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The Lancet Psychiatry

Mental ill health, which has been the leading health and social issue impacting the lives and futures of young people for decades, has entered a dangerous phase. Accumulating research evidence indicates that in many countries, the mental health of emerging adults has been declining steadily over the past two decades, with a major surge of mental ill health driven by the COVID-19 pandemic, the measures taken to contain it, and its aftermath. This alarming trend signals a warning that global megatrends (major, long-lasting societal changes such as environmental, social, economic, political, or technological changes) and changes in many societies around the world in the past two decades have harmed the mental health of young people and increased mental ill health among them.

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PLOS ONE

Cigarette butts pose a variety of environmental risks such as the poisoning of small children, pets, and wildlife; the release of phthalates into soil and water; and the release of microplastics. This study used a variety of data to estimate the density of cigarette butt litter in census tracts across the United States. Census data included cigarette consumption in each census tract and previous research estimates that 65% of cigarette butts are littered. Cigarette butt density ranged from 0 to 46 butts/m² with densities 96 times higher in urban compared to rural census tracts. When compared to Social-Environmental Risk (SER), researchers found cigarette butt density was 5.6 times higher in census tracts with the highest SER. Therefore, cigarette butts present the greatest environmental risk in areas already suffering high SER, raising concerns about environmental justice.

Pediatrics

Prior studies have shown that sexual and gender minorities (SGM) have higher rates of binge drinking compared to their heterosexual and cisgender peers, but this study seeks to further examine those disparities by race, ethnicity, and grade. Using data from 2017-2019 in California, the authors found SGM had higher rates of binge drinking across all grades, down to 6th grade. In addition, they found that SGM, particularly transgender students, from racial and ethnic minorities had even higher rates of binge drinking. The authors suggest that prevention and intervention strategies are needed that are culturally and developmentally appropriate to address these disparities.

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JAMA Network Open

This cross-sectional study of 1240 people who use drugs in 3 states explored whether access to treatment and harm reduction differ by overdose history and drug type in a racially and ethnically diverse population of people who use drugs. The proportion of respondents reporting the use of fentanyl test strips was 36.8% among past year overdose survivors and 23.5% among those not experiencing an overdose—a significant difference. Approximately half (47.9%) of all participants received treatment in the past 30 days. The findings of this study suggest there are substantial gaps in the use of evidence-based treatment and harm reduction services that could reduce overdose risk.

Annals of Epidemiology

Associations between adolescent sleep and substance use have previously been found in cross-sectional studies, but there is limited data about earlier sleep patterns and later substance use. In this study, researchers use longitudinal data from children, followed from 1 year of age, to examine associations between sleep patterns and alcohol and marijuana use. The study found a later sleep start at 15 was associated with increased odds of alcohol and marijuana use and a shorter duration of sleep was associated with increased odds of alcohol use. In addition, they found later sleep times at age 9 were prospectively associated with alcohol use, and later sleep times at age 5 and shorter sleep duration at age 9 were prospectively associated with marijuana use. The authors note these findings, along with prior evidence, suggest childhood sleep may have implications for adolescent substance use. 

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Journal of Addiction Medicine

This study concerned 58 patients with drug use-associated infective endocarditis who received cardiac surgery for valve replacement at a large medical center in Boston. Starting in September 2017, all patients (n=23) received a consult from an addiction consult team (ACT). Previously, patients (n=35) received consults from a general psychiatry service without specific addiction expertise. Patients receiving an ACT consult had a lower risk of readmission at 1 month (24% lower, p=0.005) and 3 months (34% lower, p=0.005). The ACT patients were almost 5 times as likely to receive MOUD at discharge and less likely to receive a non-MOUD opiate at discharge. Receipt of a non-MOUD at discharge was associated with 12 times the risk of death or readmission at 3 months (p=0.04). The authors conclude that a consult from an ACT resulted in less readmission at 1 and 3 months.

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Aging and Disease

This study used a multiplex preclinical mouse model to compare markers of cellular senescence and age-related outcomes induced by maternal, paternal, and dual-parental alcohol exposures. Researchers found that chronic parental alcohol use causes enduring mitochondrial dysfunction in offspring, resulting in a reduced NAD+/NAHD ratio and altered expression of the NAD+-dependent deacetylases SIRT1 and SIRT3. These observations suggest that some aspects of fetal alcohol spectrum disorders (FASDs) may be linked to accelerated aging due to programmed changes in the regulation of mitochondrial function and cellular bioenergetics.

In The News 

National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA)

The Conversation

NBC News

Gallup

The Hill

Health Affairs