Substance Abuse and Addiction Commons^™

Changes In Mental Health As A Predictor Of Cannabis Coping Motives And Consequences: Examining The Impact Of Covid-19 Among College Students, Rebecca Dunaief, Adrian Jorge Bravo, James Henson

Psychology Faculty Publications

Objective: Cannabis use is common among college students and many students use cannabis to cope with negative affect. The COVID-19 pandemic was a particularly stressful time for college students. Subsequently, the present study compared college students who reported increases in anxiety/depression symptoms since COVID-19 stay at home orders to those who reported no change in anxiety/depression symptoms on cannabis coping motives, use frequency, and negative consequences. Specifically, we examined whether self-reported changes (i.e., group that indicated increases) in poor mental health during COVID-19 were associated with problematic cannabis use via higher cannabis coping motives. Method: College students (analytic n = …

Genetic Associations Between Alcohol Phenotypes And Life Satisfaction: A Genomic Structural Equation Modeling Approach, Kaitlin E. Bountress, Shannon E. Cusack, Sage E. Hawn, Andrew Grotzinger, Daniel Bustamante, Robert M. Kirkpatrick, Howard J. Edenberg, Ananda B. Amstadter

Psychology Faculty Publications

Alcohol use (i.e., quantity, frequency) and alcohol use disorder (AUD) are common, associated with adverse outcomes, and genetically-influenced. Genome-wide association studies (GWAS) identified genetic loci associated with both. AUD is positively genetically associated with psychopathology, while alcohol use (e.g., drinks per week) is negatively associated or NS related to psychopathology. We wanted to test if these genetic associations extended to life satisfaction, as there is an interest in understanding the associations between psychopathology-related traits and constructs that are not just the absence of psychopathology, but positive outcomes (e.g., well-being variables). Thus, we used Genomic Structural Equation Modeling (gSEM) to analyze …

Opioid Use Disorder Prediction Using Machine Learning Of Fmri Data, A. Temtam, Liangsuo Ma, F. Gerard Moeller, M. S. Sadique, K. M. Iftekharuddin, Khan M. Iftekharuddin (Ed.), Weijie Chen (Ed.)

Electrical & Computer Engineering Faculty Publications

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) more than 932,000 people in the US have died since 1999 from a drug overdose. Just about 75% of drug overdose deaths in 2020 involved Opioid, which suggests that the US is in an Opioid overdose epidemic. Identifying individuals likely to develop Opioid use disorder (OUD) can help public health in planning effective prevention, intervention, drug overdose and recovery policies. Further, a better understanding of prediction of overdose leading to the neurobiology of OUD may lead to new therapeutics. In recent years, very limited work has been done using statistical …

Counselors’ Lived Experience Treating Patients Utilizing Methadone: The Intersection Of Culture, Policy, And Stigma, Kathryn Floyd Eggert

Antioch University Full-Text Dissertations & Theses

The United States continues to experience unprecedented deaths related to the opioid epidemic. Efforts to address the epidemic remain hampered by war-on-drugs policies that stigmatize people who use drugs and create barriers to accessing evidence-based treatments, particularly methadone maintenance treatments (MMT). Despite 50 years of research regarding MMT, it remains highly regulated, and arguably the most stigmatized treatment. The punitive regulatory structure of MMT remained unchanged until emergency waivers were initiated during the COVID-19 pandemic. The study used an exploratory, critical phenomenological approach to examine the intersection of culture and regulation on the lived experiences of 26 addiction counselors who …

Calcium Imaging Of Central Amygdala Activity After Fentanyl Escalation, Samantha Malone

Theses and Dissertations--Psychology

Evidence suggests that rats given long access (LgA) sessions to self-administer (SA) opioids escalate their intake, while also showing greater withdrawal severity and drug-induced reinstatement compared to rats maintained on short access (ShA) daily SA sessions. Little is known about the neural changes that occur during opioid escalation that may impact withdrawal and relapse. Past work examining opioid SA using ShA sessions in rodents has identified the central amygdala (CeA) as an area of interest that becomes hyperactive in acute withdrawal and may be involved in the incubation of craving that occurs after protracted withdrawal. However, these studies have not …

Application Of A Secondary Opioid Risk Tool In The Management Of Patients On Opioids In The Adult Pain Management Clinic: A Quality Improvement Project, Monica Kastanaras

DNP Projects

Introduction—Significance and Background: Aggressive opioid prescription practices play the biggest role in opioid-related behaviors and contribute to an epidemic of abuse. If started on long-term opioid therapy without screening, patients who are high risk for opioid abuse could overdose on their prescribed opioids. Current practice does not follow guidelines on monitoring opioid misuse behaviors utilizing a secondary screening tool for patients on long-term therapy.

Purpose: The purpose of this project is to help clinicians identify whether a patient, currently on long-term opioid therapy, may be exhibiting aberrant behaviors associated with misuse of opioid medications, using the Current Opioid Misuse Measure …

Determinism V. Free Will & Genetic Evidence Of Addiction In Plea Bargaining And Sentence Mitigation: Conversion Of Incarceration To Probation And Rehabilitation Based On Genetic Addiction Risk Severity (Gars) Test, Kenneth Blum, Paul Mullen, Richard Green

St. Mary's Law Journal

In this Article, Dr. Kenneth Blum and his team present the case of a presently abstinent, thirty-five year old alcoholic (“AG”) who has several convictions for DWI. AG has undergone and continues to be engaged in out-patient substance abuse treatment. He entered treatment before adjudication and was mandated by the court to continue treatment to assist in maintaining sobriety. Treatment included the administration of the Genetic Addiction Risk Severity (“GARS”) Test.

AG was facing a probable five-year sentence for his fifth DWI conviction in Bexar County, Texas. However, because AG’s genetic risk results indicated a genetically induced dopamine dysfunction, hypodopaminergia, …

Comparison Of Cognitive Behavioral Therapy And Pharmacologic Intervention In Alcohol Use Disorder Treatment, Analily Wong, Collin Owen, Meghan Vatave

Symposium of Student Scholars

Background: Alcohol use disorder (AUD) is a condition that can result in chronic health conditions that negatively impact a person’s life. Methods to treat AUD involve cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) and pharmacologic intervention, including disulfiram (DIS), naltrexone (NTX), and acamprosate (ACA).

Objectives: The purpose of this review is to determine the efficacy of CBT compared to pharmacologic intervention within one year of treatment in adult patients who have been diagnosed with AUD.

Methods: A reference search was conducted using various databases to locate literature. Combined keywords and Boolean operators were utilized to reveal desired articles. A total of 10 …

Nurse Role In Preventing Substance Abuse, Catherine Williams

Symposium of Student Scholars

Background: Pain is the number one reason why people seek medical attention, meaning pain management is an important intervention in caring for patients. However, over prescribing opioids has caused a major problem in healthcare. The United States is facing a crisis related to opioid abuse and opioid overdose deaths. A major contribution to this crisis is from an over prescription of opioids, which has caused a four-time increase in prescription opioid overdose death since 1999. It is the nurse’s responsibility to screen, assess, monitor, and educate patients about substance abuse. All patients while being triaged should be screened for abuse; …

Pregabalin May Reduce Neuropathic Pain In Burn Victims, Caroline Nikolaidis

Clinical Research in Practice: The Journal of Team Hippocrates

A clinical decision report using:

Gray P, Kirby J, Smith MT, et al. Pregabalin in severe burn injury pain: a double-blind, randomized placebo-controlled trial. Pain. 2011;152(6):1279-1288. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pain.2011.01.055

for a patient with burn injury pain.

Rural Health Action Network Enhanced Outreach Initiative. Year One Final Report, Mary Lindsey Smith Phd, Karen Pearson Mlis, Ma, Evelyn Ali Bs

Substance Use Research & Evaluation

Healthy Community Coalition (HCC), in coordination with the Rural Health Action Network (RHAN) of greater Franklin County, is implementing a multi-faceted outreach program to improve health outcomes among the rural poor living with chronic conditions in greater Franklin County, Maine.

The goals of the Franklin County Rural Health Action Network Enhanced Outreach Initiative (RHAN-EOI) include:

• Expand access to quality services;
• Expand training for community health extenders;
• Decrease hospital admissions, emergency department use, and costs; and
• Improve communication and care coordination across project partners

This report highlights the implementation and progress of HCC RHAN in Year 1. For more information, please …

Medication Assisted Treatment: Prescription Drug And Opioid Addiction Expansion Project, Mary Lindsey Smith Phd, Katharine Knight Mph, Mark Richards Bs, Tyler Egeland Ba, Evelyn Ali Bs

Substance Use Research & Evaluation

Greater Portland Health (GPH) in collaboration with Preble Street Resource Center was awarded a Medication Assisted Treatment: Prescription Drug & Opioid Addiction (MOUD-PDOA) grant from SAMHSA. The GPH MOUD-PDOA project will include a mixed-methods evaluation led by Catherine E. Cutler Institute. The evaluation team will build knowledge and provide feedback to inform the implementation and refinement of the GPH MOUD-PDOA Program.

Evaluation Goals:

• Document program strategies and identify barriers and facilitators to implementation
• Examine the efficacy of using a continuum of treatment services to increase access to MOUD among vulnerable populations in underserved communities
• Assess the impact of the intervention …

Substance Use Among Nurses As A Result Of Covid-19, And The Impact Of Rehabilitative Programs On Nurses, Gerome Macaspac

Nursing | Senior Theses

Background: The incidence of substance use among nurses has been a persistent issue for decades. The effects associated with substance misuse depend on what is used, the amount, how often, and how they are taken. Regardless of the substance used, any nurse who enters the workplace using substances puts the lives of others at risk. Due to the widespread effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, there is a risk that the number of nurses resorting to the use of substances may have increased. Therefore, an investigation into drug use among nurses during the pandemic is particularly important.

Objective: To explore the …

Individual Differences In Lpp Amplitude And Theta Power Predict Cue-Induced Eating During A Cued Food Delivery Task, Kyla Gibney

Dissertations & Theses (Open Access)

Due to individual differences in the brain’s reward system, some individuals are more vulnerable than others to maladaptive, reward-seeking behaviors, such as substance use or compulsive eating. A body of research has demonstrated that individuals who attribute higher levels of incentive salience to reward-associated cues than to pleasant images (termed “C>P group” throughout) are more vulnerable to compulsive eating than those who attribute higher incentive salience to pleasant images than reward- associated cues (P>C group). Meanwhile, a separate body of research has demonstrated that cognitive control also regulates eating by enabling top-down attentional control. This dissertation aims to …

Alcohol Use Disorder And Major Depressive Episodes: Findings From The National Survey On Drug Use And Health, Samantha Madler

Theses and Graduate Projects

Alcohol use disorder (AUD) is one of the leading causes of death and disability among individuals in the United States (Bergmann et al., 2013; Jung, 2019; Sliedrecht et al., 2019; Witkiewitz, 2019). A number of individuals reporting an AUD diagnosis also report difficulties related to numerous physical, social, and mental health consequences, most notably, major depression. Major depressive disorder (MDD) and AUD co-occur at high rates, and researchers have been investigating the negative consequences and outcomes related to these co-occurring illnesses (McHugh & Weiss, 2019; Tolliver & Anton, 2022). Using a large nationally representative sample of 18–36-year-olds, treatment completion within …

Mental Health, Substance Use, And The Importance Of Religion During The Covid-19 Pandemic, Ji-Yeun Park, Thushara Galbadage, Hyuna Lee, David C. Wang, Brent M. Peterson

Faculty Articles & Research

COVID-19 impacted multiple facets of life, with implications on physical, mental, and societal health. Specifically, long COVID and related losses have exacerbated complex and prolonged grief responses and mental disorders including depression and anxiety. These mental health concerns are in turn associated with increased detrimental coping strategies including substance use disorders (SUD). The social and interpersonal implications of SUD are varied. Secondary data analyses from the National Survey on Drug Use and Health (NSDUH) collected during the COVID-19 pandemic revealed an increase in substance use behaviors and mental health problems. Self-reported religious activities had a positive meditating effect on reducing …

Molecular Insights And Clinical Outcomes Of Drugs Of Abuse Adulteration: New Trends And New Psychoactive Substances, Annagiulia Di Trana, Diletta Berardinelli, Eva Montanari, Paolo Berretta, Giuseppe Basile, Marilyn A. Huestis, Francesco Paolo Busardò

Institute of Emerging Health Professions Faculty Papers

Adulteration is a well-known practice of drug manufacturers at different stages of drug production. The intentional addition of active ingredients to adulterate the primary drug may enhance or mask pharmacological effects or may produce more potent drugs to increase the number of available doses and the dealer's profit. Adulterants found in different drugs change over time in response to different factors. A systematic literature search in PubMed and Scopus databases and official international organizations' websites according to PRISMA guidelines was performed. A total of 724 studies were initially screened, with 145 articles from PubMed and 462 from Scopus excluded according …

The Student Athlete Wellness Portal: Translating Student Athletes’ Prescription Opioid Use Narratives Into A Targeted Public Health Intervention, Anne E. Pezalla, Hyejeong Choi, Francis Mckee, Michelle Miller-Day, Michael L. Hecht

Communication Faculty Articles and Research

Background and Objectives: The opioid epidemic has permeated all strata of society over the last two decades, especially within the adolescent student athletic environment, a group particularly at risk and presenting their own challenges for science and practice. This paper (a) describes the development of a web-based intervention called the Student Athlete Wellness Portal that models effective opioid misuse resistance strategies and (b) details the findings of a single-group design to test its effectiveness. Materials and Methods: Formative research included 35 student athletes residing in the United States, ages 14 to 21, who had been injured in their …

A Descriptive Analysis Of Patients With Attempted Suicide At A Rural Level I Trauma Center, Evelyn Coile, Tatiana Eversley-Kelso, Eric K. Shaw, Cynthia Ponir, Mickey M. Ott

HCA Healthcare Journal of Medicine

Objectives

For patients with self-harm, suicide attempt, or suicide completion, the trauma bay is often the single point of contact. Regional differences and patterns exist for suicide that should be studied to enhance preventive strategies. Our goal was to critically evaluate the suicidal population of Southeast Georgia over a 9-year period.

Methods

A retrospective review of our trauma database from January 2010 through December 2019 was conducted at a Level I Trauma Center. All ages were included. All patients arriving with attempted suicide or death due to a suicidal complication were included. Patients with deaths highly suspicious for suicide were …

The Impact Of Initial Age Of Methamphetamine Use On Social Integration, Emily E. Guarasci

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Background: Prevalence of methamphetamine use is rising in North America. Peers and social relationships are known to influence substance use patterns, but fewer studies have examined the role of early initiation on later social integration. We aimed to understand the relationship between age of first use and social integration.

Methods: Bivariate analyses were performed to assess the relationship between age of first use and social integration before performing a sex-based analysis. Multivariable linear regressions were used to help to understand this relationship.

Results: There was no significant association between age of first use and social integration scores for the sample. …