Mental health symptoms among American veterans during the COVID-19 Pandemic.

We examined the symptom trajectories of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), depression, and anxiety among 1,230 American veterans assessed online one month prior to the COVID-19 outbreak in the United States (February 2020) through the next year (August 2020, November 2020, February 2021). Veterans slightly increased mental health symptoms over time and those with pre-pandemic alcohol and cannabis use disorders reported greater symptoms compared to those without. Women and racial/ethnic minority veterans reported greater symptoms pre-pandemic but less steep increases over time compared to men and white veterans.

American Veterans in the Era of COVID-19: Reactions to the Pandemic, Posttraumatic Stress Disorder, and Substance Use Behaviors.

The COVID-19 pandemic may have a compounding effect on the substance use of American veterans with posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). This study investigated the relationship between PTSD and current reactions to COVID-19 on alcohol and cannabis use among veterans who completed a survey 1 month prior to the pandemic in the USA and a 6-month follow-up survey. We hypothesized that veterans with PTSD would experience more negative reactions to COVID-19 and increased alcohol and cannabis use behaviors over those without PTSD.

Substance use, depression, and loneliness among American veterans during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Background And Objectives: Behavioral health issues, such as substance use, depression, and social isolation, are of grave concern during COVID-19, especially for vulnerable populations. One such population is US veterans, who have high rates of pre-existing behavioral health conditions and may thus be at-risk for poorer outcomes. The current study aimed to investigate substance use among US veterans during COVID-19 as a function of pre-existing depression, loneliness, and social support.

Changes in alcohol use during the COVID-19 pandemic among American veterans.

Background: The COVID-19 pandemic has had considerable behavioral health implications globally. One subgroup that may be of particular concern is U.S.

Protective Behavioral Strategies and Alcohol Use While Pregaming: The Moderating Role of Depression and Anxiety Symptoms.

The study evaluated the moderating role of anxiety and depression symptoms on the association between subscales on the Protective Behavioral Strategies for Pregaming (PBSP) scale (safety and familiarity, setting drink limits, pacing drinking, and minimizing intoxication) and alcohol consumption during pregaming. Participants were 359 traditional age undergraduate college students ( = 20,  = 1.37; 61.

Longitudinal effects of adverse childhood experiences on substance use transition patterns during young adulthood.

Background: Few studies have investigated how adverse childhood experiences are associated with substance use patterns during young adulthood, a crucial developmental period.

Objective: The objective of this study was to extend current knowledge on the association between adverse childhood experiences and patterns of substance use among young adults. We also sought to understand how current mental health status and biological sex influences these patterns.

Associations between symptoms of posttraumatic stress disorder, pain, and alcohol use disorder among OEF/OIF/OND veterans.

Background: Alcohol use disorder (AUD) is prevalent among Operation Enduring Freedom, Operation Iraqi Freedom, and Operation New Dawn (OEF/OIF/OND) veterans. Pain and posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) are highly comorbid and increase risk of AUD. Prior studies linking pain or PTSD to AUD have not explored interactions between pain and PTSD symptoms.

Screening for more with less: Validation of the Global Appraisal of Individual Needs Quick v3 (GAIN-Q3) screeners.

Multi-morbidity is the norm among adolescents and adults with substance use and other mental disorders and warrants a multi-pronged screening approach. However, the time constraints on assessment inherent in clinical practice often temper the desire for a full understanding of multi-morbidity problems. The 15- to 25-minute Global Appraisal of Individual Needs Quick version 3 (GAIN-Q3) includes screeners for 9 common clinical problems that are short (4 to 10 items) and provide dimensional measures of problem severity in each area that are also categorized to guide clinical decision making.

Sex differences in factors predicting post-treatment opioid use.

Background And Aims: Several reports have documented risk factors for opioid use following treatment discharge, yet few have assessed sex differences, and no study has assessed risk using contemporary machine learning approaches. The goal of the present paper was to inform treatments for opioid use disorder (OUD) by exploring individual factors for each sex that are most strongly associated with opioid use following treatment.

Design: Secondary analysis of Global Appraisal of Individual Needs (GAIN) database with follow-ups at 3, 6 and 12 months post-OUD treatment discharge, exploring demographic, psychological and behavioral variables that predict post-treatment opioid use.

Longitudinal Prospective Association between Hedonic Hunger and Unhealthy Food and Drink Intake in Adolescents.

Hedonic hunger (i.e., extreme responsiveness to food) has been associated with obesity and poor diet, but findings in the existing literature have primarily been cross-sectional.

Opioid misuse during late adolescence and its effects on risk behaviors, social functioning, health, and emerging adult roles.

Opioid misuse has emerged in recent years as a major public health concern in the United States, particularly for adolescents and emerging young adults. We examined the association of opioid misuse from ages 18 to 20 with four domains at age 21-22: risk behaviors and consequences; health; social functioning; and emerging adult roles. Participants were surveyed annually from 2008 through 2019.

Sources of cannabis among young adults and associations with cannabis-related outcomes.

Background: The ways in which young people learn about cannabis product availability and where they obtain cannabis products are important to understand for prevention and intervention efforts.

Methods: Young adults who reported past month cannabis use (N = 758) completed an online survey in 2018-2019 on how they obtained cannabis and the products they used in a newly legalized market in Los Angeles (mean age 21.6; 44% Hispanic, 27% white, 15% Asian).

Multifaceted impulsivity as a moderator of social anxiety and cannabis use during pregaming.

Individuals may drink or use cannabis to cope with social anxiety, and drinking or using cannabis prior to social situations (e.g., pregaming) may be a way to limit the experience of anxiety when entering social settings.

Effects of homophobic name-calling and verbal sexual harassment on substance use among young adults.

Verbal aggression victimization, such as homophobic name-calling, has been linked to heavier substance use among young people, but little longitudinal research has examined how different types of victimization may affect substance use or whether certain psychosocial factors moderate these risks. In a diverse cohort (N  = 2,663), latent transition analysis was used to model heterogeneity in victimization (age 19) and substance use (age 20). Four victimization (high victimization, homophobic name-calling only, verbal sexual harassment only, and low victimization) and three substance use (poly-substance use, alcohol, and cannabis only, low all) classes were identified.

Predictors of Opioid Misuse During Emerging Adulthood: An Examination of Adolescent Individual, Family and Peer Factors.

Introduction: Opioid misuse has reached epidemic proportions among emerging adults in the U.S. To inform prevention efforts, this study examined adolescent factors related to alcohol and marijuana (AM) use that are associated with a higher or lower risk for opioid misuse during emerging adulthood.

Family Violence, Sibling, and Peer Aggression During Adolescence: Associations With Behavioral Health Outcomes.

Bullying and sibling aggression can appear as similar behavior, though the latter is comparatively understudied. Aligned with the Theory of Intergenerational Transmission of Violence, research suggests that exposure to family violence increases an individual's risk for perpetrating violence in their own future relationships. Additionally, Problem Behavior Theory suggests that engaging in one problem behavior (e.

Development of a Measure to Assess Protective Behavioral Strategies for Pregaming among Young Adults.

Although most young adults drink alcohol, there are specific drinking contexts that are associated with increased risk for alcohol-related consequences. One such drinking context is pregaming, which typically involves heavy drinking in brief periods of time and has consistently been linked to consequences within the pregaming event itself, on a night after pregaming, and in the long-term. Intervention efforts that specifically target this risky behavior are needed, but these efforts need to be informed by empirical work to better understand what behaviors young people engage in that can protect them from pregaming-related harms.

Influences of victimization and comorbid conditions on latency to illicit drug use among adolescents and young adults.

Objective: Exposure to violent victimization is associated with higher rates of mental health and substance use disorders (SUD). Some youth who experience multiple victimizations and associated characteristics (i.e.

Correction to: Understanding the Buffering Effects of Protective Factors on the Relationship between Adverse Childhood Experiences and Teen Dating Violence Perpetration.

An amendment to this article has been published and can be accessed via a link at the top of the article.

Understanding the Buffering Effects of Protective Factors on the Relationship between Adverse Childhood Experiences and Teen Dating Violence Perpetration.

Prior research has demonstrated the scope and impact of adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) on health and wellbeing. Less is known about the trajectories from exposure to ACEs, such as witnessing family conflict and violence in the community, to teen dating violence perpetration, and the protective factors that buffer the association between early exposure to ACEs and later teen dating violence perpetration. Students (n = 1611) completed self-report surveys six times during middle and high school from 2008 to 2013.