Does stress reactivity or response to amphetamine predict smoking progression in young adults? A preliminary study.

Recent studies with laboratory animals indicate that a constellation of behavioral factors predict progression to self-administer drugs. Relatively little is known about behavioral or biological factors that predict the progression in drug use from initial experimentation to regular use in human drug users. The present exploratory study examined reactivity to an acute stressor and reactivity to a single dose of a dopaminergic drug as predictors in progression to heavier smoking in young cigarette smokers over a 6-month period. Forty-four college students who were light to moderate smokers participated in three laboratory sessions, followed by a follow-up interview 6 months later to determine smoking level. On one of the laboratory sessions subjects underwent the Trier Social Stress Test, and on the others they ingested capsules containing placebo or 20 mg D-amphetamine. Outcome measures included subjective ratings of mood and measures of heart rate and salivary cortisol. We found modest positive relationships between stress reactivity and certain responses to amphetamine. Further, stress-induced increases in cortisol were positively related to increases in cigarette smoking in the 31 subjects who we were able to contact at 6 months. Although these results are highly preliminary, they resemble the relationships previously reported in laboratory animals, suggesting that some of the same factors that predict drug-self-administration in rodents predict progression in drug use among young adults.

Responses to the Trier Social Stress Test (TSST) in single versus grouped participants.

Psychological stress plays an important role in psychopathologies. Laboratory methods have been designed to study stress responses in health and disease. The Trier Social Stress Test is a procedure designed to induce psychosocial stress, but the method is costly in terms of time and personnel requirements. We investigated whether conducting the task with multiple participants influenced cortisol, heart rate, and subjective responses and improved efficiency. Healthy male and female volunteers (N = 32) performed the task individually or in groups. Salivary cortisol, anxiety, and jitteriness increased and calmness decreased similarly in both conditions. Grouped participants exhibited greater peak increases in heart rate than those who performed individually. The findings suggest that the TSST may be conducted with multiple participants without significantly affecting subjective and cortisol responses to the task.

Evaluation of the abuse potential of pagoclone, a partial GABAA agonist.

This study assessed the abuse potential of pagoclone, a partial agonist at the gamma-aminobutyric acid type A (GABAA) benzodiazepine receptor site, in healthy recreational drug users. Twenty-three young adults, who reported past recreational use of sedative drugs or alcohol, participated in 4 sessions during which capsules containing pagoclone (doses: 1.2 mg, the higher end of the proposed therapeutic dose range, and 4.8 mg, a 4-fold higher dose), diazepam (dose, 30 mg), or placebo were randomly administered under double-blind conditions. Subjective ratings of mood, drug effects, and psychomotor tests were completed at regular intervals after ingesting the capsules. On most of the standardized measures of abuse potential, pagoclone (dose, 4.8 mg) was rated as being similar to diazepam. Both drugs increased the ratings of good effects and drug liking. However, pagoclone also produced some adverse mood effects that might limit its potential to be used recreationally, and it produced fewer sedativelike effects on some measures. In general, the results with these doses indicate that the abuse potential of pagoclone is similar to that of diazepam, although its profile as a partial agonist suggests that differences between the drugs may emerge at higher doses.