Tessa Nalven

• Master of Arts
• University of Rhode Island

Background: Multiracial American adults have the highest rates of binge drinking and illicit drug use of all racial groups, yet little is known about the risk and promotive factors that contribute to their substance use. Objectives: This study examines how individual factors (i.e., shifting racial expressions, perceived racial ambiguity, creatin...

Introduction Positive psychological characteristics have been found to be associated with discrimination and school outcomes separately; however, no work has examined these associations together or in North American Indigenous (NAI) populations. NAI adolescents experience high rates of racial discrimination. Because discrimination has a detrimental...

Objective: First Nations peoples experience disproportionate health inequities compared to most non-Indigenous populations. Historical trauma is one factor that has received growing attention in relation to health inequities among First Nations populations. The goal of the present study was to improve understanding of the specific forms, impacts, a...

Intentions to use substances are a robust risk factor for future substance use. Primary Socialization Theory (PST), with its focus on relational factors, is well-suited to provide insight into American Indian adolescents' intentions to use substances given the importance of relationships in American Indian communities. The goal of the present study...

Background North American Indigenous (NAI) communities have identified alcohol use as a primary health concern. Experiences of racial discrimination are associated with greater alcohol use, but findings are mixed regarding the role of culture in this relationship. The goal of the present study was to examine the role of culture in the association b...

Background Adolescent alcohol use is a significant public health concern and rates of alcohol use are higher among American Indian (AI) adolescents than national samples of non‐AI youth. A potential factor in understanding AI alcohol use is cultural identity, which can vary widely based on experiences of historical trauma. We used latent class anal...

Substance use has been identified by Indigenous populations as contributing to health disparities facing their communities. Rates of trauma exposure and post-traumatic stress disorder are higher in Indigenous, compared to non-Indigenous, populations and have been linked to substance use. Historical trauma is thought to be one mechanism underlying s...

Alcohol use disorders (AUDs) are among the most prevalent behavioral and mental health diagnoses. Individuals with an AUD are at increased risk for numerous consequences across their social, health, and psychological functioning. Research suggests that differences may exist in the prevalence and consequences of AUD and in the efficacy of AUD treatm...

Objective The COVID-19 pandemic has led to substantial changes in college student alcohol use. Changes in drinking motives may explain some of these changes in drinking patterns. The purpose of the present study is to explore how drinking motives and alcohol use have changed amongst college students considering the timeframes before and after the o...

Aims: The present study assessed community and culturally alcohol-related harm among North American Indigenous (NAI) individuals, as well as the acceptability and feasibility of harm-reduction approaches in one reserve-based NAI community. Methods: Participants lived on or near a NAI reserve in Canada. Semi-structured focus groups were conducted...

Background American Indian (AI) adolescents report disproportionate higher rates of alcohol use and alcohol‐related consequences than adolescents from other racial/ethnic groups. Trauma exposure is also reported at high rates among AI individuals and likely confers risk for alcohol use. The purpose of the present study was to examine the effects of...

Background Rates of both depression and alcohol use are disproportionately higher among American Indian (AI) adolescents than adolescents in the general population. The co‐occurrence of depression and alcohol use is common and clinically relevant given their reciprocal negative influences on outcomes. Family factors may be especially relevant becau...

Over the past two decades, rates of alcohol use among female students have risen to meet or even surpass those seen among males. Yet, little is known about factors that play a role in the relationship between drinking motives and alcohol consumption for female college students. The present study examines self-esteem as a moderator in the associatio...

North American Indigenous youth experience disproportionate rates of racial discrimination as well as consequences associated with alcohol use. Self-compassion has been found to be related to both racial discrimination and alcohol use, separately. However, no work to date has examined the role of self-compassion as a moderator of the links among ra...

Background Alcohol use is disproportionately higher among multiracial than monoracial adults; yet, associated risk and protective factors are underexplored. The present study compared levels of experienced racial discrimination, racial identity affiliation, and heavy alcohol use among multiracial and monoracial adults and tested whether racial iden...

Pharmacological treatments for opioid use disorders (OUDs) may have mixed efficacy across diverse groups, i.e., sex/gender, race/ethnicity, and socioeconomic status (SES). The present systematic review aims to examine how diverse groups have been included in U.S. randomized clinical trials examining pharmacological treatments (i.e., methadone, bupr...

Positive psychology research has led to the development of brief interventions designed to promote positive emotions: positive psychological interventions (PPIs). Randomized controlled trials examining PPIs have found them to be effective in increasing well-being and decreasing depressive symptoms. PPIs have been studied in samples consisting prima...

Given the disproportionate alcohol-related consequences experienced by North American Indigenous youth, there is a critical need to identify related risk and protective factors. Self-compassion, which has been found to mitigate the effects of trauma exposure, may serve as one such protective factor given the high degree of historical trauma and con...

Minority Stress Theory posits that discrimination is associated with negative mental health outcomes; however, the location of the perceived discrimination may matter. This study examines whether race, inside-neighborhood discrimination, and their interaction are associated with hazardous drinking, alcohol-related consequences, and depressive/anxie...

Objective: The present study examines how perceptions of peer use, risks of use, and benefits to oneself and others from marijuana use are associated with past-month marijuana use and intentions to use marijuana socially among American Indian (AI) youth. Method: The American Drug and Alcohol Survey (ADAS), a measure of substance use and related...

Introduction Substance use among American Indian (AI) adolescents is a significant public health concern, as they report greater health disparities related to substance use compared to other racial/ethnic groups. The present study examines differences across classes of substance use behaviors regarding alcohol- and drug-related consequences. Metho...

Objective: Indigenous youth often exhibit high rates of alcohol use and experience disproportionate alcohol-related harm. We examined the moderating role that valuing cultural activities has on the relationship between positive alcohol expectancies and alcohol use and heavy drinking in a sample of Indigenous youth. Method: First Nation adolescen...

Purpose: North American Indigenous (NAI) communities often cite substance misuse as problematic in their communities. The Competing Life Reinforcers (CLRs) model suggests that when reinforcers are valued, important, and incompatible with substance use, they will be associated with less substance misuse. Three categories of CLRs were identified in...

Background American Indian (AI) adolescents report high rates of marijuana use and related consequences and availability of marijuana has a robust relationship with marijuana use. The purpose of the present study was to examine the role of perceptions of approval (i.e., injunctive norms), and acceptability (i.e., descriptive norms and perceived har...

American Indian (AI) adolescents experience disproportionately higher rates of alcohol use and related consequences. While self-esteem has been found to be associated with alcohol use in non-AI samples, little is known about this relationship in AI adolescents. Further, there is a dearth of literature examining the psychometric properties of self-e...

Background: Indigenous youth are at increased risk of initiating substance use at early ages and suffer greater negative consequences related to substance use as compared to non-Indigenous youth. Behavioral Theories of Choice suggests that substance use is contingent on the availability of substances and the availability of alternatives to substanc...

Background: American Indian (AI) youth have disproportionately high rates of both heroin and other opioid misuse and recently have seen a large increase in negative outcomes due to opioid misuse. To address the dearth of research on within-group risk factors for heroin and other opioid misuse in AI adolescents, the goal of the present study is to...

There is a robust relationship between impulsivity and alcohol use. The present review summarizes the existing literature on the influence of the dimensions of impulsivity and alcohol use problems among racial/ethnic groups. In particular, we focus on how chronic stress may influence the relationship between specific dimensions of impulsivity (e.g....

Patients' psychotherapy outcome expectation correlates with post-treatment outcome; yet, there is limited research explicating causal determinants of this expectation. We tested the influence of specific expectancy persuasion methods, integrated into a video presentation of a cognitive-behavioral treatment (CBT) rationale, on socially anxious analo...

1097 Background: Expression of Rb, the protein product of the RB tumor suppressor gene, is required for cyclin D kinase (CDK) 4/6 inhibition in luminal breast cancers. Triple negative breast cancers (TNBC) frequently exhibit Rb loss and are thus believed to be poor candidates for CDK4/6 inhibition. However, the features associated with Rb loss in T...

Female BRCA1/BRCA2 mutation carriers are at substantially increased risk for developing breast and/or ovarian cancer, and are offered enhanced surveillance including screening from a young age and risk-reducing surgery (RRS)-mastectomy (RRM) and/or salpingo-oophorectomy (RRSO). While there are established guidelines for early detection of breast ca...