Recovery constitutes the goal for people with alcohol use disorder (AUD). State hope and abstinence self-efficacy represent consequential constructs for people with AUD as they work toward recovery.

The study examined the relationship between pain and craving in the daily lives of patients in residential treatment for prescription opioid use disorder (OUD) and the extent to which the contemporaneous assessment-level association between pain and craving was moderated by individuals' average pain levels.

Adolescence and young adulthood are developmental periods where both initiation and escalation of alcohol consumption is common. While existing literature highlights the potential role alcohol-induced blackouts (AIBs) may have on the development of alcohol use disorders as well as how impulsivity is associated with alcohol use, research to date has not been conducted within the United States. Therefore, this study aimed to examine longitudinal associations between AIBs and hazardous alcohol use risk (AUDIT) in adolescents and young adults, while exploring the moderating effects of impulsivity facets (i.e., premeditation and urgency).

Fentanyl test strips (FTS) are a forensic tool designed for laboratory testing of urine samples. They have been adapted into a point-of-consumption drug-checking tool to detect illegally manufactured fentanyl in local drug supply. This creates unknown usability challenges for people who use drugs (PWUD). To assess ease of use in real-world settings, we conducted usability testing of five FTS brands.

The prefrontal cortex is not fully developed in middle/high school students, therefore many substances, including nicotine, have the potential to affect it, impair learning, and hinder academic performance. Nicotine in pouches is an emerging, heavily marketed, explicit public health concern. Adolescents may not know of the risks associated with nicotine pouches, especially with social media and marketing claims that they help with weight loss, athletic abilities, mood, and focus. The purpose of this study is to examine the relationship between nicotine pouches and poor academic performance in middle/high school students.

Unrecorded alcohol, commonly called 'homebrew', represents an important and emerging public health issue having been linked with poisonings and deaths internationally. There is a paucity, however, of empirical data on homebrew consumption and its association with regulated/recorded alcohol use. The purpose of this examination is to determine whether homebrew consumption is associated with greater recorded alcohol use.

: The National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA) finalized a definition of alcohol use disorder (AUD) recovery requiring (1) remission from DSM-5 AUD symptoms except craving and (2) cessation of heavy drinking. The literature suggests that recovery capital, which encapsulates the resources that influence substance use recovery, is an important determinant of AUD recovery outcomes. However, little research has examined potential relationships between recovery capital and the NIAAA recovery definition. : This study examined associations between recovery capital and NIAAA-defined recovery. Data were drawn from a project that developed and tested a new recovery capital measure, the Multidimensional Inventory of Recovery Capital. Participants self-identifying as having resolved a prior alcohol problem for at least 30 days ( = 477, 49% cisgender female, = 42.6 years) completed surveys assessing recovery capital, heavy drinking (per NIAAA guidelines), and DSM-5 AUD symptoms. Logistic regression modeling examined associations between recovery capital scores and the odds of meeting the NIAAA recovery criteria. : Most of the sample (80.3%) met both NIAAA recovery criteria. Total recovery capital scores were associated with greater odds of NIAAA recovery ( = 1.61; = .001). When examined separately, individual recovery capital domains were differentially associated with NIAAA recovery depending on recovery duration. : Overall, findings suggest that greater recovery capital may be linked to a greater likelihood of meeting NIAAA recovery criteria.

Background: Substance use is highly prevalent among older people with HIV and continues to have a negative impact on engagement along the HIV care continuum, particularly among African Americans (AA). Social factors like resource insecurity, stigma, and discrimination may play a role in substance use behaviors. However, there is limited research on how these social factors impact substance use among older people with HIV. Objectives: The purpose of this descriptive study was to examine associations between demographic and social factors and substance use among older AAs with HIV. Results: Fifty-two participants who were ≥50 years of age, living in Ohio, and identified as Black or AA completed an online survey. Past three-month substance use was self-reported for alcohol, opioids, cocaine, cannabis, and/or amphetamine type stimulants. Separate unadjusted, logistic regression models were conducted to examine factors between each type of substance and HIV-related stigma, food and housing insecurity, discrimination, history of incarceration, employment status, and demographics. The majority of participants self-reported past three-month use of cocaine (53.8%), cannabis (67.3%), amphetamine type stimulants (51.9%), and risky alcohol use (85.0%), and half reported opioid use. HIV-related stigma, discrimination, and housing insecurity were all associated with increased odds of opioid, cocaine, and amphetamine use. Discrimination, food, and housing insecurity were associated with increased odds of cannabis use and risky alcohol use. Conclusions: More research is needed to further understand how social factors impact substance use among older people with HIV. This understanding can lead to interventions that target these social factors which in turn reduces substance use.

: The current study examined how the interplay between message frame and vaping norms impacted college students' responses to vaping prevention messages, from the lens of deviance regulation theory. : College students ( = 231) were randomly assigned to one of seven conditions in a 2 (message frame: positive, negative) by 3 (manipulated vaping norm: high, low, none) + 1 control (recycling) between-subjects experiment. Participants' preconceived vaping norms, vaping history, and health harm and addiction beliefs in vaping were also measured. : Results showed a main effect of message frame and an interaction effect between message frame and preconceived vaping norms in a way that is consistent with DRT prediction. A positive frame led to less freedom threat and negative cognition, and more favorable message attitudes, compared to a negative frame. Moreover, participants who had a low preconceived vaping norm and viewed a negative frame reported more favorable attitudes than those who had a low preconceived vaping norm and viewed a positive frame. Similarly, participants who had a high preconceived vaping norm and viewed a positive frame reported more favorable attitudes than those who had a low preconceived vaping norm and viewed a positive frame. No significant interaction between message frame and manipulated vaping norms was found. : Findings of the study suggested that in using DRT-based interventions, utilizing preconceived norms provides a better approach than manipulated norms for producing more favorable message responses.

We investigated racial and ethnic disparities in telehealth counseling among Medicaid-insured patients in outpatient substance use disorder (SUD) treatment clinics and assessed whether the clinic-level proportion of Medicaid-insured patients moderated these disparities.

To assess text messaging interactivity with a vaping cessation intervention among Latino young adults.

We investigated whether experiences of overall, race, appearance, and sexual minority discriminatory harassment were associated with adolescents' marijuana use and whether retail availability of legal recreational marijuana in Oregon counties moderated these associations.

Attaining adult roles has been posited to play a key role in maturing out of problematic alcohol use. However, inconsistent effects have been found for certain roles (e.g., full-time work), and relatively few studies have examined roles unique to the post-college period, such as returning home to live with parents and attending graduate school. We furthered this research by examining how attainment of various roles (romantic relationships, full-time work, graduate school, and living independently from parents) in the immediate years after college, and stress related to these domains, were uniquely related to drinking level, drinking to cope motivation and drinking-related problems.

Fentanyl-related opioid fatalities have risen drastically in the United States, indicating a "new wave" of the opioid crisis and highlighting the urgent need for more effective public health interventions to address its harms. Despite an increasing number of public communication campaigns focused on the general public, evidence on how people perceive fentanyl-related harm reduction strategies and prevention messaging is still nascent.

Extreme heat has a direct impact on health and can exacerbate substance use. Rural communities are at high risk given higher rates of hospitalizations for heat related illness and the disproportionate effects of substance use. This commentary explores the connection between heat and substance in rural communities and proposes recommendations within the span of policy, research and practice that can be tailored to fit the local rural context.

Background: , commonly known as fly agaric or fly amanita, is a mushroom renowned for its distinctive appearance and psychoactive properties attributed to its compounds, ibotenic acid, and muscimol. Contemporary interest in has surged, driven by anecdotal reports of perceived psychological and medicinal benefits. Objectives: However, no clinical studies exist thus far. This study employs thematic analysis of discussions from the "r/AmanitaMuscaria" subreddit on Reddit to explore users' reasons for its consumption and the positive and negative experiences associated with this mushroom. A total of 998 principal posts and their associated 9,542 comments were analyzed, revealing thematic trends in adverse effects, perceived positive (not adverse) outcomes, reasons for use, modes of consumption, and thought perceptions. Conclusions: Findings highlight that users experienced more positive than adverse effects, and adverse effects experienced were minimal and primarily self-limiting. These findings may be particularly salient in clinical settings, as medical providers might find it challenging to uncover use among their patients unless presented with severe adverse effects. Future research is recommended to investigate pharmacology further to inform patients and medical providers of safe practices. Finally, an innovative methodological strategy is warranted to examine Reddit posts in-depth to understand users' perceptions and attitudes.

Opioid use disorder (OUD) in pregnancy has substantially increased throughout the drug overdose crisis, but little is known about how local community environments are associated with OUD in pregnancy. This study investigates spatial patterns and residential ZIP code-level factors associated with delivery hospitalizations with OUD in Pennsylvania and compares these patterns to those for all delivery hospitalizations and all OUD-related hospitalizations.

Several studies reporting the association between khat chewing and health problems emphasized the role of "heavy use patterns." Such findings indicate the need to understand khat chewing topography, which is the mapping of the behavioral patterns regarding khat use and the contextual factors shaping such behaviors. The study of consumption topography offers the opportunity to examine the self-regulation systems individuals employ to maintain the desired physical and emotional state.

Study objectives were to examine (1) baseline differences in substance use motives (social, coping, enhancement, and physical discomfort) among older, middle-aged, and younger adults, and (2) whether age group moderated associations between substance use motives at baseline and substance use outcomes at six-month follow-up.

Supervised Consumption Sites (SCS) have proven effective in reducing overdose-related deaths by providing safe spaces for people who use substances. However, barriers such as stigma, operating hours, and travel distance can limit access to SCS. Virtual harm reduction services such as phone-based overdose response hotlines and apps have emerged as an alternative when SCS access is hindered. These collectively have also been named Mobile Overdose Response Services (MORS). At this time, little is known about how best to increase awareness of these services.

App use is related to smoking cessation outcomes in mobile-based interventions but studies that examine its impact on traditional interventions combined with an app are still scarce. Moreover, the interplay between app use and participants' sociodemographic characteristics remains unexplored, particularly in blended smoking cessation interventions. The study aims to explore the main effect of app use and the interactive effect of this variable and sociodemographic variables on abstinence outcomes. The sample composed of 102 participants (M= 44.96, SD= 9.97; 57.8% female) who received a psychological cognitive-behavioral smoking cessation intervention combined with the "Non Fumo" app. The Mann-Whitney U-test was used to examine differences in app use according to the smoking status at the end of the intervention, and moderation analyses were conducted to examine the interaction between app use and sociodemographic variables. Results showed that abstinent participants, compared to participants who smoke, used the "Non Fumo" app significantly more. However, app use did not predict abstinence at the end of treatment. Regarding moderation analyses, younger participants with greater app use were more likely to achieve abstinence at the end of the treatment compared to older participants. This study suggests that the association between app use and cessation outcomes could vary according to specific sociodemographic variables. Findings highlight the relevance of further investigating the relationship between personal characteristics and tobacco outcomes in app-based interventions. This would allow tailoring interventions according to individual characteristics to improve their effectiveness.

The current study tested the feasibility and acceptability of a novel, Instagram-based intervention designed to reduce alcohol use and promote mindfulness and protective behavioral strategies among young adults who binge drink.

We sought to examine the association of risk behaviors (i.e., risk perception, risk-taking/impulsivity, and sensation-seeking) and mental health symptomatology (depression, posttraumatic stress disorder [PTSD], anxiety and anger) on problematic alcohol use (alcohol problems and frequent heavy drinking [FHD]) among United States Army Reserve and National Guard (USAR/NG) soldiers.

This study examined drug overdose deaths in Mexican-heritage Arizonans, with the goal of informing tailored overdose prevention programs for this community.

Previous studies identified e-cigarette content on popular video and image-based social media platforms such as TikTok. While machine learning approaches have been increasingly used with text-based social media data, image-based analysis such as image-clustering has been rarely used on TikTok. Image clustering can identify underlying patterns and structures across large sets of images, enabling more streamlined distillation and analysis of visual data on TikTok. This study used image-clustering approaches to examine e-cigarette-related images on TikTok.

Philadelphia's opioid overdose crisis has reached unprecedented levels. However, overdose deaths involving non-opioids have also increased in recent years. As overdose deaths continue to increase, this study describes and compares the demographic characteristics, prescription drug histories, and exposure to potentially inappropriate prescribing practices (PIPPs), in the year before death of three groups of overdose decedents: (1) only opioid(s) detected in postmortem toxicology, (2) only non-opioid(s) detected, (3) both opioids and non-opioids co-detected [i.e. concomitant detections].

Prior to the U.S. Comprehensive Addiction and Reovery Act of 2016 (CARA) , policymaking on alcohol and drug use during pregnancy was more concentrated on alcohol than drug use policy - although the overlap between the two types of policy was high. Further, the highest levels of legislative activity were requirements to report pregnant women who used alcohol or other drugs and child abuse/neglect policy. This research brief uses rigorous legal epidemiology methodology to explore state policy activity on alcohol and other drug use during pregnancy after the U.S. Comprehensive Addiction and Recovery Act of 2016 (CARA) amended the 2010 Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act Reauthorization (CAPTA). Since CARA, policymaking has been more concentrated on drug policy than alcohol policy, although the overlap between the two is still high. Further, since CARA, states have concentrated policy activity on priority treatment for drugs and reporting requirements. Even though CARA does not require reporting for the purposes of child welfare investigations, several states adopted such requirements during these years.

Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms are common in people with cocaine use disorder (CUD), and even sub-threshold PSTD symptoms result in worse treatment outcomes. Difficulties with reward functioning may drive this comorbidity. Impairments in reward functioning are prominent in both PTSD and CUD and contribute to development of substance use problems after trauma. There are three distinct reward processes that may be involved in the PTSD/CUD overlap: consummatory reward (ability to experience pleasure), motivational reward (willingness to exert effort for rewards), and reward learning (adapting behavior based on reward history). Here we test whether impairments in these reward functions account for the relationship between PTSD and CUD symptoms.

Illicit substance use (ISU) may be a potential predisposing factor for severe COVID-19 outcomes.