Dependence
Frederick Gibbons et al.
Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, forthcoming
Abstract:
Perceived racial discrimination, self-control, anger, and either substance use or use cognitions were assessed in 2 studies conducted with samples of African American adolescents. The primary goal was to examine the relation between discrimination and self-control over time; a 2nd goal was to determine whether that relation mediates the link between discrimination and substance use found in previous research. Study 1, which included a latent growth curve analysis with 3 waves of data, indicated that experience with discrimination (from age 10 years to age 18 years) was associated with reduced self-control, which then predicted increased substance use. Additional analyses indicated anger was also a mediator of this discrimination to use relation. Study 2, which was experimental, showed that envisioning an experience involving discrimination was associated with an increase in substance-related responses to double entendre words (e.g., pot, roach) in a word association task, especially for participants who were low in dispositional self-control. The effect was again mediated by reports of anger. Thus, the "double mediation" pattern was discrimination → more anger and reduced self-control → increased substance use and/or substance cognitions. Results are discussed in terms of the long-term impact of discrimination on self-control and health behavior. Implications for interventions aimed at ameliorating the negative effects of discrimination and low self-control on health are also discussed.
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Heidemarie Blumenthal et al.
Psychology of Addictive Behaviors, forthcoming
Abstract:
Given the onset of alcohol use, neurological sensitivity, and enhanced panic-relevant vulnerability, adolescence is a key period in which to study the documented linkage between alcohol and panic-related problems. The current study was designed to build upon and uniquely extend extant work via (a) utilization of well-established experimental psychopathology techniques and (b) evaluation of unique associations between alcohol use and panic symptoms after controlling for theoretically relevant behavioral, environmental, and individual difference variables (i.e., age, gender, negative affectivity, anxiety sensitivity, child and parent tobacco use, and parental panic disorder). Participants were 111 community-recruited adolescents ages 12-17 years (M = 15.76 years; n = 50 girls). Youth completed a battery of well-established questionnaires and a voluntary hyperventilation challenge, and parents present at the laboratory completed a structured clinical interview. Adolescent alcohol use was categorized as Non-Users, Experimenters, or Users. Panic symptoms were indexed via retrospective self-report and adolescents' response to a biological challenge procedure (i.e., voluntary hyperventilation). After controlling for theoretically relevant covariates, Users evidenced elevated panic-relevant symptoms and responding compared with Non-Users; Experimenters did not differ from Non-Users. Findings suggest alcohol use history is uniquely associated with panic symptomatology among youth, including "real-time" reactivity elicited by a laboratory challenge. Although there is significant work yet to be done, these data advance extant work and lay the groundwork for the types of sophisticated designs that will be needed to answer the most pressing and complex questions regarding the link between alcohol use and panic symptoms among adolescents.
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Momentary Effects of Exposure to Prosmoking Media on College Students' Future Smoking Risk
William Shadel et al.
Health Psychology, forthcoming
Objective: This study used ecological momentary assessment to examine acute changes in college students' future smoking risk as a function of their exposure to prosmoking media (e.g., smoking in movies, paid advertising, point-of-sale displays).
Method: A sample of 135 college students ("ever" and "never" smokers) carried handheld computers for 21 days, recording their exposures to all forms of prosmoking media during the assessment period. They also responded to three investigator-initiated control prompts during each day of the assessment period (i.e., programmed to occur randomly). After each prosmoking media exposure and after each random control prompt they answered questions that measured their risk of future smoking. Responses between prosmoking media encounters were compared (within subjects) to responses made during random control prompts.
Results: Compliance with the study protocol was high, with participants responding to over 83% of all random prompts. Participants recorded nearly three encounters with prosmoking media each week. Results of linear mixed modeling indicated that all participants had higher future smoking risk following exposure to prosmoking media compared with control prompts (p < .05); this pattern of response did not differ between ever and never smokers (p = .769). Additional modeling of the variances around participants' risk of future smoking revealed that the response of never smokers to prosmoking media was significantly more variable than the response of ever smokers.
Conclusion: Exposure to prosmoking media is associated with acute changes in future smoking risk, and never smokers and ever smokers respond differently to these exposures.
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Delay Discounting Decreases in Those Completing Treatment for Opioid Dependence
Reid Landes, Darren Christensen & Warren Bickel
Experimental and Clinical Psychopharmacology, forthcoming
Abstract:
Several studies examining both control and substance-dependent populations have found delay discounting to remain stable over time. In this report, we examine whether delay discounting changes in opioid-dependent individuals who complete a 12-week treatment. The 159 subjects who completed discounting assessments at baseline and treatment-end come from two separate clinical trials: 56 from Chopra et al. (2009) and 103 from Christensen et al. (2012). Mean discounting at 12 weeks significantly decreased to less than half (44.8%) of the baseline level (95% CIs (27.5, 73.2)). Analyzing each subject's discounting data individually, over 3 times (95% CIs (1.9, 5.5)) as many subjects statistically decreased their discounting from their own baseline levels than those who exhibited a statistical increase. Though we failed to find any relationship among discounting measures and abstinence outcomes, the results from this large study suggest that treatment for substance dependence promotes decreases in delay discounting.
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Trends in Smoking Among Adults From 1980 to 2009: The Minnesota Heart Survey
Kristian Filion et al.
American Journal of Public Health, April 2012, Pages 705-713
Objectives: We examined population-based smoking trends in Minnesota between 1980 and 2009.
Methods: The Minnesota Heart Survey (MHS) is a population-based, serial, cross-sectional study of cardiovascular risk factor trends among Minneapolis-Saint Paul metropolitan residents. The MHS recently completed its sixth survey (1980-1982 [n = 3799], 1985-1987 [n = 4641], 1990-1992 [n = 5159], 1995-1997 [n = 6690], 2000-2002 [n = 3281], and 2007-2009 [n = 3179]). We used MHS data to examine smoking trends among adults aged 25 to 74 years by means of age-adjusted generalized linear mixed models.
Results: Between 1980 and 2009, the prevalence of current smoking decreased from 32.8% to 15.5% for men and from 32.7% to 12.2% for women (P < .001 for each). Greater decreases occurred among those with higher income and those with more education. Among currently smoking men, the number of cigarettes smoked per day decreased from 26.0 in the 1980-1982 survey to 16.0 in the 2007-2009 survey (P < .001). Similar trends were observed among women.
Conclusions: Although the prevalence of smoking and cigarette consumption decreased from the 1980-1982 period to the 2007-2009 period, interventions specifically designed for those of lower socioeconomic status are needed.
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Trends in U.S., past-year marijuana use from 1985 to 2009: An age-period-cohort analysis
Richard Miech & Stephen Koester
Drug and Alcohol Dependence, forthcoming
Background: We present a formal age-period-cohort analysis to examine if the recent increase in past-year marijuana use among the young is specific to the younger generation or if, instead, it is part of a general increase present across cohorts of all ages. This is the first age-period-cohort analysis of past-year marijuana use that includes adult trends from 2001 to 09.
Methods: Data come from the National Survey on Drug Use and Health, a series of annual, nationally representative, cross-sectional surveys of the U.S. civilian, non-institutionalized population. The analysis focuses on the 25 year time span from 1985 to 2009 and uses the recently developed ‘intrinsic estimator' algorithm to estimate independent effects of age, period, and cohort.
Results: The recent increase in past-year marijuana use is not unique to the youngest birth cohorts. An independent, positive influence of cohort membership on past-year marijuana use, net of historical period and age effects, is smaller for today's youngest cohorts than it was for the cohorts that came immediately before, and, in fact, is at its lowest level in three decades. The recent increase in marijuana use among the young is more consistent with a historical period effect that has acted across all cohorts. Period and cohort trends differ substantially for Hispanics.
Conclusions: The major forces that drive trends in past-year marijuana use are moving away from cohort-specific factors and toward broad-based influences that affect cohorts of all ages. Strategic public health and policy efforts aimed at addressing the recent increase in past-year marijuana use should do the same.
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Effects of Alcohol Taxes on Alcohol-Related Disease Mortality in New York State from 1969 to 2006
Chris Delcher, Mildred Maldonado-Molina & Alexander Wagenaar
Addictive Behaviors, forthcoming
Objective: The relationship of increased alcohol taxes to reductions in alcohol-related harm is well established. Few studies, however, have examined the effects of sudden decreases in alcohol tax rates or effects of narrow tax changes limited to specific beverage types. In the current study, we: (1) examine whether tax increases on spirits have similar effects in reducing alcohol-related disease mortality as increasing taxes on all types of alcoholic beverages simultaneously, and (2) evaluate effects of beer-specific tax decreases in New York State on mortality.
Method: We used a time-series, quasi-experimental research design, including non-alcohol deaths within New York State and other states' rates of alcohol-related disease mortality for comparison. The dataset included 456 monthly observations of mortality in New York State over a 38-year period (1969-2006). We used a random-effects approach and included several other important covariates.
Results: Alcohol-related disease mortality declined by 7.0% after a 1990 tax increase for spirits and beer. A spirits-only tax increase (in 1972) was not significantly associated with mortality but a data anomaly increased error in this effect estimate. Small tax decreases on beer between 1996 and 2006 had no measurable effect on mortality. Doubling the beer tax from $0.11 to $0.22 per gallon, a return to New York State's 1990 levels, would decrease deaths by an estimated 250 deaths per year.
Conclusions: Excise tax increases on beer and spirits were associated with reductions in alcohol-related disease mortality. Modifying tax rates on a single beverage type does not appear to be as effective as doing so on multiple alcoholic beverages simultaneously. In New York, small decreases in beer taxes were not significantly associated with alcohol-related disease mortality.
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Meta-analysis of the association between ecstasy use and risky sexual behavior
James Hittner & Elana Schachne
Addictive Behaviors, forthcoming
Abstract:
A random-effects meta-analysis was conducted to examine the association between ecstasy use and risky sexual behavior. Analysis of 17 studies revealed a small to moderate sized effect (mean weighted r = 0.211, 95% CI: 0.085-0.336). Random-effects homogeneity testing was non-significant, thus formal moderator analyses were not performed. Moreover, numerical and visual diagnostics suggested that publication bias was not a concern. It is hoped that the present meta-analytic findings and recommendations will encourage investigators to broaden their research methodologies and will stimulate new insights into the association between ecstasy use and risky sexual behavior.
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Smoking and body weight: Evidence using genetic instruments
George Wehby et al.
Economics & Human Biology, March 2012, Pages 113-126
Abstract:
Several studies have evaluated whether the high and rising obesity rates over the past three decades may be due to the declining smoking rates. There is mixed evidence across studies - some find negative smoking effects and positive cigarette cost effects on body weight, while others find opposite effects. This study applies a unique approach to identify the smoking effects on body weight and to evaluate the heterogeneity in these effects across the body mass index (BMI) distribution by utilizing genetic instruments for smoking. Using a data sample of 1057 mothers from Norway, the study finds heterogeneous effects of cigarette smoking on BMI - smoking increases BMI at low/moderate BMI levels and decreases BMI at high BMI levels. The study highlights the potential advantages and challenges of employing genetic instrumental variables to identify behavior effects including the importance of qualifying the instruments and the need for large samples.
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The Effect of Comprehensive State Tobacco Control Programs on Adult Cigarette Smoking
Jennifer Rhoads
Journal of Health Economics, forthcoming
Abstract:
This study is the second to use national survey data to assess the effect of comprehensive state tobacco control programs on adult cigarette smoking. Data are drawn from the Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (1991-2006) and reveal consistent evidence that these programs have a statistically significant effect to reduce prevalence of cigarette smoking among adults. Simulations indicate that had all states spent the CDC recommended level of funding from 1991 to 2006 then cigarette smoking prevalence would have been 1.40 percent to 8.07 percent lower in 2006, translating to between 635,000 to 3.7 million fewer adult cigarette smokers.
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The Effects of Arkansas Master Settlement Spending on Disparities in Smoking
Hao Yu et al.
American Journal of Public Health, April 2012, Pages 732-738
Objectives: We assessed the effect of Master Settlement Agreement (MSA) spending on smoking disparities in Arkansas, which distinguished itself from other states by investing all of its MSA funds in health-related programs.
Methods: In 1996-2009 data from the Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System, we specified multivariate logistic models to examine gender and racial/ethnic disparities in smoking rates within Arkansas (a pre-post analysis) and between Arkansas and its 6 neighboring states.
Results: Before the MSA programs started in 2001, male Arkansans smoked more than did female Arkansans (P < .05). After the programs, smoking declined significantly among men (but not women), eliminating the gender disparity by 2009. Smoking among men in Arkansas also declined more than it did in neighboring states (P < .05). Hispanics showed a greater decline in smoking than did non-Hispanic Whites in Arkansas (but not in neighboring states). In 2001, Hispanic Arkansans smoked more than did non-Hispanic Whites (P < .05); by 2009, Hispanic Arkansans smoked significantly less than did non-Hispanic Whites (P < .05).
Conclusions: MSA-funded programs were more effective in some segments of the Arkansas population than in others. Policymakers should consider targeting future MSA tobacco control programs to populations most resistant to change.
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Kevin Beaver & J.C. Barnes
Addictive Behaviors, forthcoming
Abstract:
Behavioral genetic research has consistently revealed that approximately one-half of the variance in antisocial behaviors is attributable to genetic factors. Even so, there is some reason to believe that different types of antisocial behaviors may have different developmental etiologies. The current study used this possibility as a springboard to examine the genetic and environmental influences on admission of drug-selling behaviors. Analysis of twin pairs drawn from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health revealed that 38 percent of the variance in a continuously coded drug-selling variable was accounted for by genetic factors and 69 percent of the variance in a dichotomously coded drug-selling variable was the result of genetic factors. The remaining variance for both measures was explained by nonshared environmental factors. The implications that these results have for drug research are discussed and avenues for future research are offered.
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Would liberalization lead to epidemic cocaine consumption?
Norman Loayza & Naotaka Sugawara
Applied Economics Letters, Fall 2012, Pages 1405-1409
Abstract:
This article uses cross-country data to estimate the potential effect of drastic reductions in the price of cocaine on the share of the population that consumes this drug. In order to identify movements along the cocaine consumption/demand function, this article instruments for cocaine prices with variables that affect the supply of cocaine. Liberalization of drug policies would produce an increase in the prevalence of cocaine consumption. However, the quantitative evidence presented here suggests that, even if substantial, this increase would not amount to epidemic cocaine use.
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Drug use is associated with elevated food consumption in college students
Laurence Nolan & Megan Stolze
Appetite, forthcoming
Abstract:
Higher food consumption, particularly of sweets, has been reported by substance-dependent persons in various stages of treatment but no investigation of substance use and actual food consumption has been conducted in non-dependent persons. Sixty-two male and female college students completed the Core Alcohol and Drug Survey and the amount of each of six snack foods (including both sweet and savory items) they consumed were measured. Participants also rated appetite before and after eating and rated the pleasantness of and desire to eat each food. Hierarchical multivariate regression revealed that, while controlling for the influence of BMI and intermeal interval, frequency and breadth of substance use significantly predicted elevated food consumption and elevated ratings of hunger and desire to eat. Furthermore, the link between breadth of drug use and food consumption was mediated by higher desire to eat and not by pleasantness of the food. The relationship between substance use and eating behavior may not be restricted only to those in recovery or treatment for persons diagnosed with substance use disorders.