The present study describes the development and evaluation of the Ally Identity Measure (AIM), a new instrument to assess the skills to support lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender (LGBT) persons, knowledge of the LGBT experience, awareness of LGBT oppression, and engagement in action among heterosexual allies to the LGBT community. Items were constructed based on prior qualitative and theoretical literature, revised by experts, and submitted to psychometric evaluation. An exploratory factor analysis (EFA) with data from 269 participants yielded 3 factors: (a) knowledge and skills, (b) openness and support, and (c) oppression awareness. A confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) with a separate sample of 240 participants confirmed the stability of this 3-factor structure. Data with a third sample of 221 participants offered evidence of acceptable reliability (i.e., Cronbach’s alphas of .76 to .88). In an effort to assess convergent and discriminant validity, participants completed the AIM along with a number of other measures assessing personality factors, impression management, LGBT attitudes, and engagement in collective action. The AIM full-scale and subscales demonstrated good convergent (i.e., correlated positively with openness, r = .27 to .39; affirming attitudes, r = .45 to .68; and collective action, r = .29 to .65; correlated negatively with social dominance, r = −.27 to −.51 and right wing authoritarianism, r = −.18 to −.45) and discriminant validity (impression management, r = −.00 to −.07). The final 19-item version yielded 2-week test–retest reliability coefficients of .43–.82 in a sample of 54 individuals. Limitations and suggestions for future research are discussed.

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Self-concept theory was used as a theoretical basis to investigate the utility of social norms alcohol prevention programs designed for college athletes. The predictive relationship among alcohol use and athletic identity, competitiveness, drinking game participation, and level of sport participation was investigated. It was discovered that drinking game participation is a significant predictor of total weekly alcohol use above and beyond the other predictors. In addition, drinking game participation and organized recreational sport participation were significant predictors of total binge drinking episodes. While controlling for drinking game participation and competitiveness, no significant differences were found in the amount of alcohol consumed by the participants in different levels of sport participation (intramural, intercollegiate, organized recreational, other sport). It was demonstrated that individuals not currently participating in sports with an athletic identity in the same range as current athletes consumed alcohol at similar rates to current athletes, thus supporting athletic identity as an appropriate way of classifying athlete status. These results highlight the importance of drinking game participation in the alcohol use of college athletes and the validity of applying selfconcept theory to social norms alcohol prevention programs. iv ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

With the broadening legislative changes surrounding legalized recreational marijuana in the United States, tracking the impact of such changes is imperative. As such, in a recent article published in Addictive Behaviors, we identified several emerging trends in the first state to legalize recreational marijuana, Colorado. Since our publication, similar research from other states that have legalized recreational marijuana (Oregon and Washington) has emerged. Here, we attempt to expand on our findings and identify patterns across the research, by comparing and contrasting our results to research in other states with legalized recreational marijuana. We identified several trends including, but not limited to, the rates of marijuana use rising after decriminalization, but not the retail sale of recreational marijuana; recreational marijuana legalization leading to a decrease in the relationship between marijuana and alcohol use; and the identification of binge drinkers as a high-risk population for marijuana use after recreational legalization. We also explore the complicated relationship between marijuana use and academic performance, and point out areas where future research is needed.

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