Grants help Alexa Raudales and Emmanuel Thomas continue their research on opioid and alcohol use and related harms, respectively
Two University of Rhode Island psychology students will further their research studies after being awarded prestigious Ruth L. Kirschstein NRSA F31 Fellowships, funded by the National Institutes of Health.
Alexa Raudales and Emmanuel Thomas will each benefit from a nearly $100,000, two-year fellowship award intended to “enable promising predoctoral students with potential to develop into a productive, independent research scientists.” Raudales’ study is funded by the National Institute on Drug Abuse and will examine posttraumatic stress, opioid use and acute suicide risk. Thomas’ study is funded by the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism and will look at depression, racial stressors and symptoms, and alcohol use among Black adults.
“It is a huge accomplishment to receive one of these awards and is a credit to the hard work and perseverance of these students,” said Nicole Weiss, associate professor of Psychology and primary sponsor of these awards. “To have two students in the same lab receive them at the same time is even more remarkable.”
Raudales is studying the real-time associations between post-traumatic stress symptoms, opioid use and acute suicide risk among individuals in the community. Specifically, the study will use a multi-phase design among trauma-exposed adults with a recent history of opioid use and suicidal thoughts and behaviors. Participants will take part in 30 days of ecological momentary assessment, a method which involves repeated sampling of behavior in real time as it unfolds in peoples’ natural environment.
“Despite the robust link between rising suicide and opioid-related deaths, there is a scarcity of empirical studies in this area,” Raudale wrote in a project summary. “This limited research is insufficient for informing prevention and intervention efforts. Studies on opioid use and suicide have almost exclusively relied on cross-sectional data (e.g., medical records) that ask people to retrospectively report on experiences. Longitudinal research is needed that examines in real time the specific nature and direction of the relationship between opioid use and acute suicide risk.”
In his study, Thomas is exploring associations among depression symptoms, racial stressors and symptoms, and alcohol use in Black adults in the community. The proposed study has two aims: to assess the reciprocal momentary relations between depression symptoms and alcohol use and its problems; and to explore the proximal role of racial stressors and symptoms in alcohol use, in addition to the influence of severity of depression symptoms. Participants will take part in an interview, followed by 14 days of ecological momentary assessment.
“It is crucial that future research in Black adults explore culturally relevant proximal risk factors for alcohol use and problems that vary as a function of depression symptoms,” Thomas wrote, noting that studies show a majority of Black adults experience discrimination in employment, police interactions and daily life. “Racial discrimination results in a characteristic set of symptoms—uncontrollable hyperarousal, feelings of alienation, worries about future events, and perceptions of others as dangerous. However, despite evidence to suggest that racial stressors and symptoms are linked to increased alcohol use and related harms, no studies have examined whether racial stressors and symptoms proximally predict alcohol use and problems in this population.”
Information from these studies can be used for novel treatments for addressing substance use and comorbid mental health conditions. The results of these studies can be used to inform the development of new mobile-based treatments that can remotely deliver skills at the tight moment to reduce substance use and comorbid mental health conditions.