Abstract

Extensive research has generally supported a significant and positive relationship of positive outcome expectancies with the amount of alcohol consumed among young adult drinkers, a group generally considered at high risk. Researchers have also naturally been interested in the relationships between these beliefs about drinking and the negative consequences experienced among those who abuse alcohol. Interestingly, those studies found significant positive associations of the number of alcohol outcome expectancies with drinking related consequences, independent of the amount of alcohol being consumed, suggesting that some consequences may be a function of beliefs rather than chemical effects. In addition, there has been evidence that age related differences may exist in the experience of positive outcome expectancies and their associations with consumption. One area that has not been examined is how different categories of alcohol outcome expectancies may be associated with different types of consequences among young adults. Young adults between ages 18–30 were assessed for different categories of alcohol outcome expectancies as well as different types of alcohol consequences. Study hypotheses were partially supported in that specific categories of expectancies were significantly associated with different types of consequences in multiple regression models, but not in the pattern that was predicted from a review of the literature. Expectancies with themes of personal power were consistently found to be significantly and positively associated with various types of consequences after controlling for alcohol consumption. The paper discusses the clinical relevance of these findings with regard to young adult drinkers.

Abstract

The study examined young adult smokers' neural response to graphic warning labels (GWLs) on cigarette packs using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). Nineteen young adult smokers (M age 22.9, 52.6% male, 68.4% non-white, M 4.3 cigarettes/day) completed pre-scan, self-report measures of demographics, cigarette smoking behavior, and nicotine dependence, and an fMRI scanning session. During the scanning session participants viewed cigarette pack images (total 64 stimuli, viewed 4 s each) that varied based on the warning label (graphic or visually occluded control) and pack branding (branded or plain packaging) in an event-related experimental design. Participants reported motivation to quit (MTQ) in response to each image using a push-button control. Whole-brain blood oxygenation level-dependent (BOLD) functional images were acquired during the task. GWLs produced significantly greater self-reported MTQ than control warnings (p < .001). Imaging data indicate stronger neural activation in response to GWLs than the control warnings at a cluster-corrected threshold p < .001 in medial prefrontal cortex, amygdala, medial temporal lobe, and occipital cortex. There were no significant differences in response to warnings on branded versus plain cigarette packages. In this sample of young adult smokers, GWLs promoted neural activation in brain regions involved in cognitive and affective decision-making and memory formation and the effects of GWLs did not differ on branded or plain cigarette packaging. These findings complement other recent neuroimaging GWL studies conducted with older adult smokers and with adolescents by demonstrating similar patterns of neural activation in response to GWLs among young adult smokers.

Abstract

Studies looking at the association between perceived risk and simultaneous use of alcohol and marijuana are scarce. The present study has three purposes: (1) to examine the association between alcohol and marijuana use at the daily level, (2) to document how this association varies by the perceived risk of using alcohol and marijuana simultaneously, (3) to test whether the association varies by college attendance. 89 young adults (Mean Age = 18.3 years, SD = 0.5) participated between October 2012 and May 2013. Participants completed a 30-min survey followed by 14 brief daily surveys in each of three waves. Alcohol use on a given day was associated with increased odds of marijuana use that day, especially among young adults with lower perceived risk. For college students, the association between alcohol and marijuana was weaker than for non-students. Alcohol and marijuana use were associated at a daily level, especially among young adults with lower perceived risk and those who were not attending college.