Psychology of Addictive Behaviors

OBJECTIVE: Land-based gambling venues remain predominantly cash-based despite broader consumer trends toward digital payments. Little prior literature directly investigates the role of payment methods in gambling; however, digital payment systems offer a key intervention point for gambling harm minimization. This study explores the perspectives of electronic gaming machine (EGM) gamblers regarding the concept of cashless gambling-the ability to gamble without using physical currency. METHOD: Twenty-six Australian EGM gamblers (10 females, 16 males; aged 24-76 years) participated in four online focus group discussions...

OBJECTIVE: Despite rates of alcohol misuse being higher among emerging adults experiencing homelessness compared to those who are stably housed, there are few brief evidence-based risk reduction programs for this population that focus on alcohol use and assess outcomes for more than 1 year. This study examines alcohol outcomes from a 24-month evaluation of AWARE, a brief motivational interviewing-based group risk reduction intervention for emerging adults experiencing homelessness. METHOD: In a cluster randomized crossover trial, 18- to 25- year-olds received AWARE ( n = 132) or standard care ( n = 144) at one of three drop-in centers serving young people experiencing homelessness in Los Angeles County...

OBJECTIVE: A severe and long-term alcohol use can have adverse effects on lower limb function. Over time, some individuals may develop gait ataxia, which refers to the impairment of controlled lower body movements that are important for walking and maintaining proper gait. Gait ataxia is well-documented in patients who have been diagnosed with alcohol-related Wernicke-Korsakoff syndrome (WKS); however, less is known on how common ataxia is among patients with alcohol use disorder (AUD) without WKS...

OBJECTIVE: The timeline follow-back interview is a common method of collecting daily cigarette consumption (cigarettes per day [CPD]) in smoking research. However, it may be subject to recall bias due to its reliance on retrospective reports. The increasing ownership of smartphones allows researchers to administer app-based digital diaries (DD) to collect CPD, which is expected to have less recall bias. Several studies have compared these two methods and found a noticeable discrepancy between them...

OBJECTIVE: From 2022, the International Classification of Diseases, eleventh edition (ICD-11) includes the first mental disorder based on digital technology, "gaming disorder," which was previously suggested as a condition for further examination in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, fifth edition (DSM-5). In this cross-sectional study, we provide the first large-scale network analysis of various symptom structures for these constructs to understand the complex interconnections between their proposed symptoms...

OBJECTIVE: Cisgender men's condom use resistance (CUR), deliberate attempts to avoid using a condom with a partner who wishes to use one, may include coercive strategies, such as deception and force, and places their partners at risk for unintended pregnancy and sexually transitted infections (STIs). This investigation used an alcohol administration design to examine one distal (history of unintended partner pregnancy) and two proximal (acute alcohol intoxication, condom use rationale) contributors to men's intentions to engage in coercive CUR...

OBJECTIVE: The main reasons women in the general population seek abortion are financial, timing, and partner-related reasons. While women with opioid use disorder (OUD) appear to use abortion services more than women in the general population, reasons for abortion in this group have not been examined to our knowledge. METHOD: Female patients aged 18-50 years in OUD treatment at 22 randomly selected facilities in Michigan were surveyed. The survey included items assessing reproductive health history...

OBJECTIVE: The Supreme Court of the United States' decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization in June 2022 overturned Roe v. Wade and ended federal protection of abortion rights. Given the drastic policy changes as a result of the ruling and high exposure to media related to abortion, women opposed to the decision may have experienced distress, which could trigger maladaptive coping strategies, such as alcohol use. The present research examined how consuming abortion-related media in the weeks following the Dobbs decision impacted alcohol use intentions among women of reproductive age residing in the 13 "trigger law" states that immediately restricted abortion access...

OBJECTIVE: The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG) recommends providers screen their prenatal patients for 11 psychosocial issues because they affect patient mental and physical well-being. The prevalence and co-occurrence of these issues have rarely been compared among pregnant women who do and do not report recent illicit substance use. METHOD: Seven psychosocial issues identified by ACOG were operationalized using National Survey on Drug Use and Health variables...

OBJECTIVE: Individuals are often inaccurate at estimating levels of intoxication following doses of alcohol. Previous research has shown that when required to estimate (BAC) at different time points, participants often underestimate their BACs and amounts of alcohol consumed. The present study aimed to increase drinkers' BAC estimation accuracy after drinking alcohol using mindfulness-based feedback to increase their awareness of the interoceptive cues associated with alcohol intoxication...

OBJECTIVE: This study examined how social associations from a person's social network may be associated with their own alcohol consumption. METHOD: Alcohol consumption behavior was examined among the social networks of 784 survey respondents (54% female, M age = 35.3 years), using egocentric social network analysis. Participants (egos) were recruited via a panel aggregator and completed an online survey about the frequency of their alcohol consumption and that of the 20 most influential people in their lives (alters)...

OBJECTIVE: Craving predicts smoking, yet existing interventions may not adequately target regulation of craving. We evaluated two versions of regulation of craving-training (ROC-T), a computerized intervention with intensive practice of strategies when exposed to smoking-related images. METHOD: Ninety-two nicotine-dependent daily smokers were randomized to mindfulness-based therapy (MBT) ROC-T focusing on mindful acceptance, and cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) ROC-T focusing on reappraisal or no intervention control...

OBJECTIVE: Rates of daily cannabis use and cannabis use disorder (CUD) are increasing in the United States. Prominent addiction theories suggest that stress potentiation of drug cue incentive salience is a central feature of disordered versus recreational drug use, which has been corroborated using a neurophysiological index of drug cue incentive salience (i.e., the late positive potential [LPP]) in adults who regularly use cannabis. However, the mechanism through which acute stress potentiates the cannabis LPP in CUD is unclear...

OBJECTIVE: In-play betting is a novel form of sports betting that allows players to make continuous bets during a game. The present study examined the dispositional and contextual correlates of in-play sports betting and related harms. METHOD: Participants were 84 individuals (73.81% men, M age = 41.02) who engaged in in-play betting. Participants first completed an online questionnaire including measures of problem gambling severity, childhood trauma, impulsivity, and emotion dysregulation...

OBJECTIVE: Cannabis use motives and craving are associated with increased risk for cannabis-related problems and are ideal targets for prevention and early intervention. Patterns of motives and craving reactivity to cannabis cues differ by sex; however, few studies closely examine the relationship between motives and craving and how it may differ by valence (±) across men and women. METHOD: The present study used Cue Reactivity Ecological Momentary Assessment to assess reward (+) and relief (-) craving four semirandom times per day for 2 weeks in a sample of 63 emerging adults (age 18-21; 54% cisgender women; 85...

OBJECTIVE: This study investigated the impact of relational provocation on intimate partner violence (IPV) perpetration as a function of alcohol intoxication and individuals' emotion differentiation (ED; i.e., the ability to differentiate between positive and negative emotions). We hypothesized that provocation and acute intoxication would be associated with lower ED, such that individuals would demonstrate lower ED following provocation and while intoxicated. We also hypothesized an intoxication-by-ED interaction, such that only individuals who were intoxicated and undifferentiated would perpetrate IPV...

OBJECTIVE: Despite the potential for negative consequences, young adults continually engage in heavy alcohol use. Unplanned (vs. planned) drinking has been of particular interest in several studies, as it is theoretically suggested to be related to poor behavioral regulation and negative consequences. Ecological momentary assessment and daily diary (DD) studies have been used to examine the contexts and consequences of planned and unplanned drinking specifically, resulting in somewhat mixed findings surrounding the factors contributing to and consequences of planned drinking...

OBJECTIVE: Although there is growing evidence that alcohol use at the daily level is associated with positive but not negative affect, results are mixed when examining marijuana use and simultaneous alcohol and marijuana (SAM) use (i.e., use with overlapping effects). In addition, less is known about these daily level associations among diverse samples of adolescents and young adults. The present study will address these gaps. METHOD: Participants ( N = 1,006; 57...

OBJECTIVE: Adolescents with adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) and suicidality may engage in high levels of substance use to alleviate distress. Most studies of associations among ACEs, suicidality, and substance use rely on retrospective reports by adults. Comparatively less is known about concurrent relationships between ACEs, suicide risk, and substance use in adolescents, which is important for prevention. This study tested if the associations between ACEs and drinking and between ACEs and cannabis use would be even stronger among youth with suicidal ideation or attempt, relative to youth without suicidal ideation or attempt...

OBJECTIVE: Despite the widespread use of harm prevention messages on gambling advertising, it is unclear whether such messages achieve their goal of encouraging safer gambling behavior and preventing gambling harms. The current research therefore investigates whether and how existing harm prevention messages implemented on gambling advertisements in Belgium and the Netherlands affect consumers' gambling-related beliefs and intentions. METHOD: Two experimental studies (Nexperiment 1 = 169; Nexperiment 2 = 212) investigate (a) the influence of message prominence and (b) the impact of message framing by comparing the effectiveness of the message "Gamble in moderation" with different types of Flemish and Dutch harm prevention messages (that are currently used in Belgium and the Netherlands) on people's gambling-related beliefs and intentions...