The purpose of this study was to examine the genetic and environmental influences on lifetime quit attempt in three US adolescent and young adult twin samples (N total = 6,322). The study utilized a common-contingent-causal (CCC) model to estimate these factors for lifetime quit attempts, after accounting for the factors for lifetime cigarette use and cigarettes per day. The study also examined age and sex differences, as well as the degree of relationship between these smoking phenotypes. The results demonstrated significant genetic influences for lifetime quit attempts in adolescents and young adults. No sex differences were observed for the contributions of genetic and environmental factors for lifetime quit attempts. Furthermore, separate liabilities for lifetime quit attempts and lifetime cigarette use were found for most age groups. Study findings have important implications for promoting quit attempts in adolescents and young adults.

Young adults are most at-risk for the non-medical use of prescription drugs (NMUPD) and many of its associated negative consequences. Understanding this population’s motivations for use can help to inform efforts to reduce NMUPD. Past research has been limited in scope, consisting primarily of cross-sectional work with college students focusing on prescription stimulants. The current study researched how motivations for NMUPD changed over young adulthood using three waves of data from a longitudinal, nationally representative sample of 14,990 19 to 24 year olds in the Monitoring the Future study cohorts collected between 1976 to 2013. Prescription stimulants, central nervous system (CNS) depressants, and opioids were investigated, along with sex and college attendance as potential moderators. Differences in NMUPD motivations for young adults who initiated NMUPD in high school versus in early young adulthood were studied. Additionally, motivation patterns of new users were investigated. Analyses indicated that both recreational and self-treatment motivations commonly were reported over time and across drug classes, with four to five popular motivations acknowledged in each class. In general, generalized estimated equations repeated measure analyses found that NMUPD motivations remained relatively stable across young adulthood, with some reductions for the motivations of experimentation and boredom, and an increase in select self-treatment motivations. Overall, men were more likely to endorse recreational motivations, while women were more likely to endorse self-treatment motivations, though this varied somewhat by prescription drug class. Young adults not enrolled in college courses were more likely to endorse using stimulants non-medically for different reasons than their peers who were enrolled. There also were differences in motivations based on if young adults initiated NMUPD in high school compared to when they were 19/20 years old. However, motivations were fairly consistent across young adult development regardless of when NMUPD was initiated. These data suggest that efforts aimed at preventing or reducing NMUPD in young adult populations should include targets to reduce both self-treatment and recreational motivations; may need to be tailored by prescription drug class, sex, and college attendance status; could start in high school; and can be used for new and continued users across young adulthood.

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Online social media sites are increasingly used in public health efforts1 and may represent a valuable avenue to target messages discouraging use of indoor tanning (IT) beds to young women, a group with high levels of engagement in social media and the highest rates of IT.2 This study aimed to examine the association between use of social media sites and IT behavior.

Skin cancer is a major public health concern, and tanning remains a modifiable risk factor. Multidimensional influences, including psychosocial, individual, environmental, and policy-related factors, create the milieu for individuals to engage in tanning. Parents and physicians can modify the behavior of teens and young adults using strategies based on harm reduction. Environmental and policy-related factors similar to those used to limit smoking by restricting access of minors to cigarettes in the United States in the 20th century need to be created. Federal regulations can restrict direct advertising and the excise tax can be increased to a prohibitive amount. Social networking may assist with affect regulation.

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Purpose: Temporal perspective, including views about future goals, may influence motivational processes related to health. An adaptive sense of future orientation is linked to better health, but little research has examined potential underlying factors, such as vitality. Method: In a sample of 101 primary care patients, we examined whether belief in the changeability of the future was related to mental and physical energization and, in turn, to health-related quality of life. Participants were working, uninsured primary care patients, who completed self-report measures of future orientation, vitality, and health-related quality of life. Results: Mediation models, covarying age, sex, and race/ethnicity indicated that vitality significantly mediated the association between future orientation and the outcomes of general health, mental health, social functioning, bodily pain, and role limitations due to emotional and physical reasons. Vitality exerted an indirect-only effect on the relation between future orientation and physical functioning. Conclusions: Our findings suggest that adaptive beliefs about the future may promote, or allow access to, physical and mental energy and, in turn, may result in better mental and physical health functioning. Individual-level and public health interventions designed to promote future orientation and vitality may beneficially influence quality of life and well-being.

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Among the 19.3 million veterans residing in the U.S., suicide is a primary mental health concern, with risk for suicide among veterans being 21% higher than for the general population. Increased suicide risk for veterans may be linked to strong negative emotions associated with the requirements of being in the military. For instance, many veterans describe feelings of guilt, defined as remorse or responsibility for one's actions, such as for experiences during combat exposure (e.g., having to kill someone). Shame, or the belief that there is something inherently wrong or defective with the self, often occurs following a violation of personal values or morals (e.g. participation in violence, missing important family events during deployment), and frequently coexists with feelings of guilt. As well, many members of the military experience sexual trauma, which may induce shame. For some veterans, suicide may become a viable alternative to these overwhelming negative feelings. However, not all veterans are at risk for suicide, perhaps due to individual-level protective factors. One such factor is self-compassion, which is composed of self-kindness, community, and mindfulness. Positive emotions (i.e. selfcompassion) may buffer against negative feelings about the self or one's actions (i.e. guilt and shame), thereby decreasing suicide risk. Our study aimed to test these associations in the context of moderation analyses. At the bivariate level, we hypothesized that guilt and shame would be negatively related to self-compassion and positively related to suicide risk. Also, we hypothesized that self-compassion would be negatively related to suicide risk. At the multivariate level, we hypothesized that self-compassion would moderate the relations between guilt and suicide risk, and between shame and suicide risk, weakening both associations. Our sample of veterans (N=422) was primarily white (n=366) and male (n=291). Participants completed self-report measures including the Differential Emotions Scale-IV, Self-Compassion Scale Short-Form, and Suicide Behaviors Questionnaire-Revised. Bivariate correlations and multivariate analyses, per Hayes (2013), were conducted covarying age, sex, and ethnicity. In bivariate correlations, guilt and shame were positively related to suicide risk (p