Project Summary I am an Assistant Professor in the Center for Alcohol and Addiction Studies in the Department of Behavioral and Social Sciences at Brown University and a licensed Clinical Psychologist. My expertise is in the etiology and behavioral pharmacology of alcohol and cannabis use (CU) and problems using multi-method (laboratory and field-based) approaches. The proposed project will expand this expertise to include the study of substance use and mental health symptoms in perinatal samples. Utilizing support from an expert mentorship team and the CADRE Cores, the proposed research project will examine how CU and social determinants of health impact depression and anxiety symptoms in the moment and longitudinally across the perinatal period (i.e., pregnancy and postpartum). Maternal mortality is a crisis in the U.S., particularly among Black/African American women, and perinatal mood and anxiety disorders are a leading cause of maternal morbidity and mortality. Moreover, racial disparities in prevalence of perinatal mood and anxiety disorders in the U.S. are striking, as rates are estimated to be twice as high among Black women and three times as high among Hispanic/Latinx women relative to non-Hispanic White women. Further, there are strong links between CU/Cannabis Use Disorder (CUD) and mood and anxiety symptoms. However, no studies have examined trajectories of CU with symptoms of depression and anxiety across the perinatal period, nor how important social determinants of health (e.g., racial discrimination) may impact these trajectories. The proposed study will build on my current investigative skills in the study of momentary processes using ecological momentary assessment and draw on expertise from a multidisciplinary team in conducting longitudinal substance use research in a racially diverse clinical perinatal cannabis using sample. I will be well-poised to collect data that provides initial understanding of how CU and important social determinants of mental health predict momentary symptoms of depression and anxiety as well as symptom trajectories over time. This work will provide essential preliminary data to launch an independent line of work that will utilize mixed-methods approaches to comprehensively study between- and within-person processes, including substance use, of critical perinatal mental health outcomes. In addition to supporting this expansion of my own career trajectory, these aims reflect the CADRE mission to investigate biopsychosocial mechanisms (e.g., perceived discrimination, health disparities) by which substance use (i.e., cannabis) exacerbates chronic disease (i.e., mood and anxiety disorders) in vulnerable populations (e.g., pregnant people of color). This project will utilize the support of the REACH core for remote recruitment of a racially-diverse sample, the Clinical Laboratory Core for supplies, equipment, and technical capabilities, and the Administrative Core for scientific leadership and administra...