Journal: Addiction Biology, 2026, doi: 10.1111/adb.70194
Authors: Eleftherios M. Hetelekides, Patricia L. Davies, Mark A. Prince, William J. Gavin, & Hollis C. Karoly
Abstract:
Increasingly potent concentrated cannabis products containing high levels of Δ9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) are being consumed with alcohol. This combination is known to acutely impair cognitive and psychomotor abilities, although few studies have evaluated alcohol and cannabis co-use using neural measures. This naturalistic feasibility study explored the acute effects of co-intoxication on behavioural performance and brain activity, measured via electroencephalography (EEG), during a performance monitoring task administered three times over a 4.5-h period. Participants (N = 17, 65% male) were heavy drinking community members (age M = 31.7 years; SD = 10.27) who regularly use cannabis. EEG was recorded while participants completed a speeded visual-flanker task at baseline (sober) before consuming a standardized dose of alcohol and a cannabis concentrate product, followed by EEG recordings 1-h (intoxicated) and 4-h post co-consumption (recovery). Recordings were processed to obtain six event-related potential components: the stimulus-locked N1, P2, N2 and P3 and response-locked error-related negativity (ERN) and error positivity (Pe). Repeated measures ANOVAs revealed that behavioural measures at the intoxicated timepoint showed an increase in errors (p < 0.005; η2 p = 0.35) and significant decrease in response time (RT) (p < 0.001; η2 p = 0.50) compared to sober and recovery periods. Measures of brain activity also demonstrated significant change across time with largest amplitudes when sober, smaller amplitudes when intoxicated, then an increase in amplitude to near sober levels at recovery for stimulus-locked (P2, N2 and P3) and response-locked components (ERN and Pe). Thus, compared to sober and recovery periods, the behaviour at the intoxicated timepoint revealed significantly greater impulsivity (RT) leading to significantly higher error rates, while measures of cognitive processing (i.e., decision-making, error detection, performance monitoring/adaptation) showed significantly diminished levels of brain activity. Performance and neurophysiology measures remained diminished at recovery compared to baseline. Understanding neurocognitive functioning during co-intoxication may provide insights into specific cognitive processes that may impact function in everyday activities such as driving.
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Journal: Journal of Adolescent Health, 2026, doi: 10.1016/j.jadohealth .2026.07.027
Authors: Maria Cooper, Mia Q Peng, Eunice Park-Lee, Nicole F. Pelletier, Michael D. Sawdey, Angela Lee, & Karen A. Cullen
Abstract:
Purpose: Understanding the relationship between youth use of e-cigarettes containing nicotine salts and nicotine dependence is important, as e-cigarette manufacturers commonly use nicotine salts in their products, and their formulation results in higher blood level nicotine concentrations.
Methods: The National Youth Tobacco Survey is a cross-sectional, national survey of middle and high school students. Using 2024 data, we described sociodemographic characteristics and tobacco use behaviors among students who currently used e-cigarettes (n = 1,830) by nicotine salt status. We estimated prevalence ratios (PRs) of frequent e-cigarette use (≥20 of the past 30 days) and nicotine dependence symptoms (craving, use within 30 minutes of waking) associated with nicotine salt use utilizing survey-weighted robust Poisson regression, controlling for relevant covariates.
Results: Youth use of e-cigarettes with nicotine salts varied by sex, age at tobacco product initiation, use of most individual e-cigarette flavors, number of non-tobacco e-cigarette flavors, use of ice flavor, device type, and other tobacco product use. After adjusting for relevant covariates, youth who used e-cigarettes with nicotine salts were more likely to report frequent e-cigarette use (adjusted PR [aPR]: 1.47; 95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.24, 1.75), craving tobacco products (aPR: 1.69; 95% CI: 1.31, 2.16), wanting to use tobacco products within 30 minutes of waking (aPR: 1.60; 95% CI: 1.22, 2.11), and experiencing either symptom of nicotine dependence (aPR: 1.54; 95% CI: 1.26, 1.88) than those who reported not using nicotine salts.
Discussion: Use of e-cigarettes with nicotine salts was associated with frequent e-cigarette use and symptoms of nicotine dependence, underscoring the importance of continued surveillance and prevention efforts.
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Journal: JMIR Formative Research, 2026, doi: 10.2196/96237
Authors: Emma Farber, Mlka Mengesha, Erica Reisinger, Nicole Ellis, Andrew Lu, Peter F. Cronholm, … Sara L. Kornfield
Abstract:
Background: The prevalence of opioid use disorder (OUD) among women giving birth in US hospitals continues to rise. Increasing fatalities due to perinatal drug overdose have in part been attributed to decreased access to social support and treatment services. In recent years, mobile health (mHealth) technologies have been used to provide care to patients outside of traditional clinical settings. Given that perinatal OUD treatment works best when there is frequent contact between patient and clinician, harnessing mHealth could be valuable for improving patient engagement in perinatal OUD care.
Objective: To address the increasing epidemic of perinatal OUD, which is compounded by loneliness and social isolation, this study aimed to adapt an existing mHealth chatbot intervention for postpartum individuals by developing educational and supportive content relevant to people in the postpartum period experiencing OUD and recovery.
Methods: We used a participatory design to conduct a needs assessment via in-depth qualitative interviews with patients (n=12) and providers (n=11). Interview data were analyzed using NVivo software (Lumivero) according to a priori codebooks and using inductive coding, which identified major themes to address in a future adaptation of an interactive chatbot. An advisory board was convened to review the data and contribute to content generation that would be most useful for perinatal mothers who are in treatment for OUD.
Results: Patients and providers agreed that an interactive chatbot would be useful for patients seeking information on childbirth recovery, substance use recovery, pain management, and infant care, including feeding. Patients specifically wanted a chatbot that felt personal and addressed their individual and specific needs. Providers indicated that the chatbot should address topics that came up frequently in after-hours phone calls to reduce provider burden.
Conclusions: Conducting an in-depth participatory-driven needs assessment will support the refinement of an existing chatbot to better meet the needs of a high-risk, difficult-to-reach population. As we move forward to test the chatbot for acceptability and feasibility, data from the needs assessment will support ongoing iterative enhancement of the content, delivery, and safety of the chatbot.
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Journal: Molecular Psychiatry, 2026, doi: 10.1038/s41380-026-03906-8
Authors: Peter B. Barr, Kaitlin Bountress, Chris Chatzinakos, James E. Hart, Zoe E. Neale, Christina Sheerin. … Jacquelyn L. Meyers
Abstract:
Alcohol use disorder (AUD) commonly co-occurs with posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Comorbid PTSD and AUD is associated with poorer outcomes including worse treatment prognosis and significant physical health consequences. Both PTSD and AUD are polygenic in nature and genetically overlap. Previous work showed negative or non-significant associations between PTSD and alcohol consumption but positive genetic associations between PTSD and AUD. This work highlights the need for more nuanced examination of the similarities and distinctions in the associations between PTSD and alcohol consumption versus AUD. We leveraged the latest large-scale GWAS data to perform a multivariate GWAS of alcohol consumption (ALCC), problematic alcohol use (ALCP), and PTSD using GenomicSEM. Partial genetic correlations revealed that ALCP and PTSD were associated with each other (rG = 0.39, p = 4.38 × 10-60) and with other psychiatric problems, medical conditions, and pain, while ALCC was only weakly correlated with PTSD (rG = -0.08, p = 2.03 × 10-4) and uncorrelated with most traits after accounting for its genetic overlap with ALCP and PTSD. We examined associations between GenomicSEM-derived polygenic scores (PGS) and their corresponding phenotypes in participants from the Collaborative Study on the Genetics of Alcoholism (COGA). PGS for ALCC were unrelated to PTSD diagnosis and PGS for PTSD were unrelated to drinks in a typical week. PTSD is more strongly related to alcohol problems, and much of the overlap in PTSD and consumption is accounted for by its overlap with alcohol problems. These results help demonstrate the complex partial overlaps of PTSD, AUD, and alcohol consumption.
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Journal: Drug and Alcohol Dependence, 2026, doi: 10.1016/j.drugalcdep .2026.113395
Authors: Laura C. Chambers, Yu Li, Maxwell S. Krieger, Bennett Allen, Alex H. Kral, Jacqueline E. Goldman, … Magdalena Cerdá
Abstract:
Background: Systematic social observation (SSO) quantifies changes in the social and built environment and can be useful for evaluating the neighborhood effects of substance use programs.
Methods: We developed, implemented, and validated an SSO instrument in the Bronx, New York City, and Providence, Rhode Island. Research assistants assessed neighborhoods in the Bronx (4/19/2023-6/22/2023) and Providence (11/4/2024-12/20/2024) following a randomization schedule to minimize temporal biases. We used exploratory factor analysis (EFA) and Bayesian multi-level item response theory (IRT) models to derive social and built environment indices and externally validated the measures against arrest data.
Results: EFA for the Bronx (n = 564) and Providence (n = 463) identified three factors assessed with the instrument: drug litter, people, and built environment. IRT-based social and built environment indices exhibited positive spatial autocorrelation (the Bronx Moran’s I = 0.393, P < 0.001; Providence Moran’s I = 0.068, P < 0.001). In the Bronx, item severity and discrimination were highest for the drug litter factor; item parameters were relatively uniform in Providence. The Bronx index was associated with total (incidence rate ratio [IRR] = 1.42, 95% confidence interval [CI] = 1.04-1.95) and drug-related (IRR = 1.60, 95% CI = 1.10-2.32) arrests. The Providence index was not associated with arrests.
Conclusions: Our SSO protocol can be replicated in diverse settings to evaluate the neighborhood effects of substance use programs and broader effects of neighborhood conditions on substance use. The social and built environment indices for the Bronx and Providence may be useful outcomes in future studies. External validation suggests the Bronx index captured drug-related environmental variation; the Providence index may capture variation unrelated to policing patterns.
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