PROJECT ABSTRACT
This overdose epidemic in the United States (US) is evolving, and adequate understanding of the behavioral
patterns of polysubstance use is critical. Polysubstance use occurs frequently with both prescription and
recreational psychoactive drugs. However, patterns of current polysubstance use have not been evaluated in
the general population. Delineating the nature of the behavior can help shift focus beyond opioids for
combating this epidemic. This research will utilize an existing nationally representative drug survey (~60,000
respondents per year) and conduct a new follow-up polysubstance survey surrounding personal experiences in
life relevant to drug use. The overall objective of this research will be to better understand today’s
polysubstance use behaviors among the general population. We will do this in three ways. First, present-day
behavioral patterns of polysubstance users in the general population will be characterized using latent class
analysis to define unique behavioral risk profiles and quantity their prevalence. Second, critical time points in
drug behavior progression will be explored. Among current drug users completing the follow-up survey, a latent
profile analysis to characterize the trajectories, or profiles, which characterize drug use will be evaluated.
Finally, this research will integrate upstream factors such as interpersonal, community, and societal level
factors measured on the follow-up survey. This research will be the first to quantify the prevalence of these
factors and incorporate them into a predictive model to classify polysubstance use based on a person’s life
experiences and not their drug use directly. Finding meaningful and impactful points of intervention is key to
effectively reducing the health risks associated with polysubstance use in the future. This approach addresses
the evolving drug overdose epidemic by quantifying the complexities of substance use disorders among the
general population, delineating the profiles of changing risk across the life span to find opportunities for
intervention, and evaluating the predictive value of upstream factors for classifying polysubstance use. The
information gleaned from this project can be leveraged -for real-world interventions.
