Trial reportDrug and alcohol dependence2015
Exploration of the telescoping effect among not-in-treatment, intensive heroin-using research volunteers.
Trial report in Drug and alcohol dependence, 2015. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 17 papers.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
17 citing papers in PubMed, 26 citations in OpenAlex.
- Sex and Hormonal Effects on Drug Cue Reactivity and Its Regulation in Human Addiction.Biological psychiatry · 2026Article
- Modeling escalation of drug intake to identify molecular targets for treating substance use disorders: A slippery slope upward.Neuroscience and biobehavioral reviews · 2025Review
- Sex Differences in the Development of an Opioid Addiction-Like Phenotype: A Focus on the Telescoping Effect.Biological psychiatry global open science · 2024Article
- Overdose mortality rates for opioids and stimulant drugs are substantially higher in men than in women: state-level analysis.Neuropsychopharmacology : official publication of the American College of Neuropsychopharmacology · 2023Article
- Sex/Gender Differences in the Time-Course for the Development of Substance Use Disorder: A Focus on the Telescoping Effect.Pharmacological reviews · 2023Review
- Gender differences among persons entering medication treatment for opioid use disorder in the community.The American journal on addictions · 2022Article
- Bidirectional influence of heroin and cocaine escalation in persons with dual opioid and cocaine dependence diagnoses.Experimental and clinical psychopharmacology · 2022Article
- Circuit and neuropeptide mechanisms of the paraventricular thalamus across stages of alcohol and drug use.Neuropharmacology · 2021Review
- Challenges for Women Entering Treatment for Opioid Use Disorder.Current psychiatry reports · 2020Review
- A Comparison of Substance Use Patterns Among Lifetime Heroin-Injecting Individuals By Racial Groups.Addiction research & theory · 2020Article
- Escalation of drug use in persons dually diagnosed with opioid and cocaine dependence: Gender comparison and dimensional predictors.Drug and alcohol dependence · 2019Observational
- Sex and gender differences in substance use disorders.Clinical psychology review · 2018Review
- Predictors of transitions across stages of heroin use and dependence prior to treatment-seeking among people in treatment for opioid dependence.Drug and alcohol dependence · 2018Article
- The Telescoping Phenomenon: Origins in Gender Bias and Implications for Contemporary Scientific Inquiry.Substance use & misuse · 2018Article
- Gender Considerations in Addiction: Implications for Treatment.Current treatment options in psychiatry · 2015Article
- Race and socioeconomic status in substance use progression and treatment entry.Journal of ethnicity in substance abuseArticle
- Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
5 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundAddiction research literature suggests some demographic groups exhibit a later age of substance use initiation, more rapid escalation to dependence, and worse substance use-related outcomes. This 'telescoping' effect has been observed more often in females but has not yet been examined in not-in-treatment heroin users or racial subgroups.
methodsNot-in-treatment, intensive heroin-using adults screened for laboratory-based research studies (N=554; range 18-55 yr; mean age: 42.5 yr; 60.5% African American [AA]; 70.2% male) were included in this secondary analysis. A comprehensive drug history questionnaire assessed heroin-use characteristics and lifetime adverse consequences. We examined telescoping effects by racial and gender groups: Caucasian males and females; AA males and females.
resultsCaucasian males initiated heroin use significantly later than AA males but this difference was not observed for age at intensive heroin use (≥3 times weekly). Caucasian males reported significantly more lifetime heroin use-related consequences, were more likely to inject heroin, and reported more-frequent past-month heroin use, but did not differ from AA males in lifetime heroin quit attempts or prior heroin treatment. Females, compared to males, reported later onset of initial and intensive use, but there was no gender-telescoping effect from initial to intensive heroin-use.
conclusionsIn this not-in-treatment sample, Caucasian males exhibited more rapid heroin-use progression and adverse consequences than AA males, i.e., within-gender, racial-group telescoping. Despite later-onset heroin use among females, there was no evidence of gender-related telescoping. Given the resurgence of heroin use, differential heroin-use trajectories across demographic groups may be helpful in planning interventions.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.