Addictive Proposition
Marijuana use and high school dropout: The influence of unobservables
Daniel McCaffrey, Rosalie Liccardo Pacula, Bing Han & Phyllis Ellickson
Health Economics, November 2010, Pages 1281-1299
Abstract:
In this study, we reconsider the relationship between heavy and persistent marijuana use and high school dropout status. Using a unique prospective panel study of over 4500 7th grade students from South Dakota who are followed through high school, we developed propensity score weights to adjust for baseline differences found to exist before marijuana initiation occurs for most students (7th grade). We then used weighted logistic regression that incorporates these propensity score weights to examine the extent to which time-varying factors, including substance use, also influence the likelihood of dropping out of school. We found a positive association between marijuana use and dropping out (OR=5.6, RR=3.8), over half of which was explained by prior differences in observational characteristics and behaviors. The remaining association (OR=2.4, RR=1.7) became statistically insignificant when measures of cigarette smoking were included in the analysis. Because cigarette smoking is unlikely to seriously impair cognition, we interpret this result as evidence that the association between marijuana use and high school dropout is unlikely to be due to its adverse effects on cognition. We then explored which constructs drive this result, determining that they are time-varying parental and peer influences.
-----------------------
Put Your Money Where Your Butt Is: A Commitment Contract for Smoking Cessation
Xavier Giné, Dean Karlan & Jonathan Zinman
American Economic Journal: Applied Economics, October 2010, Pages 213-235
Abstract:
We designed and tested a voluntary commitment product to help smokers quit smoking. The product (CARES) offered smokers a savings account in which they deposit funds for six months, after which they take a urine test for nicotine and cotinine. If they pass, their money is returned; otherwise, their money is forfeited to charity. Of smokers offered CARES, 11 percent took up, and smokers randomly offered CARES were 3 percentage points more likely to pass the 6-month test than the control group. More importantly, this effect persisted in surprise tests at 12 months, indicating that CARES produced lasting smoking cessation.
-----------------------
Todd Kashdan, Patty Ferssizidis, Lorraine Collins & Mark Muraven
Psychological Science, September 2010, Pages 1341-1347
Abstract:
Some people are adept at using discrete emotion categories (anxious, angry, sad) to capture their felt experience; other people merely communicate how good or bad they feel. We theorized that people who are better at describing their emotions might be less likely to self-medicate with alcohol. During a 3-week period, 106 underage social drinkers used handheld computers to self-monitor alcohol intake. From participants' reported experiences during random prompts, we created an individual difference measure of emotion differentiation. Results from a 30-day timeline follow-back revealed that people with intense negative emotions consumed less alcohol if they were better at describing emotions and less reliant on global descriptions. Results from ecological momentary assessment procedures revealed that people with intense negative emotions prior to drinking episodes consumed less alcohol if they were better at describing emotions. These findings provide support for a novel methodology and dimension for understanding the influence of emotions on substance-use patterns.
-----------------------
Federico Ciliberto & Nicolai Kuminoff
B.E. Journal of Economic Analysis & Policy, 2010
Abstract:
This paper investigates the large and unexpected increase in cigarette prices that followed the 1997 Master Settlement Agreement (MSA). We integrate key features of rational addiction theory into a discrete-choice model of the demand for a differentiated product. We find that following the MSA firms set prices on a more elastic region of their demand curves. Using these estimates, we predict prices that would be charged under a variety of industry structures and pricing rules. Under the assumptions of firms' perfect foresight and constant marginal costs, we fail to reject the hypothesis that firms collude on a dynamic pricing strategy.
-----------------------
Lia Nower & Alex Blaszczynski
Journal of Gambling Studies, September 2010, Pages 361-372
Abstract:
Studies attempting to identify the specific ‘addictive' features of electronic gaming machines (EGMs) have yielded largely inconclusive results, suggesting that it is the interaction between a gambler's cognitions and the machine, rather than the machine itself, which fuels excessive play. Research has reported that machine players with gambling problems adopt a number of erroneous cognitive perceptions regarding the probability of winning and the nature of randomness. What is unknown, however, is whether motivations for gambling and attitudes toward pre-session monetary limit-setting vary across levels of gambling severity, and whether proposed precommitment strategies would be useful in minimizing excessive gambling expenditures. The current study explored these concepts in a sample of 127 adults, ages 18 to 81, attending one of four gambling venues in Queensland, Australia. The study found that problem gamblers were more likely than other gamblers to play machines to earn income or escape their problems rather than for fun and enjoyment. Similarly, they were less likely to endorse any type of monetary limit-setting prior to play. They were also reticent to adopt the use of a ‘smart card' or other strategy to limit access to money during a session, though they indicated they lost track of money while gambling and were rarely aware of whether they were winning or losing during play. Implications for precommitment policies and further research are discussed.
-----------------------
Consistency and Change in Club Drug Use by Sexual Minority Men in New York City, 2002 to 2007
David Pantalone, David Bimbi, Catherine Holder, Sarit Golub & Jeffrey Parsons
American Journal of Public Health, October 2010, Pages 1892-1895
Abstract:
We used repeated cross-sectional data from intercept surveys conducted annually at lesbian, gay, and bisexual community events to investigate trends in club drug use in sexual minority men (N=6489) in New York City from 2002 to 2007. Recent use of ecstasy, ketamine, and g-hydroxybutyrate decreased significantly. Crystal methamphetamine use initially increased but then decreased. Use of cocaine and amyl nitrates remained consistent. A greater number of HIV positive (vs HIV-negative) men reported recent drug use across years. Downward trends in drug use in this population mirror trends in other groups.
-----------------------
Yvonne Terry-McElrath, Sherry Emery, Glen Szczypka & Lloyd Johnston
Addictive Behaviors, forthcoming
Abstract:
Using nationally representative data from the Monitoring the Future Study on United States middle and high school students, we related exposure to anti-drug television advertising as measured by Nielsen Media Research ratings points to student self-reported drug-related outcomes from 1995-2006. Multivariate analyses controlling for key socio-demographics and accounting for the complex survey design included 337,918 cases. Results indicated that attitudes, beliefs, and behaviors regarding substance use were significantly related to such advertising exposure over the six months prior to the date youth were surveyed. However, the observed relationships varied by grade level, over time and by advertising tagline and marijuana focus. Findings differed markedly between middle and high school students across the study interval. One factor that may partially explain observed differences may be variation in the degree to which the ads focused on marijuana. Putting a concerted effort into increasing anti-drug advertising will likely increase the exposure to and recall of such ads among youth. However, the likelihood that such advertising will result in youth being less likely to use drugs seems to depend heavily on the type of advertising utilized and how it relates to different ages and characteristics of targeted youth.
-----------------------
Does Drinking Impair College Performance? Evidence from a Regression Discontinuity Approach
Scott Carrell, Mark Hoekstra & James West
NBER Working Paper, September 2010
Abstract:
This paper examines the effect of alcohol consumption on student achievement. To do so, we exploit the discontinuity in drinking at age 21 at a college in which the minimum legal drinking age is strictly enforced. We find that drinking causes significant reductions in academic performance, particularly for the highest-performing students. This suggests that the negative consequences of alcohol consumption extend beyond the narrow segment of the population at risk of more severe, low-frequency, outcomes.
-----------------------
Effects of Alcohol Tax and Price Policies on Morbidity and Mortality: A Systematic Review
Alexander Wagenaar, Amy Tobler & Kelli Komro
American Journal of Public Health, November 2010, Pages 2270-2278
Objectives: We systematically reviewed the effects of alcohol taxes and prices on alcohol-related morbidity and mortality to assess their public health impact.
Methods: We searched 12 databases, along with articles' reference lists, for studies providing estimates of the relationship between alcohol taxes and prices and measures of risky behavior or morbidity and mortality, then coded for effect sizes and numerous population and study characteristics. We combined independent estimates in random-effects models to obtain aggregate effect estimates.
Results: We identified 50 articles, containing 340 estimates. Meta-estimates were r=-0.347 for alcohol-related disease and injury outcomes, -0.022 for violence, -0.048 for suicide, -0.112 for traffic crash outcomes, -0.055 for sexually transmitted diseases, -0.022 for other drug use, and -0.014 for crime and other misbehavior measures. All except suicide were statistically significant.
Conclusions: Public policies affecting the price of alcoholic beverages have significant effects on alcohol-related disease and injury rates. Our results suggest that doubling the alcohol tax would reduce alcohol-related mortality by an average of 35%, traffic crash deaths by 11%, sexually transmitted disease by 6%, violence by 2%, and crime by 1.4%.
-----------------------
Anindya Sen & Tony Wirjanto
Health Economics, November 2010, Pages 1264-1280
Abstract:
In response to the widespread availability of illegal contraband, the federal and five provincial governments in Canada implemented a 40-60% reduction to cigarette excise taxes in February 1994. We exploit this unique and discrete policy shock by estimating the effects of cigarette taxes on youth smoking with data from the 1992-1996 Waterloo Smoking Prevention Program, 1991 General Social Survey, 1994 Youth Smoking Survey, 1996-1997 and 1998-1999 National population Health Surveys, and the 1999 Canadian Tobacco Use Monitoring Survey. Empirical estimates yield daily and occasional participation elasticities from -0.10 to -0.14, which is consistent with findings from recent U.S.-based research. A key contribution of this research is in the analysis of lower taxes on a panel of 591 youths from the Waterloo Smoking Prevention Program, who did not smoke in 1993, but 43% of whom confirm smoking participation following the tax reduction. Employing these data reveals elasticities from -0.2 to -0.5, which suggest that even significant and discrete changes in taxes might have limited impacts on the initiation and persistence of youth smoking.
-----------------------
Risky Decisions and Their Consequences: Neural Processing by Boys with Antisocial Substance Disorder
Thomas Crowley et al.
PLoS ONE, September 2010, e12835
Background: Adolescents with conduct and substance problems ("Antisocial Substance Disorder" (ASD)) repeatedly engage in risky antisocial and drug-using behaviors. We hypothesized that, during processing of risky decisions and resulting rewards and punishments, brain activation would differ between abstinent ASD boys and comparison boys.
Methodology/Principal Findings: We compared 20 abstinent adolescent male patients in treatment for ASD with 20 community controls, examining rapid event-related blood-oxygen-level-dependent (BOLD) responses during functional magnetic resonance imaging. In 90 decision trials participants chose to make either a cautious response that earned one cent, or a risky response that would either gain 5 cents or lose 10 cents; odds of losing increased as the game progressed. We also examined those times when subjects experienced wins, or separately losses, from their risky choices. We contrasted decision trials against very similar comparison trials requiring no decisions, using whole-brain BOLD-response analyses of group differences, corrected for multiple comparisons. During decision-making ASD boys showed hypoactivation in numerous brain regions robustly activated by controls, including orbitofrontal and dorsolateral prefrontal cortices, anterior cingulate, basal ganglia, insula, amygdala, hippocampus, and cerebellum. While experiencing wins, ASD boys had significantly less activity than controls in anterior cingulate, temporal regions, and cerebellum, with more activity nowhere. During losses ASD boys had significantly more activity than controls in orbitofrontal cortex, dorsolateral prefrontal cortex, brain stem, and cerebellum, with less activity nowhere.
Conclusions/Significance: Adolescent boys with ASD had extensive neural hypoactivity during risky decision-making, coupled with decreased activity during reward and increased activity during loss. These neural patterns may underlie the dangerous, excessive, sustained risk-taking of such boys. The findings suggest that the dysphoria, reward insensitivity, and suppressed neural activity observed among older addicted persons also characterize youths early in the development of substance use disorders.
-----------------------
J.-S. Fallu, M. Janosz, F.N. Brière, A. Descheneaux, F. Vitaro & R.E. Tremblay
Addictive Behaviors, December 2010, Pages 1074-1082
Abstract:
Childhood disruptiveness is one of the most important antecedents of heavy substance use in adolescence, especially among boys. The first aim of the present study is to verify whether parental monitoring and friend conventionality protect disruptive boys from engaging in heavy substance-use in adolescence. The second purpose is to examine whether these protective effects are strengthened by attachment to parents or friends respectively. Finally, the third objective is to verify whether the expected protective effect of parental monitoring could be mediated through exposure to conventional friends. A sample of 1037 boys from low socioeconomic neighbourhoods was followed from childhood (age 6) to adolescence (age 15). Parent, teacher, and self-reported measures were used to measure disruptiveness, parental monitoring, family attachment, friend conventionality, and attachment to friends. Results suggest that parental monitoring and friends' conventionality mitigated the relationship between childhood disruptiveness and adolescence heavy substance use. Exposure to conventional friends further mediated the protective effect of parent monitoring. The postulated enhancement of attachment quality on the protective effect of parents or peer behaviors was not confirmed, but low attachment was related to heavier substance use in highly monitored disruptive boys. Parental monitoring, family attachment, and attachment to friends are factors amenable to intervention, and thus represent promising targets for future prevention strategies aimed at-risk boys. Our results underscore the importance of simultaneously addressing the behavioral and the affective dimensions in interventions with parents.
-----------------------
Youjin Choi, Sejung Marina Choi & Nora Rifon
Journal of American College Health, September-October 2010, Pages 117-125
Objective: This article presents the development of a new smoking status, the "phantom smokers," who do not view themselves as smokers but report smoking cigarettes.
Participants: Students from 2 universities in Michigan (N = 899; October 2005) and Florida (N = 1,517; May 2006) participated in surveys.
Methods: Respondents in Michigan completed measures regarding smoking status and tobacco use, and respondents in Florida completed measures regarding smoking status, tobacco use, smoking consequences, and norms.
Results: The studies identify the incidence of phantom smokers (29.6% in Michigan and 5.5% in Florida). Different questions resulted in different smoking rates. Phantom smokers expect more negative affect reduction and social facilitation from smoking than nonsmokers. Phantom smokers display ambivalent attitudes toward a typical smoker's image. They experience less pressure to change their smoking behavior than smokers.
Conclusion: Phantom smokers' dissociation from smokers should be recognized and targeted as a distinct group for antismoking messages.
-----------------------
Sarah Riley, James Thompson & Christine Griffin
International Journal of Drug Policy, forthcoming
Background: Between 2002 and 2005 fresh or unprepared psilocin-based ‘magic' mushrooms were legal to possess and traffic in the UK, and commercial sales demonstrated a significant market for this hallucinogenic drug. During and after this time there has been relatively little analysis concerning how magic mushroom users accounted for their drug use, nor on the wider political and cultural discourses that might have shaped this sense making.
Method: In this paper we present a critical analysis of contemporary discourses around magic mushroom use in the UK through a multi-level discourse analysis of focus group data from 20 magic mushroom users (13 male and 7 female, mean age 25 years), taken at a time when magic mushrooms were being legally sold in the UK.
Results: Locating participants' use of magic mushrooms within the context of a culture of intoxication, neo-liberalism and the legacy of 1960s psychedelic philosophy, we identify six interpretative repertoires in their talk, which were subsumed within two overarching discourses. The first discourse drew on neo-liberal rhetoric, constructing participants as rational risk managing subjects engaged in a form of calculated hedonism that was legitimated as an act of personal freedom and consumer choice. The second discourse, identified as ‘post-psychedelic', both celebrated and problematised a collective, connected ‘hippy' form of spirituality.
Conclusion: The paper analyses the relationships between identity, consumption and citizenship by arguing that people's ability to imagine collectivist, spiritual or interconnected social worlds has been contained within neo-liberalism rhetoric.