Background: Research shows that unresolved childhood trauma can lead to an abundance of health disparities and increase the risk for problematic substance use in adulthood, particularly problematic cannabis use. Individuals who have experienced four or more adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) double their risk of problematic substance use, but research has shown that protective factors, such as social support, can buffer against this cumulative risk. Although past research has found that social support can buffer against problematic alcohol use, there is a need to understand how social support relates to ACEs and problematic cannabis use. The present study aims to identify if perceived social support moderates the association between ACEs and cannabis use. In addition to overall perceived social support, various domains of perceived social support (friends, family, and significant other support) were examined to determine whether these domains differentially impacted the association between ACEs and cannabis use. Methods: Data were collected using a university online subject pool (n = 382) from a college student sample from a mid-southern university (75% Caucasian, 78% female). The participants completed a battery of measures assessing perceived social support (i.e., the Multidimensional Scale of Perceived Social Support; MSPSS), childhood trauma (i.e., the Adverse Childhood Experiences Scale; ACEs), and the number of days of cannabis use in the past month (i.e., the Drug Use Questionnaire). Results: Moderation analyses were used to analyze if overall perceived social support and the various domains of MSPSS (family, friend, and significant other) moderated the relation between ACES and cannabis use. Findings revealed that perceived support from a significant other significantly moderated the association between ACEs and cannabis use (b = .17, p = .04) such that the relation between ACEs and cannabis use was stronger when there was higher perceived support from a significant other. Overall social support and support from friends and family members did not moderate this association. Discussion: Overall, these findings contradict the previous literature in that more support from a significant other did not buffer the association between ACEs and cannabis use. Rather, the relation between ACEs and cannabis use was strongest at higher levels of significant other support. This suggests that perceived social support may play a unique role alternative to buffering the relationship between ACEs and cannabis use. Future work is needed to examine factors such as level of cannabis use within a trauma survivor’s social network or significant other accommodation of symptoms, which may enhance perceptions of support but also encourage cannabis use.

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Underage drinking is a serious public health concern with magnified physical and psychological risks. Previous research suggests that emotion dysregulation is one factor linked to alcohol use. Limited research has examined emotion dysregulation and alcohol use in adolescent populations, thus the present study aimed to examine the links by assessing the role of emotion dysregulation and its subscales in adolescent alcohol use over time. Participants were 695 high school students, with 309 students having completed Time 2 data collection at a 6-month follow-up. Participants completed measures that assessed Alcohol Use, Emotion Dysregulation, and Emotion Dysregulation subscales. In a negative binomial hurdle model, adolescents with greater emotion regulation difficulties at baseline had significantly greater odds of endorsing any alcohol use at baseline. Greater emotion dysregulation did not significantly predict drinking status or drinking level 6 months later when controlling for baseline alcohol use. Adolescents who reported greater emotional clarity difficulties at baseline were more likely to report any alcohol use at baseline. Among adolescents who drink, reporting greater difficulties accessing emotion regulation strategies was associated with greater alcohol use at baseline and 6 months later. These findings indicate that emotion dysregulation is a cross-sectional marker of alcohol use in adolescents; however, results did not show emotion dysregulation to be a prospective predictor of greater alcohol use. Future research is needed to replicate findings in a more diverse sample of adolescents.

Driving after cannabis use (DACU) is a significant public health concern and represents one of the riskiest cannabis-related behaviors. Though years of research has demonstrated that cannabis use impairs driving ability, many college students report believing that cannabis use does not impair their driving abilities. This perception of low danger may contribute to a permissive attitude toward DACU. The present proof-ofconcept pilot study examined the preliminary efficacy of a mobile phone-based intervention with personalized feedback and text messaging to increase perceptions of dangerousness of DACU. Participants were 77 college cannabis users (65.8% women; average age = 21.2; 88.3% Caucasian) who endorsed DACU at least three times in the past 3 months. After completing baseline measures, participants were randomly assigned to one of three conditions: (a) personalized feedback plus interactive text messaging (PFT), (b) personalized feedback only (PF), or (c) informational control (IC). Participants completed outcome measures 3 months post intervention. Repeated measures mixed models revealed that compared to those in the IC condition, cannabis users in the PFT condition reported significantly greater increases over time in the perception of dangerousness of DACU. These findings provide initial support for the short-term efficacy of a mobile phone-based intervention for changing perceptions related to dangerousness of DACU among college cannabis users. Public Significance StatementThe present proof-of-concept pilot study examined the preliminary efficacy of a mobile phone-based intervention with personalized feedback and text messaging to increase perceptions of dangerousness of driving after cannabis use. The intervention resulted in significant increases in perceptions of dangerousness of driving after cannabis use compared to an informational control condition. These findings provide initial support for the short-term efficacy of a mobile phone-based intervention for changing perceptions related to dangerousness of DACU among college cannabis users.

Introduction: We examined whether the Dualistic Model of Passion (DMP; i.e., obsessive passion [OP] and harmonious passion [HP]) for cannabis use was prospectively associated with cannabis use and use-related outcomes, and with academic performance, relationship attachment style, and social connectedness among college students. We also explored whether the DMP was associated with outcomes when included in a model using established constructs (e.g., coping motives, refusal self-efficacy, cannabis use disorder [CUD] symptoms) as predictors of cannabis use and outcomes. Methods: Using a longitudinal cohort design (baseline, 5-month, 10-month [timepoints chosen to better correspond to 9-month academic year]), 513 undergraduate students from two universities who reported using cannabis at least four times in the past month completed a baseline survey (308 meeting criteria for CUD). We used Generalized Estimating Equations to assess longitudinal associations between OP/HP and cannabis use and academic/social outcomes at 5-month and 10-month. Results: At baseline, participants were young adults (Mean age = 20.57, SD = 2.51), 78.8% non-Hispanic, 83.8% White, 55.0% female, and 72.3% heterosexual. Greater HP was not associated with greater past month cannabis use or cannabis-related problems. Greater OP was associated with greater past month cannabis use and more cannabis-related problems. There were no significant passion by time interactions. Greater HP was associated with more anxious attachment. OP was associated with less social connection. Conclusion: This research suggests that the DMP provides novel information about factors associated with cannabis use and use-related consequences, which can aid in our understanding of cannabis use, misuse, and CUD among college students.