Adolescent alcohol use is associated with myriad adverse consequences and contributes to the leading causes of mortality among youth. Despite the magnitude of this public health problem, evidenced-based treatment initiatives for alcohol use disorders in youth remain inadequate. Identifying promising pharmacological approaches may improve treatment options. Naltrexone is an opiate receptor antagonist that is efficacious for reducing drinking in adults by attenuating craving and the rewarding effects of alcohol. Implications of these findings for adolescents are unclear, however, given that randomized trials of naltrexone with youth are nonexistent. We conducted a randomized, double-blinded, placebo-controlled crossover study, comparing naltrexone (50 mg/daily) and placebo in 22 adolescent problem drinkers aged 15 – 19 years (M = 18.36, SD = 0.95; 12 females). The primary outcome measures were alcohol use, subjective responses to alcohol consumption, and alcohol-cue-elicited craving assessed in the natural environment using ecological momentary assessment methods, and craving and physiological reactivity assessed using standard alcohol cue reactivity procedures. Results showed that naltrexone reduced the likelihood of drinking and heavy drinking (p’s ≤ .03), blunted craving in the laboratory and in the natural environment (p’s ≤ .04), and altered subjective responses to alcohol consumption (p’s ≤ .01). Naltrexone was generally well tolerated by participants. This study provides the first experimentally controlled evidence that naltrexone reduces drinking and craving, and alters subjective responses to alcohol in a sample of adolescent problem drinkers, and suggests larger clinical trials with long-term follow ups are warranted.

Rationale Initial lab studies suggest that adolescent drinkers crave alcohol when presented with alcohol cues. Whether this effect generalizes to the natural environment, however, remains unknown, and studies have not examined whether craving predicts drinking among youths. Objectives This study builds on existing research by pairing controlled lab-based cue reactivity assessments with data collected in the natural environment using ecological momentary assessment (EMA) methods. We examined whether alcohol cues evoke craving among adolescent drinkers in the lab and natural environment, and tested the clinical relevance of craving during adolescence by examining the prospective association between craving and alcohol use. Methods Non-treatment-seeking adolescent drinkers (N = 42; ages 15 to 20 years) completed a lab-based cue reactivity assessment followed by a 1-week EMA monitoring period. During the EMA period, youth were prompted randomly throughout the day to record momentary data on craving and contextual factors (e.g., alcohol cues, peers present). Results Alcohol cues elicited craving in the lab, and this effect generalized to the natural environment, especially among adolescents with more alcohol problems. In addition, craving predicted subsequent drinking levels in the natural environment. Conclusions This study demonstrates the utility of pairing lab paradigms with EMA methods to better characterize adolescents’ reactivity to alcohol cues. Results implicate craving as a clinically meaningful motivator for drinking among adolescents and highlight a potentially important target of pharmacological or behavioral intervention.

Background In spite of the significant burden associated with substance use disorders, especially among persons who inject drugs (PWIDs), most affected individuals do not engage with any type of formal or informal treatment. Addiction stigma, which is represented by negative social attitudes toward individuals who use alcohol and/or other drugs, is one of the barriers to care that is poorly understood. The current study: a) assessed implicit (indirect and difficult to consciously control) and explicit (consciously controlled) beliefs about PWIDs among visitors to a public web site; and b) experimentally investigated the effects of ethnicity/race and gender on those implicit and explicit beliefs. Methods N=899 predominantly White (70%) and women (62%) were randomly assigned to one of six target PWIDs conditions: gender (man/woman) x race/ethnicity (White, Black, Latino/a). Participants completed an Implicit Association Test and explicit assessment of addiction stigma. Results Participants implicitly associated PWIDs (especially Latino/a vs. White PWIDs) with deserving punishment as opposed to help (p =.003, d = .31), indicating presence of addiction stigma-related implicit beliefs. However, this bias was not evident on the explicit measure (p = .89). Gender did not predict differential implicit or explicit addiction stigma (p = .18). Conclusions Contrary to explicit egalitarian views towards PWIDs, participants' implicit beliefs were more in line with addiction stigma. If replicated and clearer ties to behavior are established, results suggest the potential importance of identifying conditions under which implicit bias might influence behavior (even despite explicit egalitarian views) and increase the likelihood of discrimination towards PWIDs.