Getting high to cope with COVID-19: Modelling the associations between cannabis demand, coping motives, and cannabis use and problems.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, people may use substances like cannabis for enhancement or coping purposes. Behavioral economic demand for a substance is a key determinant of its use and misuse and can be measured via hypothetical purchase tasks. Previous research suggests that motivations to use a substance play a mediational role between elevated substance demand and problems, but comparable mechanistic research has yet to be done in the COVID-19 context and on the effects of cannabis demand on cannabis use patterns. Participants (n = 137) were recruited via the online crowdsourcing platform Prolific. Participants completed measures of cannabis use and problems, motivations for cannabis use, and the Marijuana Purchase Task. Two indices of demand, Persistence (i.e., sensitivity to increasing cost of cannabis) and Amplitude (i.e., consumption of cannabis at unrestricted cost), were related to increased cannabis problems via the use motive of coping during the COVID-19 pandemic. This model did not support the mediational role of enhancement motives. Those with increased cannabis demand who tend to use cannabis to cope are at increased risk of experiencing negative cannabis-related consequences during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Contextual influences on alcohol demand: Behavioral and neural correlates of alcohol cue effects

Purpose: Neuroeconomics integrates methods from behavioral economics and neuroscience to understand the neurobiological foundations of decision making. Alcohol demand paradigms, including alcohol purchase tasks, assess self-reported alcohol consumption at escalating prices providing indices of reinforcing value of alcohol. These paradigms are useful for exploring contextual influences on alcohol decisions including the impact of alcohol-related cues on reinforcing value of alcohol. Methods: Adult heavy drinkers (target N = 80) complete two testing sessions'a laboratory cue exposure in a simulated bar lab setting and an imaginal/visual cue exposure during a functional MRI (fMRI) scan. Level of alcohol demand is assessed via hypothetical alcohol purchase tasks (APT). Observed demand indices (intensity, breakpoint, Omax, Pmax) were compared between neutral and alcohol cue conditions. Results: Data collection is temporarily on hold due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Preliminary results (N = 6;M age = 28.7;66% female, 66% White, 16% Asian, 16% multi-racial;M AUDIT = 8.29) indicated greater alcohol demand in the alcohol compared to neutral condition in the lab-based session, including greater alcohol expenditure (Omax;Cohen's d = 0.44) and breakpoint price (d = 0.49). The fMRI-based APT paradigm elicited significant BOLD activation in brain areas previously shown to support alcohol demand decisions, including dorsolateral prefrontal cortex, anterior insula, basal ganglia, precuneus, among others. In the elastic portion of the demand curve when consumption is most impacted by changes in price, greater activation was observed in basal ganglia, dorsolateral prefrontal cortex, and insula. Compared to the neutral condition, decisions following alcohol cues were associated with greater activation of basal ganglia, parahippocampal gyrus, insula, and middle frontal gyrus. Conclusions: These preliminary data are consistent with prior laboratory-based studies of cue effects on alcohol demand and extend this work to a functional neuroimaging context. Studying these contextual influences may help clarify the neural signatures that underlie moderated vs. unconstrained drinking.