The Western region of the US has received comparatively less attention in HIV research despite housing several Ending the HIV Epidemic priority areas. Understanding HIV risk and prevention behaviors among men who have sex with men (MSM) in this region is critical. This study examines differences in HIV risk and prevention behaviors among MSM in the Pacific (CA, WA) and Mountain (AZ, NV) sub-regions. We conducted a serial cross-sectional analysis using 2017-2021 data from the American Men's Internet Survey. The sample included MSM with HIV-negative or unknown status. Key outcomes included condomless anal intercourse, substance use, STI diagnoses, HIV/STI testing, and PrEP awareness, willingness and use. Poisson regression models with robust standard errors estimated prevalence ratios and 95% confidence intervals, adjusting for sociodemographics. Among 7423 MSM, 81.3% resided in the Pacific sub-region, 53.0% were aged <30 years and 50.8% were white. Condomless anal intercourse rates were similar across sub-regions, but STI diagnoses (13.0% vs 10.1%, P<0.05) and substance use were higher in the Pacific compared with the Mountain sub-region. HIV testing (55.5% vs 59.8%, P<0.05) and STI testing (39.2% vs 45.7%, P<0.001) were lower in the Mountain sub-region compared with the Pacific sub-region. PrEP awareness was similar, but usage was lower (17.2% vs 23.1%, P<0.001) despite higher willingness (51.8% vs 44.5%, P<0.001) in the Mountain compared with the Pacific sub-region. HIV risk was similar across sub-regions, but disparities in prevention engagement highlight regional barriers. Expanding PrEP access and HIV/STI testing in the Mountain sub-region is critical to achieving Ending the HIV Epidemic goals.

Social media interventions and the moderation of baseline substance use: A secondary data analysis.

Exploring the drivers of substance use in Zambia: A qualitative study of stakeholder perspectives.

Computerized adaptive testing for assessing substance use and substance use disorder: A systematic review.

Latent profiles of maternal psychopathology and risk for lifetime/perinatal substance use: Findings from the HBCD study.

To advance patient-centered care for high-need homeless-experienced patients, we identified the rates of various personal health goals, the broader domains that underlie these goals, and associations between these domains and the health-related needs of this population. The sample consisted of 176 veterans from 3 VA Medical Centers who were enrolled in primary care, on VA's Homeless Registry, and high utilizers of acute care. An interview was conducted with each participant to collect information on their personal health goals and health-related needs. Exploratory factor analysis was used to identify broad domains underlying endorsement of personal health goals. Associations between these broad goal domains and health-related needs (substance use, mental and physical health, treatment engagement, and psychosocial) were examined using an exploratory structural equation modeling-within-confirmatory factor analysis approach. Three broad domains were found to underlie the personal health goals of the sample: social functioning, health promotion, and substance use. Social functioning and health promotion were highly correlated, whereas substance use was weakly correlated with both social functioning and health promotion. All substance use-related needs were positively associated with substance use goals. Mental and physical health needs were primarily associated with health promotion goals. Treatment engagement and psychosocial needs demonstrated associations across all 3 goal domains. Findings highlight the high value that many high-need homeless-experienced patients place on their social well-being and the potential benefits to measuring both deficiency and growth needs in this population. Clinical implications and future directions for research are discussed.

Neural reward sensitivity and longitudinal patterns of alcohol and cannabis use in college-aged youth.

Introduction: Suicide is a major global public health concern and the fourth leading cause of death among individuals aged 15-29. In Turkey, the crude suicide rate has shown a consistent increase in recent years. This study aimed to evaluate the sociodemographic and clinical characteristics of patients presenting to the pediatric emergency department following non-violent suicide attempts, and to identify associated risk factors. Methods: In this prospective study, patients under 18 years presenting with nonviolent suicide attempts were included. Data collected comprised demographic and clinical features, psychiatric history of children and families, family dynamics, and substance use. Standardized tools used included the Family Assessment Device-Communication subscale, Adolescent Friendship Attachment Scale, Parenting Style Scale, and Beck Scale for Suicide Ideation. Results: Of 101 patients (82.2% female; mean age 15.5 ± 1.3 years), 44.6% used their own medications, most frequently nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (19.6%). Psychiatric diagnoses were identified in 31.6%, prior suicide attempts in 43.6%, and tobacco/alcohol use in 35.5%. Poor family communication was observed in 73.3% of families, and authoritarian parenting in 35.6%. Substance use was found to predict recurrent suicidal ideation, while previous attempts and poor family communication predicted greater severity of suicidal ideation (OR = 3.093; p = 0.025), (OR = 4.267; p = 0.003), (OR = 3.218; p = 0.011). Conclusion: Adolescents with substance use, prior suicide attempts, and poor family communication are at significantly increased risk for severe or recurrent suicidal ideation.

Stressful life events (SLEs) are known to be associated with an increased prevalence of common mental disorders (CMDs), but the potential moderating role of psychological well-being has not been comprehensively studied. In total, 6194 adults aged 18-75 years were interviewed for the third Netherlands Mental Health Survey and Incidence Study (NEMESIS-3). Assessments included the adapted Composite International Diagnostic Interview (CIDI v3.0) to determine DSM-5 mood, anxiety and substance use disorders, Brugha's List of Threatening Experiences for SLEs, and Brief INSPIRE-O for psychological well-being. Logistic regressions tested associations between having experienced at least two SLEs and the different CMDs and additive interactions with psychological well-being. Having experienced ≥ 2 SLEs in the last year was associated with a higher prevalence of all CMDs in the last year, with adjusted odds ratios ranging from 1.71 (95% CI: 1.39; 2.10) for substance use disorders to 3.43 (95% CI: 2.73; 4.30) for mood disorders. The interaction effect of ≥ 2 SLEs and low psychological well-being was statistically significant for any CMD (RERI = 5.64, 95% CI: 3.18; 8.10), mood disorder (RERI = 23.09, 95% CI: 10.10; 36.10) and anxiety disorder (RERI = 3.45, 95% CI: 1.27; 5.63), but not for substance use disorder (RERI = 0.21, 95% CI: -1.38; 1.80). The joint presence of ≥ 2 SLEs and poor psychological well-being was associated with a higher prevalence of mood and anxiety disorders than would be expected from the sum of their individual associations. Promoting psychological well-being may be a fruitful public mental health strategy to increase resilience against SLEs.

To estimate the absolute and relative changes in prevalence of tobacco, e-cigarette, alcohol, and illicit substance use over the past decade among Culturally and Linguistically Diverse (CALD) and non-CALD populations in Australia from 2013 to 2022/23. Data were drawn from four waves of the National Drug Strategy Household Survey (NDSHS), comprising of 91, 282 respondents (2013: n = 23, 855; 2016: n = 23, 749; 2019: n = 22, 015; 2022/23: n = 21, 663). CALD status (22.5% of weighted sample) was defined as being born outside Australia/New Zealand/United Kingdom and/or speaking a language other than English at home. Analyses calculated weighted prevalence estimates and absolute and relative changes in prevalence between 2013 and 2022/23 with 99% CI. Between 2013 and 2022/2023, any tobacco product use declined significantly for both CALD (14.4% to 8.5%, 99%CI:8.0%, -3.7%) and non-CALD respondents (18.0% to 9.6%, 99%CI:9.6%, -7.3%). E-cigarette use (measured from 2016) increased in both populations, with CALD showing a 5-fold increase (0.8% to 4.8%; 99%CI: 2.7%, 5.2%) and non-CALD showing a 4.8-fold increase (1.3% to 7.5%; 99%CI: 5.5%, 7.0%). Risky alcohol use declined among CALD (23.2% to 13.1%, 99%CI:12.7%, -7.6%) and non-CALD respondents (43.2% to 33.9%, 99%CI:10.9%, -7.6%). Any illicit substance use remained stable among CALD respondents (10.3% to 9.0%; 99%CI: -3.2%, 0.8%) but increased among non-CALD respondents (16.0% to 18.4%; 99%CI: 1.2%, 3.8%). In Australia, CALD individuals had lower prevalence of use of most tobacco products, e-cigarettes, alcohol, and illicit drugs than non-CALD individuals. Between 2013 and 2022/23, roll-your-own cigarette and waterpipe use remained stable among CALD individuals despite significant declines in non-CALD individuals. Both groups experienced steep rises in e-cigarette use between 2016 and 2022/23.

Substance use disorder (SUD) is a polygenic psychiatric condition characterized by persistent drug use despite negative consequences. Several studies support that higher cognitive performance and educational attainment (EA) are associated with a reduced risk for SUD. Here, we aimed to understand better the genetic relationship between EA and SUD, using a general addiction risk-factor (addiction) as a proxy of SUD. We used GWAS summary statistics on EA (n = 766 345) and addiction (n = 647 703) and applied a multistep approach to: (i) examinate the genetic overlap between EA and addiction; (ii) test the polygenic contribution of addiction and EA on SUD diagnosis and its clinical heterogeneity in an independent in-house clinical sample (1427 individuals with SUD and 2309 controls); and (iii) dissect the genetic liability of addiction according to its role in EA and assessing its genetic overlap with SUD-related traits, other mental disorders and behavioral traits. We confirmed a negative genetic correlation between addiction and EA [rg = -0.33, standard error (SE) =0.02, P = 1.14e-57]. When we dissected the genetic liability of addiction by its relationship with EA we found that the discordant overlapping variation between addiction and EA, highly enriched for the genetic background of addiction (h2 SNP=2.42%, P = 6.37e-21), showed the strongest effect on SUD (OR =1.66, 95% confidence interval =1.54-1.79, P = 2.01e-40) and was associated with worse sociodemographic, health and SUD-related outcomes in individuals with SUD compared with the other genomic partitions studied. Our results provide new evidence on the shared genetic basis between addiction and educational attainment. By separating the genetic liability of addiction according to its relationship with educational attainment, we were able to clarify its polygenic effects on substance use disorder diagnosis and related outcomes, providing novel insights into the shared genetic signatures between addiction and other comorbid traits.

Addressing familial risk factors in the aftermath of child sex trafficking: Practitioner perspectives on family-centered interventions.

Co-occurrence of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and substance use disorder (SUD) is common and difficult to treat. Understanding which timing and type of PTSD treatment is most effective for treating PTSD in patients with SUD and PTSD is important to improve treatment outcomes. This study compared effectiveness of simultaneous versus sequential SUD-PTSD-treatment and compared Prolonged Exposure (PE), Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR), and Imagery Rescripting (ImRs) head-to-head in patients with co-occurring SUD and PTSD. A single-blind 6-arm randomized controlled trial with 209 patients with co-occurring SUD and PTSD at two addiction treatment centers in the Netherlands, providing intra- and extramural care. Patients were allocated to simultaneous SUD+PE, SUD+EMDR or SUD+ImRs treatment or sequential SUD-PTSD-treatment (25% each). Next, sequential SUD+PTSD patients were randomly assigned to PE, EMDR, or ImRs (33% each). Data were collected at baseline, 3-month, 6-month, and 9-month follow-up. All analyses were intention-to-treat. Participants were randomized to receive 12 PTSD treatment sessions of simultaneous SUD+PE (n=53), simultaneous SUD+EMDR (n=50), simultaneous SUD+ImRs (n=55), sequential SUD+PE (n=17), sequential SUD+EMDR (n=17) or sequential SUD+ImRs (n=17). Standard protocols were used. Primary outcome was clinician-administered PTSD symptom severity. Secondary outcomes were treatment completion and SUD-severity. Additionally, loss of PTSD diagnosis and full remission of PTSD criteria were tested. Linear-Mixed-Models with a two-level structure (repeated measures, patients), were used to investigate treatment-effects. In the primary analyses including the 6-month and 9-month follow up, no significant differences in PTSD-severity were found between timing nor treatment-types. However, simultaneous treatment outperformed sequential treatment at 3-month follow-up and was preferred by most participants. ImRs was superior to PE and EMDR regarding PTSD-treatment completion. No between-group differences in SUD outcomes were found. EMDR and ImRs are effective alternatives to the more established PE. These findings indicate that delaying PTSD treatment until after SUD treatment is not necessary.

Research suggests lower-level supervisors may suffer greater burdens of mental illness and substance use than workers and upper management, a pattern that may arise from their contradictory class location. For example, lower-level supervisors may be compelled to discipline subordinates and enforce policies over which they have little say, and contend with antagonism from workers, exposing them to stressors like job strain. However, to our knowledge, no U.S. studies have investigated whether job strain is elevated among lower-level supervisors. We addressed this gap using 2002-2022 General Social Survey data (n = 9261). We classified respondents as workers, lower-level supervisors, higher-level supervisors, top executives, petit bourgeoisie, or capitalists using self-employment and supervisory-authority items, and created a continuous job-strain score using five job-control and six job-demands items. Age- and gender-adjusted Poisson models suggested job strain decreased approximately linearly across classes, as mean scores were 6% (95% CI: 3%-8%) lower among lower-level supervisors and 23% (95% CI: 19%-27%) lower among capitalists than among workers. Patterns were similar for job control alone. However, lower-level supervisors did report elevated job demands, including 14% (95% CI: 10%-17%) greater mean scores than workers. Patterns persisted after thorough confounder adjustment. Our findings suggest job strain may not explain lower-level supervisors' burdens of mental illness and substance use.

Measuring the impact of a novel program in a Family Treatment Court: Quality of life, mental health, and self-esteem inventories in program evaluation.

Gender Differences in Correlates of Cannabis Consumers Among Youth: Results From the 2023 Canadian Health Survey on Children and Youth.

Differences in buprenorphine initiation and retention for opioid use disorder between primary care and substance use disorder specialty care settings.

Synaptic zinc (Zn2+) modulates dopamine and glutamate neurotransmission by binding to the dopamine transporter and glutamate receptors. Among other neurotransmitters, dopamine and glutamate critically regulate physiological processes and behaviors relevant to substance use disorders (SUDs) and addiction. In addition, Zn2+ interacts with inhibitory neurotransmitter systems, including GABA and glycine receptors, further influencing the excitatory-inhibitory balance within circuits relevant to addiction. Nevertheless, the specific involvement of synaptic Zn2+ in such processes is unknown. We propose that synaptic Zn2+ serves as an environmentally derived factor that can influence the vulnerability to and development of SUDs and addiction via its interaction with proteins that regulate dopamine and glutamate neurotransmission in addiction-relevant brain circuits.

Advancing substance use disorder biology by studying underlying gene x environment interactions.

Neuromelanin-sensitive MRI (NM-MRI) has demonstrated potential as a proxy measure of dopamine functioning in the brain. Altered NM-MRI has been associated with substance use disorders, yet remains unexplored in problematic social media use (PSMU). The current study aims to determine whether higher PSMU is linked to lower NM-MRI signal intensity in the substantia nigra and ventral tegmental area (SN-VTA). Seventy-two young adults (18-35 years of age) completed the Bergen Social Media Addiction Scale to measure PSMU and underwent an NM-MRI scan. Half of the participants had a first degree relative (FDR) with a psychotic disorder. Within the SN-VTA, the average contrast-to-noise ratio was calculated on NM-MRI images. Linear regressions included NM-MRI signal intensity and PSMU scores, with age, sex, and FDR status as covariates. Higher levels of PSMU were not significantly associated with average NM-MRI signal intensity in the whole SN-VTA (p = 0.65). Voxelwise analysis revealed ninety-nine voxels with higher NM-signal intensity (pcorrected > 0.05). No significant main effect or interactions were observed for any covariates. As the first application of NM-MRI to examine dopaminergic markers in relation to PSMU, these results highlight the importance of further studying brain correlates of PSMU beyond dopaminergic neuroadaptation.