The Addiction Psychologist

There are two competing paradigms attempting to explain the phenomena of addiction: Addiction as compulsion and addiction as choice. The compulsion model describes addiction as a brain disease in which alcohol and drug use cause neuroadaptations, resulting in uncontrolled drug seeking behavior. The choice model describes addiction as pathology of reinforcement that is contextually dependent upon the availability of meaningful and rewarding alternatives in the choice environment. Dr. Matt Field describes each model and their respective bodies of research. Dr. Matt Field is a Professor in the Department of Psychology at University of Sheffield.

In the past few years, a novel adulterant, Xylazine, has emerged in the illicit opioid drug supply. Between 2020 and 2021, there was a more than 1000% increase in xylazine-positive overdose mortalities in the United States from 2020 to 2021. What is Xylazine? How does it work? Why has it emerged in the supply? Dr. Cassandra Gipson-Reichardt discusses emerging literature on Xylazine and answers our questions on this episode of the Addiction Psychologist podcast. Dr. Gipson is an associate professor in the department of pharmacology and nutritional sciences at the University of Kentucky.

Dr. Brandon Bergman continues his discussion about recovery support services and communities available through the Internet. Dr. Brandon Bergman is an Assistant Professor at Harvard Medical School and the Associate Director of the Recovery Research Institute, which is housed in the Center for Addiction Medicine at Massachusetts General Hospital. Learn more about their mission at recoveryanswers.org.

Listen to the future voices of addiction research. Ten students/ECRs discuss their excellent work which will also be presented live, along with other excellent research, on August 13, 2021 during the NIAAA/NIDA student/ECR poster session. The poster session is sponsered by NIDA/NIAAA, and all researchers were provided travel awards by either NIAAA or NIDA. Primary presenters, poster titles, and timestamps for posters below.

To learn more about the poser session or to sign up to attend this free live event, please click here.

1. Julie Wojtaszek (2:09-7:10) - Changes and moderating influences on addictive and mental health symptoms associated with COVID-19

2. Tessa Frohe (7:10-17:50) - Qualitative Findings from a Smartphone Intervention Application for Individuals on Medication for Opioid Use Disorder: How User-Centered Design Offers Promise for Harm Reduction

3. Nathan Kearns (17:50-28:17) - Effect of Trauma-Related Stress After Alcohol Consumption on Perceived Likelihood of Negative Consequences and Willingness to Drive

4. Satveer Kler (28:17-33:37) - Are Social Support and Racialized Heterosexism Predictors of Alcohol Dependence among QTBIPOC?

5. Courtney Doxbeck (33:37-41:49) - Exploring Social Norms, Pandemic Partying, and E-cigarette Use in United States College Students

6. Benjamin Shepherd (41:49-52:01) - Suicidal Ideation, Substance Use Disorders, and Co-occurrences among Sexual Minority People of Color

7. Kirsten Smith (52:01-1:02:11) - Psychosocial and substance use correlates of lifetime Kratom use in a large online sample

8. Andrea Vásquez Ferreiro (1:02:11-1:09:55) - Relations among Key Correlates in a Mobile Attentional Bias Retraining Study for Opioid Use Disorder

9. Irene Pericot-Valvedre (1:09:55-1:18:09) - Diagnostic Accuracy of the BDI-II and its Relationship to Direct-Acting Antiviral Adherence: Implications for Hepatitis C treatment Among People Who Inject Drugs on Medications for Opioid Use Disorder

10. Alexandra Palmisano (1:18:09-1:28:21) - Examining the Association between PTSD Symptom Heterogeneity and Alcohol Use Disorder in Veterans

E-cigarettes have increased in prevalence over the past decade and provided a powerful alternative to tobacco products like cigarettes. E-cigarettes have the potential to be addictive in part because qualities that are typically inherent to a substance (e.g., flavor, "harshness") can actually be modified to increase the reinforcing efficacy of the nicotine from the e-cigarettes. However, the full picture of both acute and chronic consequences are yet to be understood. Dr. Adam Leventhal provides an overview of the science of e-cigarettes and vaping, including what we now about it's harm and addictive potential. He also discusses his work regarding the regulation "sweet spot": making it appealing enough for cigarette smokers to want to start using e-cigarettes, but aversive enough to prevent uptake among at-risk groups, such as adolescents. He also discusses how to develop a research career that has a focus on public health impact. Dr. Adam Leventhal is a Professor in the Department of Preventive Medicine and Psychology in the Keck School of Medicine at the University of Southern California. He is also the Director of the USC Institute for Addiction Science and Health, Emotion & Addiction Laboratory; a new Fellows Chair in the APA Division on Psychopharmacology and Substance Abuse (Division 28); and a recently appointed member of the Tobacco Products Scientific Advisory Committee for the Food and Drug Administration.