We demonstrate through theoretical, empirical, and sociocultural evidence that the concept of impulsivity fails the basic requirements of a psychological construct and should be rejected as such. ...Impulsivity (or impulsiveness) currently holds a central place in psychological theory, research, and clinical practice and is considered a multifaceted concept. However, impulsivity falls short of the theoretical specifications for hypothetical constructs by having meaning that is not compatible with psychometric, neuroscience, and clinical data. Psychometric findings indicate that impulsive traits and behaviors (e.g., response inhibition, delay discounting) are largely uncorrelated and fail to load onto a single, superordinate latent variable. Modern neuroscience has also failed to identify a specific and central neurobehavioral mechanism underlying impulsive behaviors and instead has found separate neurochemical systems and loci that contribute to a variety of impulsivity types. Clinically, these different impulsivity types show diverging and distinct pathways and processes relating to behavioral and psychosocial health. The predictive validity and sensitivity of impulsivity measures to pharmacological, behavioral, and cognitive interventions also vary based on the impulsivity type evaluated and clinical condition examined. Conflation of distinct personality and behavioral mechanisms under a single umbrella of impulsivity ultimately increases the likelihood of misunderstanding at a sociocultural level and facilitates misled hypothesizing and artificial inconsistencies for clinical translation. We strongly recommend that, based on this comprehensive evidence, psychological scientists and neuroscientists reject the language of impulsivity in favor of a specific focus on the several well-defined and empirically supported factors that impulsivity is purported to cover.
Crowdsourcing, the use of the Internet to outsource work to a large number of people, has witnessed a dramatic growth over the past decade. One popular crowdsourcing option, Amazon Mechanical Turk ...(MTurk), is now commonly used to sample participants for psychological research. Addiction science is positioned to benefit greatly from crowdsourced sampling due to the ability to efficiently and effectively tap into populations with specific behavioral and health histories. The primary objective of this review is to describe the utility of crowdsourcing, broadly, and MTurk, specifically, for conducting research relevant to substance use and misuse. Studies in psychological and other health science have supported the reliability and validity of data gathered using crowdsourced samples. Promising research relevant to addiction science has also been conducted, including studies using cross-sectional designs and those for measure development purposes. Preliminary work using longitudinal methods and for interventions development has also revealed the potential of MTurk for studying alcohol and other drug use through these designs. Additional studies are needed to better understand the benefits, as well as the limits and constraints, of research conducted through crowdsourced online platforms. Crowdsourcing, such as on MTurk, can ultimately provide an important complement to existing methods used in human laboratory, clinical trial, community intervention, and epidemiological research. The combinations of these methodological approaches could help improve the rigor, reproducibility, and overall scope of research conducted in addiction science.
Public Health Significance
Crowdsourcing provides an efficient and effective means of recruiting participants for psychological research. This review summarizes existing evidence supporting the use of crowdsourcing for topics relevant to addiction science and explains how crowdsourcing may be used to complement existing research by improving the rigor and reproducibility of study outcomes.
Display omitted
•We evaluated temporal trends in methamphetamine use based on opioid use history.•Methamphetamine use has increased among persons reporting opioid use 2015–2017.•Increases were 3-fold ...among persons reporting heroin use (9%–30% 2015–2017).•Increases were specific to methamphetamine with little change in other substance use.•These data corroborate evidence of emergent concerns related to methamphetamine.
Recent data suggest increases in methamphetamine potency, affordability, and availability in the US. Other data indicate rising rates of methamphetamine use among patients seeking treatment for opioid use disorder. The extent to which similar increases in methamphetamine use have occurred for populations outside of a treatment context and for those reporting other substance use is unknown.
The current analysis used a nationally representative data source to evaluate recent trends in past month methamphetamine use based on opioid use history.
Data from the 2015–2017 National Survey on Drug Use and Health (NSDUH) were analyzed for yearly variations in past month methamphetamine use by opioid use history. Sensitivity analyses assessed if these trends were specific to methamphetamine use and to persons reporting opioid use.
Significant increases in past month methamphetamine use were observed for persons reporting past month heroin use, past year heroin use disorder, and past year prescription opioid use disorder. Among individuals reporting past month heroin use, for example, methamphetamine use tripled from 9.0% in 2015 to 30.2% in 2017. These associations were specific to methamphetamine with little change in other substance use. Similar increases in methamphetamine use were not observed for populations reporting other illicit substance use with the exception of prescription tranquilizers.
These results provide data corroborating evidence of emergent concerns related to methamphetamine use in the US. Such findings highlight the importance of considering global drivers of substance use to avoid cyclic waves of new and emerging substance use crises.
Objective: The present study meta-analyzed studies examining changes in alcohol consumption during the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic and systematically reviewed contextual and individual ...difference factors related to these changes. Method: Following the preferred reporting items for systematic reviews and meta-analysis (PRISMA) protocol, studies were gathered via PsycINFO, PubMed/MEDLINE, and preprint databases (published April 29, 2021) that examined individual-level changes in consumption during the initial COVID-19 mitigation measures (before October 2020). Next, sample proportion increases and decreases in consumption, in addition to mean change in consumption variables from pre- to during-COVID, were meta-analyzed, and contextual and individual difference variables related to consumption changes during the pandemic were summarized. Results: One hundred and twenty-eight studies provided data from 58 countries (M n = 3,876; Mdn n = 1,092; aggregate sample n = 492,235). The average mean change in alcohol consumption was nonsignificant (Cohen's d = −0.01, p = .68); however, meta-analysis revealed that 23% of participants reported increases in consumption and 23% reported decreases. These changes were moderated by per capita gross domestic product and country. Narrative synthesis revealed multiple predictors of increased drinking, including contextual changes (e.g., children at home, income loss, working remotely), individual difference variables (being female, a young-to-middle aged adult, or Black), and mental health/alcohol-related risk factors (e.g., depression). Conclusions: The identified factors associated with increased alcohol consumption should be considered in planning behavioral health services during future crisis events that abruptly alter everyday environments in ways that increase stress and decrease access to naturally occurring rewards.
Public Health Significance Statement
Throughout the early months of the first wave of COVID-19, about one-fourth of study samples reported increases in alcohol consumption, and one-fourth reported decreases in consumption. The review suggested that the pandemic differentially affected drinking based on multiple individual and contextual variables. In light of the emergence of mutant strains and the prediction of similar future pandemics, these results provide an empirical basis for a behavioral health pandemic preparedness plan that could reduce the likelihood of pandemic-related drinking increases.
Background andAims
The commodity purchase task is a simulated demand procedure that is easy and quick to complete (< 5 minutes) as well as adaptable for remote delivery and use with varied study ...populations. The purpose of this meta‐analysis was to synthesize research using the commodity purchase task with illicit substances to evaluate the magnitude of omnibus effects sizes and moderators of the correlation of demand indices with quantity–frequency (QF) and severity measures.
Design
Random‐effects meta‐analyses and meta‐regressions involving studies with cross‐sectional correlational designs.
Setting and Participants
Eleven studies, 10 outcomes and 2146 participants from two countries (USA and UK) published up to 1 October 2018.
Measurements
Omnibus effect sizes (correlation coefficients) of five demand indices from the commodity purchase task intensity (unconstrained consumption), elasticity (price sensitivity), Omax (maximum expenditure), Pmax (price at maximum expenditure) and breakpoint (first price of zero consumption) with QF and severity measures. Meta‐regression models tested moderators of effect sizes (i.e. sample age and sex composition, commodity type and number of prices used in the commodity purchase task).
Findings
Significant omnibus effect sizes were observed with QF and severity measures for intensity (r = 0.32/0.28, QF/severity, respectively), elasticity (r = −0.14/−0.18), Omax (r = 0.30/0.29) and breakpoint (r = 0.17/0.22) values. Pmax was only significantly associated with severity measures (r = 0.15). The percentage of female participants and number of prices used in the purchase task significantly moderated Pmax and breakpoint effect‐size estimates in that stronger associations were observed in samples with a greater percentage of women and in studies using tasks with more price points. Commodity type (cannabis versus cocaine) did not significantly moderate associations involving any demand index.
Conclusions
Behavioral economic demand as measured by the commodity purchase task is consistently correlated with measures of illicit substance use quantity–frequency and severity.
We conducted a longitidinal assessment of 806 respondents in March, 2020 in the US to examine the trustworthiness of sources of information about COVID-19. Respondents were recontacted after four ...months. Information sources included mainstream media, state health departments, the CDC, the White House, and a well-known university. We also examined how demographics, political partisanship, and skepticism about COVID-19 were associated with the perceived trustworthiness of information sources and decreased trustworthiness over time. At baseline, the majority of respondants reported high trust in COVID-19 information from state health departments (75.6%), the CDC (80.9%), and a university (Johns Hopkins, 81.1%). Mainstream media was trusted by less than half the respondents (41.2%), and the White House was the least trusted source (30.9%). At the 4-month follow-up, a significant decrease in trustworthiness in all five sources of COVID-19 information was observed. The most pronounced reductions were from the CDC and the White House. In multivariate analyses, factors associated with rating the CDC, state health department, and a university as trustworthy sources of COVID-19 information were political party affiliation, level of education, and skepticism about COVID-19. The most consistent predictor of decreased trust was political party affiliation, with Democrats as compared to Republicans less likely to report decreased trust across all sources.
COVID-19 skepticism can be conceptualized as the denial of the seriousness of the illness and the perception that the pandemic is overblown or a hoax. In the current study, we examined the ...association between COVID-19 skepticism and frequency of engaging in COVID-19 prevention behaviors, political ideology, social norms about distancing, COVID-19 information-seeking behaviors, and COVID-19 conspiracy theories. A survey was administered from May 5th–14th. At that time, there were over 1 million COVID-19 cases in the US. Participants were recruited online through MTurk. The three outcome variables were handwashing, mask wearing, and social distancing. Injunctive and descriptive norms were assessed as well as measures of perceived risk to self and others. There were 683 participants in the analyses. In the multiple logistic regression model, those who were of younger age (aOR = 0.97,
p
< 0.05), better health (aOR = 0.56,
p
< 0.01), and more politically conservative (aOR = 1.32, p < 0.01) were more likely to endorse COVID-19 skepticism statements. People who reported higher Skepticism were also less likely to that believe people close to them would die from COVID-19 (aOR = 4.2,
p
< 0.01), engage in COVID-19 prevention behaviors, including spending time inside to prevent coronavirus (aOR = 0.33,
p
< 0.01) and frequently wear a mask outside (aOR = 0.44, p < 0.01). Those who were more skeptical about COVID-19 were also more likely to believe the conspiracy theory that China purposefully spread the virus (aOR = 6.38
p
< 0.01). COVID-19 Skepticism was strongly associated with reduced engagement in COVID-19 prevention behaviors. These findings bolster the arguments for making these public health recommendations mandatory.
Theories of addiction guide scientific progress, funding priorities, and policy development and ultimately shape how people experiencing or recovering from addiction are perceived and treated. Choice ...theories of addiction are heterogenous, and different models have divergent implications. This breeds confusion among laypeople, scientists, practitioners, and policymakers and reduces the utility of robust findings that have the potential to reduce the global burden of addiction-associated harms.RATIONALETheories of addiction guide scientific progress, funding priorities, and policy development and ultimately shape how people experiencing or recovering from addiction are perceived and treated. Choice theories of addiction are heterogenous, and different models have divergent implications. This breeds confusion among laypeople, scientists, practitioners, and policymakers and reduces the utility of robust findings that have the potential to reduce the global burden of addiction-associated harms.Here we differentiate classes of choice models and articulate a novel framing for a class of addiction models, called contextual models, which share as a first principle the influence of the environment and other contextual factors on behavior within discrete choice contexts.OBJECTIVEHere we differentiate classes of choice models and articulate a novel framing for a class of addiction models, called contextual models, which share as a first principle the influence of the environment and other contextual factors on behavior within discrete choice contexts.These models do not assume that all choice behaviors are voluntary, but instead that both proximal and distal characteristics of the choice environment-and particularly the benefits and costs of both drug use and non-drug alternatives-can influence behavior in ways that are outside of the awareness of the individual. From this perspective, addiction is neither the individual's moral failing nor an internal uncontrollable urge but rather is the result of environmental contingencies that reinforce the behavior.RESULTSThese models do not assume that all choice behaviors are voluntary, but instead that both proximal and distal characteristics of the choice environment-and particularly the benefits and costs of both drug use and non-drug alternatives-can influence behavior in ways that are outside of the awareness of the individual. From this perspective, addiction is neither the individual's moral failing nor an internal uncontrollable urge but rather is the result of environmental contingencies that reinforce the behavior.Contextual models have implications for guiding research, practice, and policy, including identification of novel target mechanisms while also improving existing interventions.CONCLUSIONSContextual models have implications for guiding research, practice, and policy, including identification of novel target mechanisms while also improving existing interventions.
PDF
