Legal Recreational Cannabis Sales and Opioid-Related Mortality in the 5 Years Following Cannabis Legalization in Canada: A Granger Causality Analysis.

Objective: Little is known about the population-level impact of recreational cannabis legalization on trends in opioid-related mortality. Increased access to cannabis due to legalization has been hypothesized to reduce opioid-related deaths because of the potential opioid-sparing effects of cannabis. The objective of this study was to examine the relations between national retail sales of recreational (non-medical) cannabis and opioid overdose deaths in the 5 years following legalization in Canada.

Dried Cannabis Use, Tobacco Smoking, and COVID-19 Infection: Findings from a Longitudinal Observational Cohort Study.

Objective: The potential impact of cigarette and cannabis smoking on COVID-19 infection outcomes is not well understood. We investigated the association between combustible tobacco use and dried cannabis use with COVID-19 infection in a longitudinal cohort of community adults.

Method: The sample comprised 1,343 participants, originally enrolled in 2018, who reported their cigarette and cannabis use in 11 assessments over 44 months, until 2022.

Potential Risks from Cannabis-Infused Beverages: A Critical Review.

Unlabelled: Although Canada legalized cannabis beverages in 2019, most available research on acute cannabis intoxication derives from dried flower and edible products. The distinct bioavailability and pharmacokinetic properties of phytocannabinoids ingested from beverages, however, contribute to significantly different acute and long-term effects that need to be better understood to ensure consumer safety.

Objective: This review investigates existing cannabis beverage literature, with a particular focus on acute intoxication effects.

Evaluating the impact of Canadian cannabis legalization on cannabis use outcomes in emerging adults: Comparisons to a US control sample via a natural experiment.

Background: Recreational cannabis legalization marked a significant policy shift in Canada, but has been difficult to evaluate because of the absence of a control group. Although it is unfeasible to evaluate legalization using a randomized controlled trial design, sophisticated statistical techniques can employ quasi-experimental designs using natural experiments. This study evaluates the impact of cannabis legalization in a longitudinal cohort of Canadian emerging adults by comparing changes in cannabis use frequency and related consequences over time to changes in a similar cohort in a United States jurisdiction where no policy change took place.

Psychometric validation of the Diagnostic Assessment Research Tool: Alcohol use disorder module.

Aims: Structured clinical interviewing is considered the gold standard in psychiatric diagnosis. The Diagnostic Assessment Research Tool (DART) is a novel modularized, non-copywritten, semi-structured interview; however, no studies have examined the psychometric properties of its alcohol use disorder (AUD) module. The primary aims of this study were to: (i) validate the factor structure of the DART AUD module and (ii) examine measurement invariance across several key demographic and subgroup factors.

Do school-based prevention programs impact co-occurring alcohol use and psychological distress during adolescence?

Background: Adolescence is a critical period for preventing substance use and mental health concerns, often targeted through separate school-based programs. However, co-occurrence is common and is related to worse outcomes. This study explores prevention effects of leading school-based prevention programs on co-occurring alcohol use and psychological distress.

Across the multiverse: exploring a diverse set of specifications related to cross-sectional and prospective associations between adolescent alcohol use and emotional problems.

Background: The relationship between adolescent alcohol use and emotional problems remains unclear and contradictory. These inconsistencies may in part be due to differences in the measurement and operationalization of alcohol use and emotional problems across studies, as well as confounder selection and missing data decisions. This study explores the associations between common specifications of adolescent alcohol use and emotional problems in a large sample of adolescents.

The association between teacher distress and student mental health outcomes: a cross-sectional study using data from the school mental health survey.

Background: Few studies have examined the inter-relationships between teacher and student mental health. We aimed to examine associations between teacher distress and student mental health difficulties and if student perceptions of school safety moderate these associations.

Method: Data from 23,568 students in grades 6-12 and 1,478 teachers from 268 schools participating in the School Mental Health Surveys in Ontario, Canada, were used.

Behavioral economic analysis of the comorbidity of alcohol problems and posttraumatic stress: Findings from high-risk young adults and general community adults.

A behavioral economic reinforcer pathology model theorizes that alcohol problems are influenced by steep delay discounting, overvaluation of alcohol reinforcement, and low reinforcement from alcohol-free activities. Extending this account to the comorbidity of alcohol problems and posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), the present study tested the hypothesis that alcohol problems and PTSD symptom severity would interact and be positively associated with indicators from these three domains. High-risk emerging adults from North America (Study 1, = 1,311, = 22.

Empirical examination of working memory performance and its neural correlates in relation to delay discounting in two large samples.

The neurobiological basis of working memory and delay discounting are theorized to overlap, but few studies have empirically examined these relations in large samples. To address this, we investigated the association of neural activation during an fMRI N-Back working memory task with delay discounting area, as well as in- and out-of-scanner working memory measures. These analyses were conducted in two large task fMRI datasets, the Human Connectome Project and the Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development Study.

Refining the Universal, School-Based OurFutures Mental Health Program to Be Trauma Informed, Gender and Sexuality Diversity Affirmative, and Adherent to Proportionate Universalism: Mixed Methods Participatory Design Process.

Background: Mental disorders are the leading cause of disease burden among youth. Effective prevention of mental disorders during adolescence is a critical public health strategy to reduce both individual and societal harms. Schools are an important setting for prevention; however, existing universal school-based mental health interventions have shown null, and occasionally iatrogenic, effects in preventing symptoms of common disorders, such as depression and anxiety.

Triple network resting-state functional connectivity patterns of alcohol heavy drinking.

Aims: Previous neuroimaging research in alcohol use disorder (AUD) has found altered functional connectivity in the brain's salience, default mode, and central executive (CEN) networks (i.e. the triple network model), though their specific associations with AUD severity and heavy drinking remains unclear.

Using Latent Profile Analysis to Characterize Clinical Heterogeneity and Impulsivity in a Large Residential Addiction Treatment Program.

Clinical heterogeneity among patients in addiction treatment settings represents a challenge as most of the treatment programs are designed to treat substance use disorders (SUD) generally rather than offering more tailored approaches addressing individual patient needs. Systematic characterization of clinical heterogeneity may permit more individualized care paths toward improving outcomes. Data were collected from a large inpatient SUD treatment program between April 2018 and March 2020 ( = 1519).

Using random forest to identify correlates of depression symptoms among adolescents.

Purpose: Adolescent depression is a significant public health concern, and studying its multifaceted factors using traditional methods possess challenges. This study employs random forest (RF) algorithms to determine factors predicting adolescent depression scores.

Methods: This study utilized self-reported survey data from 56,008 Canadian students (grades 7-12) attending 182 schools during the 2021/22 academic year.

Consistent cord blood DNA methylation signatures of gestational age between South Asian and white European cohorts.

Background: Epigenetic modifications, particularly DNA methylation (DNAm) in cord blood, are an important biological marker of how external exposures during gestation can influence the in-utero environment and subsequent offspring development. Despite the recognized importance of DNAm during gestation, comparative studies to determine the consistency of these epigenetic signals across different ethnic groups are largely absent. To address this gap, we first performed epigenome-wide association studies (EWAS) of gestational age (GA) using newborn cord blood DNAm comparatively in a white European (n = 342) and a South Asian (n = 490) birth cohort living in Canada.

Age-dependent association of cannabis use with risk of psychotic disorder.

Background: Epidemiologic research suggests that youth cannabis use is associated with psychotic disorders. However, current evidence is based heavily on 20th-century data when cannabis was substantially less potent than today.

Methods: We linked population-based survey data from 2009 to 2012 with records of health services covered under universal healthcare in Ontario, Canada, up to 2018.

Clinical efficacy of deep transcranial magnetic stimulation (dTMS) in psychiatric and cognitive disorders: A systematic review.

Deep transcranial magnetic stimulation (dTMS) has gained attention as an enhanced form of traditional TMS, targeting broader and deeper regions of the brain. However, a fulsome synthesis of dTMS efficacy across psychiatric and cognitive disorders using sham-controlled trials is lacking. We systematically reviewed 28 clinical trials comparing active dTMS to a sham/controlled condition to characterize dTMS efficacy across diverse psychiatric and cognitive disorders.

Changing cannabis legislation in Canada and a longitudinal look at "regular" cannabis use in patients with eating disorders.

Regular cannabis use (CU), defined as "weekly or more often", is associated with a number of negative mental health outcomes. In the last decade, Canada legalized first medical and then recreational CU. Despite higher prevalence in mental health populations, little research has documented changes in frequency of CU with progressive legalization of cannabis.

Psychometric Validation of the Gambling Craving Scale in a Treatment-Seeking Sample.

The Gambling Craving Scale (GACS) is a multifaceted measure of gambling craving. Initial validation work by Young and Wohl (2009) in university student samples showed that the GACS had a three-factor structure capturing dimensions of Desire, Anticipation, and Relief. Despite its potential clinical utility as a measure of craving, the GACS has yet to be validated in people seeking treatment for gambling problems.

Neural correlates of increased alcohol demand following alcohol cue exposure in adult heavy drinkers.

Alcohol use disorder is associated with overvaluation of alcohol relative to other rewards, in part due to dynamic increases in value in response to alcohol-related cues. In a neuroeconomic framework, alcohol cues increase behavioral economic demand for alcohol, but the neural correlates these cue effects are unknown. This functional magnetic resonance imaging study combined a neuroeconomic alcohol purchase task with an alcohol cue exposure in 72 heavy drinkers with established sensitivity to alcohol cues (51 % female; mean age=33.

Using Measurement-Based Care as a Precision Medicine Strategy for Substance Use Disorders.

Purpose Of Review: Precision medicine prioritizes characterization of individual patient parameters to optimize care and this review evaluates measurement-based care (MBC) as a strategy for doing so in the treatment of substance use disorders (SUD). Measurement-based care refers to the systematic use of validated assessments to inform diagnosis and treatment planning, with varying frequency of assessments. Despite the seemingly obvious grounds for the use of MBC in treating SUD, systematic implementation to date has been limited.