On Something
Influence of Motion Picture Rating on Adolescent Response to Movie Smoking
James Sargent, Susanne Tanski & Mike Stoolmiller
Pediatrics, forthcoming
Objective: To examine the association between movie smoking exposure (MSE) and adolescent smoking according to rating category.
Methods: A total of 6522 US adolescents were enrolled in a longitudinal survey conducted at 8-month intervals; 5503 subjects were followed up at 8 months, 5019 subjects at 16 months, and 4575 subjects at 24 months. MSE was estimated from 532 recent box-office hits, blocked into 3 Motion Picture Association of America rating categories: G/PG, PG-13, and R. A survival model evaluated time to smoking onset.
Results: Median MSE in PG-13-rated movies was ∼3 times higher than median MSE from R-rated movies, but their relation with smoking was essentially the same, with adjusted hazard ratios of 1.49 (95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.23-1.81) and 1.33 (95% CI: 1.23-1.81) for each additional 500 occurrences of MSE respectively. MSE from G/PG-rated movies was small and had no significant relationship with adolescent smoking. Attributable risk estimates showed that adolescent smoking would be reduced by 18% (95% CI: 14-21) if smoking in PG-13-rated movies was reduced to the fifth percentile. In comparison, making all parents maximally authoritative in their parenting would reduce adolescent smoking by 16% (95% CI: 12-19).
Conclusions: The equivalent effect of PG-13-rated and R-rated MSE suggests it is the movie smoking that prompts adolescents to smoke, not other characteristics of R-rated movies or adolescents drawn to them. An R rating for movie smoking could substantially reduce adolescent smoking by eliminating smoking from PG-13 movies.
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The misuse of Ambien among adolescents: Prevalence and correlates in a national sample
Jason Ford & James McCutcheon
Addictive Behaviors, forthcoming
Abstract:
The current research examines correlates of Ambien misuse among adolescents. Given the recent popularity of prescription drug misuse, the known risks associated with prescription drugs, the fact that Ambien is widely prescribed, and the relative lack of research on prescription sedative misuse, we believe this research is important. The current study fills this important gap in the literature by examining data from the 2009 National Survey on Drug Use and Health, which includes a sample of more than 17,000 adolescents ages 12 to 17 that is generalizable to the non-institutionalized population of the United States. The prevalence of lifetime Ambien misuse in the sample was 1.4%. The current research identified several significant risk factors for Ambien misuse: age, race, income, religiosity, delinquency, depression, social bonding, peer substance use, attitudes toward substance use, strain, and other substance use. Implications and limitations of the current research are discussed.
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Michael Sayette et al.
Psychological Science, forthcoming
Abstract:
We integrated research on emotion and on small groups to address a fundamental and enduring question facing alcohol researchers: What are the specific mechanisms that underlie the reinforcing effects of drinking? In one of the largest alcohol-administration studies yet conducted, we employed a novel group-formation paradigm to evaluate the socio-emotional effects of alcohol. Seven hundred twenty social drinkers (360 male, 360 female) were assembled into groups of 3 unacquainted persons each and given a moderate dose of an alcoholic, placebo, or control beverage, which they consumed over 36 min. These groups' social interactions were video recorded, and the duration and sequence of interaction partners' facial and speech behaviors were systematically coded (e.g., using the Facial Action Coding System). Alcohol consumption enhanced individual- and group-level behaviors associated with positive affect, reduced individual- and group-level behaviors associated with negative affect, and elevated self-reported bonding. Our results indicate that alcohol facilitates bonding during group formation. Assessing nonverbal responses in social contexts offers new directions for evaluating the effects of alcohol.
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Kevin Beaver & J.C. Barnes
Addictive Behaviors, forthcoming
Abstract:
Driving under the influence (DUI) and driving while intoxicated (DWI) are related to a range of serious health, legal, and financial costs. Given the costs to society of DUIs and DWIs, there has been interest in identifying the causes of DUIs and DWIs. The current study added to this existing knowledge base by estimating genetic and environmental effects on DUIs and DWIs in a sample of twins drawn from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health (Add Health). The results of the analyses revealed that genetic factors explained 53 percent of the variance in DUIs/DWIs and the nonshared environment explained 47 percent of the variance. Shared environmental factors explained none of the variance in DUIs/DWIs. We conclude with a discussion of the results, the limitations of the study, and how the findings might be compatible with policies designed to reduce DUIs and DWIs.
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Trends in U.S., past-year marijuana use from 1985 to 2009: An age-period-cohort analysis
Richard Miech & Stephen Koester
Drug and Alcohol Dependence, 1 August 2012, Pages 259-267
Background: We present a formal age-period-cohort analysis to examine if the recent increase in past-year marijuana use among the young is specific to the younger generation or if, instead, it is part of a general increase present across cohorts of all ages. This is the first age-period-cohort analysis of past-year marijuana use that includes adult trends from 2001 to 09.
Methods: Data come from the National Survey on Drug Use and Health, a series of annual, nationally representative, cross-sectional surveys of the U.S. civilian, non-institutionalized population. The analysis focuses on the 25 year time span from 1985 to 2009 and uses the recently developed ‘intrinsic estimator' algorithm to estimate independent effects of age, period, and cohort.
Results: The recent increase in past-year marijuana use is not unique to the youngest birth cohorts. An independent, positive influence of cohort membership on past-year marijuana use, net of historical period and age effects, is smaller for today's youngest cohorts than it was for the cohorts that came immediately before, and, in fact, is at its lowest level in three decades. The recent increase in marijuana use among the young is more consistent with a historical period effect that has acted across all cohorts. Period and cohort trends differ substantially for Hispanics.
Conclusions: The major forces that drive trends in past-year marijuana use are moving away from cohort-specific factors and toward broad-based influences that affect cohorts of all ages. Strategic public health and policy efforts aimed at addressing the recent increase in past-year marijuana use should do the same.
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Parental Substance Use and Foster Care: Evidence from Two Methamphetamine Supply Shocks
Scott Cunningham & Keith Finlay
Economic Inquiry, forthcoming
Abstract:
Foster care caseloads have nearly doubled over the last three decades. Parental methamphetamine (meth) use grew significantly during the same period. While child welfare workers and law enforcement claim that parental meth use contributes to foster care growth, the evidence for a causal effect has not been determined. This paper presents the first evidence of a causal effect of meth on foster care admissions using two exogenous supply-side interventions in meth markets from the late 1990s for identification. First, we find that restrictions on meth precursor distribution caused meth use (proxied by white meth self-referred treatment cases) to decline 4.1%. Second, using two-stage least squares, we estimate a positive elasticity of foster care cases with respect to meth use of 1.54. We also estimate elasticities of 1.03 and 1.49 for cases of child neglect and parental abuse, respectively. These results suggest that child welfare policies should be designed specifically for the children of meth-using parents.
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The Impact of Direct-to-Consumer Television and Magazine Advertising on Antidepressant Use
Rosemary Avery, Matthew Eisenberg & Kosali Simon
Journal of Health Economics, forthcoming
Abstract:
We examine whether exposure to direct-to-consumer advertising (DTCA) for antidepressant drugs affects individual use of these medications among those suffering from depression. Prior studies have almost exclusively relied on making connections between national or market-level advertising volume/expenditures and national or individual-level usage of medications. This is the first study to: estimate the impact of individual-level exposure to DTCA on individual-level use of antidepressants; estimate the impact of individual-level exposure to television DTCA on individual-level use in any drug class; consider the relative and interactive impact of DTCA in two different media in any drug class; and, consider the heterogeneity of impact among different populations in an econometric framework in the antidepressant market. There are also important limitations to note. Unlike prior market level studies that use monthly data, we are limited to aggregated annual data. Our measures of potential advertising exposure are constructed assuming that media consumption patterns are stable during the year. We are also not able to study the impact of advertising on use of antidepressants for conditions other than depression, such as anxiety disorders. We find that: DTCA impacts antidepressant use in a statistically and economically significant manner; that these effects are present in both television and magazine advertising exposure but do not appear to have interactive effects; are stronger for women than for men in the magazine medium, but are about equally strong for men and women in the TV medium; and, are somewhat stronger for groups suffering from more severe forms of depression. The overall size of the effect is a 6-10 percentage point increase in antidepressant use from being exposed to television advertising; the corresponding magazine effects are between 3-4 percentage points.
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Guangheng Dong et al.
Journal of Psychiatric Research, forthcoming
Abstract:
Internet gaming addiction (IGA) is increasingly recognized as a widespread disorder with serious psychological and health consequences. Diminished white matter integrity has been demonstrated in a wide range of other addictive disorders which share clinical characteristics with IGA. Abnormal white matter integrity in addictive populations has been associated with addiction severity, treatment response and cognitive impairments. This study assessed white matter integrity in individuals with internet gaming addiction (IGA) using diffusion tensor imaging (DTI). IGA subjects (N = 16) showed higher fractional anisotropy (FA), indicating greater white matter integrity, in the thalamus and left posterior cingulate cortex (PCC) relative to healthy controls (N = 15). Higher FA in the thalamus was associated with greater severity of internet addiction. Increased regional FA in individuals with internet gaming addiction may be a pre-existing vulnerability factor for IGA, or may arise secondary to IGA, perhaps as a direct result of excessive internet game playing.
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Genetic Ancestry-Smoking Interactions and Lung Function in African Americans: A Cohort Study
Melinda Aldrich et al.
PLoS ONE, June 2012
Background: Smoking tobacco reduces lung function. African Americans have both lower lung function and decreased metabolism of tobacco smoke compared to European Americans. African ancestry is also associated with lower pulmonary function in African Americans. We aimed to determine whether African ancestry modifies the association between smoking and lung function and its rate of decline in African Americans.
Methodology/Principal Findings: We evaluated a prospective ongoing cohort of 1,281 African Americans participating in the Health, Aging, and Body Composition (Health ABC) Study initiated in 1997. We also examined an ongoing prospective cohort initiated in 1985 of 1,223 African Americans in the Coronary Artery Disease in Young Adults (CARDIA) Study. Pulmonary function and tobacco smoking exposure were measured at baseline and repeatedly over the follow-up period. Individual genetic ancestry proportions were estimated using ancestry informative markers selected to distinguish European and West African ancestry. African Americans with a high proportion of African ancestry had lower baseline forced expiratory volume in one second (FEV1) per pack-year of smoking (-5.7 ml FEV1/ smoking pack-year) compared with smokers with lower African ancestry (-4.6 ml in FEV1/ smoking pack-year) (interaction P value = 0.17). Longitudinal analyses revealed a suggestive interaction between smoking, and African ancestry on the rate of FEV1 decline in Health ABC and independently replicated in CARDIA.
Conclusions/Significance: African American individuals with a high proportion of African ancestry are at greater risk for losing lung function while smoking.
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Amy Schreiner & Michael Dunn
Experimental and Clinical Psychopharmacology, forthcoming
Abstract:
Cannabis is the most widely used illicit drug in the U.S., and the number of illicit and licit users is rising. Lasting neurocognitive changes or deficits as a result of use are frequently noted despite a lack of clarity in the scientific literature. In an effort to resolve inconsistencies in the evidence of lasting residual effects of cannabis use, we conducted two meta-analyses. First, we updated a previous meta-analysis on broad nonacute cognitive effects of cannabis use through inclusion of newer studies. In a second meta-analysis, we focused on evidence for lasting residual effects by including only studies that tested users after at least 25 days of abstinence. In the first meta-analysis, 33 studies met inclusion criteria. Results indicated a small negative effect for global neurocognitive performance as well for most cognitive domains assessed. Unfortunately, methodological limitations of these studies prevented the exclusion of withdrawal symptoms as an explanation for observed effects. In the second meta-analysis, 13 of the original 33 studies met inclusion criteria. Results indicated no significant effect of cannabis use on global neurocognitive performance or any effect on the eight assessed domains. Overall, these meta-analyses demonstrate that any negative residual effects on neurocognitive performance attributable to either cannabis residue or withdrawal symptoms are limited to the first 25 days of abstinence. Furthermore, there was no evidence for enduring negative effects of cannabis use.
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'Getting into the Spirit': Alcohol-Related Interpretation Bias in Heavy-Drinking Students
Marcella Woud et al.
Psychology of Addictive Behaviors, forthcoming
Abstract:
Alcohol misuse is characterized by patterns of selective information processing. The present study investigated whether heavy- compared with light-drinking students, show evidence of an alcohol-related interpretation bias to ambiguous, alcohol-related cues. Toward this aim, participants were asked to create continuations for ambiguous, open-ended scenarios that provided either an alcohol-related or neutral context. Results showed that heavy-drinking students generated more alcohol continuations for ambiguous alcohol-related scenarios than light-drinking students. This result was independent of the coding method used, with an interpretation bias found when continuations were coded by either participants themselves or by two independent raters.
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John McConnell, Susan Ridgely & Dennis McCarty
Drug and Alcohol Dependence, 1 August 2012, Pages 340-346
Background: The Paul Wellstone and Pete Domenici Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act of 2008 (MHPAEA) requires commercial group health plans offering coverage for mental health and substance abuse services to offer those services at a level that is no more restrictive than for medical-surgical services. The MHPAEA is notable in restricting the extent to which health plans can use managed care tools on the behavioral health benefit. The only precedent for this approach is Oregon's 2007 state parity law. This study aims to provide evidence on the effect of comprehensive parity on utilization and expenditures for substance abuse treatment services.
Methods: A difference-in-difference analysis compared individuals in five Oregon commercial plans (n = 103,820) from 2005 to 2008 to comparison groups exempt from parity in Oregon (n = 19,633) and Washington (n = 39,447). The primary outcome measures were annual use and total expenditures.
Results: Spending for alcohol treatment services demonstrated statistically significant increase in comparison to the Oregon and Washington comparison groups. Spending on other drug abuse treatment services was not associated with statistically significant spending increases, and the effect of parity on overall spending (alcohol plus other drug abuse treatment services) was positive but not statistically significant from zero.
Conclusions: Oregon's experience suggests that behavioral health insurance parity that places restrictions on how plans manage the benefit may lead to increases in expenditures for alcohol treatment services but is unlikely to lead to increases in spending for other drug abuse treatment services.
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Alcohol Dependence Associated with Increased Utilitarian Moral Judgment: A Case Control Study
Lotfi Khemiri et al.
PLoS ONE, June 2012
Abstract:
Recent studies indicate that emotional processes, mediated by the ventromedial prefrontal cortex (VMPC), are of great importance for moral judgment. Neurological patients with VMPC dysfunction have been shown to generate increased utilitarian moral judgments, i.e. are more likely to endorse emotionally aversive actions in order to maximize aggregate welfare, when faced with emotionally salient personal moral dilemmas. Patients with alcohol dependence (AD) also exhibit impairments in functions mediated by the prefrontal cortex, but whether they exhibit increased utilitarian moral reasoning has not previously been investigated. The aim of this study was to investigate moral judgment in AD patients (n = 20) compared to healthy controls (n = 20) matched by sex, age and education years. Each subject responded to a battery of 50 hypothetical dilemmas categorized as non-moral, moral impersonal and moral personal. They also responded to a questionnaire evaluating explicit knowledge of social and moral norms. Results confirmed our hypothesis that AD patients generated increased utilitarian moral judgment compared to controls when faced with moral personal dilemmas. Crucially, there was no difference in their responses to non-moral or impersonal moral dilemmas, nor knowledge of explicit social and moral norms. One possible explanation is that damage to the VMPC, caused by long term repeated exposure to alcohol results in emotional dysfunction, predisposing to utilitarian moral judgment. This work elucidates a novel aspect of the neuropsychological profile of AD patients, namely a tendency to generate utilitarian moral judgment when faced with emotionally salient moral personal dilemmas.
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Tobacco Harm Reduction Advertising in the Presence of a Government-Mandated Warning
Michael Capella, Charles Taylor & Jeremy Kees
Journal of Consumer Affairs, Summer 2012, Pages 235-259
Abstract:
Compelling research suggests that smokeless tobacco (SLT) products are safer than cigarettes, but awareness of this potential harm reduction alternative among consumers is low. Therefore, two between-subjects experimental studies explore the potential for allowing the marketing of SLT as a "reduced-risk" alternative to cigarette smoking. Specifically, this article addresses the issue of whether a harm reduction message with the simultaneous presence of the U.S. government-mandated warning would: (1) change intentions of smokers to use SLT products; or (2) attract those who would not otherwise use any tobacco. Results suggest that an advertiser making a harm reduction statement in the presence of the warning leads to limited changes in consumers' risk perceptions of SLT products or intentions to try the product. Exposure to the experimental ads did not make nonsmokers significantly more likely to try SLT products, but also did not make smokers indicate that they were likely to switch to SLT products.
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Deborah McLellan et al.
Substance Abuse Treatment, Prevention, and Policy, July 2012
Background: Raising prices through taxation on tobacco and alcohol products is a common strategy to raise revenues and reduce consumption. However, taxation policies are product specific, focusing either on alcohol or tobacco products. Several studies document interactions between the price of cigarettes and general alcohol use and it is important to know whether increased cigarette prices are associated with varying alcohol drinking patterns among different population groups. To inform policymaking, this study investigates the association of state cigarette prices with smoking, and current, binge, and heavy drinking by age group.
Methods: The 2001-2006 Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System surveys (n=1,323,758) were pooled and analyzed using multiple regression equations to estimate changes in smoking and drinking pattern response to an increase in cigarette price, among adults aged 18 and older. For each outcome, a multiple linear probability model was estimated which incorporated terms interacting state cigarette price with age group. State and year fixed effects were included to control for potential unobserved state-level characteristics that might influence smoking and drinking.
Results: Increases in state cigarette prices were associated with increases in current drinking among persons aged 65 and older, and binge and heavy drinking among persons aged 21-29. Reductions in smoking were found among persons aged 30-64, drinking among those aged 18-20, and binge drinking among those aged 65 and older.
Conclusions: Increases in state cigarette prices may increase or decrease smoking and harmful drinking behaviors differentially by age. Adults aged 21-29 and 65 and older are more prone to increased drinking as a result of increased cigarette prices. Researchers, practitioners, advocates, and policymakers should work together to understand and prepare for these unintended consequences of tobacco taxation policy.
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Patterns of alcohol expectancies and alcohol use across age and gender
Jennifer Nicolai, Morten Moshagen & Ralf Demmel
Drug and Alcohol Dependence, forthcoming
Aims: To investigate the relationship between alcohol expectancies and alcohol use in a community sample as a function of age and gender.
Methods: The study is based on a national probability sample of 6467 German adults. Respondents were grouped into five age groups ranging from 18 to 59 years. A brief version of the Comprehensive Alcohol Expectancy Questionnaire was used to assess alcohol expectancies. Alcohol use was assessed by the number of drinking days during the past month and the number of drinks on an average drinking day.
Results: Prior to conducting group comparisons, measurement invariance across age and gender was established. Latent mean level comparisons showed that the endorsement of both positive and negative expectancies almost linearly decreased with increasing age. However, this decrease was not reflected in alcohol consumption patterns. Structural analysis of the expectancy factors and drinking variables showed that the predictive power of expectancies varied by age and gender. Particularly, expectancies related to social assertiveness and sexual enhancement were strong predictors only in younger, but not in older respondents. Conversely, expectancies related to tension reduction and impairment were the most important predictors of drinking in respondents older than 30 years, but not in younger age groups. Additionally, the onset and course of age-related changes in expectancies was moderated by gender.
Conclusions: The present study demonstrates substantial age-related changes in the relationship between alcohol expectancies and alcohol use. Moreover, the profile of alcohol expectancies appears to be more important than their absolute strength.
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Steven Harrod, Ryan Lacy & Amanda Morgan
Frontiers in Neuropharmacology, June 2012
Abstract:
Maternal smoking during pregnancy is associated with increased substance abuse in offspring. Preclinical research shows that in utero exposure to nicotine, the primary psychoactive compound in tobacco smoke, influences the neurodevelopment of reward systems and alters motivated behavior in offspring. The present study determined if prenatal nicotine (PN) exposure altered the sensitivity to the reinforcing and aversive effects of methamphetamine (METH) in offspring using a low dose, intravenous (IV) exposure method. Pregnant dams were administered nicotine (0.05 mg/kg/injection) or prenatal saline (PS) 3×/day on gestational days 8-21, and adult offspring were tested using METH self-administration (experiment 1) or METH-induced conditioned taste aversion (CTA; experiment 2) procedures. For METH self-administration, animals were trained to respond for IV METH (0.05 mg/kg/infusion; fixed-ratio 3) and they were tested on varying doses of the reinforcer (0.0005-1.0 mg/kg/infusion). For METH CTA, rats received three saccharin and METH pairings (0, 0.3, or 0.5 mg/kg, sc) followed by 14 daily extinction trials. Experiment 1: PN and PS animals exhibited inverted U-shaped dose-response curves; however, the PN animal's curve was shifted to the left, suggesting PN animals were more sensitive to the reinforcing effects of METH. Experiment 2: METH CTA was acquired in a dose-dependent manner and the factor of PN exposure was not related to the acquisition or extinction of METH-induced CTA. There were no sex differences in either experiment. These results indicate that IV PN-exposed adult offspring exhibited increased sensitivity to IV METH. This suggests that PN exposure, via maternal smoking, will alter the reinforcing effects of METH during later stages of development, and furthermore, will influence substance use vulnerability in adult human offspring.