Substance Abuse and Addiction Commons^™

The Co-Occurrence Of Past Year Major Depressive Episodes And Marijuana Use And Its Relation To Mental Health Resource Utilization, Suicidal Ideation And Planning, Rachel I. Miranda

Honors Program Theses and Research Projects

Depression is a mental health disorder found worldwide affecting all demographics and is a major cause of global disability. For youth, depression can be very serious as it is a leading contributor to suicide, a top three cause of adolescent death. When we examine the onset of depression in adolescence, we also must acknowledge that youth access and usage of mental health resources and interactions with their communities may influence their outlook. We set out to examine how the co-occurrence of past year marijuana use and major depressive episodes (MDE), the variable we use to measure youth depression in this …

Exploring The Effects Of Art Therapy Interventions On Self-Evaluations Of Food Addiction: A Randomized Control Study, Dawn Fiacco

Art Therapy | Doctoral Dissertations

Processed sugar is highly addictive and associated with chronic diseases such as obesity, type 2 diabetes, heart disease, and cancer. Often, people know that eating processed sugar has negative health consequences but continue to do so, possibly for emotional reasons. The gap between knowledge and behavior makes treating eating issues difficult. Art therapy is a nonverbal modality and could possibly circumvent usual rationalizations, making it an effective way to bridge the cognitive and emotional aspects of problematic eating. This randomized control, mixed methods study was conducted to examine whether a 7-week art directive program could help people with self-identified problematic …

A Closer Look At The Humanistic Aspects Of The Opioid Epidemic And Its Implications For Pharmaceutical Ethics And Law, Eriel Burns

Gaines Fellow Senior Theses

This paper elucidates the humanistic elements of this crisis, that is, the ethical challenges it poses and the role of culture in it. The opioid crisis disturbs several bioethics principles as indicated by the fact that it burgeoned out of the health care system as opposed to the illicit environments of the underground market. The book Dreamland by investigative journalist and storyteller, Sam Quinones encapsulates the complexity of the opioid epidemic through research and interviews with important figures related to the crisis such as physicians, people with opioid use disorder, and pharmaceutical sales representatives, among others. Quinones details that the …

Sequencing Conversational Turns In Peer Interactions: An Integrated Approach For Evidence-Based Conversational Agent For Just-In-Time Nicotine Cravings Intervention, Tavleen Singh, Michael Truong, Kirk Roberts, Sahiti Myneni

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

BACKGROUND: Risky health behaviors place an enormous toll on public health systems. While relapse prevention support is integrated with most behavior modification programs, the results are suboptimal. Recent advances in artificial intelligence (AI) applications provide us with unique opportunities to develop just-in-time adaptive behavior change solutions.

METHODS: In this study, we present an innovative framework, grounded in behavioral theory, and enhanced with social media sequencing and communications scenario builder to architect a conversational agent (CA) specialized in the prevention of relapses in the context of tobacco cessation. We modeled peer interaction data (n = 1000) using the taxonomy of behavior …

Long-Term Cardiometabolic Effects Of Preconceptional And Prenatal Opioid Exposure In The Adult Offspring, Nermin Hassan Mohamed Selim Ahmed

Theses and Dissertations--Pharmacology and Nutritional Sciences

Opioid use disorder (OUD), one of the greatest public health threats in the US, requires urgent attention. In 2022, the CDC reported 107,941 overdose deaths, over 70% attributed to synthetic opioids such as fentanyl (FEN). An alarming increase in opioid use disorder (OUD) diagnoses in pregnant people resulted in a 5-fold rise in cases of neonatal opioid withdrawal syndrome (NOWS). This condition elicits sympathetic overactivity, neural hyperexcitability, and a stress reaction characterized by tachycardia and hypertension. Whether prenatal exposure to fentanyl induces cardiovascular dysfunction in the offspring remains undetermined, impeding the timely development of strategies to mitigate OUD-related health risks …

A Neuroscience-Based Curriculum For Addiction Prevention For Fourth-Grade Students, Paola Andrea Benitez

Social Work Theses - Archive

Substance use is one of the main problems affecting adolescents and young adults. While the consumption of alcohol has decreased, the consumption of marijuana has increased rampantly due to youth's positive perception after being legalized in 24 states with no clear message of the many adverse effects this drug causes. Different approaches to prevention have been used throughout the years: scare-led tactics, socio-emotional learning skills, and neuroscience-based curriculums. Since substance use results from the conjunction of different biopsychosocial factors that lead to this relapsing brain disease, the solution should integrate different preventive solutions as well. Public policy, schools, social workers, …

Lived Experiences Of People With Substance Use Disorder As Healthcare Education To Develop Empathy For This Population, Whitney Bynum

Nursing | Senior Theses

The negative attitudes and feelings of healthcare workers towards patients with substance use disorder are well documented. These include, but are not limited to, believing a person with this disease is “drug seeking”, “violent”, and “unmotivated”. While this population has challenging issues to address, these beliefs can decrease the quality of care provided and results in less people seeking out needed treatment. Reducing stigmas through alternative education methods, like learning the life story of a patient, can help health care workers develop feelings of empathy and compassion. Subsequently, this education can result in better care and outcomes for these patients. …

The Role Of Microglia In Sex- And Region-Specific Blood-Brain Barrier Integrity During Nicotine Withdrawal, Mohit Kumar, Jack V. Keady, Surya P. Aryal, Marissa Hessing, Christopher I. Richards, Jill R. Turner

Pharmaceutical Sciences Faculty Publications

BACKGROUND: Smoking is the largest preventable cause of death and disease in the United States, with ,5% of quit attempts being successful. Microglia activation and proinflammatory neuroimmune signaling in reward neuro- circuitry are implicated in nicotine withdrawal symptomology. Microglia are integral regulators of blood-brain barrier (BBB) functionality as well; however, whether the effects of nicotine withdrawal on microglia function impact BBB integrity is unknown.

METHODS: Mice were treated with chronic nicotine (12 mg/kg/day) and subjected to 48 hours nicotine withdrawal. Regional BBB permeability, together with messenger RNA and protein expression of tight junction proteins, were assessed. PLX5622 chow was used …

Identifying Youth Appeals In Alcohol Alternative Social Media Content Through Framing, Melina Oneal

West Chester University Master’s Theses

Proposed regulations for alcohol advertising prevent beverage companies from targeting people under the legal drinking age. However, similar regulations for alcohol alternative beverages are less explored, which could allow alcohol alternative products to create awareness for alcoholic beverages among youth. Alcohol alternatives beverages, including no-alcohol and low-alcohol products, are increasing in popularity and can function as compliments to alcoholic products to decrease the total alcohol volume consumed or as substitutes for alcoholic products. Framing theory can be operationalized through the Content Appealing to Youth Index, an index of content elements found in research literature to be appealing to youth, to …

Refining The Scope Of Genetic Influences On Alcohol Misuse Through Environmental Stratification And Gene-Environment Interaction, Jeanne E. Savage, Christiaan A. De Leeuw, Josefin Werme, Spit For Science Working Group, Danielle M. Dick, Danielle Posthuma, Sophie Van Der Sluis

Psychology Faculty Publications

Background

Gene-environment interaction (G X E) is likely an important influence shaping individual differences in alcohol misuse (AM), yet it has not been extensively studied in molecular genetic research. In this study, we use a series of genome-wide gene-environment interaction (GWEIS) and in silico annotation methods with the aim of improving gene identification and biological understanding of AM.

Methods

We carried out GWEIS for four AM phenotypes in the large UK Biobank sample (N = 360,314), with trauma exposure and socioeconomic status (SES) as moderators of the genetic effects. Exploratory analyses compared stratified genome-wide association (GWAS) and GWEIS modeling approaches. …

Assessment Of Simultaneous Alcohol And Cannabis Use And Its Related Consequences And Cognitions In College Students: A Narrative Review, Jennifer L. Shipley, Abby L. Braitman

Psychology Faculty Publications

As rates of students using cannabis continue to rise, simultaneous use of alcohol and cannabis (such that their effects overlap; commonly referred to as simultaneous alcohol and marijuana [SAM] use) is prevalent among college students who use both substances. Although research focusing on SAM use and related cognitions and consequences continues to grow, there are no common established measures, as approaches vary across studies. This narrative review identifies current methods for assessing SAM use and measures of SAM-related consequences and cognitions (motives and expectancies) among college students, evaluates how they were developed, identifies gaps in the literature, and provides recommendations …

Iuphar-Review: The Integration Of Classic Psychedelics Into Current Substance Use Disorder Treatment Models, David Yaden, Andrea Berghella, Peter Hendricks, Mary Yaden, Michael Levine, Julia Rohde, Sandeep Nayak, Matthew Johnson, Albert Garcia-Romeu

SKMC Student Presentations and Publications

Substance use disorders (SUDs) have an enormous impact on public health. With classic psychedelic-assisted therapies showing initial promise in treating multiple SUDs, it is possible that these treatments will become legally available options for patients with SUDs in the future. This article highlights how classic psychedelic-assisted therapies might be integrated into current clinical practice. We first describe contemporary evidence-based treatments for SUDs and highlight how classic psychedelic-assisted therapies might fit within each treatment. We suggest that classic psychedelic-assisted therapies can be integrated into most mainstream evidence-based SUD treatments that are currently used in clinical settings, indicating broad compatibility of classic …

Combining Neuroimaging And Brain Stimulation To Test Alternative Causal Pathways For Nicotine Addiction In Schizophrenia, Xiaoming Du, Fow-Sen Choa, Joshua Chiappelli, Heather Bruce, Mark Kvarta, Ann Summerfelt, Yizhou Ma, William T Regenold, Kevin Walton, George F Wittenberg, Stephanie Hare, Si Gao, Andrew Van Der Vaart, Zhiwei Zhao, Shuo Chen, Peter Kochunov, L Elliot Hong

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

The smoking rate is high in patients with schizophrenia. Brain stimulation targeting conventional brain circuits associated with nicotine addiction has also yielded mixed results. We aimed to identify alternative circuitries associated with nicotine addiction in both the general population and schizophrenia, and then test whether modulation of such circuitries may alter nicotine addiction behaviors in schizophrenia. In Study I of 40 schizophrenia smokers and 51 non-psychiatric smokers, cross-sectional neuroimaging analysis identified resting state functional connectivity (rsFC) between the dorsomedial prefrontal cortex (dmPFC) and multiple extended amygdala regions to be most robustly associated with nicotine addiction severity in healthy controls and …

Intermittent Theta Burst Stimulation And Functional Connectivity In People Living With Hiv/Aids Who Smoke Tobacco Cigarettes: A Preliminary Pilot Study, Gopalkumar Rakesh, Thomas G Adams, Rajendra A Morey, Joseph L Alcorn, Rebika Khanal, Amanda E Su, Seth S Himelhoch, Craig R Rush

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

BACKGROUND: People living with HIV (PLWHA) smoke at three times the rate of the general population and respond poorly to cessation strategies. Previous studies examined repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) over left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (L. dlPFC) to reduce craving, but no studies have explored rTMS among PLWHA who smoke. The current pilot study compared the effects of active and sham intermittent theta-burst stimulation (iTBS) on resting state functional connectivity (rsFC), cigarette cue attentional bias, and cigarette craving in PLWHA who smoke.

METHODS: Eight PLWHA were recruited (single-blind, within-subject design) to receive one session of iTBS (n=8) over the L. …

Rural And Urban Clinician Views On Covid- 19’S Impact On Substance Use Treatment For Individuals On Community Supervision In Kentucky, Carrie B. Oser, Maria Rockett, Sebastian Otero, Evan Batty, Marisa Booty, Rachel Gressick, Michele Staton, Hannah K. Knudsen

Center on Drug and Alcohol Research Faculty Publications

Background The COVID-19 pandemic produced system-level changes within the criminal legal system and community-based substance use disorder (SUD) treatment system with impacts on recovery efforts. This study examines rural and urban clinicians’ perspectives of COVID-19 on SUD treatment delivery for people on community supervision.

Methods Virtual qualitative interviews were conducted between April and October 2020 with 25 community supervision clinicians employed by Kentucky’s Department of Corrections (DOC), who conduct assessments and facilitate community-based treatment linkages for individuals on probation or parole. Transcripts were analyzed in NVivo using directed content analysis methods.

Results Clinicians were predominantly white (92%) and female (88%) …

Scales For Participant Alliance With Recovery Coach (Sparc): Initial Development And Pilot Test, Amanda Fallin-Bennett, Martha Tillson, J. Matthew Webster, Carrie B. Oser, Jennifer Edwards Becan, Kevin Knight, Jeremy Byard, Michele Staton

Center on Drug and Alcohol Research Faculty Publications

Recovery coaches are individuals with lived experience with recovery from substance use disorder who typically engender a greater sense of trust than found with other types of healthcare providers. However, there currently are no validated tools that measure the connection between recovery coaches and their participants. The purpose of this study was to describe the initial development of the Scales for Participant Alliance with Recovery Coach (SPARC) to measure recovery coach connection or alliance, including initial psychometric analyses. Measurement development began with five scales of the Client Evaluation of Self Treatment (treatment participation, treatment satisfaction, rapport, peer support, and social …

Adverse Childhood Experiences Increasing The Likelihood Of Substance Use Disorder, Kelsey L. Cain

Graduate Research Papers

No abstract provided.

Body-Map Storytelling: A Qualitative Exploration Of The Lived Experiences Of Hospital Care Amongst Street Involved Youth, Chelsey Fedchenko

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

This social work study explores the experiences of hospital care amongst street-involved (SI) youth. Given that SI youth are at a higher risk for health-related harms and experience significant barriers to health care services, they are at an increased likelihood of hospitalization. Yet, inadequate health care support for SI youth remains a critical problem in Canada. While hospital care amongst adult homeless populations has been well studied interdisciplinary, there is a scarcity of research investigating the hospital care experiences amongst SI youth. The aim of this qualitative, arts-based study was to explore how street-life contributes to hospitalization, how SI youth …

Stigma And Efficacy Beliefs Regarding Opioid Use Disorder Treatment And Naloxone In Communities Participating In The Healing Communities Study Intervention, Nicky Lewis, Barry Eggleston, Redonna K. Chandler, Dawn Goddard-Eckrich, Jamie E. Luster, Dacia Beard, Emma Rodgers, Rouba A. Chahine, Philip M. Westgate, Shoshana N. Benjamin, Janae Holloway, Thomas Clarke, R. Craig Lefebvre, Michael D. Stein, Donald W. Helme, Jennifer Reynolds, Sharon L. Walsh, Darcy Freedman, Nabila El-Bassel, Kara Stephens, Anita Silwal, Michelle R. Lofwall, Janet E. Childerhose, Hilary L. Surratt, Brooke N. Crockett, Amy L. Farmer, James L. David, Laura Fanucchi, Judy Harness, Ben Wilburn, Kelli Bursey, Kristin Mattson, Sarah Mann, Rebecca D. Jackson, Aimee Shadwick, Katherine Calver, Deborah Chassler, Jennifer Kimball, Nancy Regan, Jeffrey H. Samet, Rachel Sword-Cruz, Michael D. Slater

Biostatistics Faculty Publications

Background The HEALing Communities Study (HCS) included health campaigns as part of a community-engaged intervention to reduce opioid-related overdose deaths in 67 highly impacted communities across Kentucky, Massachusetts, New York, and Ohio. Five campaigns were developed with community input to provide information on opioid use disorder (OUD) and overdose prevention, reduce stigma, and build demand for evidence-based practices (EBPs). An evaluation examined the recognition of campaign messages about naloxone and whether stigma and efficacy beliefs regarding OUD treatment and naloxone changed in HCS intervention communities.

Methods Data were collected through surveys offered on Facebook/Instagram to members of communities participating in …

Empowering Providers To Empower Their Patients: One Model To Expand Knowledge, Competency, And Awareness For The Perinatal Substance Use Workforce, Jacqueline Jacobs

Graduate School of Professional Psychology: Doctoral Papers and Masters Projects

Perinatal substance use (PSU) is a serious and growing public health concern. It is associated with a variety of adverse health outcomes for both mother and child and has been shown to negatively impact the parent-child relationship. Despite the growing prevalence of PSU, there are notable deficits in provider knowledge regarding, and comfortability with, PSU. Moreover, providers report feelings of judgment, resentment, fear, and hesitancy related to their work with women with PSU. Subsequently, women with PSU struggle to find appropriate, compassionate, and effective treatment for their substance misuse. Widespread and accessible training is needed to bolster provider knowledge base, …