A Person-Centered Analysis of Craving in Smoking-Cue-Exposure Research

Smoking-cue-exposure research offers a powerful method to examine craving, test new interventions, and identify at-risk smokers. Meta-analyses consistently show smoking-cue exposure increases craving levels. By focusing on mean levels, however, investigators fail to consider person-centered analyses addressing the percentage of smokers responding to cue exposure with increased urge. We conducted preregistered analyses of the percentages of 672 nicotine-deprived daily smokers (pooled from seven studies) who reported target levels of urge before and during smoking-cue exposure. Sixty-nine percent of smokers increased their ratings during cue exposure. Note that 31% of nonresponders reported a maximal urge before cue exposure, which precluded their classification as a responder using traditional cue-reactivity analyses and suggests that traditional analyses underreport cue-reactivity effects. An alternative, peak-provoked-craving analysis revealed the effectiveness of cue exposure to generate potent urges (more than three quarters of the sample reported at least 70% of scale maximum). Further research integrating person-centered analyses into the craving literature promises to advance addiction theory and research.

Research Design—The Arctic as a Natural Laboratory

Chapter 3 lays out the research design and explains why an unprecedented drop-off in polar ice in 2007 makes the Arctic an ideal natural laboratory to test Rent-Addiction Theory against competing explanations. All five of the Arctic littoral states experienced this exogenous shock at the same time and have potential offshore resources at stake. Observing how strongly each state responded to the shock by investing in projecting power to back its resource claims allows one to infer the underlying preferences and interests of these states. Comparing states’ behavior directly before and after the shock controls for slower-moving and potentially confounding factors, such as nationalism, status-seeking, and relative power. This chapter also describes how key variables of interest such as economic structure, domestic political institutions, and exclusionary foreign policy are operationalized.

Introduction

Chapter 1 introduces the book’s core research question: why do some states have a stronger preference than others to project power to secure control over territory and resources as a source of rents and wealth? The book’s core argument is that what states make influences what they want to take. States that rely primarily on income from making goods and services have less interest in taking territory. In contrast, states that rely primarily on income from extracting natural resources have a stronger interest in taking territory. This argument is derived from Rent-Addiction Theory, which is briefly summarized in this chapter along with its contribution to the fields of international relations and existing research on territorial conflict. The chapter concludes with an overview of the layout of the book with brief descriptions of the subsequent chapters.

Digital Storytelling With Heroin Users in Vancouver

As the opioid crisis escalates across North America, photographers are highlighting the gravity of the situation. However, many of their images of people who use drugs are problematic and stigmatizing. This study looks at how digital storytelling (DST) was used in order to assist long-term heroin users taking part in North America’s first heroin-assisted treatment program in Vancouver, BC, in amplifying and sharing their personal experiences. DST is a participatory and collaborative process designed to help people share narrative accounts of life events. A total of 10 participants took part in a 3-day DST workshop and eight individuals completed 2 to 3-minute digital stories. Participants demonstrated increased agency in terms of how they represented themselves. Their digital stories disrupt hegemonic representations of heroin users and can help educate the public and decision makers about compassionate and science-based treatments for chronic addiction. Theory, methodology, practical applications, and ethics are discussed.