Social Networks of Youth who Misuse Prescription Opioids and Risk for HIV/HCV

描述：K01指导研究科学家发展奖将为候选人Alia Al-Tayyib博士提供高级培训和结构化指导，以促进她向研究独立过渡。该候选人的目标是成为一名具有网络方法专业知识的独立调查员，以了解与艾滋病毒和丙型肝炎病毒相关的风险，重点是青少年向注射毒品的过渡。拟议的工作范围将填补现有文献中的一个显着空白，从社会网络的角度研究一种新兴的药物使用模式。处方药的非医疗使用是美国增长最快的毒品问题，每年导致的死亡人数超过海洛因和可卡因的总和。阿片类止痛药是最常被滥用的处方药，年轻人滥用它们的比例惊人。此外，青少年注射吸毒的人口流行率正在上升。这种新出现的药物滥用模式，即从滥用处方阿片类止痛药到注射海洛因使用的转变，在很大程度上尚未得到充分研究。鉴于注射吸毒对感染艾滋病毒和/或丙型肝炎病毒构成风险，了解加速或抑制年轻人从口服摄入处方阿片类药物向注射吸毒过渡的因素至关重要。社会网络影响吸毒途径，青少年特别容易受到其社会网络的影响。这个

DESCRIPTION: This K01 Mentored Research Scientist Development Award will provide the candidate, Alia Al-Tayyib, PhD with advanced training and structured mentoring to facilitate her transition to research independence. The candidate's goal is to become an independent investigator with expertise in network approaches to understand risk related to HIV and hepatitis C virus with an emphasis on transition to injection drug use among youth. The proposed scope of work will fill a marked gap in the existing literature by examining an emerging pattern of drug use, from a social networks perspective. The nonmedical use of prescription drugs is the fastest growing drug problem in the United States, resulting in more deaths per year than heroin and cocaine combined. Opioid pain relievers are the most commonly misused prescription drug and young people misuse them at alarming rates. Furthermore, the population prevalence of injection drug use among youth is on the rise. This emerging drug abuse pattern, i.e., the transition from misuse of prescription opioid pain relievers to injection heroin use, is largely under-studied. Understanding the factors that accelerate or inhibit transition from oral ingestion of prescription opioids to injection drug use among young people is critical given the risk injection drug use poses for acquiring HIV and/or HCV. Social networks influence pathways into drug injecting and youth are particularly vulnerable to the influence of their social networks. The candidate will use a two-step approach to examine factors that influence the transition from prescription opioid misuse to injection drug use. Observations of standardized lifetime timeline assessments with youth in substance treatment programs will be followed by the recruitment of 120 participants between 15 and 24 years who currently misuse prescription opioids or have transitioned to injection. Participants will be recruited using respondent driven sampling (RDS) and will be guided through an in-depth tracing of their social network. The project is divided into three sequential stages, where each training goal is matched with a research aim in which the investigator will apply her new skills. The candidate will pursue training in (1) substance use and co-occurring mental health issues among youth and young adults, (2) social network methodology and analysis, and (3) longitudinal analysis. The following specific aims guide the three stages. Aim 1: elucidate the complex risk environment and co-occurring disorders associated with transition to injection, Aim 2: examine the structural attributes of, and exposure to risk within, the social networks of youth who misuse prescription opioids or have transitioned to injection, and Aim 3: determine the feasibility of RDS augmented with social network tracing for longitudinal study. The K01 award will provide the candidate with protected time to develop the expertise, pilot data, and publication record necessary to establish research independence and position her as one of a handful of doctoral-trained epidemiologists with social network expertise. Furthermore, the K01 will situate the candidate to study future emerging patterns of drug use and their relationships to injection initiation and to other risks.