Journal: Inhalation Toxicology, 2025, doi: 10.1080/08958378.2025.2571918
Authors: Shaligram Sharma, Laura Crotty Alexander, Maureen Meister, Cassandra Ross, Joseph Hess, Kenneth Ray, Alexandra Noël, … Christa Wright
Abstract:
The widespread use of electronic nicotine delivery systems (ENDS) among youth and adults has become a significant public health concern. Approximately 19.6% of middle and high school students in the United States have reported using ENDS containing nicotine. Factors contributing to their popularity include social and recreational appeal, sensory satisfaction, ease of accessibility, and aggressive marketing strategies including influencer-driven promotions and youth-targeted campaigns through social media platforms. The variety of available flavors and modifiable features of ENDS devices further enhances their acceptance, often overshadowing their potential health risks. Despite their perceived advantages, misconceptions about ENDS persist, including beliefs that emissions are harmless, vaping is safer than smoking, and secondhand exposure is inconsequential. These misunderstandings contribute to the normalization of ENDS use, hindering public awareness of the associated health and environmental hazards. This manuscript addresses seven prevalent misconceptions about ENDS ranging from their safety during pregnancy to their environmental impact, highlighting the need for comprehensive education and community engagement to mitigate the risks of ENDS usage and promote informed decision-making. In the following section of the Special Issue Science Education and Research on Vaping and Interventions for Community Engagement (SERVICE), we will explore how these misconceptions not only encourage the societal acceptance and use of ENDS but also contribute to potential health risks.
To read the full text of the article, please visit the publisher’s website.
Journal: Prevention Science, 2025, doi: 10.1007/s11121-025-01835-6
Authors: Margaret R. Kuklinski, Brent J. Gibbons, Diana M. Bowser, Kathryn E. McCollister, Rosanna Smart, Laura J. Dunlap, … Tansel Yilmazer
Abstract:
The purpose of this study was to estimate the costs of starting up diverse interventions for preventing opioid misuse in young people aged 15 to 30. Interventions were to be delivered in the context of research trials funded under the National Institutes of Health HEAL (Helping to End Addiction Long-term®) Prevention Initiative. Start-up activities were conducted in systems and settings across the United States from 2019 to 2023. Start-up costs were estimated using activity-based costing from a provider perspective and common methods and data collection procedures across projects (n = 8). Descriptive statistics were used to understand the magnitude of and variability in start-up costs, cost drivers, and staff time. Factors explaining variability were identified from project activity descriptions. Start-up activities cost $37,541 on average, and $33,492 at the median (2020 USD). Labor drove costs (89% on average). Training, project management, and partner engagement accounted for 78% of start-up costs on average. There was considerable variability in total and activity costs. Start-up activities provide an essential foundation for successful intervention delivery and sustainability, yet the resources needed and associated costs for this phase of intervention implementation do not receive much attention. We found that interventions faced unique start-up challenges and leverage points, resulting in differences in total cost and activity cost burden.
ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT01088542, NCT04901312, NCT04678960, NCT04617938, NCT04550715, and NCT04135703.
To read the full text of the article, please visit the publisher’s website.
Journal: Drug and Alcohol Dependence Reports, 2025, doi: 10.1016/j.dadr. 2025.100384.
Authors: Erica N. Grodin, Wave-Ananda Baskerville, & Lara A. Ray
Abstract:
Background: Sleep disturbances are common in individuals with alcohol use disorder (AUD). Craving is a critical driver of alcohol use and return to drinking and is influenced by sleep. Craving may be a mechanism underlying the relationship between sleep disturbance and alcohol use, such that sleep disturbances result in higher craving, limiting control over alcohol use. This study examined craving as a mediator of the relationship between global sleep quality and impaired control over alcohol use.
Methods: Sixty-two (35M/27F) individuals with moderate-to-severe AUD participated in the study. Participants reported on past month sleep quality, craving for alcohol, impaired control over alcohol, and confidence to resist drinking in situations commonly precipitating alcohol use. Mediation models were conducted to evaluate craving as a mediator of the relationship between sleep quality and control over alcohol use.
Results: There was a significant indirect effect of craving on the relationship between sleep quality and failed control over drinking; confidence to resist drinking in negative affect situations, and confidence to resist drinking in social conflict situations.
Conclusion: Craving may be a mechanism through which sleep disturbances increase alcohol use. It is plausible that sleep disturbances reduce the ability for self-regulation, resulting in higher levels of craving and impaired ability to control alcohol use.
To read the full text of the article, please visit the publisher’s website.
Journal: Journal of Internal Medicine, 2025, doi: 10.1111/joim.70021
Authors: Anna Loften, Mehdi Farokhnia, Leandro F. Vendruscolo, & Lorenzo Leggio
Abstract:
Alcohol and other substance use disorders (ASUDs) are prevalent and major contributors to global morbidity and mortality. Their impact extends beyond the individual, imposing significant burdens on families, communities, healthcare systems, and society at large. Treatments include psychosocial, behavioral, and pharmacological interventions. However, available pharmacological treatments remain limited, primarily targeting alcohol, tobacco, and opioid use disorders, with a lack of approved pharmacotherapies for other substance use disorders. This gap highlights a critical need to develop novel treatment options. Emerging evidence suggests that bidirectional brain-periphery communications play important roles in the pathophysiology and progression of ASUDs. Gut-brain hormones that are involved in the regulation of feeding and metabolism have been shown to influence reinforcing properties of food, alcohol, and other addictive substances. Additionally, stress-related pathways, especially the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis, play a significant role in regulating behaviors that are related to ASUDs. Accordingly, feeding- and stress-related neuroendocrine pathways represent novel pharmacotherapeutic targets for ASUDs. This narrative review discusses preclinical and clinical evidence for emerging pharmacotherapies that target ASUD-related neuroendocrine systems. Special emphasis is placed on recent work with glucagon-like peptide-1, ghrelin, fibroblast growth factor-21, amylin, glucocorticoids, and mineralocorticoids.
To read the full text of the article, please visit the publisher’s website.
Journal: Social Science & Medicine, 2025, doi: 10.1016/j.socscimed. 2025.118596
Authors: Sophie Bright, Charlotte Buckley, Daniel Holman, Madeleine Henney, Loni Philip Tabb, & Robin Purshouse
Abstract:
Alcohol consumption is a major risk factor for death and disability, disproportionately harming disadvantaged groups. While a positive association between interpersonal discrimination and alcohol use is established, structural discrimination’s impact remains unclear. We conducted a systematic review of the association between macro-level structural discrimination and alcohol consumption or related health outcomes. We searched four databases and grey literature, identifying 25 eligible studies, which considered racism (n = 11), sexism (n = 7), heterosexism (n = 4), and intersectional discrimination (n = 3). Most considered alcohol consumption (n = 17); fewer addressed harm (n = 4) or both (n = 4). The majority were US-based (n = 21), with four making cross-country comparisons. Associations varied by discrimination type, exposure measurement, alcohol outcome, and sociodemographic factors, though differential effects by sociodemographic factors remain understudied. Most structural racism studies considered segregation as the exposure, but findings were inconsistent, even when grouped by outcome. Emerging evidence suggests increased race-based poverty ratios and incarceration gaps are associated with higher consumption and harm, especially for Black and Hispanic populations. Studies of structural sexism often used composite measures, like state-level gender inequality indices. Evidence suggests that as gender equality increases, women are more likely to drink, while greater structural sexism may be linked to higher rates of risky drinking and alcohol-related mortality. Findings on heavy episodic drinking and drinking frequency were mixed, while associations with volume and quantity were mostly non-significant. The limited available evidence suggests structural heterosexism may be positively associated with high intensity drinking and alcohol use disorders among sexually minoritized groups. The simultaneous impact of multiple forms of structural discrimination remains underexplored. Advancing this field requires consensus on how to operationalize structural discrimination within alcohol studies and greater adoption of intersectional and longitudinal approaches.
To read the full text of the article, please visit PubMed Central.