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Background: Increasing rates of cannabis use among emerging adults is a growing public health problem. Intensive longitudinal data can provide information on proximal motives for cannabis use, which can inform interventions to reduce use among emerging adults., Method: As part of a larger longitudinal study, patients aged 18-25 years (N=95) recruited from an urban Emergency Department completed daily text message assessments of risk behaviors for 28days, including daily cannabis quantity and motives. Using a mixed effects linear regression model, we examined the relationships between daily quantity of cannabis consumed and motives (i.e., enhancement, social, conformity, coping, and expansion)., Results: Participants were, on average, 22.0 years old (SD=2.2); 48.4% were male, 45.3% were African American, and 56.8% received public assistance. Results from the multi-level analysis (clustering day within individual), controlling for gender, race, and receipt of public assistance, indicated daily use of cannabis use for enhancement (β=0.27), coping (β=0.15), and/or social motives (β=0.34) was significantly associated with higher quantities of daily cannabis use; whereas expansion and conformity motives were not., Conclusions: Daily data show that emerging adults who use cannabis for enhancement, social, and coping motives reported using greater quantities of cannabis. Future research should examine more comprehensive cannabis motives (e.g., boredom, social anxiety, sleep) and test tailored interventions focusing on alternative cognitive/behavioral strategies to address cannabis motives., (Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of two incentive conditions (a $10 pre-incentive only vs. a $2 pre-incentive and a $10 promised incentive) on response rates, sample composition, substantive data, and cost-efficiency in a survey of college student substance use and related behaviors. Participants were 3000 randomly-selected college students invited to participate in a survey on substance use. Registrar data on all invitees was used to compare response rates and respondents, and web-based data collection on participants was used to compare substantive findings. Participants randomized to the pre-incentive plus promised incentive condition were more likely to complete the survey and less likely to give partial responses. Subgroup differences by sex, class year, and race were evaluated among complete responders, although only sex differences were significant. Men were more likely to respond in the pre-incentive plus promised incentive condition than the pre-incentive only condition. Substantive data did not differ across incentive structure, although the pre-incentive plus promised incentive condition was more cost-efficient. Survey research on college student populations is warranted to support the most scientifically sound and cost-efficient studies possible. Although substantive data did not differ, altering the incentive structure could yield cost savings with better response rates and more representative samples., (Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Purpose: Very little research has examined the heterogeneity associated with the nonmedical use of prescription medications (NUPM) in nationally representative samples of adolescents. The main objectives of this study were to (1) identify motivational subtypes of past-year NUPM among high school seniors in the United States using a person-centered approach, and (2) examine the associations among motivational subtypes and characteristics of substance abuse (i.e., route of administration, co-ingestion, and subjective high)., Methods: Self-administered questionnaires as part of the Monitoring the Future study were completed by nationally representative samples of high school seniors (modal age, 18 years). The sample consisted of five cohorts (senior years of 2002-2006) made up of 12,431 high school seniors in total, of which 53% were women., Results: Approximately 75% of past-year nonmedical users of prescription opioids, stimulants, and tranquilizers endorsed more than one motive. Latent class analysis indicated five motivational subtypes associated with nonmedical use of prescription opioids (experiment, relax, get high, pain relief, and affect regulation), four subtypes of prescription stimulants (weight loss/enhance energy, enhance energy/awake/high, experiment, and affect regulation), and five subtypes of prescription tranquilizers (experiment, get high, relax/sleep, relax, affect regulation). Recreational subtypes were positively associated with characteristics of substance abuse, whereas self-treatment subtypes were associated with medical use before nonmedical use., Conclusions: Because multiple motives underlie NUPM, identifying subgroups of individuals who endorse combinations of motives, versus a single motive, will better inform intervention efforts to reduce nonmedical prescription medication use., (Copyright © 2012 Society for Adolescent Health and Medicine. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

The purpose of this study was to advance our understanding of nonmedical use of prescription medications by identifying the distinguishing characteristics of 2 subtypes of adolescent nonmedical users of prescription opioids that have been previously described. A Web-based, self-administered survey was completed by 2,597 7th-12th grade students. Sensation-seeking nonmedical users were best characterized by rule breaking and aggressive behaviors and possible substance dependence. Medical users and nonmedical self-treating users were best characterized by somatic complaints, anxiety and depressive symptoms, and history of sexual victimization.

Objectives: To assess motives for nonmedical use of prescription opioids among US high school seniors and examine associations between motives for nonmedical use and other substance use behaviors., Design: Nationally representative samples of US high school seniors (modal age 18 years) were surveyed during the spring of their senior year via self-administered questionnaires., Setting: Data were collected in public and private high schools., Participants: The sample consisted of 5 cohorts (2002-2006) of 12 441 high school seniors., Main Outcome Measures: Self-reports of motives for nonmedical use of prescription opioids and substance use behaviors., Results: More than 1 in every 10 high school seniors reported nonmedical use of prescription opioids and 45% of past-year nonmedical users reported "to relieve physical pain" as an important motivation. The odds of heavy drinking and other drug use were lower among nonmedical users of prescription opioids motivated only by pain relief compared with nonmedical users who reported pain relief and other motives and those who reported non-pain relief motives only. The odds of medical use of prescription opioids were lower among nonmedical users who reported only non-pain relief motives compared with other types of nonmedical users., Conclusions: The findings indicate motives should be considered when working with adolescents who report nonmedical use of prescription opioids. Future efforts are needed to identify adolescents who may need appropriate pain management and those at increased risk for prescription opioid abuse.

Objectives: The main objectives of this study were to assess the motives, diversion sources and routes of administration associated with the nonmedical use of prescription opioids as well as to examine substance use related problems associated with the nonmedical use of prescription opioids., Method: A self-administered, cross-sectional Web survey was conducted in 2005 at a large public Midwestern 4-year university in the U.S. using a probability-based sampling approach. The final sample included 4580 full-time undergraduate students., Results: The three most common motives associated with the nonmedical use of prescription opioids were to relieve pain, get high, and experiment. The leading sources of prescription opioids were friends and parents although there were gender differences in reports of primary sources. More than 1 in every 10 nonmedical users reported intranasal administration. Multivariate analyses indicated nonmedical users of prescription opioids who used for motives other than to relieve pain, obtained these drugs from non-parental sources, or used these drugs via non-oral routes of administration were significantly more likely to experience substance use related problems., Conclusions: These results indicate that nonmedical use of prescription opioids represents a considerable problem for particular subgroups of college students. While additional research is needed, the present study offers important new directions for policy and research regarding prescription opioid misuse.

Objectives: Our goals were to (1) determine adolescents' motivations (reasons) for engaging in the nonmedical (illicit) use of 4 classes of prescription medications and (2) examine whether motivations were associated with a higher risk for substance abuse problems., Respondents: The 2005 sample (N = 1086) was derived from one ethnically diverse school district in southeastern Michigan and included 7th- through 12th-grade students., Methods: Data were collected by using a self-administered, Web-based survey that included questions about drug use and the motivations to engage in nonmedical use of prescription medication., Results: Twelve percent of the respondents had engaged in nonmedical use of opioid pain medications in the past year: 3% for sleeping, 2% as a sedative and/or for anxiety, and 2% as stimulants. The reasons for engaging in the nonmedical use of prescription medications varied by drug classification. For opioid analgesics, when the number of motives increased, so too did the likelihood of a positive Drug Abuse Screening Test score. For every additional motive endorsed, the Drug Abuse Screening Test increased by a factor of 1.8. Two groups of students were compared (at-risk versus self-treatment); those who endorsed multiple motivations for nonmedical use of opioids (at-risk group) were significantly more likely to have elevated Drug Abuse Screening Test scores when compared with those who were in the self-treatment group. Those in the at-risk group also were significantly more likely to engage in marijuana and alcohol use., Conclusion: The findings from this exploratory study warrant additional research because several motivations for the nonmedical use of prescription medications seem associated with a greater likelihood of substance abuse problems.