Current Projects
Media, and Minority Stress: Alcohol Craving Responses in Transgender and Gender Diverse Adults (Leah’s Dissertation!)
Dissertation update: Leah’s proposed dissertation project will use an experimental design to test whether exposure to transphobic news media coverage heightens alcohol cravings among U.S. trans adults. Further, the proposed project examines whether pride and community connectedness serve as protective resilience factors, which may inform the development of substance use interventions tailored for TGD populations.
Barriers to Mental Health Care in Racial Minority Groups (Luis’s 2YP!)
This national, online survey study investigates cannabis use, coping motives, and mental healthcare access barriers among emerging adults (ages 18–29) from racial minority groups (RMGs), specifically Black and Latine individuals. Guided by self-medication theory and social determinants of health frameworks, this project aims to (1) compare psychosocial and structural barriers to mental health services across racial/ethnic groups, (2) examine whether these barriers are associated with cannabis use, and (3) explore whether access barriers are linked to coping-motivated cannabis use. Findings will clarify race-specific cannabis risk mechanisms and inform culturally responsive interventions to promote health equity in substance use treatment.
Black and Latinx/Hispanic Health Study (Sabrina’s 2YP!)
This project aims to (1) understand the relationships between macro-level social experiences (e.g., systemic racism and pervasive discrimination), (2) substance use behaviors (e.g., cannabis and alcohol use), and (3) related health risks within racially minoritized groups (e.g., Black and Latinx/Hispanic). By investigating how broader social structures and experiences of discrimination impact individuals’ health outcomes, this project may illuminate how social inequalities contribute to substance use disparities. This project combines social determinants of health frameworks with substance use epidemiology to provide a comprehensive understanding of how societal forces shape substance-related risks for racial and ethnic minoritized (REM) populations.
Rural Trans Health Study (Leah’s 2YP!)
The Goodhines Lab is partnering with LGBTQIA+ organizations to collect data from rural transgender and nonbinary (TGNB) adults living in the state of Maine via an online survey. This project will examine the relationship between gender minority stress and substance use behaviors in rural TGNB adults. This study aims to (1) characterize substance use in various gender minority identities, (2) compare substance use rates to national averages, and (3) determine if discrimination, rejection, and victimization are salient gender minority stressors for rural TGNB people.
Updated 2025: Leah’s 2YP found that discrimination (e.g., barriers to updating legal documentation) and victimization (e.g., sexual assault) were the most prominent gender minority stressors among transgender adults in a predominantly rural state. Both were significantly associated with hazardous cannabis use, while victimization also predicted hazardous alcohol use and past-year binge drinking. In contrast, nonaffirmation (e.g., misgendering) and rejection (e.g., loss of social relationships) were not significantly associated with any cannabis or alcohol use outcomes. TGD adults in highly rural areas reported greater victimization and rejection than their urban counterparts, highlighting heightened vulnerability to minority stressors in rural communities.
Young Adult Health Study (Krutika’s 2YP!)
This national, online survey study explores the potential association and risk mechanism underlying socioeconomic adversity and cannabis use in rural and urban young adults. Findings will inform the characterization of rural (v. urban) cannabis use, and assist in the isolation of targets to inform tailored intervention efforts and mitigate associated downstream harms.
Updated 2025: Krutika’s 2YP found that rural (versus urban) participants reported significantly lower SSS and greater, but nonsignificant, lifetime cannabis use prevalence and frequency, past month consumption, and hazardous use. An indirect effect was found from rurality to hazardous cannabis use via SSS and emotion dysregulation. Current findings highlight SSS and emotion dysregulation as intermediate factors underlying cannabis risk in rural young adults. [https://doi.org/10.1080/10826084.2025.2540936]
Rural Young Adult Health Study (In development)
This state-wide longitudinal survey study explores the patterns and mechanisms underlying substance use and sleep problems during young adulthood in critically underserved and socioeconomically disadvantaged rural communities. Findings will inform culturally sensitive prevention and treatment to curtail substance-sleep problems in rural young adults, ultimately reducing disparities to advance health equity. The PI is actively pursuing NIH R15 funding to commence this project within 1-2 years.
The Black Bear Health & Wellness Study (2022-2023)
The Black Bear Health & Wellness Study is a two-wave longitudinal survey study of UMaine undergraduates (ages 18-25). Our aim is to learn more about health behaviors, such as sleep, exercise, substance use and sex behaviors. We hope that findings of this project may support campus health by informing the development of tailored prevention and intervention programming. Findings may also inform follow-up generalizability studies among regional young adults across the state of Maine.