Cannabis approval and perceived risk of use among minority U.S. Army Reservists.

This study examined how minoritized U.S. Army Reserve/National Guard service members perceive cannabis use amid a continuously evolving societal and legal landscape in the United States. Logistic regression analyses were conducted to examine relationships between cannabis perceptions and race while considering illicit drug use norms, posttraumatic stress disorder symptomatology, and current drug use. Non-Hispanic Black soldiers had lower odds of approval for medicinal cannabis use and Hispanic soldiers had higher odds of perceived risk of cannabis use, both of which persisted when considering key covariates. These findings may be partly explained by a confluence of societal and cultural factors.

Exploring Racial/Ethnic Disparities in Substance Dependence and Serious Psychological Distress among US Veterans.

OBJECTIVES: There are substantial racial/ethnic disparities in substance use and mental health among civilian populations, but few studies have examined these disparities in veterans using a nationally representative sample. Thus, we examined differences in substance dependence and serious psychological distress (SPD) by race/ethnicity among a national sample of US veterans. METHODS: We pooled cross-sectional data from the 2015-2019 waves of the National Survey on Drug Use and Health (N = 7,653 veterans aged 18-64 years). Regression models were utilized to examine racial/ethnic differences in DSM-IV substance dependence and SPD with a Benjamini-Hochberg correction applied. RESULTS: Compared to non-Hispanic White veterans: American Indian/Alaska Native veterans had significantly higher odds of past-year alcohol dependence (AOR = 2.55, 95% CI: 1.28, 5.08); Asian American veterans had significantly lower odds of past-year alcohol dependence (AOR = 0.12, 95% CI: 0.02, 0.62); non-Hispanic Black (AOR = 0.60, 95% CI: 0.48, 0.77), Hispanic (AOR = 0.47, 95% CI: 0.34, 0.65), and veterans of more than one race (AOR = 0.55, 95% CI: 0.36, 0.83) had significantly lower odds of past-month nicotine dependence; Asian American veterans had significantly lower odds of past-year illicit drug dependence (AOR = 0.05, 95% CI: 0.01, 0.35); and non-Hispanic Black veterans had significantly lower odds of past-year SPD (AOR = 0.69, 95% CI: 0.55, 0.85) after correction for multiple comparisons. CONCLUSION: Overall, racial/ethnic disparities in substance dependence and SPD among veterans are not as stark as in civilian populations, but some disparities remain.

Drug use over time among never-deployed US Army Reserve and National Guard soldiers: The longitudinal effects of non-deployment emotions and sex.

Some US military service members who have never been deployed experience negative emotions related to never having been deployed, and some work shows these non-deployment emotions (NDE) are cross-sectionally associated with hazardous drinking for male, but not female, US Army Reserve/National Guard (USAR/NG) soldiers. However, it is not known if these effects extend to drug use or persist longitudinally, which is the focus of the current study. We conducted a longitudinal residual change analysis of a subset of data (N = 182 never-deployed soldiers) from Operation: SAFETY, an ongoing survey-based study of USAR/NG soldiers recruited from units across New York State. Outcome measures included current tobacco use, non-medical use of prescription drugs (NMUPD), current cannabis use, and other current illicit drug use (excluding cannabis) at four time points over a 3-year period. Results from bootstrapped residual change generalized estimating equation (GEE) models show that more negative NDE were longitudinally associated with a greater likelihood of current NMUPD among male, but not female, soldiers (p < 0.05). NDE were not longitudinally associated with current tobacco use, cannabis use, or other illicit drug use among male or female soldiers (ps > 0.05). NDE may contribute to ongoing NMUPD among male USAR/NG soldiers who have never been deployed. Never-deployed soldiers, especially those with negative emotions related to never having been deployed, should not be overlooked in military screening and intervention efforts.

Caffeine enhances sustained attention among adolescents.

Despite the growing interest in caffeine use and its effects among adolescents, and a large literature on caffeine and attention among adults, there is a lack of experimental work examining the impact of caffeine on sustained attention among adolescents. We evaluated the acute effects of caffeine (vs. placebo) during a long (33-min) classic vigilance task among 31 adolescents (aged 12-17; 15 female; median caffeine use = 28 mg/day). We predicted a dose-dependent effect of caffeine, which would attenuate declines in target detection over time (i.e., a vigilance decrement). In each of 3 visits, participants completed an identical pairs continuous performance task beginning ∼25 min after consumption of noncaloric flavored water containing placebo, 1 mg/kg, or 3 mg/kg caffeine (order counterbalanced). Percent hits for low probability targets across 12 100-trial blocks was the primary outcome measure. As predicted, the linear decline in hits across trial blocks was attenuated by caffeine (Caffeine vs. Placebo × Block Linear, p = .01), with significant improvements in Blocks 9-12 (ps < .03). Compared to 1 mg/kg, 3 mg/kg caffeine resulted in earlier improvement in target detection (Drug Dose × Block Quadratic, p = .001). This study demonstrated that caffeine acutely and dose-dependently improves sustained attention among adolescents. These results were likely due to the attention-enhancing effect of caffeine, rather than withdrawal reversal, as our sample was characterized by light to moderate caffeine use. This study provides the foundation for further work on the impact of chronic caffeine consumption on cognitive function during adolescence. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2021 APA, all rights reserved).

The impact of three weeks of pre-quit varenicline on reinforcing value and craving for cigarettes in a laboratory choice procedure.

RATIONALE: Varenicline, a partial nicotinic agonist, is theorized to attenuate pre-quit smoking reinforcement and post-quit withdrawal and craving. However, the mechanisms of action have not been fully characterized, as most studies employ only retrospective self-report measures, hypothetical indices of reinforcing value, and/or nontreatment-seeking samples. OBJECTIVES: The current research examined the impact of pre-quit varenicline (vs. placebo) on laboratory measures of smoking and food (vs. water) reinforcement and craving. METHODS: Participants were 162 treatment-seeking smokers enrolled in a randomized controlled trial of smoking cessation ( clinicaltrials.gov ID: NCT03262662). Participants completed two laboratory sessions: a pre-treatment session, ~ 1 week prior to beginning varenicline or placebo, and an active treatment session, after ~ 3 weeks of treatment. At each session, participants completed a laboratory choice procedure; on each of 36 trials, a lit cigarette, food item, or cup of water was randomly presented. Participants reported level of craving and spent $0.01-0.25 to have a corresponding 5-95% chance to sample the cue. RESULTS: As predicted, spending was significantly higher on cigarette trials than water trials, and varenicline resulted in a greater between-session decline in spending on cigarette trials (but not water) than did placebo. Cigarette craving was enhanced in the presence of smoking cues compared to water, but neither average (tonic) cigarette craving nor cue-specific cigarette craving was significantly influenced by varenicline. Food spending and craving were generally unaffected by varenicline treatment. CONCLUSIONS: These laboratory data from treatment-seeking smokers provide the strongest evidence to date that varenicline selectively attenuates smoking reinforcement prior to quitting.