Substance use disorders (SUDs) can be explained in part by the availability and amount of alternative substance-free reinforcers, which are recognized as the main target in treatment of SUDs. Most questionnaires examining this area assess activities in teens or young adults from the general population and, have not been assessed in the context of treatment of SUDs, and do not address the wide range that is needed in order to plan recreational activities that are incompatible with substance use in clinical contexts, as well as to identify activities that could pose a risk for relapse. This study aimed to develop a new instrument (i.e., the Oviedo Leisure Activities Scale; OLAS-70) to measure substance-free and substance-related reinforcement. It also sought to provide validity evidence based on the relationship with the European Addiction Severity Index, the Patient Health Questionnaire-9, and the Reward Probability Index. The participants in this cross-sectional study were 542 adults ( = 38.71, = 10.66) undergoing inpatient or outpatient interventions for SUDs. Participants completed the European Addiction Severity Index, the Patient Health Questionnaire-9, the Reward Probability Index, and the OLAS-70 within a month of starting treatment. The OLAS-70 demonstrated validity evidence in relation to addiction severity, depression, and probability of environmental reward. Participants with drug use problems according to the European Addiction Severity Index exhibited higher proportion of substance-related reinforcement ratio due to engaging in activities while under the influence of substances, including sports, hobbies, and artistic activities. The OLAS-70 is valid for measuring both substance-free and substance-related reinforcement and provides clinically useful information for treatment planning, identifying high-risk situations for substance use relapse, and scheduling reinforcing, positive activities during interventions. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2025 APA, all rights reserved).

One of the most successful models of describing the decay in commodity consumption as a function of cost across multiple domains is the exponential model introduced by Hursh and Silberberg (2008). This model formulates the value of a commodity by including a "standardized price" adjustment. This adjustment allows for a theoretically scale-invariant parameter to estimate a normalized decay (α, the sensitivity to changes in price) in commodity consumption that was detangled from an organism's consumption when a commodity is free (₀). This scale-invariant parameter is sometimes referred to as the , which is generally represented as the inverse of α. However, the Hursh and Silberberg (HS) model has various shortcomings, notably as a result of the span parameter k and its influence on interpretations of α and, therefore, of essential value. We present an overview of the standardized price/real cost adjustment and challenges of and potential remedies to within the HS framework and propose a simplified exponential model with normalized decay (Equation 10). The simplified exponential equation does not include the span parameter k and allows for straightforward analytic solutions for conceptually relevant and common demand metrics. Parities between the Hursh and Silberberg model and the simplified exponential with normalized decay model are demonstrated by conversions of α values between both models. Statistical parities between the simplified exponential with normalized decay model and the exponentiated model of demand with multiple data sets are also demonstrated. This simplified model then allows for consistent interpretations of α across commodities while retaining the theoretical benefits of the Hursh and Silberberg formulation of demand and the essential value. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2025 APA, all rights reserved).

Black Americans who use cannabis appear at greater risk for negative cannabis-related outcomes, and cannabis use is more common among individuals who smoke cigarettes. Race-based health disparities concerning cannabis outcomes indicate a need to identify psycho-socio-cultural factors that may play a role in cannabis use and related problems among Black Americans to inform prevention and treatment efforts. Minority stress-based models posit that stressors such as racism increase negative emotions, which may be associated with using substances such as cannabis to cope with negative emotions. Yet, no known research has directly assessed whether negative emotions experienced in response to racism play a role in cannabis-related behaviors. Participants were 254 (50.2% female) Black Americans who endorsed current cigarette smoking and were aged 18-73 ( = 42.1, = 14.1). Participants completed an online survey regarding their experiences with racism, smoking, and cannabis-related behaviors. Negative emotions in response to racism were assessed via the Racial Trauma Scale (RTS). Experiencing more frequent racism was related to greater RTS and cannabis-related problems. When entered simultaneously, frequency of racism was related to more cannabis-related problems via RTS, but not anxiety or depression broadly. Racism was related to more cannabis problems via the sequential effects of RTS and a greater quantity of cannabis used. These data indicate that the experience of negative emotions that occur after experiencing racism may play an important role in cannabis misuse among Black Americans. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2025 APA, all rights reserved).

Traditional cigarette purchase tasks (CPTs) assess cigarette demand as a function of monetary costs, neglecting the role of time as a cost in consumption decisions. This study introduces the cigarette purchase task-time (CPT-T), a novel measure designed to evaluate cigarette demand as a function of time costs. In Experiment 1, the participants ( = 50) completed the standard CPT with quantitative and probabilistic (CPT-P) response scales across three hypothetical delay conditions. Demand intensity decreased as delays increased, indicating that time functioned as a cost in cigarette consumption. In Experiment 2, the participants ( = 50) completed the CPT-P across three delay conditions and the CPT-T across three monetary conditions. Experiment 2 confirmed that increasing either time and monetary costs reduced demand intensity, breakpoints, and other demand indices, consistent with the law of demand. Experiment 3 evaluated the specificity and discriminant validity of the CPT-T by comparing demand across different reinforcers (cigarettes, potato chips, and toilet paper) between people who smoke ( = 50) and people who do not smoke ( = 50). People who smoke showed higher cigarette demand relative to people who do not smoke. Cigarette demand and toilet paper demand were higher than potato chips among people who smoke, but toilet paper demand was higher than cigarettes and potato chips for people who do not smoke, indicating that people who smoke view cigarettes as more essential. Together, these results showed that time acted as a cost in the demand for reinforcers. The CPT-T captured cigarette demand as a function of time costs and showed specificity and discriminant validity. These results open new theoretical avenues for our understanding of substance use disorders as a reinforcer pathology. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2025 APA, all rights reserved).

Various avenues exist for quantifying the effects of reinforcers on behavior. Numerous nonlinear models derived from the framework of Hursh and Silberberg (2008) are often applied to elucidate key metrics in the operant demand framework (e.g., ₀, ), with each approach presenting respective strengths and trade-offs. This work introduces and demonstrates an adaptive task capable of elucidating key features of operant demand without relying on nonlinear regression (i.e., a targeted form of empirical ). An adaptive algorithm based on reinforcement learning is used to systematically guide questioning in the search for participant-level estimates related to peak work (e.g., ), and this algorithm was evaluated across four varying iteration lengths (i.e., five, 10, 15, and 20 sequentially updated questions). Equivalence testing with simulated agent responses revealed that tasks with five or more sequentially updated questions recovered values statistically equivalent to seeded values, which provided evidence suggesting that quantitative modeling (i.e., nonlinear regression) may not be necessary to reveal valuable features of reinforcer consumption and how consumption scales as a function of price. Discussions are presented regarding extensions of contemporary hypothetical purchase tasks and strategies for extracting and comparing critical aspects of consumer demand. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2025 APA, all rights reserved).

Menthol smoking, which is popular among Black and Hispanic individuals who smoke and young adults, is linked to positive subjective effects and difficulty quitting, although studies of topography and subjective effects show inconsistent differences. This study compared subjective effects and laboratory smoking across menthol and nonmenthol young adults who smoke and examined differences by race/ethnicity. Smoking topography, subjective effects, and pre/postsmoking craving, vitals, cigarette weight, and exhaled carbon monoxide were assessed in 121 young adults who smoke ( = 23.9; 49.5% menthol; 37.2% non-White) following ≥12 hr of abstinence. Participants smoked their usual brand cigarette (menthol or nonmenthol) in a single laboratory session. Differences in study outcomes were examined across cigarette flavor and by race/ethnicity (White vs. non-White). No main effects of cigarette flavor or race/ethnicity emerged on any study outcomes. Interactions of cigarette flavor with race/ethnicity emerged on postsmoking craving and cigarette weight, controlling for presmoking measures of the outcome and cigarettes per day. Compared to non-White participants who smoked nonmenthol cigarettes, non-White participants who smoked menthol cigarettes had higher postsmoking cigarette weight and lower postsmoking craving. Further, non-White participants who smoked menthol cigarettes had lower postsmoking craving compared to White participants who smoked menthol cigarettes. Non-White young adults who smoke menthols experienced greater craving reduction, despite consuming less of their preferred cigarette. Craving reduction may be one mechanism fostering continued menthol smoking. Menthol smoking, even at lower amounts, produces similar toxicant exposure, which may contribute to tobacco health disparities as smoking progresses. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2025 APA, all rights reserved).

Oral nicotine pouches (ONPs) are an emergent class of tobacco products that, unlike conventional oral smokeless tobacco products, contain a nicotine powder instead of tobacco leaves. This review synthesizes available data on ONPs in key research domains including survey studies, marketing/advertising studies, chemical characterization and in vitro studies, and clinical studies. Research findings relevant for ONP regulations are summarized, including who uses these products and why, how marketing tactics influence appeal and use intentions, what harmful and potentially harmful constituents they contain, and what acute effects they have on humans. Taken together, the current data suggest that ONPs likely produce less harm to individual users than conventional tobacco products (e.g., moist snuff, cigarettes) and can acutely suppress nicotine/tobacco withdrawal symptoms among current cigarette smokers. Thus, ONPs may be a viable harm reduction option for individuals who switch completely to using them from conventional products. However, randomized controlled trials are needed to determine if established tobacco users would use ONPs long term, and more independent academic research is needed given that most ONP studies to date are tobacco industry-funded. Additionally, ONPs have qualities (e.g., flavors, marketing claims of "tobacco free") that could increase appeal among youth and young adults, and these products can deliver nicotine at levels sufficient to cause dependence; widespread adoption of ONPs among otherwise nicotine-naive individuals may reduce their net public health benefit. This review concludes by suggesting future research directions necessary to increase scientific understanding of ONPs and inform regulations for these increasingly popular products. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2025 APA, all rights reserved).

Alcohol-impaired driving is highly prevalent and a leading cause of death. Cannabis is commonly used among people who drink alcohol, and using alcohol and cannabis simultaneously is associated with a greater frequency of alcohol-impaired driving. Laboratory studies demonstrate the harmful effects of simultaneous use on driving ability compared to alcohol use alone, yet driving under the influence of cannabis is perceived as a low risk. We tested the influences of alcohol, cannabis, and their simultaneous use on perceived driving impairment and willingness to drive in daily life. Participants were 88 adults aged 18-44 ( = 25.22 years, 60.2% female, 85.2% White) who reported using alcohol and cannabis simultaneously at least twice per week. They completed 14 days of ecological momentary assessment and reported their alcohol and cannabis use, perceived driving impairment, and willingness to drive "right now" and "1 hr from now" on an average of 5.14 surveys per day. Adjusting for the total amount of alcohol consumed, results from multilevel models include greater perceived driving impairment when using alcohol ( = 0.39, = 0.05, < .001) and cannabis ( = 0.37, = 0.03, < .001) separately, but greater odds of being willing to drive right now (OR = 2.29, 95% CI [1.38, 3.81], = .001) and in 1 hr (OR = 3.69, 95% CI [2.15, 6.34], < .001) when using alcohol and cannabis simultaneously compared to using alcohol by itself. Simultaneous use of cannabis may attenuate the impact of alcohol on the decision to drive and may contribute harmfully to in-the-moment decisions to drive under the influence of alcohol. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2025 APA, all rights reserved).

The role of craving in opioid use disorder (OUD) has been well established with respect to heroin but less so with prescription opioids. This pilot study, conducted in 18 treatment-seeking patients with prescription OUD and 18 healthy volunteers, assessed spontaneous (in the moment) and cue-induced craving and their relationship to depression and anxiety. Patients (vs. healthy volunteers) exhibited increased spontaneous craving for prescription opioids. Relative to brief (10 s) random presentations of neutral and affective images, presented drug (prescription opioids) images elicited greater craving ratings in patients and were associated with higher valence and arousal ratings. Elevated depression and anxiety observed in patients (vs. healthy volunteers) were positively associated with spontaneous and cue-induced cravings. These findings tentatively support a role for drug craving and mental health comorbidity in prescription OUD and underscore the need for additional research to understand their causal relationships and their interactive dynamics during treatment and recurrence. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2025 APA, all rights reserved).

The study aimed to investigate to what extent acute moderate doses of alcohol affect the speed of endogenous versus exogenous attentional shift times. Subjects viewed an array of 10 moving clocks and reported the time a clock indicated when cued. Target clocks were indicated by cues, presented peripherally at the target clock or centrally pointing toward a target clock, including conditions of where the target location was cued in advance, that is, precueing. This allowed assessing shift times when attention was preallocated, when peripheral cues triggered exogenous attention shifts, and when central cues triggered endogenous attention shifts. Each subject participated in two sessions (alcohol/placebo), whereby the order of alcohol/placebo intake was counterbalanced across subjects, and subjects were blinded to conditions. Confirming previous results, we show that precuing resulted in the fastest shift times, followed by exogenous cuing, with endogenous attentional shifts being slowest. Alcohol increased attentional shift times across all three conditions compared to placebo. Thus, the detrimental effects of alcohol on attentional shift times did not depend on the type of attention probed. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2025 APA, all rights reserved).

Internet gaming disorder (IGD) disproportionally affects young populations and has serious psychosocial consequences. Unfortunately, the identification of specific variables that account for IGD has been poorly addressed. This is the first study that assessed the relationship between emotional dysregulation (ED), sex, and impulsivity (delay discounting [DD]) on IGD severity in young adult gamers. It also tested ED as a mediator of DD and IGD differentially by sex. 1,181 young adult gamers aged 18-25 (55.8% male) completed the Internet Gaming Disorder Scale-9, the Difficulties in Emotion Regulation Scale-28, and the 21-item Monetary Choice Task. Three-step hierarchical linear regressions were performed to examine the unique contribution of ED, sex, and DD on gaming severity. Mediational models tested the indirect effect of DD on gaming severity through ED differently by sex. ED (Difficulties in Emotion Regulation Scale-28 total scale and subscales) and male sex were significantly associated with gaming severity (all values < .001), while DD rates were not. ED significantly mediated the DD and IGD association only among males (all confidence intervals exclude 0). Although causality cannot be inferred due to the study's cross-sectional design, ED seems an important target of gaming prevention, particularly for males. Transdiagnostic approaches targeting emotional regulation may be effective for preventing emotion-drive impulsiveness that increases risk of gaming. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2025 APA, all rights reserved).

Individuals with substance use disorder (SUD) show consistently higher delay discounting (DD) rates than controls for both future and past outcomes, as well as for gains and losses. However, differences in these DD effects (e.g., tense and sign) among individuals in SUD recovery have yet to be explored. Therefore, the goal of the present study was to (a) investigate differences in discounting of past and future gains and losses among individuals in SUD recovery and (b) examine differences in these DD effects between individuals in different stages of remission (i.e., not in remission, in early remission, or in sustained remission). Our results indicate that individuals in recovery discount past and future gains, but not losses, symmetrically. Additionally, individuals in recovery discount gains more than losses (i.e., sign effect) for the future but not for the past. Finally, those in sustained remission showed significantly lower DD rates than those not in remission, regardless of the DD task. Thus, other discounting tasks might provide a similarly accurate measure of DD and can be employed to assess differences in discounting between those in remission and those not in remission. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2025 APA, all rights reserved).

Smoking prevalence in the United States has stabilized as the remaining population becomes increasingly representative of "at-risk smokers" who are unable to quit. The experience of severe fatigue may be one underrecognized but highly common problem that may help in understanding smoking maintenance and relapse. Yet, there has been no research on fatigue severity in relation to smoking behavior measured in "real time." The purpose of the present study was to provide a pilot test of fatigue severity in the context of smoking deprivation in predicting number of puffs, puff velocity, interpuff interval, and smoking urges during an experimental relapse analogue task. Participants in the present study included 36 (age = 49.25 years, = 8.83; 54.1% male) daily cigarette smokers who reported prolonged fatigue. Results indicated that there was a statistically significant interactive effect between smoking deprivation and fatigue severity in the prediction of interpuff interval, such that those with greater fatigue severity, when smoking deprived, evinced greater time between puffs. Other analyses documented meaningful effect sizes for fatigue severity, but due to the sample size, results were generally not statistically significant. This pilot test found some empirical evidence for the continued study of fatigue severity as an individual difference factor relevant to smoking maintenance and relapse in an experimental context. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2025 APA, all rights reserved).

The present study examined the association of mood states, alcohol cue exposure, and their synergistic effect on alcohol consumption and subjective craving during early abstinence. A community sample of 50 (24 females, average age 41.68 years old) individuals with current alcohol use disorder and an intrinsic motivation to reduce/quit alcohol use completed a quit attempt and daily diary assessments (DDAs). Electronic DDAs asked about previous-day drinking, alcohol craving, mood states, and exposure to alcohol cues. Analyses using mixed models tested the main effects and synergistic effects of mood states and alcohol cue exposure on alcohol consumption and subjective craving during the quit attempt. Daily negative mood was associated with same-day alcohol craving ( = 0.18, = .01), in that higher ratings of negative mood were associated with greater alcohol craving. Daily negative mood was associated with same-day number of drinks consumed ( = 0.35, < .0001), such that higher negative mood was associated with higher alcohol consumption. Alcohol cue exposure predicted next-day alcohol craving ( = 0.26, = .02), such that higher cue exposure predicted greater next-day craving for alcohol. Findings underscore the role of negative mood states and exposure to alcohol cues on alcohol consumption and craving during a quit attempt. These findings suggest that negative mood states and alcohol-related cues may be useful targets for just-in-time interventions. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2025 APA, all rights reserved).

There is potential to use public posts on social networking sites (SNS) to screen for problematic alcohol use. This study investigated how frequency of public posting about alcohol on SNS relates to alcohol outcomes among young adults (YA) not attending 4-year college. We also explored associations for racial/ethnic and gender subgroups. Participants were 501 non-college-attending YA, aged 18-29, living in the United States. Participants were recruited via Qualtrics Panels and completed measures of demographics, SNS use (past-3-month frequency of public posting about alcohol on Instagram, TikTok, "X"), and alcohol-related outcomes: heavy episodic drinking frequency (HED), high-intensity drinking episodes (HID), U.S. Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test total (USAUDIT), and alcohol consequences. Regression models tested hypothesized associations between frequency of public posting and alcohol outcomes. Subsequent models assessed simple effects by race/ethnicity (Hispanic, Black, White) and gender (man, woman). Controlling for covariates, more frequent public alcohol-posting was associated with higher USAUDIT, HED frequency, and HID likelihood, not consequences. For Hispanic YA, posting was positively associated with all outcomes except consequences. For Black YA, posting was positively associated with USAUDIT and HID, not HED or consequences. For White YA, posting was positively associated with USAUDIT and HED, not HID or consequences. For women, posting was positively associated with USAUDIT total, HID, and consequences. For men, posting was positively associated with USAUDIT and HED. In conclusion, more frequent public alcohol-posting on SNS was positively associated with past-year alcohol use and problems, implying potential to screen for hazardous drinking via public SNS posts, among non-college-attending YA. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2025 APA, all rights reserved).

This report provides a primer to delay discounting data in the context of the Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development (ABCD) Study. Delay discounting describes the tendency for organisms to devalue temporally constrained outcomes. This decision-making framework has garnered attention from multiple fields for its association with various behavioral health conditions like substance use disorder. Importantly, the literature on delay discounting describes many approaches to analyzing and interpreting discounting data. To be most beneficial to the broader scientific audience, consistency and reproducibility in how delay discounting data are operationalized, analyzed, and interpreted is key. We describe relevant data analysis methods for use with the ABCD Study, a large-cohort longitudinal study ( = 11,878) examining delay discounting among youth respondents across child and adolescent development. Particular attention is given to data collected from children and younger populations given their relevance to ABCD research and potential merit for unique analytic considerations (e.g., higher rates of atypical responding). We first provide a background on the broad theoretical and conceptual aspects of discounting research. We then review discounting assessment, describing conventional titration tasks and the more novel algorithm-based approaches to generating descriptive metrics. We conclude with recommendations for best practice modeling, data handling and exclusions based on nonsystematic data, and ensuing interpretations. Analytic pipelines and coding are provided for investigator use. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2025 APA, all rights reserved).

Psychostimulant misuse and use disorders are major drivers of morbidity and fatal overdose in the United States, but little is known about how differences in psychostimulant use patterns relate to stimulant substance use disorder (SUD) profiles. We used nationally representative U.S. data to assess the links between polystimulant use patterns and stimulant SUD prevalence, symptom counts, and stimulant SUD severity. Data were from the 2015-2019 and 2020 National Survey on Drug Use and Health. Participants ( = 282,786) were grouped by past-year psychostimulant use patterns: (a) nonmedical use of prescription stimulants (NUPS) only; (b) cocaine-only; (c) methamphetamine-only; and (d) polystimulant use. Analyses comparing groups used logistic regressions for prevalence of past-year (2015-2019 and 2020) and (2020 only) stimulant SUD, negative binomial regressions for stimulant SUD symptom counts, and multinomial regressions for DSM-5 stimulant SUD severity. Those with past-year methamphetamine-only or polystimulant use had significantly higher and prevalence rates, symptom counts, and DSM-5 severities of stimulant SUD than those with NUPS or cocaine use only. Depending on version, 34%-47% of those engaged in polystimulant use and 48%-54% of those with methamphetamine use only met criteria for a stimulant SUD, versus 9%-17% for NUPS-only and 16%-24% for cocaine-only. For 2020, roughly two thirds of those with methamphetamine-only use had stimulant SUD symptoms. Individuals with methamphetamine and/or polystimulant use may have different service needs than those with NUPS or cocaine use only. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2025 APA, all rights reserved).

Interoceptive drug states have been increasingly recognized as important cues that may help regulate intake by disambiguating postintake outcomes. While drug states signaling rewarding or reinforcing effects may occasion drug-taking and drug-seeking, states signaling aversive effects may be critical for terminating a drug-taking episode. Given that drug intake often becomes dysregulated with extensive exposure, the present study investigated whether chronic drug exposure impairs the function of interoceptive drug states to occasion avoidance. Male Sprague Dawley rats were trained in a discriminated taste avoidance procedure in which morphine (10 mg/kg, intraperitoneally) signaled that a saccharin solution would be followed by the illness-inducing agent lithium chloride, while the drug vehicle signaled that saccharin would not be followed by lithium chloride. Rats were then exposed to chronic morphine (CM) or chronic vehicle for 20 days. Morphine-induced stimulus control was tested at three doses (0, 5, and 10 mg/kg) following chronic exposure and a 3-week morphine-free period (dissipation of tolerance). Forty-five of the 49 rats acquired the discrimination, avoiding saccharin when it was preceded by morphine and consuming saccharin when it was preceded by saline. Chronic vehicle-exposed rats displayed dose-dependent avoidance on a subsequent test, while CM-exposed rats displayed no avoidance at any dose. Following a 30-day washout during which morphine was no longer administered, subjects in group CM injected with 10 mg/kg morphine avoided saccharin, displaying a partial recovery of discriminative control. These findings provide a baseline for the attenuating effects of chronic drug exposure on the drug's interoceptive control of avoidance. Further, by demonstrating that interoceptive control recovers after abstinence, the results suggest that tolerance may contribute to such impairment. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2025 APA, all rights reserved).

Existing evidence relates internalizing psychopathology to nonfatal opioid overdose. Identifying variables that account for associations between internalizing symptomology and overdose could improve clinical conceptualizations of overdose risk and inform testable, mechanistic hypotheses. Mood-based facets of impulsivity, such as negative and positive urgency, are promising candidate variables that have been linked to both internalizing symptoms and negative substance use outcomes. Therefore, the present study tested whether these facets accounted for internalizing-overdose associations. We conducted a secondary, cross-sectional data analysis of lifetime opioid-exposed patients presenting to three large, urban emergency departments in Ohio. Bivariate associations between measures of internalizing conditions, mood-related urgency, and nonfatal opioid overdose were calculated, and the extent to which negative and positive urgency accounted for associations between internalizing constructs and nonfatal opioid overdose was examined. To determine the specificity of findings, we compared results to other impulsivity facets and models testing internalizing-impulsivity interactions. Negative urgency demonstrated a unique role in accounting for relationships between internalizing constructs and lifetime nonfatal opioid overdose. No other impulsivity facet, including positive urgency, reliably accounted for internalizing-overdose relations. No internalizing-urgency interactions were observed. Negative urgency was the only facet to reliably explain overlap in internalizing-overdose associations. Overdose-prevention efforts should consider the dual roles of internalizing symptoms and negative urgency as risk factors for opioid overdose. Implications for testing causal hypotheses are discussed. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2025 APA, all rights reserved).

Treating substance use disorders is difficult as individuals often resume substance use during abstinence. One potential factor contributing to the recurrence of substance use is incubation of drug craving. Specifically, individuals report higher levels of craving when presented with drug-paired stimuli across abstinence, although this effect is largely absent in opioid-dependent individuals. In preclinical studies, rodents show increased responding on a previously reinforced manipulandum when presented with drug cues, including for opioids. When proximal cues are not presented, self-reported craving tends to decrease across abstinence; however, incubation of drug seeking in the absence of proximal stimuli is rarely tested in animals. As such, we trained male and female Sprague Dawley rats to self-administer the synthetic opioid fentanyl (2.5 μg/kg/infusion) during ten 60-min sessions. Rats were then given three extinction sessions on Days 1, 21, and 30 of withdrawal. Unlike other studies measuring incubation of craving, we did not present drug-paired stimuli (e.g., stimulus lights) during these extinction sessions. Incubation of fentanyl seeking was not observed in the present experiment; instead, responses on the previously drug-paired lever tended to decrease across the three extinction sessions. Based on the results of this experiment, we provide a discussion of some potential interpretational issues associated with the incubation of craving paradigm, including the difficulty in dissociating drug craving from operant sensation seeking (i.e., rodents will respond on a manipulandum to earn access to audiovisual cues that are presented alone). (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2025 APA, all rights reserved).

Alcohol use disorder is prevalent, and various risk factors inform drinking onset and drinking patterns. Existing data suggest that alcohol sweet taste preference may be associated with harmful levels of alcohol use and alcohol-related harm. The present exploratory study aimed to characterize people's first alcohol use experience, probe the association between sweet taste preferences and drinking patterns over time, and evaluate the relationship between sweet taste preferences and behavioral economic variables. Participants ( = 277) were recruited through Prolific and completed an assessment of first alcohol exposure, current and historic drinking patterns, alcohol demand, and delay discounting. Participants reporting preference for less sweet alcohol beverages consumed the most drinks per week both currently and during their period of the heaviest use. Trends emerged such that rank order decreases in alcohol consumption were observed from those reporting transitioning from sweet to less sweet preference, then less sweet to sweet preference, and finally consistent sweet taste preference reporting the lowest consumption. Similar associations were observed for alcohol use disorder symptoms counts and alcohol demand intensity. These data broadly suggest that sweet taste preferences in alcohol consumption may serve as an important factor modulating patterns of alcohol use across the lifespan. In terms of translational implications, these data suggest that commonly used sucrose fades in preclinical research may reflect the trend in taste preferences of the majority of the population but do not mirror the typical onset (or course) of chronic, maladaptive drinking behaviors. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved).