Journal: Journal of Substance Use & Addiction Treatment, 2025, doi: 10.1016/j.josat .2025.209704
Authors: Josh Aleksanyan, Zobaida Maria, Diego Renteria, Adetayo Fawole, Ashly E. Jordan, Vanessa Drury, … Charles J. Neighbors
Abstract:
Introduction: Transition-age (TA) adults, aged 18-25, have the highest prevalence of substance use disorder (SUD) among all age groups yet they are less likely to seek treatment and more likely to discontinue it than older adults, making them a high-priority treatment population. While structural barriers and varying expectations of recovery may affect treatment initiation, insights from providers working with TA adults can reveal what further impels and impedes treatment engagement.
Methods: We conducted two focus groups with 14 front-line treatment providers, representing urban and rural outpatient, residential, and inpatient SUD care settings across New York State. Providers were selected through stratified sampling using restricted-access treatment registry data. A semi-structured interview guide facilitated discussions, and transcripts were analyzed to identify key themes.
Results: Providers report that TA adults prefer briefer, innovative treatment approaches over traditional modalities like A.A./12-step recovery, driven by a desire to rebuild their lives through education and career. Post-pandemic social disruptions were cited as exacerbating engagement challenges and increasing the need for integrating mental health support. Providers highlighted the potential of technology to enhance treatment engagement, though expressed concerns regarding social isolation and the fraying of childhood safety nets and support systems (e.g., housing) undermining successful treatment outcomes and transitions to adulthood more broadly.
Conclusions: Providers report and perceive various challenges-unmet mental health needs, social alienation, and housing insecurity-that impede TA adults from successful SUD treatment. Understanding providers’ perceptions of the needs of young adults can inform patient and clinical decision-making, lead to the development of innovative treatment approaches tailored to TA adults and contribute to improved health outcomes over the life course.
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Journal: Addictive Behaviors Reports, 2025, doi: 10.1016/j.abrep.2025. 100621
Authors: Brian Young, Lorey Wheeler, & Hongying Daisy Dai
Abstract:
Purpose: Family environment plays an essential role in youth development. This study sought to examine the intersection effects of parental disapproval and parent-child warm relationships on youth cannabis use behaviors.
Methods: Data were drawn from the youth sample of the 2022 National Survey on Drug Use and Health (NSDUH) study. Multivariable hierarchical models were performed to examine the associations of parental disapproval of offspring’s cannabis use and youth current (past 30-day) cannabis use and past-year DSM-5 cannabis use disorder (CUD), incrementally adjusting for sociodemographic factors, youth substance use behaviors, and family/environment influences.
Results: Among a nationally representative sample of 11,969 youths aged 12-17 years old, 6.0 % reported current cannabis use and 5.2 % reported past-year CUD. Parental disapproval of youth cannabis use differed by parental warmth, age, sex, and race/ethnicity, and it was a strong protective factor against both current cannabis use (AOR[95 % CI] = 0.26[0.18-0.37]) and past-year CUD (AOR[95 % CI] = 0.30[0.20-0.44]) in the fully adjusted models. In addition, reporting their parent as being “warm” all the time (vs. seldom/never), and perceiving harmfulness of cannabis use (high vs. low) were associated with lower odds of youth cannabis use, while being non-Hispanic Black (vs. White), older (vs. younger), using tobacco or alcohol currently, and having peers who use cannabis were associated with higher odds of cannabis use.
Conclusions and relevance: Parental disproval in a warm family environment is protective of youth against cannabis use. Multifaceted interventions involving parents and youth, as well as parental knowledge of the harmfulness of cannabis use, might lessen the impact of youth cannabis use.
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Journal: Addictive Behaviors, 2025, doi: 10.1016/j.addbeh.2025.108421
Authors: Brianna R. Altman, Jacqueline E. Smith-Caswell, Andrew H. Rogers, Angelo M. DiBello, Jordan A. Gette, Ana M. Abrantes, Teresa M. Leyro, & Samantha G. Farris
Abstract:
Introduction: Distress intolerance (DI) is an emotional vulnerability factor implicated in the link between anxiety and cigarette craving, which may be particularly important for characterizing persistent smoking in females. However, there is a dearth of prospective work examining how DI influences momentary aspects of anxiety and cigarette craving. This ecological momentary assessment study explored the main and interactive effects of momentary anxiety and DI on momentary cigarette craving.
Methods: Females (N = 50) who reported daily combustible cigarette use completed a daily monitoring study that involved momentary assessments of anxiety and craving across one menstrual cycle. Trait DI was assessed at baseline. Multilevel modeling was used to examine the simultaneous between- and within-person effects of momentary anxiety and the moderating influence of DI on momentary craving. We predicted that between- and within-centered momentary anxiety and DI, as well as their interactions, would be positively associated with momentary craving.
Results: Results indicated that higher momentary anxiety, centered between- and within-person, predicted higher momentary craving. Although no main effect of DI on momentary craving was observed, we found a conditional effect of DI on within-person momentary anxiety in the prediction of momentary craving. The positive effect of within-person increases in momentary anxiety on momentary craving was amplified for those with higher DI relative to lower.
Conclusions: High DI appears to amplify cigarette craving in the context of higher-than-average momentary anxiety. Future studies leveraging momentary methodologies are needed to further elucidate associations between anxiety, DI, and smoking processes to better understand contextual influences on DI. Such data can inform ideographic, in-the-moment interventions.
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Journal: Substance Use & Addiction Journal, 2025, doi: 10.1177/297673422 51341171
Authors: Jessica Frankeberger, Robert W. S. Coulter, Marian Jarlenski, Elizabeth E. Krans, & Christina Mair
Abstract:
Introduction: During the postpartum period, new parental responsibilities may compound changing social, community, and health care environments to increase risk of health and drug-related problems. This study examines both county-level and individual-level factors associated with hospitalization among individuals with opioid use disorder (OUD) throughout the first-year postpartum.
Methods: A cohort of individuals with OUD at delivery were identified in Pennsylvania hospital discharge data (n = 1966). Multilevel logistic regression models examined county-level (median household income, rurality, jail rate, OUD treatment facilities, hospital beds) and individual-level (demographics, insurance, tobacco use, other substance use disorders, mental health conditions) factors associated with inpatient hospitalizations (all-cause, OUD-related, mental health-related) in the early (0-42 days) and late (43-365 days) postpartum periods.
Results: In total, 280 individuals (14%) with OUD had at least 1 hospitalization in the first-year postpartum. After adjustment, higher county densities of OUD treatment facilities were associated with lower odds of all 3 types of hospitalizations in early postpartum, including 80% to 86% reduced odds of OUD-related hospitalizations for those in counties with the 3 highest quartiles of treatment facility densities compared with the lowest quartile. These associations did not remain significant in late postpartum. All maternal age groups, compared with those aged 25 to 29, had increased odds of a mental health-related hospitalization in early postpartum, and the youngest age group (17-24 years) had increased odds in late postpartum. Experiencing any hospitalization from 0 to 42 days postpartum was positively associated with all 3 types of hospitalizations in late postpartum.
Discussion: County health care and drug treatment systems are associated with hospitalizations among individuals with OUD throughout the first-year postpartum. Addressing policy, sociocultural, and structural barriers to accessing these services should be a priority for improving postpartum health and reducing drug-related harms in this period.
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Journal: Journal of Ethnicity in Substance Abuse, 2025, doi: 10.1080/1533264020252518481
Authors: Selena Regalado, & Jeffrey Duong
Abstract:
Tobacco use represents a public health concern in the United States. This study aimed to determine whether the association between sexual identity and tobacco use varied across race/ethnicity groups among U.S. high school students. Data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s 2019 Youth Behavior Risk Survey (n = 13,677) were analyzed using bivariate cross-tabulations and adjusted multivariate logistic regression models with interaction terms. A significant interaction was found between sexual identity and race/ethnicity for current electronic vapor, cigar, and smokeless tobacco use. Sexual identity was most strongly associated with electronic vapor use among Black or African American youth as well as Hispanic or Latino youth and most strongly associated with cigar and smokeless tobacco use among Asian, Native Hawaiian, or Pacific Islander youth. The findings highlight the challenges faced by LGBQ (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Questioning) students of color and the need for culturally tailored interventions for youth with multiply marginalized backgrounds.
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