Methamphetamine use in a rural college population: associations with marijuana use, sensitivity to punishment, and sensitivity to reward

This study examined predictors of methamphetamine use in a 6-month prospective study of 2,270 rural young adults. Sensitivity to punishment (SP), sensitivity to reward (SR), and gender were exogenous variables in an observed variable path analysis with 3 endogenous criteria: Time 1 (T1) marijuana use and methamphetamine use at T1 and Time 2 (T2). SP was negatively associated with marijuana use at T1, and this association was attenuated by SR. Male gender was positively associated with marijuana use. T1 marijuana use and SR were positively, and male gender negatively, associated with T1 methamphetamine use. T1 methamphetamine use, T1 marijuana use, and SP were positively associated with T2 methamphetamine use. Methamphetamine use prevalence and the role of distal predictors and proximal indicators of drug involvement are discussed.     

Reinforcement sensitivity theory predicts positive and negative affect in daily life

Laboratory studies of Reinforcement Sensitivity Theory have associated sensitivity to punishment (SP) with negative affect and sensitivity to reward (SR) with positive affect. However, few studies have examined the expression of these systems and their response to cues of reward in daily life. The current study employed experience sampling methodology (ESM) to assess the association of SP and SR with affect and perceptions of situations in daily life. SP was positively associated with negative affect and negatively associated with positive affect in daily life, whereas SR was associated with positive affect and one aspect of negative affect, irritability/anger. Furthermore, high SP participants experienced smaller increases in positive affect and smaller decreases in negative affect in some situations that were perceived as positive, in comparison to low SP participants. In contrast, high SR participants experienced greater decreases in negative affect in some situations that were perceived as positive, in comparison to low SR participants.     

Evaluations and expectancies of alcohol and marijuana problems among college students.

Two studies examined the associations between evaluations (good-bad) and expected likelihood (likely-unlikely) of alcohol- and marijuana-related problems and hazardous consumption and problems among college students. Participants provided data on alcohol use, alcohol-related problems, and expectancies and evaluations of alcohol problems; marijuana use indices, marijuana-related problems, marijuana effect expectancies, and likelihood and evaluations of marijuana problems. Evaluations of alcohol problems were positively related to the number of binge drinking occasions and alcohol-related problems. The interaction between evaluations and expectancies was significant in predicting the number of binge drinking occasions. Expectancies demonstrated a curvilinear relationship with binge drinking and alcohol-related problems. Marijuana users evaluated marijuana-related problems as less negative and less likely to occur than did nonusers. Expectancies, but not evaluations, of negative consequences were significantly associated with marijuana use intensity. Expectancies of problems demonstrated a curvilinear relationship with marijuana-use intensity and marijuana problems. Men evaluated alcohol and marijuana problems less negatively than did women. In summary, the expected likelihood of alcohol-marijuana problems and the evaluation of such problems represent a vulnerability factor associated with increased liability for hazardous alcohol and marijuana use.     

The association between heroin use and anxiety sensitivity among inner-city individuals in residential drug use treatment

The current study represents an initial investigation of the association between heroin use and anxiety sensitivity (AS). Within a sample of 172 inner-city treatment seeking drug users, AS was compared across past year (1) heroin users with no crack/cocaine use (n=12); (2) crack/cocaine users with no heroin use (n=66); (3) users of both heroin and crack/cocaine (n=45); and (4) individuals with no use of heroin or crack/cocaine (n=49). Consistent with expectations, primary heroin users evidenced higher levels of AS than all other groups, with these differences also evidenced for the physical and social subscales. Differences in AS total score and physical subscale score persisted after controlling for demographic variables, depressive symptoms, and primary use of drugs other than heroin and crack/cocaine including alcohol, nicotine, marijuana, and hallucinogens. Findings suggest a unique relationship between AS and heroin, and set the stage for future work explicating the direction of the observed association.     

Expectancy Accessibility, Alcohol Expectancies, and Intentions to Consume Alcohol

Drug use tends to correlate more strongly with positive expectancies than with negative expectancies. The expectancy-accessibility model provides one explanation for this disparity. This model suggests that the association between positive expectancies of a drug's effects and intentions to use the drug are larger because positive expectancies are often more accessible in memory. Previous work supports the model for positive expectancies and intentions to use smokeless tobacco. Positive expectancies correlated significantly with intentions to use smokeless tobacco only when they were primed in memory. The current study attempted to extend these findings to alcohol consumption. Positive expectancies correlated significantly with intentions to drink when they were primed in memory, as the model predicts. Nevertheless, positive expectancies also correlated significantly with intentions when negative expectancies were primed. In addition, negative expectancies were not associated with intentions to drink, regardless of priming condition. These latter results are not consistent with the model. These findings suggest that the expectancy-accessibility model may be limited.     

Internalizing and Externalizing Problem Behavior: a Test of a Latent Variable Interaction Predicting a Two-Part Growth Model of Adolescent Substance Use

Externalizing symptoms robustly predict adolescent substance use (SU); however, findings regarding internalizing symptoms have been mixed, suggesting that there may be important moderators of the relationship between internalizing problems and SU. The present study used a longitudinal community sample (N?=?387, 55% female, 83% White) to test whether externalizing symptoms moderated the relationship between internalizing symptoms and trajectories of alcohol and marijuana use from early (age 11–12 years old) to late (age 18–19 years old) adolescence. Two-part latent growth models were used to distinguish trajectories of probability of use from trajectories of amount of use among users. Results suggested that externalizing symptoms moderated the association between internalizing symptoms and probability of alcohol, but not marijuana use. The highest probability of alcohol use was observed at high levels of externalizing symptoms and low levels of internalizing symptoms. A negative protective effect of internalizing symptoms on probability of alcohol use was strongest in early adolescence for youth high on externalizing symptoms. Although moderation was not supported for amount of use among users, both domains of symptomology were associated with amount of alcohol and marijuana use as first-order effects. High levels of externalizing symptoms and low levels of internalizing symptoms were associated with high levels of amount of use among users. These findings suggest that developmental models of substance use that incorporate internalizing symptomology should consider the context of externalizing problems and distinguish probability and amount of use.     

Anxiety sensitivity interacts with marijuana use in the prediction of anxiety symptoms and panic-related catastrophic thinking among daily tobacco users

The present investigation evaluated whether anxiety sensitivity interacted with marijuana use in relation to the prediction of panic-relevant variables among young adult tobacco smokers (n=265). Approximately 73% of the sample was composed of current marijuana smokers, with 78.5% of this sub-sample using marijuana more than once per week. As expected, after covarying cigarettes per day, alcohol use, and negative affectivity, the interaction between marijuana use and anxiety sensitivity predicted anxiety symptoms and agoraphobic cognitions. Partially consistent with prediction, the interaction between frequency of marijuana use and anxiety sensitivity predicted only anxiety symptoms. These results are discussed in relation to better understanding the potential role of regular marijuana use and anxiety sensitivity for panic-relevant emotional vulnerability among regular tobacco smokers.     

Pain-related anxiety and marijuana use motives: a pilot test among active marijuana-using young adults

The present investigation examined pain-related anxiety in regard to marijuana use motives among a sample of young adult marijuana users (N = 180; 45% women; M(age) = 21.11 years, SD = 6.41). Hierarchical multiple regression analyses were used to determine the relations between pain-related anxiety and marijuana use motives. After controlling for current marijuana use frequency (past 30 days), daily cigarette smoking rate, current rate of alcohol consumption, level of bodily pain (current), and other marijuana use motives, pain-related anxiety was significantly and uniquely associated with coping and conformity motives for marijuana use. Pain-related anxiety was not significantly related to other marijuana use motives. These results offer novel empirical insight pertaining to a relation between pain-related anxiety and coping as well as conformity motives for marijuana use among active users.     

Posttraumatic stress, difficulties in emotion regulation, and coping-oriented marijuana use

In an effort to better understand factors that may explain prior findings of a positive relation between posttraumatic stress symptom severity and coping-oriented marijuana use motivation, the present study tested whether the association between posttraumatic stress symptom severity and marijuana use coping motives is mediated by difficulties in emotion regulation. Participants were 79 (39 women; M(age) = 22.29 years, SD = 6.99) community-recruited adults who reported (1) lifetime exposure to at least one posttraumatic stress disorder Criterion A traumatic event and (2) marijuana use in the past 30 days. Results indicated that difficulties in emotion regulation, as indexed by the Difficulties in Emotion Regulation Scale (Gratz & Roemer, 2004), fully mediated the association between posttraumatic stress symptom severity and marijuana use coping motives. Implications for the treatment of co-occurring posttraumatic stress and marijuana use are discussed.     

Individual differences in emotion elicitation in university examinations: A quasi-experimental study

In a quasi-experimental study, we examined the role of individual differences in the elicitation of emotional states in university examinations. Specifically, we assessed emotional states (a) before the first examination (baseline), (b) after receiving positive or negative feedback, and (c) then, again, before a series of subsequent examinations. We also measured effort in examination preparation and interest for studying. Data were collected during a university course that consisted of seven examinations in one semester; and 94 female students completed the BIS/BAS scales and SPSRQ (to measure sensitivity to punishment, SP, and reward, SR). Results revealed that higher BAS, but not SR, individuals experienced higher positive affect (PA) following positive feedback and they also showed higher levels of interest in studying. More generally, higher BIS and SP individuals experienced higher level of negative affect (NA) and they invested more effort in examination preparation; and both higher levels of SP and SR correlated positively with NA after receiving negative feedback. In addition, following negative feedback, higher BAS individuals experienced lower levels of PA, and higher SR individuals invested less effort in examination preparation. Results are discussed in terms of the reinforcement sensitivity theory (RST) of personality and directions for future research.     

Development of the brief Spanish Cocaine Craving Questionnaire-General

Combining two different samples of cocaine users (N = 183), we tested the factor structure of a brief (12-item), Spanish version of the Cocaine Craving Questionnaire-General using confirmatory factor analysis. The four-factor model provided excellent fit to the measure. Moreover, the measure significantly differentiated between recent cocaine users and abstainers, as well as between participants with different levels of severity of drug-use history. Factor 1 expresses highly intense and overwhelming desires, Factor 2 expresses lack of self-control over cocaine use, Factor 3 items express lack of positive reinforcement expectancies, and Factor 4 expresses stimulating expectancies for cocaine use. The results revealed the validity of the CCQ-General brief as an instrument to assess cocaine craving in Spanish and supported the conceptualization of cocaine craving as a multifaceted construct.     

An examination of mood effects on positive alcohol expectancies among undergraduate drinkers

Alcohol expectancies have been found to be related to both alcohol use and abuse. To date, very little research has examined whether state biases known to affect the recall and endorsement of other types of information can influence alcohol expectancies. Mood-congruent memory theory and coping theory are reviewed, and are found to make opposing predictions regarding the relationship between state negative and positive affect and endorsement of positive alcohol expectancies. Study 1 (n = 121 undergraduate drinkers) used a correlational approach to show that negative affect predicted increased endorsement of positive alcohol expectancies. Study 2 (n = 55 undergraduate drinkers) used an experimental approach to show that participants assigned to a negative mood induction endorsed more positive alcohol expectancies than participants assigned to a positive mood induction. Together, these findings suggest that state negative affect can produce transient changes making alcohol use appear to be an attractive coping strategy.     

Lack of positive experiences and positive expectancies mediate the relationship between BAS responsiveness and depression

The anhedonic symptoms of depression have been linked to a lack of incentive responsiveness, which is a function of the Behavioral Activation System (BAS). Using structural equation modeling within the context of a cross-sectional design, we found that a lack of positive experiences and positive expectancies mediated the BAS-depression link among an undergraduate sample (N = 171). We tested the specificity of this model across four alternative models substituting negative experiences, negative expectancies, threat sensitivity, and symptoms of anxiety for their theoretical counterparts in the original model. In each case, the alternative model did not fit the data as well as our original model. This pattern of results is consistent with the position that a lack of positive experiences and positive expectancies uniquely mediate the relationship between the BAS and anhedonic symptoms of depression.     

Marijuana Use Among Daily Tobacco Smokers: Relationship to Anxiety-Related Factors

The present investigation evaluated the incremental validity of regular marijuana use and frequency of such use in relation to anxiety and depressive symptoms and perceived health among young adult tobacco smokers (n = 202). Approximately 72% of the sample were current marijuana smokers, using this drug on an average of 7.6 (SD = 9.2) times per week. As expected, after controlling for theoretically-relevant smoking (cigarettes per day), alcohol use, and affect factors (i.e., negative affectivity and anxiety sensitivity), marijuana use predicted anxiety symptoms and perceived general health, whereas frequency of marijuana use predicted only anxiety symptoms. These results are discussed in relation to better understanding the role of regular marijuana use in terms of anxiety-relevant emotional vulnerability and beliefs about physical health among regular smokers.     

Alcohol expectancies and context-specific drinking behaviors among female college athletes

Alcohol expectancies have been associated with drinking behaviors among college students. Few studies, however, have focused on researcher-labeled "positive" and "negative" expectancies as well as the valuations (i.e., desirability) of these expectancies. Moreover, research on the correlates of heavy drinking among female college athletes remain relatively sparse, despite the prevalence of elevated alcohol use in this population. We examined the associations of expectancies and valuations with frequency of heavy drinking and context-specific drinking behaviors. The sample consisted of 145 female college athletes (mean age=19.6; range=17 to 22) who completed self-report surveys and indicated alcohol use in the past 30 days. Regression analyses indicated that favorable valuations of negative expectancies were related to heavy drinking, and that valuations accounted for significant proportions of variance in the model. Elevated endorsement of negative expectancies was also associated with the perceived likelihood of heavy use in convivial and personal-social drinking contexts, and favorable valuations of these expectancies accounted for significant variance in these models. These findings highlight the relevance of negative expectancies and valuations with respect to heavy drinking and context-specific drinking behaviors among female college athletes. The perception of "negative" effects of alcohol as "positive" could help explain the high rates of problematic drinking among female athletes. Future research considerations and potential implications for assessment and prevention efforts are discussed.     

Evidence for an antagonistic interaction between reward and punishment sensitivity on striatal activity: A verification of the Joint Subsystems Hypothesis

The Reinforcement Sensitivity Theory proposes that the Behavioral Approach System (BAS) comprises dopaminergic brain regions and underpins reward sensitivity causing impulsivity. It has been shown in a supraliminal priming task that highly reward sensitive subjects have a larger reaction time (RT) priming effect and make more commission errors to prime-incongruent targets. We adapted a similar task to event-related fMRI and hypothesized that (1) high reward sensitivity is associated with increased activation in dopaminergic brain regions, the ventral striatum in particular, (2) that BAS related personality traits predict impulsivity and (3) that the BAS effects are larger after adjusting for the interactive influence of trait avoidance, as predicted by the Joint Subsystems Hypothesis. Fourteen healthy females participated in the fMRI experiment and were scored on sensitivity to reward (SR) and trait avoidance, i.e., sensitivity to punishment (SP) and neuroticism (N). SR scores were adjusted by SP and N scores. As hypothesized, adjusted SR scores predicted, more than SR scores alone, activity in the ventral striatum (left caudate nucleus and nucleus accumbens). SR+/ SP− scores predicted increased impulsiveness, i.e., a right side RT priming effect. These results support the Joint Subsystems Hypothesis.     

Interpersonal sensitivity, eating disorder symptoms, and eating/ thinness expectancies

This study examined social-emotional and cognitive factors in relation to eating disorder symptoms in 84 female undergraduates. Sensitivity to criticism and rejection-sensitivity related to each other and to appearance-related sensitivity. Although both interpersonal and appearance sensitivity related to a drive for thinness, appearance sensitivity had the stronger relationship. Interpersonal sensitivity was significantly correlated with expectancies that dieting and thinness lead to overgeneralized self-improvement, but not with eating expectancies. After controlling for body mass index, interpersonal sensitivity, and appearance sensitivity, dieting/thinness expectancies were related to drive for thinness, and expectancies that eating helps to manage negative affect were related to symptoms of bulimia. Findings are discussed in terms of the potential role that interpersonal sensitivity and eating-related expectancies may play in the development and maintenance of eating disorders, as well as intervention approaches. Portion of this paper were presented at the 72^nd Annual Meeting of the Midwestern Psychological Association, Chicago, IL, May 2000.     

Interpersonal sensitivity,eating disorder symptoms,and eating/ thinness expectancies

This study examined social-emotional and cognitive factors in relation to eating disorder symptoms in 84 female undergraduates. Sensitivity to criticism and rejection-sensitivity related to each other and to appearance-related sensitivity. Although both interpersonal and appearance sensitivity related to a drive for thinness, appearance sensitivity had the stronger relationship. Interpersonal sensitivity was significantly correlated with expectancies that dieting and thinness lead to overgeneralized self-improvement, but not with eating expectancies. After controlling for body mass index, interpersonal sensitivity, and appearance sensitivity, dieting/thinness expectancies were related to drive for thinness, and expectancies that eating helps to manage negative affect were related to symptoms of bulimia. Findings are discussed in terms of the potential role that interpersonal sensitivity and eating-related expectancies may play in the development and maintenance of eating disorders, as well as intervention approaches. Portion of this paper were presented at the 72^nd Annual Meeting of the Midwestern Psychological Association, Chicago, IL, May 2000.