# Mediators of Violence Exposure and Substance Use (MoVES)

> **NIH NIH P20** · UNIVERSITY OF NEBRASKA LINCOLN · 2022 · $299,135

## Abstract

PROJECT ABSTRACT
Violence exposure substantially increases substance use and abuse, doubling the risk of developing a substance
use disorder and contributing substantially to overall use levels and relapse, yet the individual mechanisms that
account for violence-related increases in substance use are not well examined. The proposed research will focus
on three candidate mechanisms by which violence exposure maintains and exacerbates substance use: negative
affect, craving, and stress dysregulation. Each mechanism has been individually linked to violence exposure and
substance use in prior research. However, that research has focused almost exclusively on urban populations
or users of alcohol or nicotine. The present study will address these gaps by focusing on rural populations and
users of cocaine, amphetamines, and opiates. Three specific aims will be achieved: delineate the role of negative
affect as a proximal predictor of illicit drug use and a mediator between violence exposure and substance use
among a sample of active drug users by using EMA methods (Aim 1); delineate the role of craving as a proximal
predictor of illicit drug use and a mediator between negative affect and substance use in the same population by
using EMA methods (Aim 2); and delineate the role of stress regulation in substance use frequency among this
population by combining lab-based procedures and EMA methods (Aim 3). To achieve these aims, this project
will recruit a subsample (n=75) of a larger longitudinal cohort of rural drug users for lab-based research and
follow-up monitoring. Participants will complete controlled procedures for assessing stress dysregulation,
followed by real-time assessments of craving, negative affect, and substance use over a period of five weeks.
This research will take the innovative step of combining lab-based procedures with validated ecological
measures to provide novel data on the basic behavioral and cognitive processes operating in situ in an individual
drug user’s environment. To set the stage for future research, the project will also combine multiple measures of
stress and stress responding, including self-report and objective physiological data via novel data collection
technology that links real-time physiological data with real-time self-report measures, thus substantially
expanding current research capabilities focused on rural drug use. This project sets the stage for a long-term
goal of developing a complete model of the effects of violence exposure on rural addiction, and, in turn, more
targeted interventions for this pressing national problem. These long-term goals fulfill multiple priority focus areas
of the National Institute on Drug Abuse strategic plan for 2016-2020 by investigating “how social and
environmental stimuli can interact with [biological] networks to perturb their balance” (Focus Area 1), “the
common underlying substrates and biological mechanisms that contribute to common comorbidities” (Focus
Area 3), and...

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10377945
- **Project number:** 5P20GM130461-04
- **Recipient organization:** UNIVERSITY OF NEBRASKA LINCOLN
- **Principal Investigator:** Arthur Andrews
- **Activity code:** P20 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2022
- **Award amount:** $299,135
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2019-04-05 → 2024-02-29

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10377945

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10377945, Mediators of Violence Exposure and Substance Use (MoVES) (5P20GM130461-04). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-24 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10377945. Licensed CC0.

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