To better understand substance use, this pilot study focuses on how people’s language may reveal their relationship to substances on a spectrum from healthy to unhealthy usage. Because psychological research is heavily biased toward studying problematic substance use, we will add to this literature by exploring what healthy usage looks like. Additionally, while much literature focuses on how language can reveal underlying psychological states, there is a gap where substance use is concerned. Data will be collected from a nonclinical, convenience sample who will fill out an online survey consisting of three parts. As part of the project, participants will (1) provide a writing sample directed by a prompt, (2) fill out a quantitative survey on frequency of substance use, and (3) complete the Substance Use Spectrum Scale. Researchers will use the Linguistics Inquiry and Word Count (LIWC) computer program to analyze the writing samples. Pearson’s correlations will be run between each participant’s linguistic style and substance use patterns. We expect that participants’ use of function words will correlate with their scores on the frequency scale and Substance Use Spectrum Scale. This study is exploratory in nature because the gap in research is large, but the opportunities are vast. Understanding how language can reflect patterns of substance use can inform diagnostics, treatment options, and future research.

Depression is one of the most common mental health disorders, affecting 7% of adults in the United States every year. One common trend found in adults suffering from depression is substance abuse of illicit drugs or alcohol. The aim of this current study is to indicate the significance of substance use as a predictor of depression in adults ages 18-30. An analysis of adults (n=268) and their depression and substance use levels was conducted to see if substance use affects their traits and state characteristics of depression (e.g. loneliness, history of depression, control over future events, timeframe of thoughts, and negative thoughts). This analysis was done using an app called “Mind Window'' that identifies patterns of user’s thinking by asking questions about their thoughts at random times throughout the day along with established questionnaires to assess trait-level characteristics. Examining depression as an outcome variable, linear regression models were used for the two parts of this study. The first is an analysis of non substance users and individuals who indicated substance use, to see how this difference may affect their depression predictors. The second part analyzes substance users and how different levels of intake have an effect on the outcome variable of depression. This is an ongoing analysis and current results are not yet available. The results of this study should indicate whether substance users differ from non substance users in terms of depression outcomes and how the level of substance intake may play a role in this.

Experiencing sexual assault can increase the risk for posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD; Dworking, 2020). PTSD has also proven to be highly comorbid with alcohol use in college students (Griffin et al., 2014). Although gender differences have been studied regarding PTSD and alcohol use separately, gender differences in comorbidity are less well understood, especially after a sexual assault – a research area that has focused on women. To build on prior research, we examined if PTSD symptom severity and alcohol misuse after a sexual assault were associated and how this association differed by gender. For this study, 848 cisgender men and cisgender women undergraduate students were recruited from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln and consented to an online web-based study. Participants filled out a survey concerning gender identity, sexual assault victimization (Modified Sexual Experiences Survey), PTSD severity (PTSD Checklist of DSM-5), and alcohol misuse (AUDIT-C). Participants who reported sexual assault were categorized into four groups: (1) PTSD only, (2) alcohol misuse only, (3) both, and (4) neither. It was hypothesized that women will demonstrate higher rates of PTSD compared to men, and men will demonstrate higher rates of high-risk drinking than women. Women are expected to be more likely than men to report co-occurring PTSD and high-risk drinking. Analyses will be conducted using chi-square tests in SPSS. These findings can help psychologists understand gender differences in recovery.