Erica N. Peters

The Society for Research on Nicotine and Tobacco (SRNT) Trainee Network was formed to facilitate the development of the emerging generation of tobacco scientists. The advisory board of the Trainee Network conducted an online survey to collect data on trainees’ areas of tobacco-related interest, demographics, and interest in potential events, as well as strategies with which SRNT could best address training-related needs. Survey respondents (N = 130) were, on average, 34.7 years of age and mostly female (74%). Half were early-stage investigators (i.e., faculty), and 41% were in psychology programs. Most respondents reported that they spent at least half of their time in research activities (87%) and hoped to work in an academic setting (85%). The most frequently endorsed type of help requested was for SRNT to provide networking opportunities, and grant-writing was the most frequently endorsed webinar topic of interest. The Trainee Network has launched a listserv that includes 85 trainees and 16 prominent senior investigators and will create webinars and host mixer events at SRNT meetings. These initiatives aim to enhance the professional development of SRNT trainees and contribute to the fulfillment of SRNT’s mission.

Delay discounting is an index of impulsive decision-making and reflects an individual's preference for smaller immediate rewards relative to larger delayed rewards. Multiple studies have indicated comparatively high rates of discounting among tobacco, alcohol, cocaine, and other types of drug users, but few studies have examined discounting among marijuana users. This report is a secondary analysis of data from a clinical trial that randomized adults with marijuana dependence to receive one of four treatments that involved contingency management (CM) and cognitive-behavioral therapy interventions. Delay discounting was assessed with the Experiential Discounting Task (Reynolds & Schiffbauer, 2004) at pretreatment in 93 participants and at 12 weeks posttreatment in 61 participants. Results indicated that higher pretreatment delay discounting (i.e., more impulsive decision-making) significantly correlated with lower readiness to change marijuana use (r = -0.22, p = .03) and greater number of days of cigarette use (r = .21, p = .04). Pretreatment discounting was not associated with any marijuana treatment outcomes. CM treatment significantly interacted with time to predict change in delay discounting from pre- to posttreatment; participants who received CM did not change their discounting over time, whereas those who did not receive CM significantly increased their discounting from pre- to posttreatment. In this sample of court-referred young adults receiving treatment for marijuana dependence, delay discounting was not strongly related to treatment outcomes, but there was some evidence that CM may protect against time-related increases in discounting.

Aims  A growing literature has documented the substantial prevalence of and putative mechanisms underlying co‐occurring (i.e. concurrent or simultaneous) cannabis and tobacco use. Greater understanding of the clinical correlates of co‐occurring cannabis and tobacco use may suggest how intervention strategies may be refined to improve cessation outcomes and decrease the public health burden associated with cannabis and tobacco use.Methods  A systematic review of the literature on clinical diagnoses, psychosocial problems and outcomes associated with co‐occurring cannabis and tobacco use. Twenty‐eight studies compared clinical correlates in co‐occurring cannabis and tobacco users versus cannabis‐ or tobacco‐only users. These included studies of treatment‐seekers in clinical trials and non‐treatment‐seekers in cross‐sectional or longitudinal epidemiological or non‐population‐based surveys.Results  Sixteen studies examined clinical diagnoses, four studies examined psychosocial problems and 11 studies examined cessation outcomes in co‐occurring cannabis and tobacco users (several studies examined multiple clinical correlates). Relative to cannabis use only, co‐occurring cannabis and tobacco use was associated with a greater likelihood of cannabis use disorders, more psychosocial problems and poorer cannabis cessation outcomes. Relative to tobacco use only, co‐occurring use did not appear to be associated consistently with a greater likelihood of tobacco use disorders, more psychosocial problems or poorer tobacco cessation outcomes.Conclusions  Cannabis users who also smoke tobacco are more dependent on cannabis, have more psychosocial problems and have poorer cessation outcomes than those who use cannabis but not tobacco. The converse does not appear to be the case.

Women who experience recurrent intimate partner violence (IPV) may use alcohol or drugs because they expect that these substances will help them cope with the negative physical and psychological sequelae of IPV. However, expectancies for alcohol and drug use have not been explored among this population of women. We used the Relaxation and Tension-Reduction Scale, Arousal and Aggression Scale, and Social Assertion Scale of the Alcohol Expectancy Questionnaire and modified its items to assess both alcohol and drug expectancies of 212 community-based, IPV-exposed women. Results of bivariate correlations showed that greater alcohol and drug expectancies were significantly correlated with greater alcohol problems and greater posttraumatic stress total and symptom severity scores. Results of a multivariate regression model showed that after controlling for demographic characteristics and history of childhood trauma, Relaxation and Tension- Reduction expectancies were associated with number of days of alcohol use, alcohol problems, physical and sexual IPV severity scores, and posttraumatic stress total and reexperiencing symptom severity scores. Expectancies do not significantly moderate the relationships between IPV, posttraumatic stress, and problematic alcohol and drug use. Given the strong relationships of expectancies with IPV severity, posttraumatic stress, and alcohol problems, expectancies may serve as targets for interventions to reduce alcohol use and problems and improve health-related outcomes in IPV-exposed women.

An experience sampling method (ESM) rarely has been applied in studies of intimate partner violence (IPV) despite the benefits to be gained. Because ESM approaches and women who experience IPV present unique challenges for data collection, an empirical question exists: Is it safe and feasible to apply ESM to community women who currently are experiencing IPV? A 90-day, design-driven feasibility study examined daily telephone data collection, daily paper diaries, and monthly retrospective semistructured interview methods among a community sample of 123 women currently experiencing IPV to study within-person relationships between IPV and substance use. Findings suggest that ESM is a promising method for collecting data among this population and can elucidate daily dynamics of victimization as well as associated behaviors and experiences. Lessons learned from the application of ESM to this population are also discussed.

Recent evidence suggests that smoking during the night is an indicator of nicotine dependence and predicts smoking cessation failure. Night smokers are likely to experience disturbance to their sleep cycle when they wake to smoke, but we are not aware of the prevalence of night smokers' self-reported sleep disturbance. Because sleep disturbance also predicts smoking cessation failure, we examined how the pre-cessation risk factors of night smoking and sleep disturbance, and their co-occurrence, predict smoking cessation failure in a 6-week double-blind randomized controlled trial examining whether naltrexone augments the efficacy of the nicotine patch (O'Malley et al., 2006). Smokers (N = 385) completed the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (Buysse, Reynolds, Monk, Berman, & Kupfer, 1989) and a single item of waking at night to smoke pre-cessation. Smoking status was determined at weeks 1, 6, 24, and 48 weeks after quitting. The two main findings were: (a) night smokers reported significantly greater sleep disturbance than nonnight smokers; and (b) smokers with co-occurring night smoking and sleep disturbance experienced significantly greater risk for smoking than smokers with neither risk factor. Results suggest that individuals who both wake during the night to smoke and report clinically-significant sleep disturbance represent a high-risk group of smokers. Future smoking cessation treatment might incorporate strategies related to managing these smokers' sleep habits and physiological dependence on nicotine in order to bolster their cessation outcomes.