AIDS Care
January 1, 2025
Yan Wang, Carla J. Berg, Yeycy Donastorg et al.
2 citations
Among female sex workers living with HIV in the Dominican Republic, greater mindfulness was linked to lower depression and HIV stigma, and higher antiretroviral therapy adherence both at the same time and at later time points. Higher mindfulness also showed contemporaneous associations with reduced at-risk alcohol use and higher viral suppression. The findings suggest that mindfulness instruction could help improve mental health and HIV outcomes in this population.
Drug and Alcohol Dependence Reports
March 1, 2026
Jing-Jer Chen, Carla J. Berg, Y Tony Yang
1 citation
From 2021 to 2023, overall hallucinogen use among Americans aged 12 and older remained stable at about 2.8%, but trends for individual substances diverged. LSD use declined from 0.88% to 0.58%, while ketamine use increased from 1.61% to 1.91%. Use of ecstasy/MDMA and tryptamines (including DMT) stayed steady, and PCP and Salvia divinorum remained rare. Hallucinogen use was concentrated among young adults and males, with higher odds among uninsured individuals and those below the federal poverty level. Substance-specific monitoring may better inform screening, prevention, and harm-reduction efforts than aggregate hallucinogen indicators.
International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health
February 17, 2026
Carla J. Berg, Cassidy R Loparco, Darcey M. Mccready et al.
1 citation
Among 3,227 US adults aged 18–34 surveyed in 2025, past-6-month cannabis use was reported by 40.5% and past-year psychedelic use by 11.9%. Psychedelics had less legalization support, less promotional and risk-message exposure, and lower social acceptability than cannabis, while being perceived as more addictive and harmful. Factors linked to both cannabis and psychedelic use included lower perceived addictiveness and harm, higher social acceptability, more adverse childhood experiences, more promotional and risk-message exposure, and higher scores on a mental health questionnaire. Greater legalization support for both substances was associated with lower perceived addictiveness and harm, higher social acceptability, and more promotional-message exposure. Message exposure may be especially important in shaping psychedelic use and legalization support.
Journal of Psychoactive Drugs
June 19, 2026
Carla J. Berg, Darcey M. Mccready, Cassidy R Loparco et al.
Among a sample of young adults with high rates of past-month cannabis use, lifetime and past-year psychedelic use were 27.7% and 11.9%, respectively, with psilocybin/amanita, MDMA, and LSD being most common. Nearly half used psychedelics only for nonmedical purposes. Of those who had ever used, 26.5% had microdosed. Older age, male sex, Black race, metropolitan residence, more depressive symptoms, and more adverse childhood events were linked to lifetime use. Microdosing was associated with not having children, more anxiety, and more adverse childhood events. Mental health symptoms and adverse childhood events were also tied to higher use motives, including expansion, mood enhancement, and symptom management.