IMPORTANCE Alkaline free-base nicotine is bitter and a respiratory irritant. High-nicotine electronic cigarette (e-cigarette) products contain acid additives that change nicotine from a free-base to a protonated salt chemical form, which could improve the sensory experience of vaping, particularly among never smokers unaccustomed to inhaling free-base nicotine. OBJECTIVE To determine whether exposure to e-cigarettes with salt vs free-base nicotine formulations improves the appeal and sensory experience of vaping e-cigarettes and whether nicotine formulation effects differ by e-cigarette flavor and ever combustible cigarette smoking status. DESIGN, SETTING, AND PARTICIPANTS Single-visit double-blind within-participant randomized clinical trial was conducted in an academic medical center outpatient clinical research facility in Southern California. Participants were 119 individuals with past 30-day e-cigarette or combustible cigarette use aged 21 years or older recruited from November 2019 to March 2020. INTERVENTIONS Participants self-administered standardized puffs of each 10 differently flavored e-cigarette solutions using a pod-style device. Each flavor was administered in salt (benzoic acid added) and free-base (no benzoic acid) nicotine formulations with commensurate nicotine concentrations (mean, 23.6 mg/mL). The 20 solutions were administered in randomly assigned sequences. Immediately after puffing each solution, participants rated appeal and sensory attributes. Self-reported appeal (mean of like, dislike [reverse-scored], and willingness to use again ratings) and 4 sensory attributes (sweetness, smoothness, bitterness, and harshness; analyzed individually) on visual analog scales with not at all and extremely anchors (range, 0-100). MAIN OUTCOMES AND MEASURES RESULTSOf the 119 participants; 39 (32.8%) were female. The mean (SD) age was 42.1 (14.4) years;

In this article, we expand and test several theoretical models addressing the longitudinal relationships between bully victimization, depression, academic achievement, and problematic drinking from 3 approaches: Interpersonal risk model, symptom driven model, and a transactional model. Unfortunately, prior research has failed to consider these associations at the within-person level, which is arguably a more relevant level of analysis. Participants were 1,875 students sampled from four Midwestern middle schools and followed for 2 years. Baseline age ranged from 11-13 years with a racially diverse sample (44.3% African American, 29.2% White, 7% Hispanic, 3% Asian/Pacific Islander, and 16.5% Multi-Racial). The current study used an auto-regressive latent trajectory with structured residuals (ALT-SR) model to examine the within-person cross-lagged associations between bully victimization, depression, academic achievement, and problematic drinking. Results indicated support for an interpersonal risk model, where experiences of early bullying victimization resulted in a cascade of problems throughout middle school. Within this interpersonal risk model we also established that academic achievement was a key mechanism linking bully victimization to problematic drinking during adolescence We did not find evidence for a traditional symptom driven model (e.g., stemming from depression); however, we did find long-term problems stemming from early problematic drinking. Results are discussed in relation to prevention interventions for problematic drinking as well as screenings for early adolescent depression, bully victimization, and academic problems. (PsycINFO Database Record

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Drinking events are dynamic. The interactions of individuals, groups, and the environment as they relate to drinking behaviour are overwhelmingly complex. This paper presents an empirically grounded dynamic conceptual model to better understand drinking events. Using a collaborative mixed‐methods approach, we developed an aggregated system dynamic model of drinking events. The process began with identification of system elements and boundaries. Once the first aspects of the model were completed, we constructed a causal loop diagram, an aggregated causal loop diagram, and stock and flow diagrams. Finally, we developed and ran computer simulations of the dynamical models. The model presented here can be used to guide future agent‐based, system dynamics, or differential equation‐based models. Such models can help inform future empirical work and modelling to increase the understanding of drinking events and provide solutions to the problems that happen proximal to these events. Copyright © 2018 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

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