Nicotine's effect on drinking sweetened alcoholic drinks
Official title: Nicotine-enhancement of sweetened alcohol consumption: A behavioral economic evaluation
Funded at University of Nebraska Lincoln · NIH-11525854 · Data updated 2026-11-12
This project looks at whether nicotine makes people drink more sweetened alcoholic drinks, especially among people who smoke or drink heavily.
Quick facts
| Grant type | NIH-funded research |
|---|---|
| Study type | NIH-funded research |
| Funding institution | University of Nebraska Lincoln NIH-funded |
| Lab location | 1 site (Lincoln, United States) |
| Project start | September 19, 2025 |
| Project end | February 28, 2029 |
| Funding year | 2026 |
| Award (this year) | $191,583 |
| NIH project number | 5P20GM130461-08 |
| Project ID | NIH-11525854 on NIH RePORTER |
Who could benefit from this research
✓Could help
Adults who currently use nicotine (for example, smokers) and also drink alcohol frequently or have alcohol use disorder, and who can attend in-person visits, are the ideal participants.
✕Less likely to help
People who do not use nicotine, rarely drink alcohol, or cannot travel to the study site are unlikely to get direct benefit from this work.
What this research studies
If you take part, you'll come to lab sessions where researchers will offer alcoholic drinks that are sweetened in different ways and measure how much you choose to drink and how intoxicated you feel. The team will compare people who use nicotine with people who do not to see whether nicotine increases the appeal or value of sweetened alcohol. They will use behavioral economic methods to track choices and drinking amount across conditions, including sugar and noncaloric sweeteners. The aim is to understand why smoking and heavy drinking often occur together.
Why it matters
Potential benefit: If successful, this work could help design better strategies to reduce heavy drinking and smoking by revealing how nicotine and sweeteners combine to increase alcohol use.
How similar studies have gone: Prior studies show nicotine can boost the appeal of other rewards and that sweetened alcohol increases drinking and intoxication, but combining nicotine's effects with sweetened alcohol in people with alcohol problems remains incompletely explored.
Where this research is happening
-
University of Nebraska Lincoln
Lincoln, United States Active
Researchers
- Principal investigator: Barrett, Scott — University of Nebraska Lincoln
- Study coordinator: Barrett, Scott
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About this research
- This is an active NIH-funded research project — typically early-stage science, not a clinical trial accepting patient enrollment.
- Some NIH-funded labs run parallel clinical studies or seek volunteers for related work. To check, contact the principal investigator or institution listed above.
- For full project details, budget, and progress reports, visit the official NIH RePORTER page.