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he study, published online today in the  International Journal of Epidemiology , also found that, contrary to widely reported research findings, suicide and alcohol-related deaths are not to blame for increasing mortality rates among middle-aged whites. The results call into question recent reports suggesting that what have become known collectively as "despair deaths" -- by suicide, alcohol and drugs -- are on the rise among white Americans, particularly men, facing a lack of economic opportunity and an increase in chronic pain. "We find little empirical support for the pain-and distress-based explanations for rising mortality in the U.S. white population," said lead author Ryan Masters, an assistant professor of sociology at CU's Institute of Behavioral Science. "Instead, recent mortality increases have likely been shaped by the U.S. opiate epidemic." Masters said metabolic diseases, including heart disease , obesity and diabetes, are also ...

Researchers administered an online survey to 1,537 first-year Canadian undergraduates (two-thirds of whom were women) during 2015. Problematic alcohol use was measured by the Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test (AUDIT) and personality was measured by the Substance Use Risk Profile Scale (SURPS). The 11 secondhand-harm choices given to students ranged from "interrupted your studies" to "sexually harassed/insulted you." The prevalence of secondhand harm from alcohol was high among undergraduates. There were three distinct but related types of harm: "strains" such as interruption of sleep or study (68%), "threats" such as harassment or assault (44%), and "interpersonal harm" such as arguments with peers (64%). Thirty-five percent of students reported experiencing all three types of harm in the last term. All four personality dimensions were associated with greater secondhand-harm exposure, albeit through different mechanisms. ...