Hannah Allen

• Doctor of Philosophy
• Professor (Assistant) at University of Mississippi

Objectives: This study assessed trends in depression symptoms, executive function, and their association across age among older adults. Subgroup comparisons were made between older adults meeting and not meeting physical activity guidelines on variables and associations of interest. Methods: Participants (n = 2473) were older adults ages 60 to 7...

Substance use and mental health problems are associated with academic difficulties among high school and undergraduate students, but little research has been conducted on these relationships among graduate students. The sample consisted of 2683 graduate students attending two large, public universities. Standard measures were used to collect data o...

The COVID-19 pandemic is a public health crisis. College student alcohol use is highly prevalent and primarily occurs in social settings where risk for COVID-19 transmission is heightened. This study explored the associations between alcohol use frequency, quantity, motives, and context with: (i) quarantine due to COVID-19 exposure and (ii) a posit...

Background Nonmedical use of prescription stimulants (NMPS) has increased on college campuses during the past two decades. NMPS is primarily driven by academic enhancement motives, and normative misperceptions exist as well. However, large, nationwide studies have not yet been conducted to generalize findings more broadly and gain a deeper understa...

Simultaneous alcohol and marijuana (SAM) use—or use of both substances with overlapping effects—is common among emerging adults and is linked to increased risk for problematic substance use outcomes. The current study identified subgroups of emerging adult SAM users based on their typical alcohol and marijuana use patterns and compared groups on ke...

Introduction and Aims Simultaneous alcohol and marijuana (SAM) use is reported by roughly 30% of young adult drinkers. Among SAM users, SAM use days have more negative substance‐related consequences than single‐substance days. Little information is available about contextual factors contributing to the likelihood of SAM use on a particular day. Thi...

Background: Individuals who engage in alcohol and cannabis co-occurring use are at heightened risk for negative outcomes than individuals who only use alcohol or only use cannabis, but far less is known about implications of alcohol and cannabis co-occurring use for prescription drug misuse (PDM). Objectives: This study aimed to (1) identify whethe...

Health behavior researchers should refocus and retool as it becomes increasingly clear that the challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic surpass the direct effects of COVID-19 and include unique, drastic, and ubiquitous consequences for health behavior. The circumstances of the pandemic have created a natural experiment, allowing researchers focusing on...

Objective Little is known about whether level of affective arousal (i.e., high vs. low) is associated with alcohol use and whether this relationship differs by valence (i.e., positive vs. negative affect) among adults. Methods. Participants were n=93 self-reported current drinkers (ages 25-65) who reported positive (PA) and negative affect (NA) sev...

Among young adults, subjective feelings of alcohol's effects often guide risky decision making. The majority of studies measuring subjective effects have used singular indices ("How drunk do you feel?") which limits our understanding of young adults' full range of subjective states and their individual differences in subjective effects language. To...

Objective: It is not well understood whether heavy drinking interferes with academics on specific days or if this relationship simply reflects between-student differences. Participants: N = 736 college students completed 14 consecutive daily assessments during 7 semesters. Methods: Days were classified as non-drinking, moderate drinking, heavy epis...

Background There are high levels of stress among graduate students, and stress is associated with multiple negative outcomes among student populations, including academic burnout. Sleep could play an important role in explaining the association between stress and burnout, but these relationships have not been explored among the graduate student pop...

Objective: This study evaluated variation in substance use and mental health among graduate student subgroups. Participants: A sample of 2,683 master’s and doctoral students completed an online survey in October 2017. Methods: Subgroup variation in behavioral health by demographic and program characteristics, particularly degree type and academic d...

Extensive research has examined alcohol use context and motives among undergraduates, but less is known about where, when, and why graduate students drink. The current study aimed to describe the motives and situational context of graduate student alcohol use, identify demographic and program characteristics associated with alcohol use motives and...

Objective Alcohol use among older adults is a major public health concern given potentially negative effects to health and functioning in this population. Little is known about context in which alcohol use among older adults occurs, or how context of use is associated with risk behaviors. Method Invitation letters were mailed to licensed drivers 6...

Objective: The purpose of this investigation was to examine the relationships among alcohol use, driving behavior, and indicators of health among older adults. Methods: A sample of 818 adults ages 65 and older were recruited through the state motor vehicle administration and completed an online survey. Regression models were used to assess the a...

Objective: This study examines the prospective relationship between substance use during college and two outcomes: having definite plans to attend graduate school; and, among individuals with plans, enrolling in graduate school upon college graduation. Participants: n = 980 were originally enrolled as first-time, first-year college students in a...

Objectives: The purpose of this investigation was to determine what older adults find most concerning about driving as they age and how these concerns are related to driving skill, behaviors, and experiences. Methods: In partnership with the Maryland Motor Vehicle Administration, a sample of 751 older adults ages 65 and older completed an online su...

Research has shown that alcohol and marijuana use are associated with academic performance difficulties, but the relationship to completion of a graduate degree has not been explored. Undergraduate students (n = 1253) were assessed during their first year of college and annually thereafter until age 29. Among the subset of the original sample who e...

Older adults are at high risk for alcohol and medication interactions (AMI). Pharmacies have the potential to act as ideal locations for AMI education, as pharmacy staff play an important role in the community. This study examined the perspectives of pharmacy staff on AMI prevention programming messaging, potential barriers to and facilitators of o...

There is very limited understanding about the context of older adult alcohol consumption. To better understand older adult drinking behaviors, a random sample of 430 Maryland residents ages 65+ years (54% male; 85% non-Hispanic white; aged 65–97 year (mean=72.2, sd=6.2), 64% college educated, 74% retired) took an online survey that assessed context...

Risk of experiencing alcohol and medication interactions (AMI) is significant among older adults due to the substantial prevalence of alcohol and medication use in this segment of the population. Given the lack of community-level AMI prevention interventions for older adults, this study aimed to examine the immediate effects of a brief, pharmacy-ba...

Background: Older adults are at risk for experiencing alcohol and medication interactions (AMI) given concomitant alcohol and medication use. However, there have been limited efforts to develop and evaluate AMI prevention interventions. Purpose: The current study examined sustained intervention effects on older adults' attitudes, awareness, and...

Background: The majority of older adults take prescription or over-the-counter medications and about half consume alcohol regularly. Despite high risk for alcohol medication interactions (AMI), few community-level interventions exist to prevent AMI. The current study assessed the acceptability of educational materials created for use in a brief in...

Background: Driving under the influence of alcohol is a leading cause of injury and premature death among young adults, and college-educated individuals are at particularly high risk. Less is known about driving under the influence of other drugs, which is on the rise. Method: This study describes prospective seven-year trends in alcohol and oth...

Background: Drug use among college students is associated with adverse academic and health outcomes and risks to personal safety. Objectives: This study utilized data from a longitudinal study to estimate annual prevalence, cumulative lifetime prevalence, and incidence of ten types of drug use during the eight years after college entry and the a...

Background: College students perceive widespread availability of drugs and prescription medications for non-medical use on campus, but less is known about the relationship between opportunity to use, use, and use given opportunity of these drugs during and after college. The current study describes annual trends in (1) opportunity to use, (2) use,...

BACKGROUND: College students who engage in high-risk drinking patterns are thought to "mature out" of these patterns as they transition to adult roles. College graduation is an important milestone demarcating this transition. We examine longitudinal changes in quantity and frequency of alcohol consumption between the college years and the 4 years a...