Latest news with #Stamates
Boston Globe
14-07-2025
- Health
- Boston Globe
Why a URI study is examining the link between ADHD and alcohol use disorder
Stamates spoke to the Globe about the study, the work of URI's Q. What do we know about the link between ADHD and alcohol use disorder right now? Advertisement Stamates: That 18 to 25 [year old] period when people are transitioning to young adulthood ... there hasn't been as much research focused to that age range. And so what we do know is that the folks who continue to have symptoms related to ADHD into adulthood, they're at higher risk for developing a substance use disorder. If they do receive treatment, they usually have poor treatment outcomes, so they're more likely to relapse. If they have to go to an inpatient facility, they have a longer stay at that facility, and so it just increases the risk of having more symptoms related to substance use disorders and less … improved treatment outcomes. Get Rhode Island News Alerts Sign up to get breaking news and interesting stories from Rhode Island in your inbox each weekday. Enter Email Sign Up "What we are examining is their executive functioning skills … and how that relates to the development of alcohol use disorder symptoms," URI psychology professor Amy Stamates said. University of Rhode Island What will your research explore? We just wrapped up year three. What we are looking at is among college students who have ADHD, we're comparing them to college students who do not have ADHD. What we are examining is their executive functioning skills … and how that relates to the development of alcohol use disorder symptoms. So there are certain symptoms that we might look for, things like craving, and then are they experiencing any problems related to their drinking? And so we're looking at that over [a] one-year period through some different technological advances that we have in research. Advertisement With executive functioning, it's a really complicated thing to study. Executive functioning skills are really important, cognitive skills that we need for daily functioning. So we use these every day to solve problems and make decisions. We're processing information, we're learning how to control our behavior, and obviously folks with ADHD might have issues with some of these skills, but that doesn't look the same for everybody with ADHD. And so what we're looking at is what specific types of executive functioning are important for the young adults with ADHD, and how do these relate to their substance use problems. This study is supported by a grant from the National Institutes of Health. With all the federal cutbacks to research funding , are you concerned about whether that will impact your work ? I think everyone's concerned about how this will impact their research. I think that for this particular focus, substance use problems, they're not going away. I think that NIH will continue to fund this type of work, but we don't really know what the budgets are going to look like long term. You're also the director of URI's Health and Alcohol-Related Problems Lab. Can you tell me a little bit about what the lab does? Advertisement We're really interested in different approaches to studying substance use problems, and so in my lab ... we actually give participants alcohol in the lab to see how they respond to it. And so what we're looking at is if I give you alcohol in the lab, how does that impact your decision-making in the lab, how does that impact your motivation to drink more alcohol? We look at that behaviorally in the lab. The other thing that we do in my work is a data collection method called ecological momentary assessment. And this type of method has become critical to looking at substance use behavior, because participants download an app on their phone and then we just send them surveys throughout the day to ask them, where are you? Who are you with? Did you use substances? We ask things about like, if you're at a party did you drive? Do you have a designated driver? And then the next morning, we might ask things about, you know, do you have a hangover? Did you black out last night? So we're getting more detailed information about what actually is going on, versus when they come in the lab. What about our relationship with alcohol concerns you most? And are there glimmers of hope in improving our relationship? Researchers don't do a good job at talking about the risk associated with alcohol, and a lot of people don't know that alcohol use is a carcinogen. It increases the risk of cancer, other health issues and different types of chronic disease, and I think a lot of that isn't common knowledge among folks. Advertisement The other part that's hopeful is …. younger adolescents and younger adults right now are engaging in less alcohol use than traditionally. Part of that could be because there's other things going on — they're not going out, they're isolating in their house, or they're not actually going to parties and things like that, but we're generally seeing a downward trend. So I think that's hopeful. This interview has been edited for length and clarity. The Boston Globe's weekly Ocean State Innovators column features a Q&A with Rhode Island innovators who are starting new businesses and nonprofits, conducting groundbreaking research, and reshaping the state's economy. Send tips and suggestions to reporter Alexa Gagosz at . Christopher Gavin can be reached at
Yahoo
01-05-2025
- Yahoo
'Took my whole life from me': Man sentenced for fatal road rage shooting in Kentucky
A Northern Kentucky man who shot and killed a 72-year-old during what prosecutors described as a road rage incident in Florence, Kentucky, will spend time behind bars after pleading guilty to a reduced charge. Travis Marks, 45, of Walton, was sentenced on April 30 to five years in prison by Boone County Circuit Judge James Schrand. The prison term matches a sentencing recommendation by prosecutors as part of Marks' guilty plea in March. Marks pleaded guilty to reckless homicide, a lesser charge than the murder count he was initially indicted on, and prosecutors agreed to drop counts of wanton endangerment, reckless driving and menacing. Prosecutors say Marks fatally shot Stephen Stamates at the intersection of U.S. Route 42 and Ewing Boulevard in October 2023. The incident began when Marks and Stamates first encountered one another while driving on Kentucky Route 18. Marks told police he was driving in the right lane when Stamates, who was in the left lane, tried to merge and Marks accelerated ahead with both men proceeding to Ewing Boulevard, prosecutors said. They added that Marks admitted to shouting at Stamates when they reached a traffic light. Prosecutors said Marks 'aggressively sped up' when the road changed to a single lane and even drove into an oncoming turn lane to confront Stamates, who was driving beside him. A witness told investigators that Marks was swerving toward Stamates' vehicle and appeared to be 'tailgating it.' Once both drivers stopped at a light at U.S. 42 and Ewing Boulevard, Stamates exited his truck and approached Marks, who remained seated in his 2005 Mercury Grand Marquis and opened fire. Stamates dropped to the pavement. In court filings, Marks' attorneys argued that he acted in self-defense, saying that Stamates tried to reach into Marks' car. 'He got out of the car and he reached into mine,' Marks said in a 911 call. 'I think he was trying to hurt me.' However, prosecutors argued that Marks instigated the road rage and eye-witness accounts consistently stated that the unarmed Stamates never entered the car. One witness told police Stamates was resting his hands on the driver's side door of Marks' car and did not reach into the vehicle. An autopsy found Stamates died of a single gunshot wound to the chest, prosecutors said. In denying Marks' motion to dismiss a murder charge on self-protection grounds, Schrand noted that the autopsy and forensic testing of Stamates' shirt showed he wasn't close enough to be touching Marks or inside the car. Kathleen Stamates said in court that she was married to Stephen Stamates for 51 years and 'within a second he was gone.' 'You took my whole life from me,' she said, adding that she'd already lost a son before her husband was killed. She said her life is now 'at a standstill.' Marks did not make a statement during his sentencing hearing. Prosecutors previously tried to introduce evidence of an earlier road rage incident involving Marks; however, the judge ruled against allowing that evidence to be used at trial. In 2018, Marks was identified as a person of interest in a wanton endangerment investigation after a woman reported to police that another driver cut her off and then pointed a handgun at her during a confrontation at a traffic light. The woman told the other driver she was pregnant and he turned onto a different road, prosecutors wrote in court documents. She provided a physical description that matched Marks' appearance, along with a license plate number registered in his name. While Marks was never charged in connection with the earlier incident, prosecutors said it is nearly identical to the 2023 road rage shooting, the only difference being that no one died. Although Marks' attorneys noted in a Sept. 24 court filing that the victim did not name Marks because she never returned a phone call from police, nor did she identify Marks by his photo. This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: Man sentenced for killing 72-year-old in Florence road rage shooting
