Problematic social media use is associated with depression and similar to behavioral addictions: Physiological and behavioral evidence.

While many studies have examined the relationship between problematic social media use (PSMU) and mental health disorders, little is known about reward responsiveness mechanisms that might be driving this relationship and the neurophysiological characteristics of PSMU. We surveyed 96 undergraduate students at a private liberal arts college in upstate NY. PSMU was assessed using the Social Media Disorder Scale.

Being at work improves stress, craving, and mood for people with opioid use disorder: Ecological momentary assessment during a randomized trial of experimental employment in a contingency-management-based therapeutic workplace.

Employment problems are common among people with substance use disorders (SUDs), and improving vocational functioning is an important aspect of SUD treatment. More detailed understanding of the psychosocial benefits of employment may help refine vocational interventions for people with SUDs. Here, we used ecological momentary assessment to measure possible affective improvements associated with work.

I feel good? Anhedonia might not mean "without pleasure" for people treated for opioid use disorder.

is usually defined as partial or total loss of the capacity for pleasure. People with anhedonia in the context of major depressive disorder may have an unexpected capacity for event-related mood brightening, observable when mood is assessed dynamically (with smartphone-based ecological momentary assessment [EMA]) rather than only statically via questionnaire. We used EMA to monitor mood and pleasant events for 4 weeks in 54 people being treated with opioid agonist medication for opioid-use disorder (OUD), which is also associated with anhedonia, said to manifest especially as loss of pleasure from nondrug reward.

Impact of CYP2A6 Activity on Nicotine Reinforcement and Cue-Reactivity in Daily Smokers.

Introduction: Variation in CYP2A6, the primary enzyme responsible for nicotine metabolism, is associated with nicotine dependence, cigarette consumption, and abstinence outcomes in smokers. The impact of CYP2A6 activity on nicotine reinforcement and tobacco cue-reactivity, mechanisms that may contribute to these previous associations, has not been fully evaluated.

Aims And Methods: CYP2A6 activity was indexed using 3 genetic approaches in 104 daily smokers completing forced-choice and cue-induced craving tasks assessing nicotine reinforcement and tobacco cue-reactivity, respectively.

Reward Responsiveness in Patients with Opioid Use Disorder on Opioid Agonist Treatment: Role of Comorbid Chronic Pain.

Objective: Evidence suggests that blunted reward responsiveness may account for poor clinical outcomes in both opioid use disorder (OUD) and chronic pain. Understanding how individuals with OUD and comorbid chronic pain (OUD+CP) respond to rewards is, therefore, of clinical interest because it may reveal a potential point of behavioral intervention.

Methods: Patients with OUD (n = 28) and OUD+CP (n = 19) on opioid agonist treatment were compared on: 1) the Probabilistic Reward Task (an objective behavioral measure of reward response bias) and 2) ecological momentary assessment of affective responses to pleasurable events.

The CB1R rs2023239 receptor gene variant significantly affects the reinforcing effects of nicotine, but not cue reactivity, in human smokers.

Introduction: The cannabinoid CB1 receptor (CB1R) has been shown in preclinical studies to be involved in nicotine reinforcement and relapse-like behavior. The common single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) rs2023239 may code for an alternative CB1R protein, alter CB1R expression, and be involved in nicotine dependence. To date, no study has explored the relationship between this SNP in CB1R and specific phenotypes of nicotine dependence.

Craving mediates the association between momentary pain and illicit opioid use during treatment for opioid-use disorder: an ecological momentary assessment study.

Aim: To assess the role of momentary pain on opioid craving and illicit opioid use among individuals receiving opioid agonist treatment.

Design: Observational study using ecological momentary assessment.

Setting: The National Institute of Drug Abuse Intramural Research Program in the United States.

Beyond abstinence and relapse: cluster analysis of drug-use patterns during treatment as an outcome measure for clinical trials.

Rationale: Many people being treated for opioid use disorder continue to use drugs during treatment. This use occurs in patterns that rarely conform to well-defined cycles of abstinence and relapse. Systematic identification and evaluation of these patterns could enhance analysis of clinical trials and provide insight into drug use.

Prediction of stress and drug craving ninety minutes in the future with passively collected GPS data.

Just-in-time adaptive interventions (JITAIs), typically smartphone apps, learn to deliver therapeutic content when users need it. The challenge is to "push" content at algorithmically chosen moments without making users trigger it with effortful input. We trained a randomForest algorithm to predict heroin craving, cocaine craving, or stress (reported via smartphone app 3x/day) 90 min into the future, using 16 weeks of field data from 189 outpatients being treated for opioid-use disorder.

Exploring the role of the Ser9Gly (rs6280) Dopamine D3 receptor polymorphism in nicotine reinforcement and cue-elicited craving.

Preclinical studies show that the dopamine D3 receptor (D3R) is involved in the reinstatement of drug seeking and motivation for drugs of abuse. A D3R gene variant, Ser9Gly (rs6280) has been linked to nicotine dependence, yet the mechanisms underlying its involvement in nicotine dependence is unclear. This study investigated the relationship between the Ser9Gly variant and measures of both nicotine reinforcement and cue-elicited craving.

Multimodal assessment of sleep in men and women during treatment for opioid use disorder.

Background: Sleep disturbance is common in patients with opioid use disorder (OUD) receiving medication for addiction treatment. Differences between patients on the two primary agonist medications-methadone and buprenorphine-are not well understood.

Methods: In patients receiving either methadone or buprenorphine treatment for OUD, we examined sleep continuity and architecture using ambulatory monitoring to gather both an objective measure (daily sleep EEG; M = 5.

Sleep reductions associated with illicit opioid use and clinic-hour changes during opioid agonist treatment for opioid dependence: Measurement by electronic diary and actigraphy.

Sleep problems are commonly reported during opioid agonist treatment (OAT) for opioid use disorders. Inpatient studies have found both sleep disturbances and improved sleep during OAT. Illicit opioids can also disrupt sleep, but it is unclear how they affect sleep in outpatients receiving OAT.

End-of-day reports of daily hassles and stress in men and women with opioid-use disorder: Relationship to momentary reports of opioid and cocaine use and stress.

Background And Aims: Stress can be validly assessed "live" or by a summary evaluation of the very recent past. Using smartphone-based ecological momentary assessment (EMA) combined with end-of-day (EOD) entries, we assessed the association between daily hassles, stressful events and use of opioids and cocaine, in opioid- and cocaine-using men and women.

Methods: For up to 16 weeks, 161 outpatients in opioid-agonist treatment who reported cigarette smoking carried smartphones on which they reported stressful events (SEs) and drug use (DU) and completed an EOD questionnaire to report hassles encountered throughout the day, current perceived stress, cigarettes/day, and current mood.

Testing the PPAR hypothesis of tobacco use disorder in humans: A randomized trial of the impact of gemfibrozil (a partial PPARα agonist) in smokers.

Unlabelled: Previous pre-clinical studies demonstrated a promising role of alpha-type peroxisome proliferator-activated receptors (PPARα) agonists in decreasing nicotine self-administration and nicotine-seeking behavior in animals. Our goal was to investigate the potential of gemfibrozil, a PPARα agonist, on reducing tobacco smoking in humans.

Methods: This was a double-blind, placebo-controlled, crossover study evaluating the effects of gemfibrozil (1200 mg/day) on smoking in 27 treatment-seeking smokers.

Before and after: craving, mood, and background stress in the hours surrounding drug use and stressful events in patients with opioid-use disorder.

Rationale: Ecological momentary assessment (EMA) of specific events usually focuses more on antecedents and concomitants than on aftermaths.

Objectives: To examine mental state both before and after discrete episodes of stress and drug use.

Methods: For up to 16 weeks, outpatients on opioid-agonist treatment carried smartphones on which they initiated entries for stressful events (SEs) or lapses to drug use (DUs), and thrice daily when randomly prompted (RPs).

Sex differences in daily life stress and craving in opioid-dependent patients.

Background: Responses to stress and drug craving differ between men and women. Differences in the momentary experience of stress in relation to craving are less well-understood.

Objectives: Using ecological momentary assessment (EMA), we examined sex differences in real-time in two areas: (1) causes and contexts associated with stress, and (2) the extent to which stress and drug cues are associated with craving.

Perceptions of Neighborhood Mediate the Relationship Between PTSD Symptoms and Coping in a Neighborhood-Matched Substance-Using Sample.

Objectives: People with substance use problems living in neighborhoods with high levels of disorder are disproportionately likely to experience trauma and develop PTSD symptoms. We sought to evaluate the relationships between objective neighborhood disorder, perceptions of neighborhood, and the use of maladaptive coping behaviors among both non-substance-using and substance-using participants with and without PTSD symptoms.

Methods: Participants (255 non-drug users [NDUs], 168 marijuana and/or alcohol users [MAUs], and 273 opioid and/or stimulant users) completed the Addiction Severity Index, PTSD Checklist-Civilian Version, The COPE Inventory, and the Perceived Neighborhood Scale.

Clonidine Increases the Likelihood That Abstinence Can Withstand Unstructured Time in Buprenorphine-maintained Outpatients.

Objective: In a clinical trial examining daily clonidine as an adjunct to buprenorphine treatment for opioid dependence, we found that clonidine increased opioid abstinence and decoupled stress from craving. From a personalized-medicine perspective, the next step is to identify people for whom clonidine would be beneficial. To that end, using data from the same clinical trial, we examined the associations of daily-life activities with treatment success.

Predictors of the Perception of Smoking Health Risks in Smokers With or Without Schizophrenia.

Objective: This study sought to examine the predictors of health risk perception in smokers with or without schizophrenia.

Methods: The health risk subscale from the Smoking Consequences Questionnaire was dichotomized and used to measure health risk perception in smokers with (n = 67) and without schizophrenia (n = 100). A backward stepwise logistic regression was conducted using variables associated at the bivariate level to determine multivariate predictors.

Aripiprazole for cocaine abstinence: a randomized-controlled trial with ecological momentary assessment.

Aripiprazole blocks psychostimulant seeking in a rat model of relapse. However, in humans, it may increase ongoing use. We tested aripiprazole specifically for relapse prevention.