Substance use and abuse

 Students have opportunities to participate in a diverse set of projects related to substance use and abuse. Several faculty members share an interest in substance use, but operate from very different research paradigms: (a) longitudinal research that follows participants over several years or across multiple generations, (b) experimental laboratory research (including studies that use a simulated bar environment),(c) field-based, mixed methods research that combines qualitative and quantitative strategies, and d) prevention studies designed to reduce risk of alcohol-related harms in high risk populations.  Studies include both child and adult participants, and several focus specifically on Latino populations.

A Sample of Current Projects

Dr. Felipe González Castro directs the “Corazon Projects” that consist of related research projects. These projects utilize a common research interview protocol that consists of an integrative mixed-methods (IMM) approach to data gathering and analysis.  The mixed-methods methodological procedures include:  (1) the transcription of audiotaped interview sections, (2) thematic coding, (3) axial coding, (4) regression model analysis, and (5) storyline analysis.  The drug abuse study examines the life trajectories, social and cultural determinants of resilience and of polydrug use among male Latino and other drug users who are in treatment for the abuse of major illegal drugs.  In addition, Dr. Castro is the Principal Investigator of Familias en Acción/ Families in Action. This project is a randomized controlled study of parents and their children to develop and evaluate a parent education intervention that can improve the effectiveness of the Keepin‛ it Real drug use prevention intervention. Models of the parent-child relationship and family systems are examined to understand how strengthening the quality of this relationship and strengthening family function can aid in drug use prevention.

Dr. Laurie Chassin directs the Adult and Family Development Project. This program represents a series of studies of children in alcoholic and non-alcoholic families. The research has been funded continuously by NIDA and NIAAA since 1987. The goal of this project is to understand the intergenerational transmission of risk for alcoholism and drug abuse/dependence, including a genotyping collaboration with the Missouri Alcoholism Research Center. Dr. Chassin is also a co-principal investigator on the IU Smoking Survey, a NIDA-funded 30-year longitudinal study that has examined the natural history of tobacco use and its intergenerational transmission. In addition, Dr. Chassin is co-principal investigator of the Pathways to Desistance Study, examining the relations between substance use, substance use treatment, and desistance from offending.

Dr. Will Corbin conducts research on alcohol use and abuse during late adolescence and emerging adulthood. His program of research includes three distinct types of study designs: a) lab based alcohol administration studies in a simulated bar designed to understand the effects of alcohol on behavioral risk taking (e.g. gambling, risky sexual behavior, aggression), b) longitudinal survey research designed to understand risk and protective factors for the development of alcohol related problems during emerging adulthood, and c) prevention studies designed to reduce alcohol related harms among college students and other young adult populations. Dr. Corbin is currently an investigator on two NIAAA funded projects that support his work.

Dr. Clark Presson is co-principal investigator on the IU Smoking Survey, a NIDA-funded 30-year longitudinal study that has examined the natural history of tobacco use and its intergenerational transmission.