Madison Maynard

Medical cannabis use is often motivated by somatic or affective concerns, and both are common among older adults. Protective behavioral strategies (PBS) are known to mitigate adverse outcomes associated with substance use. Goals of this study were to examine how somatic and affective use motives relate to use of PBS, cannabis use, and symptoms of cannabis use disorder. The sample included 471 participants age 55+, recruited through social media, who self-reported legal medical cannabis use. Measures included cannabis use motives, subjective cannabis use patterns, the Protective Behavioral Strategies for Marijuana Scale (PBSM), Cannabis Use Disorder Symptoms questionnaire, Cannabis Use Disorder Identification Test-Revised (CUDIT-R). Both a measurement and a hypothesized model fit the data well (RMSEA = .036, CFI = .981, c² = 112.57). Somatic use justifications were associated with greater PBS use, less cannabis use, and lower CUDIT scores. Affective use justifications were associated with less PBS use, more cannabis use, and higher CUDIT scores. Indirect pathways linking both somatic and affective use justifications with CUDIT score through PBS were statistically significant. Findings indicate that somatic justifications for cannabis use among older adults are associated with use of protective behaviors that reduce the risk for CUD symptoms, while affective motives suggest higher risk for CUD symptoms. These findings support the common practice of referring older adults with mental health concerns for conventional treatment, including evidence-based psychotherapy. Training in PBS use may mitigate escalation of CUD symptoms in this vulnerable population, and future research should examine that hypothesis.

Advance care planning (ACP), including creation of advance care directives (ACDs), is underutilized by Black American older adults. This study aimed to evaluate the effects of a culturally sensitive ACD (Five Wishes), versus a standard state directive, on ACP engagement and value congruence scores among Black and White Americans. A race-stratified sample of 189 participants was randomized into ACD conditions. Race and condition were not independent predictors of ACP and value congruence engagement. Physician trust predicted ACP engagement and value congruence differentially. Results indicate that the use of state directives negatively impacts trust among Black Americans, which negatively impacts ACP engagement. Primary limitations include metrics of ACP/ACD completion, sample size, and demographic distribution. Findings add to the growing body of literature implying that values-driven, person-centered directives may increase engagement and reduce the disparity in ACP between Black and White Americans, promoting better quality, equitable care at the end of life.

Older adults represent the fastest growing demographic of cannabis users, and they endorse cannabis use for a variety of reasons including modulation of chronic pain, mental health symptoms, and sleep concerns. However, current evidence leaves questions of efficacy unanswered among these groups. Goals of the present study were to examine the hypothesis that medical cannabis (MC) use will, at the daily level, predict lower pain, depression, anxiety, and improved sleep. A final sample of 106 MC users were recruited nationwide (ages 55-74, 66.67% female, 82.86% white). A fully within-subject multilevel structural equation model was conducted with use patterns and symptomology broken into four temporal epochs. MC use, operationalized as subjective intoxication (Epoch 1), averaged across the day was used to predict subsequent pain, anxiety, and depression levels (Epoch 2), which were then used to predict sleep that night (Epoch 3), then subsequent pain, anxiety, and depression the following day (Epoch 4) prior to initiation of MC use.Results: Subjective intoxication predicted lower post-use pain, anxiety, and depression. Subjective intoxication is related to lower anxiety and better sleep the following night. These findings provide evidence of momentary improvements in pain, anxiety, depression, and indirect benefits for sleep quality. In combination with other findings, the results advance our understanding of the efficacy and limitations of MC among older adults. Findings are limited by MC measurement and sample homogeneity (primarily White, non-Hispanic female). Future research should seek to further measurement of use and corresponding effects and examine expectancy effects in aging clinical populations.

Adverse sexual experiences (ASE), including sexual violence, sexual risk behaviors, and regretted sex, are highly prevalent among sexual and gender minorities (SGM) compared to cisgender and heterosexual individuals. Research indicates ASEs are associated with increased mental health symptomatology and decreased subsequent protective behavior use. The Sexual and Negative Dating Inventory (SANDI) measures dating and sexual protective strategies and includes five factors: Location Sharing, Assertiveness, Self-Protection, Risk Reduction and Privacy. SANDI total scores are linked to lower ASEs in heteronormative samples. SANDI was previously validated in a sample of n = 1,289 college students. Data were examined from n = 313 (24.28%) SGM individuals at baseline, and n = 95 at one-month follow-up. Individuals were 19.70 (2.98 SD) years old, and 25% were non-white. Model fit was adequate for SGM: χ²(484) = 1729.621, p < .001, CFI = .947, RMSEA = .063 (90% CI = .060, .066), SRMR = .048. Results: Non-cisgender men and non-heterosexual individuals endorse using more of the SANDI at the factor level. Using logistic regression, SANDI was not associated with history of sexual violence or sexual violence over the next month. SANDI is inversely associated with history of sexual risk and prospectively associated with less sexual risk over the next month. Negative binomial regression analyses showed SANDI was not associated with a history of regretted sex; however, SANDI was moderately associated with decreased regretted sex over the next month. Findings highlight the importance of dating and sexual protective behaviors across dimensions of gender and sexual orientation.

Adverse sexual experiences (ASE) such as sexual violence, sexual risk behaviors, and regretted sex are highly prevalent among sexual and gender minorities (SGM) compared to cisgender and heterosexual individuals. Research indicates ASEs are associated with increased symptoms of mental health, as well as decreased use of protective behaviors. The Sexual and Negative Dating Inventory (SANDI) measures dating and sexual protective strategies and includes five factors: Location Sharing, Assertiveness, Self-Protection, Risk Reduction and Privacy. SANDI total scores are linked to lower ASEs in heteronormative samples. SANDI was previously validated in a sample of n=1,289 college students. Data was examined from n=313 (24.28%) SGM individuals at baseline, and n=95 at one-month follow-up. Individuals were 19.70 (2.98 SD) years old and 25% are non-white. Regarding psychometric outcomes, model fit was adequate for SGM: χ2(484) = 1729.621, p < .001, CFI = .947, RMSEA = .063 (90% CI = .060, .066), SRMR = .048. Non-cisgender men and non-heterosexual individuals endorse using more of the SANDI at the factor level. Using logistic regression, SANDI was not associated with history of sexual violence or sexual violence over the following month. SANDI is inversely associated with history of sexual risk behaviors, and prospectively associated with less sexual risk behavior over the following month. Negative binomial regression analyses showed SANDI was not associated with history of regretted sex, however SANDI was moderately associated with decreased regretted sex over the next month. Findings highlight the importance of dating and sexual protective behaviors across dimensions of gender and sexual orientation.

The prevalence of eating pathology among college students has increased significantly in recent years. This coincides with increases in the use of cannabis, both nationally, but also among college students. Problematic cannabis use has been linked to eating pathology in prior research. Research also shows that cannabis may affect appetitive drives linked to food consumption. The current study tested the hypothesis that the association between problem cannabis use and eating pathology was mediated by greater loss of control eating. Cross-sectional data were collected from a sample of 805 college student cannabis users at a large Southeastern university in the U.S. The sample were primarily Caucasian (76%) and female (65.22%) with an average age of 20.15 ( SD = 3.91). Participants completed surveys assessing eating outcomes (loss of control eating and eating pathology), cannabis use, and cannabis-related problems. The analysis used an observed variable path model. After controlling for cannabis use, cannabis-related problems were indirectly linked to eating pathology via loss of control eating ( B = 0.109, SE = 0.025, p < .001), supporting the primary hypothesis. The direct relationship between cannabis-related problems and eating pathology was fully accounted for ( B = 0.010, SE = 0.028, p = .724) by the indirect effect of loss of control eating. These data suggest that the association between problematic forms of cannabis use and eating pathology may be due to the association between cannabis problems and loss of control eating. While this may be due to changes in appetite and food evaluation as a function of more problematic use patterns, it may also be that individuals with problematic cannabis use have more problematic eating patterns due to deficits in adaptive coping strategies. Future research should seek to parse out these different potential explanations.

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.