Differences in Emotion Dysregulation and Symptoms of Depression and Anxiety among Illicit Substance Users and Nonusers.

BACKGROUND: Illicit substance users may rely on mind-altering substances to regulate affect, especially when mental health symptoms are present. OBJECTIVES: In light of the prevalence of illicit substance use and symptoms of depression and anxiety among college students, as well as the affect regulation properties of illicit substances, we sought to examine whether differences in emotion dysregulation, depression, anxiety, and stress exist between illicit substance users and non-users. METHODS: At a large Southwestern U.S. university, we examined differences in emotion dysregulation, depression, anxiety, and stress among college students who used illicit substances in the past 30 days (n = 92, 34.5%) and those who did not (n = 175, 65.5%). Data were collected in 2016 using two measures: the Difficulties in Emotion Regulation Scale (DERS; Gratz & Roemer, 2004) and the Depression Anxiety Stress Scales (DASS21; Lovibond & Lovibond, 1995). RESULTS: Results from the Descriptive Discriminate Analysis (DDA) indicated that significant differences existed between the two groups. Anxiety, difficulty clarifying emotions, difficulty employing goal-directed behaviors, and stress accounted the most for the group differences. Conclusion/Importance: Mental health differences between illicit substance users and nonusers exist. Specifically, illicit substance users reported more anxiety, stress, and difficulties with emotion regulation.

Plant hormone signaling: Is upside down right side up?

Since the early days of plant biology, small molecule hormones have held a central place in our understanding of development. A key feature of plant hormone action is the ability to regulate multiple developmental processes. Despite this pleiotropy, decades of genetic and molecular studies have shown that plant hormone signaling is often canalized through a core pathway. This raises the difficult question of how one signaling pathway produces different outputs in different tissues. Drawing on examples from gibberellin and strigolactone signaling pathways, we propose this conceptual problem arises from an upside-down perspective of hormone signaling. Recent studies have revealed hormone and core pathway-independent mechanisms of regulating downstream signaling components, which could explain multiple developmental responses to the same hormone.