Christopher Salas-Wright

Christopher Salas-Wright
Boston College | BC · Graduate School of Social Work

Ph.D.

About

268
Publications
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Introduction
Christopher Salas-Wright, PhD, is Professor and Assistant Dean of the Doctoral Program at the Boston College School of Social Work. His research agenda focuses on stress and resilience among immigrants, substance use epidemiology, and adolescent substance use prevention. Dr. Salas-Wright has authored more than 200 publications, including two books and first-author articles in journals such as the American Journal of Public Health, Addiction, and the American Journal of Preventive Medicine.

Publications

Publications (268)
Article
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Research suggests that forced migration may lead to cultural stress and psychological distress. However, little is known about immigrant parents’ pre- and post-migration concerns for their children’s welfare. The present study examined the concerns of Venezuelan parents who migrated to the United States versus those who migrated to Colombia, and wh...
Article
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Background Since 2015, ~ 8 million Venezuelans have fled what was once Latin America’s most prosperous nation, with many relocating to nearby Colombia and others migrating to the United States (U.S.). Emerging research suggests that migration-related cultural stress is a challenge for Venezuelans and is related to an increased risk of mental health...
Article
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Purpose We present a psychometric evaluation of the Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Boston Form (CES-D-B) for use with different Latino subgroups as there is inconsistency regarding its performance across subgroups of Latinos, a large and rapidly growing cultural group in the United States. Methods We evaluated the reliability and stru...
Article
Background The 21st century has seen a decline in employment rates in the US at the same time that it has experienced a historically unprecedented rise in the numbers of adults under criminal justice system control. Both low employment and high incarceration have posed serious challenges for public health. Methods Using data from the National Surv...
Article
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Anxiety is the most prevalent mental health disorder among adults worldwide. Given its increased prevalence among migrants due to their marginalized position in the societies where they reside, psychometric evaluations of anxiety measures such as the Generalized Anxiety Disorder–7 (GAD-7) are needed for use with migrants. The present study is the f...
Article
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In the aftermath of Hurricane María’s devastating impact on Puerto Rico in September 2017, a wave of migration to the continental United States followed. Despite Puerto Rico’s territorial association with the United States, its distinct culture and language often render its migrants as cultural minorities who are often treated as foreigners. Prior...
Preprint
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BACKGROUND Since 2015, ~ 8 million Venezuelans have fled what was once Latin America’s most prosperous nation, with many relocating to nearby Colombia and others migrating to the United States (U.S.). Emerging research suggests that migration-related cultural stress is a challenge for Venezuelans and is related to an increased risk of mental health...
Article
Background: Unhoused young adults aged 18–24 years are at increased risk of substance misuse relative to the general population and experience unique barriers to engaging in treatment. This study evaluates predictors of treatment completion for unhoused young adults receiving substance use treatment. Methods: Predictive models were generated on dat...
Article
In September 2017, Hurricane Maria decimated Puerto Rico and resulted in the deaths of thousands of people, the destruction of thousands of homes, and the mass migration of hundreds of thousands of Puerto Ricans to the U.S. mainland. Because of these events, Puerto Rican Hurricane Maria survivors on the U.S. mainland are at risk for depressive symp...
Article
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El huracán María provocó una migración a gran escala desde Puerto Rico a los Estados Unidos. Entre otros cambios, esto implicó una interrupción en la educación de los jóvenes y la necesidad de navegar por un nuevo sistema educativo. Aunque investigaciones previas indican que los entornos escolares influyen de manera importante en la salud conductua...
Preprint
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Purpose: Stress-based theories suggest that sexual minority Latinx migrants are at increased risk of adverse behavioral health outcomes. However, a body of descriptive evidence shows migrants exhibit improved health outcomes. Responding to calls for intersectional investigations of the ‘healthy migrant effect,’ we quantitatively examine whether sex...
Article
As climate change continues to displace greater numbers of people, transnational ties are important sources of social protection for climate migrants. Migrants assemble unique configurations of formal and informal social protections depending on the resources available within their sending and receiving communities. However, the specific constellat...
Article
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Objectives: Crucial to the resettlement experiences of immigrants is the degree to which the receiving country accepts them and affords them social support and opportunities. Through the factor structure and incremental validity of scores generated by the Negative Context of Reception (NCR) Scale, in the present study, we examine Indian American yo...
Article
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Objectives: A growing body of research points to a relationship between exposure to migration-related cultural stress and mental health problems. However, such research is often conducted with the tacit assumption that postmigration experiences are the primary—if not singular—driver of psychological distress. In the present study, we aim to extend...
Article
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Objective: Although prior research has shown that an array of distinct experiences related to crisis migration are associated with mental health, there is a pressing need for a theory-driven, multidimensional measure to assess the broad spectrum of crisis migration experiences. As such, the present study focused on developing and validating the Cri...
Article
Hurricane María caused significant devastation on the island of Puerto Rico, impacting thousands of lives. Puerto Rican crisis migrant families faced stress related to displacement and relocation (cultural stress), often exhibited mental health symptoms, and experienced distress at the family level. Although cultural stress has been examined as an...
Article
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Emerging research provides insights into migration-related cultural stress experiences and mental health among Venezuelan migrants; however, prior studies have not considered the critical distinction between online xenophobia and in-person discrimination. To address this gap, we assess the psychometric properties of an abbreviated version of the Pe...
Article
Introduction: Although Indian Americans constitute the second-largest immigrant group in the United States, there is a paucity of information about Indian American youth, particularly with respect to substance use risk. We examined the relationship of social factors to permissive substance use beliefs (a proxy for substance use risk since they can...
Article
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On September 20, 2017, Hurricane Maria made landfall in Puerto Rico, devastating the archipelago and forcing thousands of Puerto Ricans to migrate to the U.S. mainland. Guided by a cultural stress theory framework, the present mixed method study examined how various cultural stressors impact participants’ daily interactions and mental health outcom...
Article
Research shows that cultural identity styles (CIS; i.e., hybrid identity style [HIS] vs. alternating identity style [AIS]) and cultural stressors (i.e., discrimination, negative context of reception, and bicultural stressors) are associated, but the directionality of this association remains unclear. Using a 2-wave, self-report dataset and a cross-...
Article
Executive Summary Millions of Venezuelans have fled their country in hopes for a better future outside the political and financial turmoil in their home country. This paper examines the self-reported needs of Venezuelans in the United States and Colombia. Specifically, it looks at perceived discrimination in each country and its effect on the servi...
Article
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Objectives: Following Hurricane Maria, scores of Puerto Rican “Maria migrants” fled the island with thousands permanently resettling on the United States (U.S.) mainland. Emerging evidence suggests that many Maria migrants are exposed to migration-related cultural stressors, including discrimination, negative context of reception, and language stre...
Article
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Este estudio cualitativo describe las experiencias de migración venezolana, desde la perspectiva de los contextos de salida y recepción, cambios en las relaciones familiares y síntomas depresivos. A partir de información cualitativa de preguntas abiertas a 647 migrantes y de cuatro grupos focales con 29 personas llevados a cabo en Bogotá y la Flori...
Article
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Objectives Persons experiencing homelessness (PEH) are at high risk for violent victimization. This study leverages unique data from a national study in the United States of America to provide estimates of non-fatal firearm injury among PEH and to describe the contexts related to injury, such as substance use, intent of the injury, and precipitatin...
Article
Background: As state legislatures work to reduce prison populations and increase the use of community-based alternatives, limited knowledge exists about the service needs of those under criminal justice supervision in the community. Preliminary research indicates unusually high rates of disease, disability, and death. Health risks for this populat...
Article
Objective: Driving under the influence (DUI) of psychoactive substances is an important public health and criminal justice issue, impacting the lives of millions of Americans. Although recent research provides up-to-date information regarding DUI among adults, there is a pressing need for research that focuses specifically on younger/underage driv...
Article
Introduction: Minority stress theory suggests that sexual minorities would be, on average, less likely than heterosexual individuals to seek out substance use treatment (due to concerns of stigma and rejection). However, prior research on the subject is mixed, and largely dated. In light of historic increases in societal acceptance and legal prote...
Article
Background: Drug testing is widely implemented as a work-based prevention strategy for employee substance use. However, it has raised concerns about its potential use as a punitive measure in the workplace where racialized/ethnic workers are over-represented. This study examines the rates of exposure to workplace drug testing among ethnoracial wor...
Article
Objective: We examine the interplay of acculturation orientation, cultural stress, and hurricane trauma exposure with behavioral health among Puerto Rican crisis migrants who relocated to the US mainland after Hurricane Maria. Method: Participants were 319 adult (Mage = 39 years; 71% female; 90% arriving in 2017-2018) Hurricane Maria survivors s...
Article
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This study examined the extent to which the Negative Context of Reception Scale generates valid and reliable scores with Puerto Rican Hurricane Maria survivors. A sample of 319 adult Hurricane Maria survivors completed measures of the negative context of reception, discrimination, language stress, depressive and anxiety symptoms, optimism, and life...
Article
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Hurricane Maria (2017) caused great damage to Puerto Rico, undermining people’s quality of life and forcing thousands to migrate to the U.S. mainland. Identifying individuals at elevated risk of suffering mental health problems as a function of being exposed to hurricane and cultural stress is crucial to reducing the burden of such health outcomes....
Article
Climate change-related shocks and stresses are prompting the movement of hundreds of thousands. The purpose of this study is to understand the experiences of climate change migrants, people displaced from these crises from the initial impacts of the hazard to their recent arrivals in a new location. To do so we draw on focus group discussions with...
Conference Paper
Background and purpose: For several months after Hurricane Maria made landfall in Puerto Rico, many Puerto Ricans continued facing serious challenges, including lack of access to food and clean water, limited communication, among others. In the face of such dire conditions, several hundred thousand Puerto Ricans left the island and tens of thousand...
Article
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The present article proposes an extension of the concept of adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) to apply to crisis migration – where youth and families are fleeing armed conflicts, natural disasters, community violence, government repression, and other large-scale emergencies. We propose that adverse events occurring prior to, during, and followin...
Article
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PurposeRooted in a trans-territorial framework, the present study was designed to provide new evidence regarding the patterns of communication among Hurricane Maria survivors who migrated to the U.S. in the aftermath of the storm.MethodsA total of 319 Hurricane Maria survivor adults ages 18 and older were recruited into the Adelante Boricua study b...
Chapter
The purpose of the present article is to provide an annotated bibliography of key references that provide information pertinent to substance use among immigrants in the United States over the past two decades. This includes studies examining immigrants from multiple sending regions (e.g., Africa, Asia), but—as a reflection of the long-standing tren...
Article
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Purpose: In September 2017, Hurricane Maria devastated Puerto Rico. Houses were destroyed, millions of people lost power and access to clean water, and many roads were flooded and blocked. In the years following the storm, hundreds of thousands of people have left Puerto Rico and settled on the U.S. mainland. The purpose of this study is to examine...
Article
Objective: This report aims to identify US mutual help group (MHG) participants' psycho-socio-behavioral profiles. Method: We used data from the 2015-2018 National Survey on Drug Use and Health and the sample included 1022 adults with past-year substance use disorders (SUD). We conducted a latent class analysis to identify subgroups of MHG particip...
Article
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PurposeMost research on driving under the influence (DUI) has relied upon variable-centered methods that examine predictors/correlates of DUI. In the present study, we utilize a person-level approach—latent class analysis (LCA)—to model a typology of individuals reporting DUI. This allows us to understand the degree to which individuals drive under...
Article
Objective: Despite the persistent and elevated risks of prescription drug misuse (PDM) among parenting mothers in the United States, few population-based studies of this phenomenon have been conducted. To address this gap, the present study examined the latest PDM trends and patterns among parenting mothers and assessed their behavioral health com...
Article
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Objective Simultaneous alcohol and marijuana (SAM) use exposes college students to a myriad of adverse consequences. However, there is no recent nationally representative study on SAM use among college students in the United States (US). To provide an update to the literature, the present study aimed to examine the trends, prevalence, and correlate...
Article
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Indian Americans now constitute the nation's second largest foreign-born population group in the United States (U.S.). Concerning Indian American youth, there is a paucity of information about their experiences in the U.S., particularly with respect to cultural stress and model minority stress, and whether these stressors have an impact on their me...
Article
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Objectives: The primary aim of this study was to examine the association between perceived discrimination and posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) outcomes among recently arrived Venezuelan parents in Florida and Colombia. The secondary aim was to determine whether, given the existence of an association between perceived discrimination and PTSD, th...
Article
Background Several million Americans use illicit stimulants every month and national data suggest stimulant use is increasing. However, little evidence exists that examines the prevalence and correlates of driving under the influence of stimulants (DUIS). The present study aimed to provide new evidence on the prevalence of DUIS in the U.S. adult po...
Article
Although several recent studies have examined psychosocial and demographic correlates of cannabis use disorder (CUD) in adults, few, if any, recent studies have evaluated the performance of machine learning methods relative to standard logistic regression for identifying correlates of CUD. The present study used pooled data from the 2015–2018 Natio...
Article
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Background Racial discrimination and cannabis use among Black emerging adults in America is a growing public health concern. However, research examining the relationship between exposure to perceived racism-based police use of force and cannabis use for this population is scant. This study examined the frequency of exposure (direct and indirect) to...
Article
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PurposePrior research examining alcohol use using national data has often overlooked vital heterogeneity among Hispanics, especially that related to language dominance and gender. We examine the prevalence of alcohol abstinence and—given prior research suggesting that many Spanish dominant Hispanics do not drink—examine rates of binge drinking amon...
Article
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Purpose This study examined whether socioeconomic inequalities account for Black/White disparities in: (a) the prevalence of potential risk factors for overdose among adults using cocaine; and (b) national mortality rates for cocaine-involved overdose. Methods Data from 2162 Non-Hispanic (NH) Black or White adults (26 +) who reported past-year coc...
Article
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Despite the adverse effects of substance use on health among individuals with preexisting cardiovascular disease (CVD), little is known about trends and correlates for substance use among individuals with CVD. We examined trends of use in tobacco, alcohol, and cannabis among US adults with heart disease. Using nationally representative data from th...
Article
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Purpose Previous studies have examined externalizing behaviors among African American youth using variable-centered approaches that study aggression and delinquency separately. However, aggression and delinquency often operate together in shaping adolescent behavior. For this reason, person-centered approaches are essential for identifying subgroup...
Article
Background Mutual-help groups (MHGs) are an integral component of the substance use disorder (SUD) treatment system in the U.S., and growing evidence suggests that they are effective and cost-effective for SUD-related problems. However, not much is known about the MHG participation patterns in the U.S. Methods Using the 2002-2018 National Survey o...
Article
Most research on cultural stressors and alcohol has focused on intercultural stressors. Continuing to exclude intracultural stressors (e.g., intragroup marginalization) from alcohol research will yield a biased understanding of the experiences of Hispanics living in a bicultural society. As we amass more studies on intracultural stressors, research...
Article
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We identify subtypes of Venezuelan youth based on patterns of technology-based communication with friends in their receiving (US) and sending (Venezuela) countries and, in turn, examine the behavioral health characteristics among different “subtypes” of youth. Using data from 402 recently-arrived Venezuelan immigrant youth (ages 10–17), latent prof...
Article
Background Roughly one in ten American adults have used hallucinogens, and emerging evidence suggests that the prevalence of use is increasing. However, our understanding of the degree to which individuals “specialize” in the use of a particular hallucinogen or are poly-hallucinogen users remains incomplete. Methods This study examined data from 6...
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Mothers who had a nonmarital birth experience multiple risk factors for depression, including housing instability. Yet, important questions remain about the extent of long-term housing instability and its association with future depression among at-risk mothers. Using the Fragile Families and Child Wellbeing Study data, we examine cumulative housin...
Article
Self-sufficiency is a concept commonly used to explore well-being and success of adult refugees. Yet, this concept has not been widely applied to the integration of young adult refugees and immigrants who arrive to the United States unaccompanied and who enter foster care. Therefore, this study meets a gap in the literature by investigating self-su...
Article
Background Informed by Latino Critical Race Theory, the present study examined how intersections between English use/proficiency, Spanish use/proficiency, and heritage group shape the varying experiences of ethnic discrimination reported by US Hispanic adults. Methods The study utilized data from 7,037 Hispanic adults from the 2012 to 2013 Nationa...
Article
Binge drinking among young adults (18-25) has been recognized as a public health concern. Considerable variation among drinking behaviors have been found among this group. Several statistical methods are available to identify theoretically and empirically meaningful correlates of binge drinking. The present study evaluated three methods for identif...
Article
Background Hallucinogen use is rising in the US, yet little is known regarding the prevalence and psychosocial/behavioral correlates of driving under the influence of these drugs. Methods This study examined data from 4,447 individuals ages 16-64 who reported past-year hallucinogen use in the 2016-2018 National Survey on Drug Use and Health. Preva...
Article
Background and purpose: Asian Americans (AAs) are the fastest-growing ethnic group in the United States. There is a paucity of research on alcohol-related problems among AAs. However, alcohol use and misuse are a growing concern within this population and are associated with adverse health and mental health consequences. Methods: Using data from...
Article
Purpose The present study aimed to examine the substance use prevention education involvement in different social settings among adolescents receiving public assistance—cash or food voucher—for low household income (heretofore, “PA program enrollees”) and preventive effects of each prevention educational setting on current substance use. Methods U...
Article
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Objectives: Millions of Venezuelans have left their country in search of safety and stability in the United States (U.S.) and Colombia, two countries where recent increases in anti-immigrant rhetoric and sentiment have occurred. The Perceived Negative Context of Reception Scale captures the degree to which immigrants report feeling that people from...
Article
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On September 20, 2017, Hurricane Maria made landfall in Puerto Rico as a Category 4 hurricane with sustained winds of 155 miles per hour and torrential rains that ravaged the United States territory. In the midst of the crisis, several hundred thousand Maria survivors boarded humanitarian flights and cruise ships, seeking refuge on the United State...
Article
Background Recent years have witnessed an increased interest in LSD. This study investigates current information on the trends and correlates of LSD use from years 2002–2018 and seeks to develop an initial typology of use and misuse. Methods Data is taken from the NSDUH (National Survey on Drug Use and Health) collected between 2002 and 2018 and t...
Article
Introduction As cannabis use rises among adults in the U.S., driving under the influence of cannabis represents a public health concern. Methods In 2020, public-use data from the National Survey on Drug Use and Health were examined, using an analytic sample of 128,205 adults interviewed between 2016 and 2018. The annual prevalence of driving under...
Article
Crisis migration refers to displacement of large numbers of individuals and families from their home countries due to wars, dictatorial governments, and other critical hazards (e.g., hurricanes). Although crisis migration can adversely influence direct and indirect effects on the mental health of adults and their children collectively as families,...
Article
Objective: Substance use continues to pose threats to adolescent health and development in the United States (U.S.). Despite evidence of effectiveness, little is known about adolescent participation in self-help groups (e.g., Alcoholic Anonymous, Alateen) and individual/group counseling for coping with own and another family member’s substance use....
Article
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Background In recent years, more than 5 million Venezuelans have left their once prosperous country, with several hundred thousand settling in the United States (US). At present, our understanding of the health risk behavior profiles of Venezuelan émigré youth, and their links with cultural stress, remains limited.Objectives Drawing from a sample o...
Article
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Background Relatively little research has accrued examining risk propensity across racial and ethnic groups, especially across time and at the population level.AimsUsing a margin for error framework to conceptualize risk variation among major racial and ethnic groups, we hypothesize that African American and Hispanic adolescents will be less likely...
Article
Purpose The present study aims to examine trends in cannabis views and use among US adults who are alcohol abstainers, non-binge drinkers, and binge drinkers. Methods We used data from the 2002-2018 National Survey on Drug Use and Health (US adults ages 18 and older, n=664,152). Consistent with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention guidel...
Article
Purpose This study sought to examine the trends in Internet support group (ISG) participation among U.S. adults and to investigate the sociodemographic and behavioral health profiles of ISG participants. Methods Data was derived from the National Survey on Drug Use and Health (2004–2018, n = 625,883). Logistic regression was used to examine signif...
Article
Objective: Women in families receiving Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) cash assistance are twice as likely to have a substance use disorder (SUD) than their non-TANF counterparts in the past year. However, evidence is limited about substance misuse patterns and comorbid mental health problems among women in TANF families. Method: Da...
Article
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We examined national trends and mental health correlates of discrimination among Latinos in the United States. We used data from two nationally-representative surveys based on the National Epidemiologic Survey on Alcohol and Related Conditions collected in 2004 and 2013. Results indicated that perceived discrimination, both any and recurrent, incre...
Article
Method: Two hundred Hispanic emerging adults from Arizona (n = 99) and Florida (n = 101) completed a cross-sectional survey, and data were analyzed using hierarchical multiple regression and moderation analyses. Results: Higher social media discrimination was associated with higher symptoms of depression and generalized anxiety. Moderation analy...
Article
Background Since 2015, more than four million Venezuelans have fled their once prosperous nation, prompting an ever-intensifying refugee crisis. Recent research with Venezuelan parents suggests that many are exposed to elevated migration-related stress, experience behavioral health problems, and express profound concern for their children’s post-mi...
Article
Background: Many health professionals lack adequate training needed to effectively address alcohol and other drug (AOD)-related problems. Building upon our previously successful in-person faculty training programs, we designed and pilot tested the brief online Faculty Education in Addiction Training (FEAT) Program for social work and internal medic...
Article
Background Cocaine-involved overdose mortality has recently risen in the United States (US), yet it is unclear to what extent patterns in cocaine-involved overdose mortality parallel patterns in cocaine use. This study: examined time trends (2002-2018) in past-year cocaine use and cocaine-involved overdose mortality in the US; and compared demograp...