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Honors Theses

Addiction

Articles 1 - 8 of 8

Full-Text Articles in Social and Behavioral Sciences

Taking The Social Out Of Social Media: Social Media Induced Loneliness As A Mechanism For Elevated Depression During The Pandemic, Samara Rosen Apr 2023

Taking The Social Out Of Social Media: Social Media Induced Loneliness As A Mechanism For Elevated Depression During The Pandemic, Samara Rosen

Honors Theses

During the COVID-19 pandemic health protocols limited in-person interactions, interrupting the undergraduate experience and prompting students to find virtual ways to connect with their peers. A key goal of this study was to assess whether college students’ social media use was a viable replacement for in-person interactions during the pandemic, reducing risk for psychological difficulties that ordinarily accompany social isolation. The purpose of the present study was to evaluate loneliness as a potential mediator underlying the longitudinal relationship between social media use and depression. Self-report data were collected in November 2020 (T1), February 2021 (T2), and May 2021 (T3). The …

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Project Avatar: Utilizing The Power Of Social-Media To Share Stories Of Hope, Elizabeth Cremins Mar 2023

Project Avatar: Utilizing The Power Of Social-Media To Share Stories Of Hope, Elizabeth Cremins

Honors Theses

Addiction affects everyone and the stigma around addiction and its’ recovery makes it exponentially harder for individuals to heal. Today, adolescents are exposed to drugs, alcohol, and related substances from younger ages than ever before and the age of first consumption of these substances is continually decreasing. Further, social media makes it easier than ever for these young people to see substance-related content. Most teens and young adults today check their social media daily—if not hourly. Due to the young age of first exposure to substances coupled with the near-constant exposure that social media provides, addiction is an ever-present problem …

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Sex Differences In Lateral Hypothalamic Extracellular Glucose Concentrations During Cumulative Dosing Of Methamphetamine In Rats, Joshua A. Jolton Apr 2022

Sex Differences In Lateral Hypothalamic Extracellular Glucose Concentrations During Cumulative Dosing Of Methamphetamine In Rats, Joshua A. Jolton

Honors Theses

The present study experimentally investigated sex differences in lateral hypothalamic glucose concentrations following cumulative dosing of methamphetamine. Male (n=17) and female (n=11) rats were surgically implanted with enzyme-based glucose biosensors in the lateral hypothalamus. Rats then received a saline injection followed by four methamphetamine doses (0.025 mg/kg, 0.05 mg/kg, 0.1 mg/kg, and 0.2 mg/kg) spaced 55 minutes apart. We found that while there was a general decrease in glucose baseline throughout the study for both sexes, the magnitude of the decrease was significantly greater in females compared to males. On a rapid timescale, fixed sex effects existed at the lower …

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A Case For The Decriminalization Of Simple Possession Of Narcotics In Mississippi, Stroud Tolleson Dec 2021

A Case For The Decriminalization Of Simple Possession Of Narcotics In Mississippi, Stroud Tolleson

Honors Theses

Through its incarceration of simple possession offenders, Mississippi is failing to acknowledge the severity of addiction and importance of mental health. In this paper, I will examine Mississippi’s history of opinion and policy on drug use. In order to gain a better understanding of addiction and Mississippi’s criminal justice system, I interview several individuals with experience in varying aspects of these issues. Mississippi has one of the highest rates of incarceration in the United States, with stringent laws regarding the possession of narcotics. Mississippi’s mental health resources have been deemed unconstitutionally deficient on more than one occasion, and addicts are …

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Population Demographics: Predictors Of The Relationship Between Alcohol Use Disorder And Major Depression, Mei Grace Behrendt Jan 2020

Population Demographics: Predictors Of The Relationship Between Alcohol Use Disorder And Major Depression, Mei Grace Behrendt

Honors Theses

This thesis examines both biological and social explanations of alcohol use disorder (AUD) and major depression (MD) through a thorough review of current literature. Using multiple logistic regression analyses exploring the sociodemographic and alcohol use factors that contribute to reporting of major depression symptoms with data from the 2017 National Survey on Drug Use and Health, this thesis demonstrates how there are health disparities that exist among different demographic populations. Specifically, certain demographic characteristics such as racial or ethnic identity, gender, and socioeconomic status may contribute to increased risk of developing and reporting episodes of lifetime and past year major …

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Escaping Death: Naloxone's Chemical Nature And Potential To Combat The Opioid Epidemic, Abigale Miller Mar 2019

Escaping Death: Naloxone's Chemical Nature And Potential To Combat The Opioid Epidemic, Abigale Miller

Honors Theses

Naloxone is a life-saving drug with the ability to reverse an opioid overdose. As the opioid epidemic’s death toll rises, we can turn to Naloxone as a tool to combat the crisis. The epidemic, born of corruption, has a wide reach among the people of the United States, with especially firm grasps on middle-aged people, sufferers of chronic pain, white Americans and those living in the eastern portion of the country. Naloxone’s elegant design saves lives by effectively competing for a position on an opioid biding receptor in the brain to almost instantly end an overdose and restore normal breathing. …

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Addiction Treatment Outcomes And Religiosity: What Is The Relationship?, Sidney Harrington Smith Iii May 2018

Addiction Treatment Outcomes And Religiosity: What Is The Relationship?, Sidney Harrington Smith Iii

Honors Theses

This study examines how religiosity, specifically, church attendance, prior to admission into an addictions treatment facility (Teen Challenge) is related to the treatment outcomes of completing the program and the participants’ length of stay in treatment. Additionally, the study investigates how other factors such as marital status, ethnicity, alcohol and drug use, and level of education may be related to treatment outcomes. Using archival data of 388 enrollees in a Teen Challenge program in southern United States, the results show that religiosity prior to treatment admission is significantly related to program completion. However, the second outcome variable, length of time …

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Addicts Speak: An Exploratory Ethnographic Study Of Opioid Addiction, James A. Hamm Jan 2018

Addicts Speak: An Exploratory Ethnographic Study Of Opioid Addiction, James A. Hamm

Honors Theses

This thesis explores the experiences of people in recovery from opioid addiction in order to better understand the many process of recovery. Employing both participant observation and focused life history interview, and utilizing a grounded theory approach to data analysis, this research emphasizes data-driven conclusions. The research provides numerous insights into the process of recovery from opioid addiction, as well as factors that help to facilitate and sustain the process, the role that services play, and how services can be developed to better meet the needs of those in recovery.

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