Methylphenidate (MPH) is widely prescribed during childhood and adolescence for treatment of attention deficit and hyperactivity disorder. MPH is also one of the most commonly abused prescription drugs. However, the effects of MPH exposure and MPH abuse on incentive motivation are not well known. Moreover, MPH abuse during adolescence could increase sensitivity to the incentive motivational effects of other abused drugs such as nicotine in adulthood. Thus, the goals of this experiment were to investigate the effects of MPH exposure on the motivation to obtain sucrose during adolescence and to examine whether adolescent methylphenidate exposure altered the incentive motivational effects of nicotine (NIC) in adulthood. Incentive motivation was measured using an operant conditioning paradigm with sucrose available under a progressive ratio schedule of reinforcement (PR). Adolescent female rats were used because our previous studies have shown stronger sensitization to the locomotor stimulant effects of MPH. Rats arrived at post-natal day 21 (P21) and were shaped to respond for sucrose (20% w/v) on the PR schedule beginning on P24. After stable operant responding was established, rats were randomly assigned to receive either MPH (n=7) or SAL (n=6) injections (intraperitoneal) 30 min prior to test sessions, with the constraint that sucrose rewards earned did not differ between groups. Injection tests began on P36 and were carried out on alternating days for 10 total tests (P36-54). Although there was a trend for increased motivation for sucrose in the MPH group, it did not reach statistical significance. No further testing occurred until the rats reached adulthood (P55-P78). Over the next 5 days (P79-P84), all rats were pretreated with subcutaneous NIC injections (0.4 mg/kg base) 15 min before testing sessions. Following this initial ‘sensitization’ period, rats were tested with different NIC doses (0-1 mg/kg base) from P85-P92. During the sensitization period, NIC increased responding equally in both groups. However, during the dose-response testing, rats in the MPH group were more sensitive to the incentive motivational effects of NIC - the median effective dose was significantly lower for rats exposed to MPH in adolescence. The findings suggest that MPH may have limited reinforcement enhancing effects in adolescents. However, exposure to MPH during adolescents may increase the incentive motivational effects of NIC in adulthood.

The proposed diagnostic criteria for Hypersexual Disorder included "[r]epetitively engaging in sexual fantasies, urges, or behaviors in response to stressful life events" (Kafka, 2010, p.279) as a symptom, although no data demonstrates a causal relationship between stress and hypersexual behavior. We sought to confirm previous findings while furthering the field's understanding of this relationship by being the first study to assess stress and hypersexual behavior across multiple time points. Specifically, we sought to test three hypotheses within a sample of men seeking treatment for hypersexual behavior: 1) hypersexual individuals report higher stress levels than published norm samples; 2) stress predicts sexual thoughts, urges, and behavior at the same time point and across multiple time points; and 3) among various domains of stress, social and personal forms of stress best predict hypersexual behavior. Thirty men seeking treatment for hypersexual behaviors at residential and intensive outpatient treatment centers participated in the study. Various indices of stress (perceived stress, daily hassles, stressful life domains, and salivary cortisol), affect (boredom, psychological distress, depression, anxiety, alexithymia, and loneliness), and process (psychological inflexibility) were assessed, some across two time points. Across multiple analyses, the study did not find sufficient evidence to support a causal relationship between stress and hypersexual behavior. Supporting previous research, the hypersexual sample demonstrated significant elevations on stress, affect, and process measures compared to published norms, strengthening the assertion that hypersexual individuals experience high levels of stress and psychological distress. The implications of these findings, limitations of the methods used, and future directions for research and treatment are discussed.

Background: Use of electronic cigarettes (EC) has dramatically increased in the United States since 2010 with a forecasted growth of 37% between 2014 and 2019. There is little research on e-liquid nicotine concentration from domestic manufacturers. However, limited research outside of the U.S. found wide inconsistencies between the labeled concentration of nicotine in e-liquids and the actual nicotine concentration. Methods: The seven most popular online manufacturers or distributors were identified. E-liquid samples of the five most popular flavors from each manufacturer were purchased in nicotine concentrations of 0 mg/ml and 18 mg/ml. Of the samples purchased (n=70), all were labeled as produced in the United States of America (USA). The researchers anonymized the samples before sending them to an independent university lab for testing. Results: The 35 e-liquid samples labeled 18 mg/ml nicotine measured between 11.6 and 27.4 mg/ml (M=18.7 SD=3.3) nicotine. The labeled 18 mg/ml samples measured as little as 35% less nicotine and as much as 52% greater nicotine. In the 35 samples labeled 0 mg/ml, nicotine was detected (>0.01 mg/ml) in 91.4% of the samples (Range = 0 to 23.9 mg/ml; M=2.9; SD=7.2). Six samples from two manufacturers labeled as 0 mg/ml were found to contain nicotine in amounts ranging from 5.7 mg/ml to 23.9 mg/ml. Conclusion: This study demonstrates the nicotine labeling inaccuracies present in current e-liquid solutions produced in the U.S. Incorrect labeling poses a significant risk to consumers and supports the recent regulation changes enacted by the FDA. Additional routine testing of nicotine concentrations should be conducted to evaluate the effectiveness of the regulations on future e-liquid production.

Based on a sample of 1,012 late adolescents and young adults (ages 18-26), the current three interrelated studies tested a series of specific questions and hypotheses focused on understanding Internet Addiction. Study 1 sought to directly compare psychometric properties of four of the most widely used Internet addiction scales based on citation metrics (Internet Addiction Test, Problematic Internet Use Questionnaire, Generalized Problematic Internet Use Scale 2 and Chen Internet Addiction Scale), and to aggregate the best items across all scales into a new measure using bifactor IRT analyses. The resulting 10-item Aggregated Internet Addiction Scale (AIAS) consists of the best performing items from the original scales, representing each of Griffiths’ six conceptual criteria, and matches each original scale in performance (reliability, test information, relationship with covariates) with considerably lower item count. This offers an important alternative to scholars seeking a reliable and valid measure which is consistent with Griffiths’conceptual work. Study 2 tested a set of hypotheses based on a behavioral model of Internet addiction in which online activities are used and reinforced as a maladaptive coping strategy to manage stress. If Internet is used to disengage from stressors, it may become associated with the desirable outcome (reducing stress), while not actually solving it; rather, it would exacerbate the underlying problems and therefore create more stress. Stress was found to be positively associated with Internet addiction symptoms; in addition, this effect was mediated by reliance on problem disengagement coping strategies. Self-control was found to moderate the relationship of stress and coping strategies (with exception of problem disengagement); however, it did so in an unexpected direction. At lower levels of self-control the relationship of stress and reliance on engagement strategies becomes more positive, and conversely, more negative for emotional disengagement The moderation, however, had little impact on the indirect effect. Finally, the third study tested a series of hypotheses based on Uses and Gratifications theory (UGT) and the existing literature on predictors of Internet addiction. Specifically, it compared low self-esteem (LSE), perceived social self-efficacy (PSSE), and self-control (SC) as predictors of Internet addiction. Building on UGT, specific online behaviors were examined as mediators of the relationship between known predictors and Internet addiction. Social networking was hypothesized to mediate the pathway from LSE and PSSE to Internet addiction; and the use of internet for entertainment was hypothesized to mediate the path from SC to Internet addiction. Using structural equation model SC was found to be the strongest predictor of Internet addiction, both directly and indirectly through entertainment use. After controlling for SC and entertainment online use, social networking and the hypothesized underlying predictors (LSE and PSSE) had no remaining explanatory power for Internet addiction. There three predictors overlapped to some degree, where SC explained the largest amount of unique variance.

This study examined the beliefs about religion and spirituality among substance abuse counselors. The data was gathered using an explorative qualitative design by interviewing substance abuse counselors in the field and asking questions related to the religion, spirituality, and the influence on their practice. This research highlighted the impact of substance abuse as a spiritual disease that affects the physical, mental and spiritual aspects of the client’s life. The key findings were related to the responses from the participants because it highlighted the importance of meeting the client where they are (motivational congruence), tolerance, acceptance, and the impact of agency policies. The second key finding is the substance counselor’s beliefs have no bearing in their practice because they operate under the philosophy of motivational congruence which is meeting the client where they are. Even though they have personal beliefs they are able to implement the professional use of self-focusing more on the client’s needs as opposed to theirs. The implication for future research is the contribution to extant literature by emphasizing the importance of religious or spiritual practices in the recovery process.

Addiction is a complex process in which behavioral sensitization may be an important component. While the behavioral effects of sensitization are well established, the intricate neurobiology of the phenomenon is still largely unknown. Dopamine systems mediate the induction of behavioral sensitization in adult rats, but there is a large amount of evidence showing that other neurotransmitter systems also modulate the induction process. For example, the α1b-adrenergic and 5-HT2A receptor systems are known to modulate the sensitized responding of adult rats, but the roles that these receptor systems play in the induction and expression of behavioral sensitization during the preweanling period has yet to be investigated. Therefore, the purpose of this thesis was to determine whether the serotonergic and adrenergic receptor systems mediate the induction and/or expression of cocaine-induced one-trial behavioral sensitization in preweanling rats. I used a novel approach to address this question, as the receptors of interest were “protected” from the alkylating effects of EEDQ (an irreversible nonselective receptor antagonist) by prior treatment with selective antagonist drugs. More specifically, rats were given ritanserin (a serotonergic receptor antagonist), prazosin (an adrenergic receptor antagonist), or a combination of the two drugs prior to an injection of EEDQ. To study the induction of behavioral sensitization, this series of injections was administered on PD 18 (24 h before the pretreatment injection of cocaine). To study the expression of behavioral sensitization, the injections were administered on PD 20, which was the day between the drug pretreatment day and the test day. In all experiments, the test day (i.e., the day on which the challenge dose of cocaine was given) was on PD 21. Control experiments were performed for both the induction and expression paradigms in order to determine whether prazosin and ritanserin independently affected sensitization. Results showed that the receptor inactivation caused by EEDQ blocked both the induction and expression of cocaine-induced one-trial behavioral sensitization. Importantly, administering prazosin and ritanserin did not protect the induction of the sensitized locomotor response, which suggests that serotonergic and adrenergic receptors do not mediate cocaine-induced one-trial behavioral sensitization in preweanling rats. This conclusion should be tempered, however, because co-administration of prazosin and ritanserin affected the locomotor activity and sensitized responding of cocaine-treated rats independent of the actions of EEDQ. Considering both past and present results, the most harmonious conclusion is that multiple receptor systems (i.e., dopaminergic, serotonergic, adrenergic, etc.) work in unison to produce the complex phenomenon of behavioral sensitization.

In this study marital status and the alcoholism or non-alcoholism of the spouse are hypothesized to be important factors affecting the female alcoholic's personality and treatability.

The abuse of and addiction to drugs of abuse, such as tobacco, alcohol, opioids, and illicit drugs, are growing global problems that affect the welfare of individuals and societies worldwide. The National Institute of Drug Abuse estimates the annual cost of substance abuse to be over $740 billion in costs related to drug intoxication, withdrawal and relapse. A primary challenge in the treatment of substance abuse is the tendency of users to relapse following acute or extended periods of abstinence; on average over 60% of substance abusers will return to drug use within a year of receiving treatment, many relapsing following stressful life events. Central to the successful treatment of drug addiction is understanding the cellular mechanisms by which relapse episodes occur. Current data suggest that the activation of pituitary adenylate cyclase activating peptide (PACAP) systems in the bed nucleus of the stria terminalis (BNST) is an important event underlying stress-induced reinstatement to drug-seeking in a rodent model of stress-induced relapse. In conjunction with immunohistochemistry and pharmacological treatments, we used this behavioral model of stress-induced relapse to evaluate PACAP and PACAP type-1 receptor (PAC1-R) signaling in stress-induced reinstatement to cocaine seeking. Activation of the PAC1 receptor appears to be critical to stress-induced reinstatement, as the selective PAC1-R agonist, maxadilan, produced reinstatement behaviors in the absence of stress. Moreover, BNST pretreatment with either mitogen activated protein kinase-ERK (MEK) or endocytosis inhibitors to block extracellular signal-related kinase (ERK) signaling attenuated stress-induced reinstatement. Furthermore, BNST phosphorylated ERK (pERK) expression, mediated by PAC1-R activation, is substantially potentiated in cocaine-experienced animals after stressor exposure, in a manner that is dependent on endosomal signaling and MEK activity. These data suggest that the activation of a PAC1 signaling cascade is a key event underlying stress-induced reinstatement. Furthermore, this data may suggest a permanent change in the BNST PACAP system (sensitization) following cocaine exposure.

Smoking cigarettes is the most preventable cause of death in the US. Smokers are often unsuccessful at quitting because they are dependent. Reducing nicotine could be one way to reduce dependence. Currently, reducing cigarettes per day (CPD) is the most common strategy to reduce nicotine intake. However, some have proposed switching to very low nicotine content (VLNC) cigarettes to reduce nicotine and dependence. Both reducing CPD and switching to VLNC cigarettes aim to reduce nicotine but do so in different ways. I conducted a randomized trial to compare the degree to which switching to VLNC cigarettes vs reducing CPD 1) is more acceptable and 2) decreases dependence more among smokers not ready to quit. Sixty-eight adult smokers of ≥ 10 cigarettes/day who were not ready to quit smoked full nicotine study cigarettes ad-lib for 1 week (week 0). I provided all participants with nicotine replacement therapy (NRT) patches and instructions to gradually reduce over the next 4 weeks by either 1) switching to lower nicotine content VLNC cigarettes or 2) reducing the number of full nicotine CPD. I provided VLNC participants with their usual number of cigarettes throughout the study but cigarettes contained only 70% of their usual nicotine at week 1, 35% at week 2, 15% at week 3, and 3% at week 4. I provided CPD participants with full nicotine cigarettes throughout the study but only 70% of their usual number of cigarettes at week 1, 35% at week 2, 15% at week 3, and 3% at week 4. I instructed participants to attempt to smoke only study cigarettes and report use of all (study + non-study) cigarettes via nightly surveys. I used participants’ percent non-study cigarettes/day as a proxy for acceptability and the Nicotine Dependence Syndrome Scale as my primary measure of dependence. Participants completed self-report measures and provided breath and urine samples at weekly visits during the 5-week study period. I tested between-group differences, within-participant change over time, and group by time interactions using multi-level modeling. Switching to VLNC cigarettes was more acceptable than reducing CPD (F=5.0 p<.05). Acceptability declined over time for CPD participants as they were instructed to reduce more nicotine (F=42.2, p<.001) but this was not true for VLNC participants (F=29.5, p<.001). Dependence declined over time for both VLNC (F=10.5, p<001) and CPD (F=5.0, p<.01) participants but declined more over time for VLNC than CPD participants (F=3.2, p<.05). This is the first trial to directly compare switching to VLNC cigarettes vs reducing CPD. Large reductions were more acceptable and effective at decreasing dependence among participants who switched to VLNC cigarettes than those who reduced CPD when all were aided by NRT. My findings suggest that regulatory policy that promotes a gradual transition to VLNC cigarettes could be more acceptable and effective at decreasing dependence than the common strategy of reducing CPD. Furthermore, NRT-aided transitions to VLNC cigarettes could be a useful and acceptable component for clinical interventions to reduce nicotine dependence among smokers not ready to quit and thereby make it more likely for smokers to quit and succeed.

My work investigates a lifelong passion for buildings, homes, and architecture. Buildings are more then shelters made of wood and screws; I personify them as if they were living breathing creatures. I’m particularly drawn to rundown and abandoned structures because I empathize with these sad looking buildings that were once majestic. This personal connection exists because I view them as versions of my former self, rough around the edges with a promising interior. Expanding beyond vacant and decaying buildings, I portray my experiences within fabricated architectural systems. I communicate with building materials and architecture through their many layers of physical and socially constructed histories. Drawing from my memories and feelings surrounding my brother’s death and subsequent drug addiction, I’ve focused on the emotions of abandonment, isolation, absence, and loneliness.