Background: Increases in the incidence of psychological distress and alcohol use during the COVID-19 pandemic have been predicted. Behavioral theories of depression and alcohol self-medication theories suggest that greater social/environmental constraints and increased psychological distress during COVID-19 could result in increases in depression and drinking to cope with negative affect. The current study had two goals:(1) to examine self-reported changes in alcohol use and related outcomes after the introduction of COVID-19 social distancing requirements, and; (2) to test hypothesized mediation models to explain individual differences in self-reported changes in depression and alcohol use during the early weeks of the COVID-19 pandemic.Methods: Participants (n = 833) were U.S. residents recruited for participation in a single online survey. The cross-sectional survey included questions assessing environmental reward, depression, COVID-19-related distress, drinking motives, and alcohol use outcomes. Outcomes were assessed via retrospective self-report for two timeframes in the single survey: the 30 days prior to state-mandated social distancing ("pre-socialdistancing"), and the 30 days after the start of state-mandated social distancing ("postsocial-distancing").Results: Depression severity, coping motives, and some indices of alcohol consumption (e.g., frequency of binge drinking, and frequency of solitary drinking) were significantly greater post-social-distancing relative to pre-social-distancing. Conversely, environmental reward and other drinking motives (social, enhancement, and conformity) were significantly lower post-social distancing compared to presocial-distancing. Behavioral economic indices (alcohol demand) were variable with regard to change. Mediation analyses suggested a significant indirect effect of reduced environmental reward with drinking quantity/frequency via increased depressive symptoms and coping motives, and a significant indirect effect of COVID-related distress with alcohol quantity/frequency via coping motives for drinking.McPhee et al. Alcohol Use During COVID-19Discussion: Results provide early cross-sectional evidence regarding the relation of environmental reward, depression, and COVID-19-related psychological distress with alcohol consumption and coping motives during the early weeks of the COVID-19 pandemic. Results are largely consistent with predictions from behavioral theories of depression and alcohol self-medication frameworks. Future research is needed to study prospective associations among these outcomes.

Introduction. Stigmatisation of alcohol and other drug (AOD) use disorders poses a significant barrier to treatment access. A review by the World Health Organization concluded that addictive disorders were the most stigmatised health condition. Few studies have examined whether different etiological models of addiction (MOA) have implications for public stigma toward AOD disorders. The current study examined whether beliefs representative of five MOA predict public stigma levels and whether stigma differs for AOD use disorders relative to other health conditions. Methods. Survey data were collected from Canada, the USA and Australia using an online data collection platform. Participants were randomised to one of four vignette manipulations describing an individual with an alcohol use disorder and/or other disorder. Participants' stigma toward the vignette character and beliefs related to five MOA (disease, moral, psychological, sociological, nature) were measured. Results. Stigma ratings were significantly higher in the alcohol use disorder condition compared to other conditions. Two MOA accounted for significant variance in stigma ratings, where greater beliefs in the nature and psychological MOA predicted significantly lower levels of stigma toward alcohol use disorder. Contrary to predictions, beliefs in the disease MOA did not relate to lower stigma. Lastly, beliefs in the moral MOA partly accounted for geographical region differences (the USA vs. Canada) in public stigma. Discussion and Conclusions. The current study provides further experimental support that AOD disorders are more stigmatised than others. Additionally, the findings suggest that MOA may relate differentially to perceived stigma, and that regional variability in such beliefs exists. [Rundle SM, Cunningham JA, Hendershot CS. Implications of addiction diagnosis and addiction beliefs for public stigma: A cross-national experimental study. Drug Alcohol Rev 2021;40:842-846]

Increases in the incidence of psychological distress and alcohol use during the COVID-19 pandemic have been predicted. Environmental reward and self-medication theories suggest that increased distress and greater social/environmental constraints during COVID-19 could result in increases in depression and drinking to cope with negative affect. The current study had two goals: (1) to clarify the presence and direction of changes in alcohol use and related outcomes after the introduction of COVID-19 social distancing requirements, and; (2) to test hypothesized mediation models to explain individual differences in alcohol use during the early weeks of the COVID-19 pandemic. Participants (n = 1127) were U.S. residents recruited for participation in an online survey. The survey included questions assessing environmental reward, depression, COVID-19-related distress, drinking motives, and alcohol use outcomes (alcohol use; drinking motives; alcohol demand, and solitary drinking). Outcomes were assessed for two timeframes: the 30 days prior to state-mandated social distancing (‘pre-social-distancing’), and the 30 days after the start of state-mandated social distancing (‘post-social-distancing’). Depression severity, coping motives, and frequency of solitary drinking were significantly greater post-social-distancing relative to pre-social-distancing. Conversely, environmental reward and other drinking motives (social, enhancement, and conformity) were significantly lower post-social distancing compared to pre-social-distancing. Time spent drinking and frequency of binge drinking were greater post-social-distancing compared to pre-social-distancing, whereas typical alcohol quantity/frequency were not significantly different between timeframes. Indices of alcohol demand were variable with regard to change. Mediation analyses suggested a significant indirect effects of reduced environmental reward with drinking quantity/frequency via increased depressive symptoms and coping motives, and a significant indirect effect of COVID-related distress with alcohol quantity/frequency via coping motives for drinking. Results provide early evidence regarding the relation of psychological distress with alcohol consumption and coping motives during the early weeks of the COVID-19 pandemic. Moreover, results largely converged with predictions from self-medication and environmental reinforcement theories. Future research will be needed to study prospective associations among these outcomes.

SignificanceThe early frog embryo provides a classical model system for the isolation of secreted molecules that regulate long-range cell–cell communication. Extensive screens of a region with embryonic induction activity, called Spemann organizer, have revealed a large number of secreted growth factor antagonists. Here, we used high-throughput sequencing of differentiating ectodermal explants to isolate yet another potent Wnt inhibitor expressed in Spemann organizer tissue. Bighead is a secreted protein that inhibits Wnt by causing the endocytosis and degradation in lysosomes of the Wnt coreceptor Lrp6. Its overexpression induces embryos with larger heads, and its knockdown reduces head development through the regulation of Wnt signaling. Many Wnt inhibitors exist, and we find that endocytosis regulation is crucial for function.