“Being present for your life again”: Young adults’ views of recovery
In the United States, there is a large gap between the number of young adults with substance use disorder and the number who engage with specialty addiction treatment. Reasons accounting for the difficulty of engaging this population include both individual barriers (e.g., motivation) and external barriers (e.g., lack of treatment affordability or access). In this […]
Professionally delivered “peer network counseling” as a brief intervention for youth: Best for those with highest substance use
Intervening with youth who have started to experiment with alcohol or other drugs is often key to stopping escalation. Brief interventions may be a cost-efficient approach, but there is a gap in understanding who may respond best. This study examined a brief, socially-based intervention, Peer Network Counseling, to answer these questions. WHAT PROBLEM DOES THIS […]
In young adult heavy drinkers, does naltrexone work better for those drinking for reward compared with those drinking to cope?
Young adulthood is a time of increased experimentation and heavy use of alcohol and onset of alcohol use disorder. Treatments that help to reduce risky drinking are a necessity for this age group. Detecting for whom these interventions may or may not work best can improve tailoring of treatments to specific patient subgroups. This study […]
Adolescents may develop some substance use disorders more quickly than young adults
Young people are more susceptible to the harmful effects of substance use due to neurocognitive sensitivities. When initiating drug use at an early age, young people are at increased risk for a more rapid transition to substance use disorder compared to adults. Identifying risk for developing substance use disorder among individuals who use drugs can […]
Individual, family, school, and community-level protective factors for substance among adolescents with adverse childhood experiences
Adolescents that have experienced adverse childhood experiences are more likely to use substances. Yet, adolescents are also resilient. This study sought to explore what individual, family, school, and community–level factors buffer the negative effects of adverse childhood experiences on the likelihood of substance use among adolescents. WHAT PROBLEM DOES THIS STUDY ADDRESS? Adolescence is a developmental period marked with […]
“Secret shopper” study of adolescent residential addiction treatment
Substance use disorders among adolescents is a pressing public health concern. Residential treatment is a vital health care service for adolescents, but there is little publicly available information about how programs function, their costs, and how readily they can be accessed, especially among private programs. This study where members of the research team reached out […]
From bars to books: Understanding the needs of collegiate recovery students with legal system involvement
For people with history of legal system involvement, colleges may increase employment opportunities and reduce recidivism, making the intersection between collegiate recovery programs and legal systems an important one. This study helped illuminate the characteristics and needs of collegiate recovery program students with history of legal involvement. WHAT PROBLEM DOES THIS STUDY ADDRESS? There are […]
Young adults report increasing use of non-LSD hallucinogens
Young adults may be at highest risk for the non-medical use of hallucinogens, such as LSD or psilocybin (“shrooms”), which can result in negative health consequences. Given the changing legal and medical landscapes surrounding hallucinogens in the US, this study examined trends in hallucinogen use among young adults from 2018 to 2021. WHAT PROBLEM DOES […]
Impulsivity and stressful life events uniquely relate to heavy alcohol and cannabis use in at-risk youth
Adolescence is a critical period for the onset of substance use. It is important to understand why some youth engage in problematic substance use, especially youth who are most vulnerable. This study examined the unique contributions of impulsivity and stressful life events on problematic substance use among youth. WHAT PROBLEM DOES THIS STUDY ADDRESS? Adolescence […]
Increasing cannabis use worsens depression for most young adults
Cannabis use among young adults is linked to depressive symptoms, but the direction of the relationship is unclear; that is, whether increased use leads to increased depression or if increased depression leads to increased use of cannabis. This longitudinal study of youth in the community explored this relationship between cannabis use and depression from teen […]