Michael E. Dunn

Objective: There have been widespread increases in cannabis use as recreational and medical use has become legal across the globe. Changes to the chemical makeup of cannabis may have changed residual effects experienced by individuals who use cannabis, and more individuals may be affected. Method: We conducted a meta-analysis examining the neurocognitive effects of cannabis after abstinence lasting a period of at least 25 days (Prospero: CRD42023466560). Databases used were PsychInfo, PsycArticles, PubMed, and Medline. Previous research has reported mixed results, with some studies finding significant differences between abstinent individuals who use cannabis and matched healthy controls, and others finding no evidence of significant differences. Bias was assessed using Joanna Briggs Critical Appraisal for Analytical Cross-Sectional studies and fail-safe N testing. Random-effects modeling and standardized mean differences were used to assess overall effects on neurocognitive functioning. Results: Our meta-analysis found no significant effects within the domains of overall effects (ES = 0.17), attention (ES = 0.22), forgetting/retrieval (ES = 0.31), learning (ES =0.29), or verbal/language (ES = 0.41). We identified a significant small effect size within the domain of abstraction/executive function (ES =0.27). However, due to the limited literature in this area, our analysis was under-powered and should be interpreted with caution. Conclusions: Limited conclusions can be made about the neurocognitive effects of cannabis after abstinence. We describe many deficiencies in existing studies of residual effects of cannabis and provide recommendations for improvement.

Extensive research supports the conclusion that alcohol expectancies could be a causal variable influencing drinking behavior. Expectancies have been conceptualized as information stored in memory in relation to a specific concept, like alcohol. Successful methods have been developed to change expectancy processes to reduce drinking and related problems in adults. Development of effective expectancy-based prevention programming for children, however, would benefit from identification of expectancy activation patterns in memory preceding drinking initiation. We analyzed data collected from children over the course of 4 years (fifth grade-ninth grade) to assess changes in expectancy activation before drinking initiation. Participants were grouped based on initiation of drinking in ninth grade (n = 309) or maintenance of abstinence through ninth grade (n = 507). We used Individual Differences Scaling, to map expectancies into memory network format and Preference Mapping was used to model likely patterns of expectancy activation. A two-dimensional Individual Differences Scaling solution was optimal with bipolar dimensions representing positive-negative and arousing-sedating aspects of alcohol use. Abstainers showed little change from fifth grade through ninth grade. In contrast, dimension emphasis and activation patterns changed substantially preceding drinking initiation for those who started drinking in ninth grade. Results suggest changes in expectancy activation patterns precede onset of alcohol use in children. Implementation of prevention programming focused on preventing this shift in expectancies could further reduce early onset of drinking and associated negative consequences. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2026 APA, all rights reserved).

Background: Questionnaires assessing alcohol-related consequences potentially capture events that can also occur in the absence of alcohol use but are not assessed while sober. This lack of measurement specificity has likely led to an over-attribution of certain negative outcomes to drinking, which in turn may result in inaccuracies in our understanding of alcohol-related consequences and the impact of intervention on these outcomes. Objective: We examined negative events typically associated with alcohol use while drinking and while sober. Participants were 768 college students recruited from a large, southeastern university, who completed a one-time assessment related to alcohol use and negative events. We adapted an alcohol-related consequences questionnaire to collect data on negative events that occurred when drinking and sober. Results: Seven of eight negative events occurred more often while sober (OR = 1.80-8.20, ps < .001). None of the negative events examined, individually or in total, were more likely to occur when drinking. Conclusion: Findings may help to explain the persistence of high rates of consequences reported in relation to alcohol use despite decreases in drinking following intervention. Future research should refine measures of consequences to ensure that negative events that are labeled as alcohol-related can be more directly attributed to alcohol use.

Sex‐related alcohol expectancies about oneself and one's partner vary across time and context, yet alcohol‐related sexual violence research predominantly measures alcohol expectancies as stable traits. Sexually active, non‐abstinent men completed a sexual aggression analog scenario. After indicating a preference for a female or male hypothetical partner, participants were randomized to a scenario depicting a highly or low intoxicated partner, and they reported sex‐related alcohol expectancies and sexual interest for themselves and their partner at four points across the scenario as well as their sexual aggression intentions. Repeated‐measures ANOVA and latent growth curve modeling suggested self‐ and partner‐specific sex‐related alcohol expectancies and sexual interest fluctuated across the scenario. Less acute decreases in self‐ and partner‐sex‐related alcohol expectancies and perceived sexual interest following partner sexual refusal were associated with sexual aggression intentions. Prevention research and program development should incorporate a dynamic conceptualization of alcohol expectancies when examining sexual assault perpetration risks.

Background: Despite modest reductions in alcohol use among college students, drinking-related harms continue to be prevalent. Group-delivered programs have had little impact on drinking except for experiential expectancy challenge interventions that are impractical because they rely on alcohol administration. Expectancy Challenge Alcohol Literacy Curriculum (ECALC), however, offers a non-experiential alternative suitable for widespread implementation for universal, selective, or indicated prevention. Objectives: ECALC has been effective with mandated students, fraternity members, and small classes of 30 or fewer first-year college students. Larger universities, however, typically have classes with 100 students or more, and ECALC has not yet been tested with groups of this size. To fill this gap, we conducted a group randomized trial in which five class sections with over 100 college students received either ECALC or an attention-matched control presentation and completed follow-up at four weeks. Results: ECALC was associated with significant changes on six subscales of the Comprehensive Effects of Alcohol Scale (CEOA), post-intervention expectancies predicted drinking at four-week follow-up, and there were significant expectancy differences between groups. Compared to the control group, students who received ECALC demonstrated significant expectancy changes and reported less alcohol use at follow-up. Conclusions: Findings suggest ECALC is an effective, single session group-delivered intervention program that can be successfully implemented in large classes.

Intimate partner violence (IPV) is a significant public health problem worldwide, and alcohol use contributes to the occurrence and severity of abuse. A better understanding of the mechanism underlying the association between alcohol use and IPV is necessary to identify potential abusers and develop effective interventions. Perceived control and alcohol expectancies have both been linked to abuse. The purpose of our study was to test the relationship between perceived control, alcohol expectancies, alcohol use, and IPV to inform development of effective prevention and intervention strategies. Results indicated that alcohol expectancies significantly predicted physical and psychological IPV and were moderated by perceived control. Alcohol expectancies accounted for 53% of the variance in physical IPV committed by low perceived control individuals under the influence of alcohol. Understanding these relationships could guide development of effective prevention/ intervention strategies based on expectancy challenge methods.

Cannabis is increasingly accessible and use is increasing rapidly among older adults as laws change and cannabis becomes more frequently prescribed in healthcare settings. Past research identified cognitive effects of cannabis use among adolescents and young adults that can persist for several weeks after intoxication, though little is known about how these effects generalize to older adults. Participants (N = 1348) were drawn from the Health and Retirement Study (HRS) and were categorized as current occasional users (up to once/week in the past year, n = 36), current frequent users (once per week or more in the past year, n = 92), past users (n = 334), and non-users (n = 886). Participant ages ranged from 50 to 98 (M = 67.25, SD = 10.68). Uncontrolled, one-way ANOVAs and controlled ANCOVAs were used to examine between-group differences on immediate and delayed wordlist memory and working memory (serial sevens). When controlling for age, gender, education, and minority status, current frequent users demonstrated significantly worse immediate memory performance compared to past and non-users. However, this difference could have been the result of acute, residual effects of past-month cannabis use among current users. In controlled analyses, there were no differences between groups on delayed or working memory. Findings indicate that greater than weekly cannabis use may result in attentional and short-term memory deficits. Further, these effects may be mitigated by sustained abstinence. Limitations including sample size and measures of cannabis use warrant future studies to replicate and build upon these findings.