Adolescent Sexual Minority Girls Are at Elevated Risk for Use of Multiple Substances

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Filter Presence and Tipping Paper Color Influence Consumer Perceptions of Cigarettes

Background

Cigarettes are marketed in a wide array of packaging and product configurations, and these may impact consumers’ perceptions of product health effects and attractiveness. Filtered cigarettes are typically perceived as less hazardous and white tipping paper (as opposed to cork) often conveys ‘lightness’.

Methods

This study examined cigarette-related perceptions among 1220 young adult (age 18-35) current, ever, and never smokers recruited from three eastern U.S. cities (Buffalo NY, Columbia SC, Morgantown WV). Participants rated three cigarette sticks: two filtered cigarettes 85 mm in length, differing only in tipping paper color (cork versus white), and an unfiltered 70 mm cigarette.

Results

Overall, the cork-tipped cigarette was most commonly selected on taste and attractiveness, the white-tipped on least dangerous, and the unfiltered on most dangerous. Current smokers were more likely to select white-tipped (OR = 1.98) and cork-tipped (OR = 3.42) cigarettes, while ever smokers more commonly selected the cork-tipped (OR = 1.96), as most willing to try over the other products. Those willing to try the filtered white-tipped cigarette were more likely to have rated that cigarette as best tasting (OR = 11.10), attracting attention (OR = 17.91), and lowest health risk (OR = 1.94). Similarly, those willing to try cork tipped or unfiltered cigarettes rated those as best testing, attracting attention, and lowest health risk, respectively.

Conclusions

Findings from this study demonstrate that consumer product perceptions can be influenced by elements of cigarette design, such as the presence and color of the filter tip.

Below:  Cigarettes used in demonstration. Left to right; unfiltered, cork-tip, white-tip

Full article at:   http://goo.gl/b6m3y1

By:   Richard J. O’Connor, Maansi Bansal-Travers, K. Michael Cummings, David Hammond, James F. Thrasher, and Cindy Tworek

Department of Health Behavior, Roswell Park Cancer Institute, Buffalo, NY 14263 USA

Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Medical University of South Carolina, Charleston, SC USA

School of Public Health and Health Systems, University of Waterloo, Waterloo, ON Canada

Department of Health Promotion, Education & Behavior, Arnold School of Public Health, University of South Carolina, Columbia, SC USA

Department of Pharmaceutical Systems and Policy, West Virginia University, Morgantown, WV USA

Richard J. O’Connor, Phone: 1-716-845-4517, Email: gro.krapllewsor@ronnoco.drahcir.

  

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Cannabis, Cigarettes, and Their Co-Occurring Use: Disentangling Differences in Gray Matter Volume

Background:

Structural magnetic resonance imaging techniques are powerful tools for examining the effects of drug use on the brain. The nicotine and cannabis literature has demonstrated differences between nicotine cigarette smokers and cannabis users compared to controls in brain structure; however, less is known about the effects of co-occurring cannabis and tobacco use.

Methods:

We used voxel-based morphometry to examine gray matter volume differences between four groups: (1) cannabis-dependent individuals who do not smoke tobacco (Cs); (2) cannabis-dependent individuals who smoke tobacco (CTs); (3) cannabis-naïve, nicotine-dependent individuals who smoke tobacco (Ts); and (4) healthy controls (HCs). We also explored associations between gray matter volume and measures of cannabis and tobacco use.

Results:

A significant group effect was observed in the left putamen, thalamus, right precentral gyrus, and left cerebellum. Compared to HCs, the Cs, CTs, and Ts exhibited larger gray matter volumes in the left putamen. Cs also had larger gray matter volume than HCs in the right precentral gyrus. Cs and CTs exhibited smaller gray matter volume than HCs in the thalamus, and CTs and Ts had smaller left cerebellar gray matter volume than HCs.

Conclusions:

This study extends previous research that independently examined the effects of cannabis or tobacco use on brain structure by including an examination of co-occurring cannabis and tobacco use, and provides evidence that cannabis and tobacco exposure are associated with alterations in brain regions associated with addiction.

Below:  Group differences in gray matter volume. Clusters of significant volume differences (p < 0.001, famiy-wise error (FWE) cluster-corrected at p < 0.05) are displayed on representative sagittal, coronal, and axial slices overlain on the standard Montreal Neurological Institute brain. Right side of the brain is depicted on the right side. C, cannabis-dependent individual who does not smoke tobacco; CT, cannabis-dependent individual who smokes tobacco; HC, healthy control; L, left; R, right; T, cannabis-naïve, nicotine-dependent individual who smokes tobacco.

Full article at:   http://goo.gl/KK4FnO

By:  Reagan R. Wetherill, PhD, Kanchana Jagannathan, MS, Nathan Hager, BA, Anna Rose Childress, PhD, Hengyi Rao, PhD, and Teresa R. Franklin, PhD

University of Pennsylvania, Department of Psychiatry, Philadelphia, PA (Drs Wetherill, Jagannathan, Childress, Rao, and Franklin, and Mr Hager).

Corresponding author.

Correspondence: Reagan R. Wetherill, PhD, University of Pennsylvania, Department of Psychiatry, 3900 Chestnut Street, Philadelphia, PA 19104 (Email: ude.nnepu.dem.liam@htewr).

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Diminished Alternative Reinforcement as a Mechanism Underlying Socioeconomic Disparities in Adolescent Substance Use

This study examined socioeconomic disparities in adolescent substance use utilizing a behavioral economic theoretical framework. We tested the hypothesis that teens of lower (vs. higher) socioeconomic status (SES) are vulnerable to substance use because they engage in fewer pleasurable substance-free activities that provide reinforcement and may deter substance use.

In a cross-sectional correlational design, 9th grade students (N=2839; mean age=14.1years) in Los Angeles, California, USA completed surveys in Fall 2013 measuring SES (i.e., parental education), alternative reinforcement (engagement in pleasurable substance-free activities, e.g., hobbies), substance use susceptibility, initiation, and frequency, and other factors.

For multi-substance composite outcomes, lower parental education was associated with greater likelihood of substance use initiation in the overall sample, frequency of use among lifetime substance users, and susceptibility to substance use in never users. Substance-specific analyses revealed that lower parental education was associated with higher likelihood of initiating cigarettes, alcohol, and marijuana use as well as greater susceptibility to use cigarettes in never smokers. Each inverse association between parental education and substance-related outcomes was statistically mediated by diminished alternative reinforcement; lower parental education was associated with lower engagement in alternative reinforcers, which, in turn, was associated with greater substance use susceptibility, initiation, and frequency.

These results point to a behavioral economic interpretation for socioeconomic disparities in adolescent substance use. Replication and extension of these findings would suggest that prevention programs that increase access to and engagement in healthy and fun activities may reduce youth socioeconomic health disparities related to substance use.

Purchase full article at: http://goo.gl/W7gbpi

By: Leventhal AM1, Bello MS2, Unger JB2, Strong DR3, Kirkpatrick MG2, Audrain-McGovern J4.

• 1Department of Preventive Medicine, University of Southern California, Keck School of Medicine, USA; Department of Psychology, University of Southern California, USA. Electronic address: adam.leventhal@usc.edu.
• 2Department of Preventive Medicine, University of Southern California, Keck School of Medicine, USA.
• 3Department of Family and Preventive Medicine, University of California, San Diego School of Medicine, USA.
• 4Department of Psychiatry, University of Pennsylvania, USA.  

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Relationship Between Tobacco Retailers’ Point-of-Sale Marketing and the Density of Same-Sex Couples, 97 U.S. Counties, 2012

The reasons for higher rates of smoking among lesbian, gay, and bisexual (LGB) people than among heterosexual people are not well known. Research on internal migration and neighborhood selection suggests that LGB people are more likely to live in neighborhoods where the tobacco industry has historically targeted their marketing efforts (lower income, more racial/ethnic diversity). We used multi-level models to assess the relationship between the rate of same-sex couples per 1000 coupled households and 2012 marketing characteristics of tobacco retailers (n = 2231) in 1696 census tracts in 97 U.S. counties. We found no evidence of tobacco marketing at retailers differing by same-sex couple rates in census tracts with the exception of three findings in the opposite direction of our hypotheses: a small, significant positive relationship for the rate of same-sex male couples and the price of Newport Green (mentholated) cigarettes. For male and female same-sex couples, we also found a small negative relationship between tobacco advertisements and same-sex household rate. Tobacco retailers’ tobacco marketing characteristics do not differ substantially by the rate of same-sex couples in their neighborhood in ways that would promote LGB health disparities. Further work is needed to determine if these patterns are similar for non-partnered LGB people.

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Dose-Response Relationship between Cigarette Smoking and Female Sexual Dysfunction

Below:  The relationship between cumulative smoking dose and female sexual function index (FSFI) score among current smokers (r=-0.278, P<0.05)

A total of 900 women were included, and the frequency of current smokers and the frequency of FSD were 62 (6.9%) and 496 (55.1%), respectively. In current smokers, the frequency of FSD was significantly higher and the median total FSFI score was significantly lower than in never/former smokers, and this difference of FSD remained significant after adjustment for confounding variables. Among current smokers, the cumulative smoking dose (pack-years) and the total FSFI score showed negative correlation, in which increased cumulative smoking dose was associated with lower total FSFI score (r=-0.278, P<0.05). In terms of nicotine dependency, the total FSFI score of moderately to heavily nicotine dependent smokers was significantly lower than that of lightly dependent smokers.

In premenopausal women, current smoking was an independent risk factor for FSD. And cumulative smoking dose and nicotine dependency were associated with higher risk of FSD.

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