Blitzed
Exposure to female fertility pheromones influences men’s drinking
Robin Tan & Mark Goldman
Experimental and Clinical Psychopharmacology, June 2015, Pages 139-146
Abstract:
Research has shown that humans consciously use alcohol to encourage sexual activity. In the current study, we investigated whether decision making about alcohol use and sex can be cued outside of awareness by recently revealed sexual signaling mechanisms. Specifically, we examined if males exposed without their knowledge to pheromones emitted by fertile females would increase their alcohol consumption, presumably via neurobehavioral information pathways that link alcohol to sex and mating. We found that men who smelled a T-shirt worn by a fertile female drank significantly more (nonalcoholic) beer, and exhibited significantly greater approach behavior toward female cues, than those who smelled a T-shirt worn by a nonfertile female. These findings reveal previously unknown influences on human alcohol consumption, augment the research base for pheromone cuing of sexual behavior in humans, and raise the possibility that other, as yet unknown, pathways of behavioral influence may be operating hidden from view.
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Diana Samek et al.
Journal of Family Psychology, forthcoming
Abstract:
A large literature shows that parent and sibling relationship factors are associated with an increased likelihood of adolescent substance use. Less is known about the etiology of these associations. Using a genetically informed sibling design, we examined the prospective associations between parent involvement, sibling companionship, and adolescent substance use at 2 points in mid- and late-adolescence. Adolescents were adopted (n = 568) or the biological offspring of both parents (n = 412). Cross-lagged panel results showed that higher levels of parent involvement in early adolescence were associated with lower levels of substance use later in adolescence. Results did not significantly differ across adoption status, suggesting this association cannot be due to passive gene-environment correlation. Adolescent substance use at Time 1 was not significantly associated with parent involvement at Time 2, suggesting this association does not appear to be solely due to evocative (i.e., “child-driven”) effects either. Together, results support a protective influence of parent involvement on subsequent adolescent substance use that is environmental in nature. The cross-paths between sibling companionship and adolescent substance use were significant and negative in direction (i.e., protective) for sisters, but positive for brothers (in line with a social contagion hypothesis). These effects were consistent across genetically related and unrelated pairs, and thus appear to be environmentally mediated. For mixed gender siblings, results were consistent with environmentally driven, protective influence hypothesis for genetically unrelated pairs, but in line with a genetically influenced, social contagion hypothesis for genetically related pairs. Implications are discussed.
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Deborah Hasin et al.
Lancet Psychiatry, July 2015, Pages 601–608
Background: Adolescent use of marijuana is associated with adverse later effects, so the identification of factors underlying adolescent use is of substantial public health importance. The relationship between US state laws that permit marijuana for medical purposes and adolescent marijuana use has been controversial. Such laws could convey a message about marijuana acceptability that increases its use soon after passage, even if implementation is delayed or the law narrowly restricts its use. We used 24 years of national data from the USA to examine the relationship between state medical marijuana laws and adolescent use of marijuana.
Methods: Using a multistage, random-sampling design with replacement, the Monitoring the Future study conducts annual national surveys of 8th, 10th, and 12th-grade students (modal ages 13–14, 15–16, and 17–18 years, respectively), in around 400 schools per year. Students complete self-administered questionnaires that include questions on marijuana use. We analysed data from 1 098 270 adolescents surveyed between 1991 and 2014. The primary outcome of this analysis was any marijuana use in the previous 30 days. We used multilevel regression modelling with adolescents nested within states to examine two questions. The first was whether marijuana use was higher overall in states that ever passed a medical marijuana law up to 2014. The second was whether the risk of marijuana use changed after passage of medical marijuana laws. Control covariates included individual, school, and state-level characteristics.
Findings: Marijuana use was more prevalent in states that passed a medical marijuana law any time up to 2014 than in other states (adjusted prevalence 15.87% vs 13.27%; adjusted odds ratio [OR] 1.27, 95% CI 1.07–1.51; p=0.0057). However, the risk of marijuana use in states before passing medical marijuana laws did not differ significantly from the risk after medical marijuana laws were passed (adjusted prevalence 16.25% vs 15.45%; adjusted OR 0.92, 95% CI 0.82–1.04; p=0.185). Results were generally robust across sensitivity analyses, including redefining marijuana use as any use in the previous year or frequency of use, and reanalysing medical marijuana laws for delayed effects or for variation in provisions for dispensaries.
Interpretation: Our findings, consistent with previous evidence, suggest that passage of state medical marijuana laws does not increase adolescent use of marijuana. However, overall, adolescent use is higher in states that ever passed such a law than in other states. State-level risk factors other than medical marijuana laws could contribute to both marijuana use and the passage of medical marijuana laws, and such factors warrant investigation.
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The Effect of Medical Marijuana Laws on Juvenile Marijuana Use
Lisa Stolzenberg, Stewart D’Alessio & Dustin Dariano
International Journal of Drug Policy, forthcoming
Background: A number of states in the United States legally allow the use of marijuana as a medical therapy to treat an illness or to alleviate symptoms. Concern persists as to whether these types of laws are increasing juvenile recreational marijuana use. It is also plausible that medical marijuana laws engender an escalation of illicit non-marijuana drug use among juveniles because marijuana is frequently considered to be a gateway drug.
Methods: This study uses longitudinal data drawn from the National Survey on Drug Use and Health for the 50 U.S. states and a cross-sectional pooled-time series research design to investigate the effect of medical marijuana laws on juvenile marijuana use and on juvenile non-marijuana illicit drug use. Our study period encompasses five measurement periods calibrated in two-year intervals (2002-03 to 2010-11). This research design is advantageous in that it affords us the ability not only to assess the effect of the implementation of medical marijuana laws on juvenile drug use, but also to consider other state-specific factors that may explain variation in drug use that cannot be accounted for using a single time series.
Results: Findings show that medical marijuana laws amplify recreational juvenile marijuana use. Other salient predictors of juvenile marijuana use at the state-level of analysis include perceived availability of marijuana, percent of juveniles skipping school, severity of perceived punishment for marijuana possession, alcohol consumption, percent of respondents with a father residing in household, and percent of families in the state receiving public assistance. There is little empirical evidence to support the view that medical marijuana laws affect juveniles’ use of illicit non-marijuana drugs.
Conclusion: Based on our findings, it seems reasonable to speculate that medical marijuana laws amplify juveniles’ use of marijuana by allaying the social stigma associated with recreational marijuana use and by placating the fear that marijuana use could potentially result in a negative health outcome.
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Cigarette Taxes and Youth Smoking: Updated Estimates Using YRBS Data
Benjamin Hansen, Joseph Sabia & Daniel Rees
NBER Working Paper, June 2015
Abstract:
Using data from the state and national Youth Risk Behavior Surveys for the period 1991-2005, Carpenter and Cook (2008) found a strong, negative relationship between cigarette taxes and youth smoking. We revisit this relationship using four additional waves of YRBS data (2007, 2009, 2011, and 2013). Our results suggest that youths have become much less responsive to cigarette taxes since 2005. In fact, we find little evidence of a negative relationship between cigarette taxes and youth smoking when we restrict our attention to the period 2007-2013.
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Alcohol-related cues potentiate alcohol impairment of behavioral control in drinkers
Jessica Weafer & Mark Fillmore
Psychology of Addictive Behaviors, June 2015, Pages 290-299
Abstract:
The acute impairing effects of alcohol on inhibitory control are well-established, and these disinhibiting effects are thought to play a role in its abuse potential. Alcohol impairment of inhibitory control is typically assessed in the context of arbitrary cues, yet drinking environments are comprised of an array of alcohol-related cues that are thought to influence drinking behavior. Recent evidence suggests that alcohol-related stimuli reduce behavioral control in sober drinkers, suggesting that alcohol impairment of inhibitory control might be potentiated in the context of alcohol cues. The current study tested this hypothesis by examining performance on the attentional-bias behavioral activation (ABBA) task that measures the degree to which alcohol-related stimuli can reduce inhibition of inappropriate responses in a between-subjects design. Social drinkers (N = 40) performed the task in a sober condition, and then again following placebo (0.0 g/kg) and a moderate dose of alcohol (0.65 g/kg) in counterbalanced order. Inhibitory failures were greater following alcohol images compared to neutral images in sober drinkers, replicating previous findings with the ABBA task. Moreover, alcohol-related cues exacerbated alcohol impairment of inhibitory control as evidenced by more pronounced alcohol-induced disinhibition following alcohol cues compared to neutral cues. Finally, regression analyses showed that greater alcohol-induced disinhibition following alcohol cues predicted greater self-reported alcohol consumption. These findings have important implications regarding factors contributing to binge or “loss of control” drinking. That is, the additive effect of disrupted control mechanisms via both alcohol cues and the pharmacological effects of the drug could compromise an individual’s control over ongoing alcohol consumption.
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Justin Jager, Katherine Keyes & John Schulenberg
Developmental Psychology, July 2015, Pages 962-974
Abstract:
This study examines historical variation in age 18 to 26 binge drinking trajectories, focusing on differences in both levels of use and rates of change (growth) across cohorts of young adults over 3 decades. As part of the national Monitoring the Future Study, over 64,000 youths from the high school classes of 1976 to 2004 were surveyed at biennial intervals between ages 18 and 26. We found that, relative to past cohorts, recent cohorts both enter the 18 to 26 age band engaging in lower levels and exit the 18 to 26 age band engaging in higher levels of binge drinking. The reason for this reversal is that, relative to past cohorts, binge drinking among recent cohorts accelerates more quickly across ages 18 to 22 and decelerates more slowly across ages 22 to 26. Moreover, we found that historical increases in minimum legal drinking age account for a portion of the historical decline in age 18 level, whereas historical variation in social role acquisition (e.g., marriage, parenthood, and employment) accounts for a portion of the historical acceleration in age 18 to 22 growth. We also found that historical variation in the age 18 to 22 and age 22 to 26 growth rates was strongly and positively connected, suggesting common mechanism(s) underlie historical variation of both growth rates. Findings were generally consistent across gender and indicate that historical time is an important source of individual differences in young adult binge drinking trajectories. Beyond binge drinking, historical time may also inform the developmental course of other young adult risk behaviors, highlighting the interplay of epidemiology and etiology.
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Adolescent Socioeconomic and School-Based Social Status, Smoking, and Drinking
Helen Sweeting & Kate Hunt
Journal of Adolescent Health, July 2015, Pages 37–45
Purpose: Relationships between subjective social status (SSS) and health-risk behaviors have received less attention than those between SSS and health. Inconsistent associations between school-based SSS and smoking or drinking might be because it is a single measure reflecting several status dimensions. We investigated how adolescent smoking and drinking are associated with “objective” socioeconomic status (SES), subjective SES, and three dimensions of school-based SSS.
Methods: Scottish 13–15 years-olds (N = 2,503) completed questionnaires in school-based surveys, providing information on: “objective” SES (residential deprivation, family affluence); subjective SES (MacArthur Scale youth version); and three school-based SSS dimensions (“SSS-peer”, “SSS-scholastic” and “SSS-sports”). We examined associations between each status measure and smoking (ever and weekly) and drinking (ever and usually five or more drinks) and investigated variations according to gender and age.
Results: Smoking and heavier drinking were positively associated with residential deprivation; associations with family affluence and subjective SES were weak or nonexistent. Both substances were related to each school-based SSS measure, and these associations were equally strong or stronger than those with deprivation. Although SSS-peer was positively associated with both smoking and (especially heavier) drinking, SSS-scholastic and SSS-sports were negatively associated with both substances. There were no gender differences in the associations and few according to age.
Conclusions: Subjective school-based status has stronger associations with adolescent smoking and drinking than “objective” or subjective SES. However, different dimensions of school-based status relate to adolescent smoking and drinking in opposing directions, meaning one measure based on several dimensions might show inconsistent relationships with adolescent substance use.
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Christina Mair et al.
Drug and Alcohol Dependence, forthcoming
Background: As an increasing number of states liberalize cannabis use and develop laws and local policies, it is essential to better understand the impacts of neighborhood ecology and marijuana dispensary density on marijuana use, abuse, and dependence. We investigated associations between marijuana abuse/dependence hospitalizations and community demographic and environmental conditions from 2001-2012 in California, as well as cross-sectional associations between local and adjacent marijuana dispensary densities and marijuana hospitalizations.
Methods: We analyzed panel population data relating hospitalizations coded for marijuana abuse or dependence and assigned to residential ZIP codes in California from 2001 through 2012 (20,219 space-time units) to ZIP code demographic and ecological characteristics. Bayesian space-time misalignment models were used to account for spatial variations in geographic unit definitions over time, while also accounting for spatial autocorrelation using conditional autoregressive priors. We also analyzed cross-sectional associations between marijuana abuse/dependence and the density of dispensaries in local and spatially adjacent ZIP codes in 2012.
Results: An additional one dispensary per square mile in a ZIP code was cross-sectionally associated with a 6.8% increase in the number of marijuana hospitalizations (95% credible interval 1.033, 1.105) with a marijuana abuse/dependence code. Other local characteristics, such as the median household income and age and racial/ethnic distributions, were associated with marijuana hospitalizations in cross-sectional and panel analyses.
Conclusions: Prevention and intervention programs for marijuana abuse and dependence may be particularly essential in areas of concentrated disadvantage. Policy makers may want to consider regulations that limit the density of dispensaries.
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Losing jobs and lighting up: Employment experiences and smoking in the Great Recession
Shelley Golden & Krista Perreira
Social Science & Medicine, August 2015, Pages 110–118
Abstract:
The Great Recession produced the highest rates of unemployment observed in decades, in part due to particularly high rates of people losing work involuntarily. The impact of these job losses on health is unknown, due to the length of time required for most disease development, concerns about reverse causation, and limited data that covers this time period. We examine associations between job loss, employment status and smoking, the leading preventable cause of death, among 13,571 individuals participating in the 2001–2011 waves of the U.S.-based Panel Study of Income Dynamics. Results indicate that recent involuntary job loss is associated with an average 1.1 percentage point increase in smoking probability. This risk is strongest when people have returned to work, and appears reversed when they leave the labor market altogether. Although some job loss is associated with changes in household income and psychological distress levels, we find no evidence that these changes explain smoking behavior modifications. Smoking prevention programs and policies targeted at displaced workers or the newly employed may alleviate some negative health effects produced by joblessness during the Great Recession.
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Military Service and Alcohol Use in the United States
Jay Teachman, Carter Anderson & Lucky Tedrow
Armed Forces & Society, July 2015, Pages 460-476
Abstract:
It is well known that enlistees and veterans in the United States are more likely to use alcohol than civilians. However, most of this research is potentially biased in that it often does not employ control variables (other than age) and is based on cross-sectional data. Much of this research also fails to consider the relationship between military service and alcohol use among women. Using longitudinal data taken from the 1997 National Longitudinal Study of Youth, we investigate the relationship between military service and alcohol consumption employing a fixed-effects approach. We find that military service appears to encourage young men to consume alcohol. It is also the case that the effect of military service is not limited to the time that men spend in the military given that male veterans are also more likely to consume alcohol than are comparable nonveterans. We find, however, that women who serve, both enlistees and veterans, are less likely to drink than their civilian counterparts.
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A participant walks into a bar…: Subjective intoxication buffers ostracism’s negative effects
Andrew Hales, Kipling Williams & Christopher Eckhardt
Social Psychology, Summer 2015, Pages 157-166
Abstract:
Alcohol is commonly used to cope with social pain, but its effectiveness remains unknown. Existing theories offer diverging predictions. Pain overlap theory predicts that because alcohol numbs physical pain it should also numb people to the negative effects of ostracism. Alcohol myopia predicts that because alcohol intensifies salient emotions it should enhance the negative effects of ostracism. We conducted a field experiment in a bar, exposing individuals to ostracism or inclusion using Cyberball on an iPad. Subjective intoxication, but not blood alcohol concentration, was associated with less distress for participants who were ostracized, and more distress in participants who were included. We conclude that alcohol reduces both the pain of ostracism and the pleasure of inclusion.
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A Single Dose of Kudzu Extract Reduces Alcohol Consumption in a Binge Drinking Paradigm
David Penetar et al.
Drug and Alcohol Dependence, forthcoming
Background: Overconsumption of alcohol has significant negative effects on an individual's health and contributes to an enormous economic impact on society as a whole. Pharmacotherapies to curb excessive drinking are important for treating alcohol use disorders.
Methods: Twenty (20) men participated in a placebo-controlled, double-blind, between subjects design experiment (n = 10/group) that tested the effects of kudzu extract (Alkontrol-Herbal™) for its ability to alter alcohol consumption in a natural settings laboratory. A single dose of kudzu extract (2 grams total with an active isoflavone content of 520 mg) or placebo was administered 2.5 hours before the onset of a 90 minute afternoon drinking session during which participants had the opportunity to drink up to 6 beers ad libitum; water and juice were always available as alternative beverages.
Results: During the baseline session, the placebo-randomized group consumed 2.7 ± 0.78 beers before treatment and increased consumption to 3.4 ± 1.1 beers after treatment. The kudzu group significantly reduced consumption from 3.0 ± 1.7 at baseline to 1.9 ± 1.3 beers after treatment. The placebo-treated group opened 33 beers during baseline conditions and 38 following treatment whereas the kudzu-treated group opened 32 beers during baseline conditions and only 21 following treatment. Additionally, kudzu-treated participants drank slower.
Conclusion: This is the first demonstration that a single dose of kudzu extract quickly reduces alcohol consumption in a binge drinking paradigm. These data add to the mounting clinical evidence that kudzu extract may be a safe and effective adjunctive pharmacotherapy for alcohol abuse and dependence.
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Gateway to Curiosity: Medical Marijuana Ads and Intention and Use During Middle School
Elizabeth D’Amico, Jeremy Miles & Joan Tucker
Psychology of Addictive Behaviors, forthcoming
Abstract:
Over the past several years, medical marijuana has received increased attention in the media, and marijuana use has increased across the United States. Studies suggest that as marijuana has become more accessible and adults have become more tolerant regarding marijuana use, adolescents perceive marijuana as more beneficial and are more likely to use if they are living in an environment that is more tolerant of marijuana use. One factor that may influence adolescents’ perceptions about marijuana and marijuana use is their exposure to advertising of this product. We surveyed sixth- to eighth-grade youth in 2010 and 2011 in 16 middle schools in Southern California (n = 8,214; 50% male; 52% Hispanic; mean age = 13 years) and assessed exposure to advertising for medical marijuana, marijuana intentions, and marijuana use. Cross-lagged regressions showed a reciprocal association of advertising exposure with marijuana use and intentions during middle school. Greater initial medical marijuana advertising exposure was significantly associated with a higher probability of marijuana use and stronger intentions to use 1 year later, and initial marijuana use and stronger intentions to use were associated with greater medical marijuana advertising exposure 1 year later. Prevention programs need to better explain medical marijuana to youth, providing information on the context for proper medical use of this drug and the potential harms from use during this developmental period. Furthermore, as this is a new frontier, it is important to consider regulating medical marijuana advertisements, as is currently done for alcohol and tobacco products.
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Special-Interest Spillovers and Tobacco Taxation
Adam Hoffer
Contemporary Economic Policy, forthcoming
Abstract:
This study explores the effects tobacco special interest has had on cigarette tax rates. Using a spatial econometric model to control for tax competition and the endogeneity present in state tax rates, this study finds that tobacco special interest has played a significant role in influencing state cigarette tax rates. Pounds of tobacco grown in a state and tobacco industry campaign contributions are associated with lower cigarette tax rates. The empirical results show that the magnitude of the special-interest effect can be two to five times as large when the spatial spillover effects are included.
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Adolescent Substance Use: The Role of Demographic Marginalization and Socioemotional Distress
Aprile Benner & Yijie Wang
Developmental Psychology, forthcoming
Abstract:
We investigated the links between racial/ethnic marginalization (i.e., having few same-race/ethnic peers at school) and adolescents’ socioemotional distress and subsequent initiation of substance use (alcohol and marijuana) and substance use levels. Data from 7,731 adolescents (52% female; 55% White, 21% African American, 16% Latino, 8% Asian American) were drawn from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent to Adult Health. In our path analysis model, we found that adolescents who were racially/ethnically marginalized at school (i.e., who had less than 15% same-ethnicity peers) reported poorer school attachment, which was linked to more depressive symptoms. More depressive symptoms were associated with higher levels of subsequent marijuana and alcohol use. These relationships showed some variation by students’ gender, race/ethnicity, and age. Findings suggest that the influence of school demographics extends beyond the academic domain into the health and well-being of young people.
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Natania Crane, Scott Langenecker & Robin Mermelstein
Addictive Behaviors, October 2015, Pages 33–39
Introduction: As prevalence of marijuana use increases, it is important that we better understand how factors like gender, cigarette use, and depression are related to marijuana use during adolescence and young adulthood. We examined longitudinal relationships among these variables in adolescents moving into young adulthood who were studied longitudinally for six years.
Methods: 1,263 individuals were included in the study. Participants were oversampled for ever-smoking a cigarette at baseline, when they were 15–16 years old. Frequency of cigarette smoking and marijuana use, as well as depression symptoms were assessed at baseline, 6, 15-, 24-, 60- and 72-months.
Results: Cigarette use frequency and depression symptoms were associated with frequency of marijuana use (p-values < .001), particularly in adolescence, but there were important gender differences in these relationships. Specifically, symptoms of depression were related to marijuana use frequency among males (p < .001), but not females (p = .62). In addition, frequency of marijuana use was associated with increased cigarette use frequency, especially among males who had higher symptoms of depression (p < .001). However, this effect was not seen among females. Exploratory analyses suggested relationships between frequency of use and depression are specific to marijuana, not cigarettes.
Conclusions: Marijuana use is strongly related to depression symptoms and cigarette use frequency in males, indicating that in males these detrimental factors converge, whereas in females they do not. Gender differences in the factors related to marijuana use may mean that there are different risks for and consequences from use and have implications for prevention and intervention efforts.
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Abigail Fagan, Emily Wright & Gillian Pinchevsky
Drug and Alcohol Dependence, forthcoming
Background: This paper examined the effects of neighborhood structural (i.e., economic disadvantage, immigrant concentration, residential stability) and social (e.g., collective efficacy, social network interactions, intolerance of drug use, legal cynicism) factors on the likelihood of any adolescent tobacco, alcohol, and marijuana use.
Methods: Analyses drew upon information from the Project on Human Development in Chicago Neighborhoods (PHDCN). Data were obtained from a survey of adult residents of 79 Chicago neighborhoods, two waves of interviews with 1,657 to 1,664 care-givers and youth aged 8 to 16 years, and information from the 1990 U.S. Census Bureau. Hierarchical Bernoulli regression models estimated the impact of neighborhood factors on substance use controlling for individual-level demographic characteristics and psycho-social risk factors.
Results: Few neighborhood factors had statistically significant direct effects on adolescent tobacco, alcohol or marijuana use, although youth living in neighborhoods with greater levels of immigrant concentration were less likely to report any drinking.
Conclusion: Additional theorizing and more empirical research are needed to better understand the ways in which contextual influences affect adolescent substance use and delinquency.
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Incidence and Salience of Alcohol Taxes: Do Consumers Overreact?
Andrew Hanson & Ryan Sullivan
Public Finance Review, forthcoming
Abstract:
We use a unique, geocoded micro data set of retail prices to estimate the incidence of alcohol taxation. We estimate the pass-through of alcohol taxation employing both standard ordinary least squares (OLS) and a regression discontinuity design (RDD), using the abrupt change in excise tax occurring at state borders for identification. Our results show that sales and excise taxes on alcohol have different effects on final consumer price. Our estimates suggest that while 40 percent to 50 percent of sales taxes are passed on to consumers, excise taxes have a negative pass-through rate. Negative rates of pass-through on the excise portion of the alcohol tax are likely the result of consumers overreacting to the tax compared to how they would react to a general price increase, or that the alcohol tax is quite salient for consumers. This effect is particularly strong in areas near state borders when using the RDD estimation strategy.