every year. Across the socioeconomic status (SES) gradient smoking prevalence differs greatly, with those of lower SES smoking at much higher rates than those of higher SES.

Motivation and readiness for tobacco cessation among nicotine dependent postmenopausal females: A pilot study.

Despite considerable health risks due to lower levels of estrogen production and the compounding antiestrogenic effects of nicotine, postmenopausal females continue to smoke. These females face significant barriers to cessation, including negative affect, weight concerns, and menopausal symptom severity. The current pilot study explored the effect of negative affect, weight concerns, and menopausal symptom severity on motivation and readiness to quit smoking.

Clinicoradiological features of intraneural perineuriomas obviate the need for tissue diagnosis.

Objective: This study aimed to define a set of clinicoradiological parameters with a high specificity for the diagnosis of intraneural perineurioma, obviating the need for operative tissue diagnosis.

Methods: The authors retrospectively reviewed MR images obtained in a large cohort of patients who underwent targeted fascicular biopsy and included only those patients for whom the biopsy yielded a diagnosis. Clinical and radiological findings were then tested for their ability to predict a tissue diagnosis of intraneural perineurioma.