Category: Addictive Behaviors
Samuel Acuff, B.S., M.S.
The University of Memphis
Memphis, Tennessee
Lauren E. Oddo, MS
Doctoral Candidate
University of Maryland, College Park
College Park, Maryland
Chris Correia, Ph.D.
Auburn University
AUBURN UNIV, Alabama
Samuel Acuff, B.S., M.S.
The University of Memphis
Memphis, Tennessee
Lauren E. Oddo, MS
Doctoral Candidate
University of Maryland, College Park
College Park, Maryland
Emily Levitt, PhD
McMaster University
Guelph, Ontario, Canada
Paulina Linares Abrego, B.S.
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
Chapel Hill, North Carolina
Comorbidity of hazardous substance use and other psychiatric conditions is the norm, rather than the exception (Castillo-Carniglia et al., 2019). Multiple population surveys show that approximately half of those who experience a psychiatric condition will also experience a substance use disorder and vice versa, at significant societal costs (National Institute on Drug Abuse, 2018). Comorbidity is associated with poorer treatment prognosis, poorer treatment compliance, higher treatment costs, suicide ideation, and poorer functioning (Baillie et al., 2010; Couwenbergh et al., 2006; Deas, 2006; O'Leary-Barrett et al., 2016). Behavioral economic models of addiction conceptualize hazardous substance use as a reinforcer pathology whereby people tend to overvalue the substance, undervalue substance-free activities, and prefer small immediate rewards (Bickel et al., 2014). This framework illuminates plausible shared, transdiagnostic mechanisms of hazardous substance use and comorbid psychiatric symptoms characterized by aberrant reward-related processes.
Individuals with psychiatric disorders often experience constraints on delayed, substance-free rewards across life areas, including social, academic, health/wellness, and employment (e.g., Acuff et al., 2018, Amlung at al., 2019). In turn, lower levels of substance-free reward can perpetuate hazardous substance use by inadvertently enhancing the reinforcing value of substances (Murphy et al., 2006; Correia et al., 2005; Acuff et al., 2019). From this perspective, research identifying which psychiatric conditions share, alter, or differentially impact these reward-related vulnerabilities can refine theory and streamline treatment approaches targeting shared, transdiagnostic mechanisms.
This symposium synthesizes novel data exploring reward-related vulnerabilities, articulated by behavioral economic theory, that may be implicated in both hazardous substance use and in various psychiatric conditions (e.g., depression, anxiety, trauma, ADHD). This body of work is strengthened by the use of rigorous analytic approaches of behavioral economic constructs (i.e., intensive longitudinal data, large prospective population/community samples, and interventions) across diverse populations. Findings from these presentations represent a critical first step in the application of behavioral economic theory to understanding psychiatric comorbidity in hazardous substance use. Ultimately, this symposium will provide researchers and clinicians alike with a novel perspective on comorbidity and a bank of plausible reward-related mechanisms that may be targeted in prevention and intervention to simultaneously reduce hazardous substance use and psychiatric symptoms.
Presenter: Samuel F. Acuff, B.S., M.S. – The University of Memphis
Co-author: Rachel Pace, BS – University of Memphis
Co-author: Hannah Cole, MS – University of Memphis
Co-author: Kyla Belisario, MA – McMaster University
Co-author: Ashley Dennhardt, PhD – University of Memphis
Co-author: Allison Wallace, MS – University of Memphis
Co-author: Meenu Minhas, PhD – McMaster University
Co-author: Alba González-Roz, PhD – University of Oviedo
Co-author: Jillian Halladay, RN, MS – McMaster University
Co-author: Jalie Tucker, PhD – University of Florida
Co-author: Michael Amlung, PhD – University of Kansas
Co-author: James MacKillop, PhD – Peter Boris Centre for Addictions Research, McMaster University & St. Joseph's Healthcare Hamilton
Co-author: James Murphy, PhD – University of Memphis
Presenter: Lauren E. Oddo, MS – University of Maryland, College Park
Co-author: Keanan Joyner, Ph.D. – University of California at Berkeley
Co-author: James Murphy, PhD – University of Memphis
Co-author: Andrea M. Chronis-Tuscano, Ph.D – UMD
Presenter: Emily E. Levitt, PhD – McMaster University
Co-author: Assaf Oshri, PhD – Department of Human Development and Family Science, University of Georgia
Co-author: Sandra S. Sanchez-Roige, PhD – Department of Psychology, University of California
Co-author: Abraham A. Palmer, PhD – Department of Psychiatry, University of California San Diego
Co-author: James MacKillop, PhD – Peter Boris Centre for Addictions Research, McMaster University & St. Joseph's Healthcare Hamilton
Presenter: Louisa F. Kane, M.S. – University of North Carolina
Co-Author: Paulina Linares Abrego, B.S. – University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
Co-author: Elizabeth D. Reese, M.A. – University of North Carolina
Co-author: Katherine L. Benson, B.S. – University of North Carolina
Co-author: Catherine E. Paquette, MPS, M.A. – University of North Carolina
Co-author: Stacey B. Daughters, Ph.D. – University of North Carolina