Research News Roundup: October 9, 2025

Journal: Patient Education and Counseling, 2025, doi 10.1016/j.pec .2025.109276

Authors: Leah Holcomb, Rachel Mayo, Jennifer Barkin, Kathleen Cartmell, Lior Rennert, Lori Dickes, & Kacey Eichelberger

Abstract:

Objective: Despite the increasing prevalence of substance use disorders (SUD) in pregnant and postpartum people (PPP), little is known about reproductive healthcare professionals’ (RHPs) comfort with SUD counseling, including screening, brief intervention, and referral to treatment (SBIRT). Understanding these factors is essential to improving early identification of SUD and improved care delivery. This study employed a novel Likert-scale survey to assess RHPs’ self-reported comfort with the SBIRT approach for PPP. Qualitative data was collected via open ended questions to explore perceptions of necessary training and resources to enhance support for PPPs with SUDs.

Methods: We conducted a cross-sectional survey with a national sample of RHPs (n = 117). The survey captured comfort in the SBIRT approach in postpartum patient care delivery via two vignettes and associated Likert scales measuring overall comfort. The survey was assessed for validity and reliability. Analysis of free text responses within the survey explored perceptions of necessary training and resources to improve care delivery.

Results: Participants were mostly White (77.8 %) and female (93.2 %), and ages ranged 22–55 years. The opioid, methamphetamine, and overall comfort scales demonstrated strong internal reliability (Cronbach’s α =.83,.81, and.90, respectively). The mean comfort score was 61.35 (SD=10.83). Profession type (p < 0.001), prior SUD-specific training (p = 0.002), and higher SUD patient volume (p < 0.001) were significantly associated with increased comfort. Qualitative themes emphasized the need for expanded perinatal SUD education, stigma reduction, and integrated, trauma-informed care to reduce resource gaps in postpartum screening, mental health services, and peer support programs.

Conclusion: Health professionals report a need for expanded access to postpartum-specific SUD training and increased referral options to assist patients.

To read the full text of the article, please visit the publisher’s website.

Journal: Journal of Adolescent Health, 2025, doi: 10.1016/j.jadohealth. 2025.07.004

Authors: Richard Miech, Megan E. Patrick, & Adam M. Leventhal

Abstract:

Purpose: To document recent, national trends in vaping and use of flavored vaping solutions among US adolescents who use marijuana.

Methods: Data come from Monitoring the Future, which conducted annual, cross-sectional, nationally-representative surveys from 2021 to 2024 of eighth, 10th, and 12th grade students.

Results: Among adolescents who used marijuana in the past 12 months, the percentage who vaped it increased over the study period from 48% to 57% in eighth grade (p < .05), 60%-66% in 10th grade (p = .07), and 58%-67% in 12th grade (p < .01). The percentage of adolescents who used a flavored solution when vaping marijuana switched from a minority to a majority over the study period, from 47% to 63% (p < .01) in eighth grade, 41%-53% (p < .01) in 10th grade, and 36%-50% (p < .01) in 12th grade. The percentage of all adolescents who vaped a flavored marijuana solution in the past 12 months over the study period increased from 2% to 4% (p < .01) in eighth grade, 5%-6% in 10th grade (p = .25), and 7%-9% in 12th grade (p < .01).

Discussion: The percentage of US adolescents who vaped flavored marijuana solutions increased from 2021 to 2024, one of very few drug outcomes that increased since the pandemic onset. With this increase, adolescents who used flavors to vape marijuana shifted from a minority to a majority and vaping became more common among adolescents who used marijuana. These results point to flavored marijuana vaping solutions as an increasingly important target for research and policy on adolescent marijuana use.

To read the full text of the article, please visit the publisher’s website.

Journal: Future Science OA, 2025, doi.org/10.1080/20565623. 2025.2557763

Authors: John P. Hoffmann, & Curtis S. Hoffmann

Abstract:

This article addresses the complex relationship between childhood trauma and adolescent substance use. Drawing on evidence from neurodevelopmental, psychological/emotional, behavioral, and social research, we determined that childhood trauma, which includes early life stress, adverse childhood experiences (ACEs), and toxic stress, can upset brain development, emotion regulation, and stress-response systems, thereby creating lasting vulnerabilities. These neurological changes both generate and interact with behavioral traits such as impulsivity, poor coping, and emotional dysregulation, thus increasing the risk of substance use as a dysfunctional coping strategy. Social and environmental factors, such as caregiver substance use, peer influences, and community-level disadvantage, further compound these effects. However, individual traits, including effortful control and supportive relationships can attenuate these risks. Moreover, evidence-based interventions that address integrated, trauma-informed, and developmentally appropriate approaches have demonstrated promise in reducing the risks of adolescent substance use among trauma-exposed youth. The article concludes by calling for more conceptual integration across disciplines, longitudinal studies, and culturally responsive prevention, intervention, and treatment approaches.

To read the full text of the article, please visit the publisher’s website.