Introduction and Aims Transdermal alcohol sensors allow objective, continuous monitoring and have potential to expand current research on adolescent and young adult alcohol use. The purpose of this manuscript is to evaluate the feasibility and reliability of transdermal alcohol sensor use among female adolescents as compared to female young adults. Design and Methods This trial included 59 female adolescents and young adults aged 14–24 years who reported drinking during the previous month. All participants were asked to wear a Giner Wrist Transdermal Alcohol Sensor (WrisTAS)‐7 over a 1 month prospective study. Participants came to the research lab weekly to complete a detailed self‐report of behaviours, including day of drinking events, amounts and types of alcohol use and length of drinking events. Estimates of blood alcohol concentration (eBAC) were computed from self‐report data using the Matthew and Miller, NHTSA and Zhang equations. Daily transdermal alcohol concentration (TAC) peaks and calculated eBAC peak data were analysed with paired‐samples t‐tests and repeated measures correlations for validity comparisons. Results All participants (100%, n = 59) completed the trial, however, two participants were removed due to greater than 50% of missing transdermal alcohol sensor data. Of the 57 participants, the data included 1,722 days of continuous alcohol monitoring. Missing data was recorded more frequently among female adolescents at about (11.78%) as compared to female young adults (8.59%; χ2 = −18.40, P < 0.001). Participant self‐report of drinking occurred with greater frequency (374 events) than detected by the WrisTAS transdermal alcohol sensors (243 events). On days when self‐report and sensor data indicated a drinking event, participants' eBAC was moderately correlated with TAC, after accounting for repeated measures. Discussion and Conclusions This study finds that transdermal alcohol sensors are moderately reliable when sensor data is paired with self‐report. This objective data collection method may improve the ability to collect alcohol curves among adolescents.

There are significant barriers in engaging pregnant and postpartum women that are considered high-risk (e.g., those experiencing substance use and/or substance use disorders (SUD)) into longitudinal research studies. To improve recruitment and retention of this population in studies spanning from the prenatal period to middle childhood, it is imperative to determine ways to improve key research engagement factors. The current manuscript uses a qualitative approach to determine important factors related to recruiting, enrolling, and retaining high-risk pregnant and postpartum women. The current sample included 41 high-risk women who participated in focus groups or individual interviews. All interviews were analyzed to identify broad themes related to engaging high-risk pregnant and parenting women in a 10-year longitudinal research project. Themes were organized into key engagement factors related to the following: (1) recruitment strategies, (2) enrollment, and (3) retention of high-risk pregnant and parenting women in longitudinal research studies. Results indicated recruitment strategies related to ideal recruitment locations, material, and who should share research study information with high-risk participants. Related to enrollment, key areas disclosed focused on enrollment decision-making, factors that create interest in joining a research project, and barriers to joining a longitudinal research study. With regard to retention, themes focused on supports needed to stay in research, barriers to staying in research, and best ways to stay in contact with high-risk participants. Overall, the current qualitative data provide preliminary data that enhance the understanding of a continuum of factors that impact engagement of high-risk pregnant and postpartum women in longitudinal research with current results indicating the need to prioritize recruitment, enrollment, and retention strategies in order to effectively engage vulnerable populations in research.

Given the potential respiratory health risks, the association of COVID infection and the use of combustible cigarettes, electronic nicotine delivery systems (ENDS), and concurrent dual use is a priority for public health. Many published reports have not accounted for known covarying factors. This study sought to calculate adjusted odds ratios for self-reported COVID infection and disease severity as a function of smoking and ENDS use, while accounting for factors known to influence COVID infection and disease severity (i.e., age, sex, race and ethnicity, socioeconomic status and educational attainment, rural or urban environment, self-reported diabetes, COPD, coronary heart disease, and obesity status). Data from the 2021 U.S. National Health Interview Survey, a cross-sectional questionnaire design, were used to calculate both unadjusted and adjusted odds ratios for self-reported COVID infection and severity of symptoms. Results indicate that combustible cigarette use is associated with a lower likelihood of self-reported COVID infection relative to non-use of tobacco products (AOR = .64; 95% CI [.55, .74]), whereas ENDS use is associated with a higher likelihood of self-reported COVID infection (AOR = 1.30; 95% CI [1.04, 1.63]). There was no significant difference in COVID infection among dual users (ENDS and combustible use) when compared with non-users. Adjusting for covarying factors did not substantially change the results. There were no significant differences in COVID disease severity between those of varying smoking status. Future research should examine the relationship between smoking status and COVID infection and disease severity utilizing longitudinal study designs and non-self-report measures of smoking status (e.g., the biomarker cotinine), COVID infection (e.g., positive tests), and disease severity (e.g., hospitalizations, ventilator assistance, mortality, and ongoing symptoms of long COVID).

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Health behaviors have been extensively studied as predictors of disease; however, these behaviors may interact and intersect to amplify or ameliorate risks of predicted disease outcomes. Breadth of study is needed to examine how single antecedents may act to influence multiple health behaviors, and how multiple health behaviors may predict other behaviors and/or interact to influence the occurrence of disease outcomes. Better understanding of how behaviors interact and impact health is necessary to identify the appropriate leverage points for the evolution of health behavior theory, and the promotion of multiple health behavior change.