Although the association between substance use and violence has been well established, knowledge on predictors for violent victimization of individuals treated for alcohol use disorder (AUD) or drug ...use disorder (DUD) is lacking. Using Goldstein’s tripartite conceptual framework, this study examines the relationship between substance use and violent victimization. Data were derived from national registers on persons aged between 15 and 75 years, living in Denmark, and admitted for AUD or DUD treatment during 2006-2016 (n = 82,767). Rates of new incidence of violent victimization were estimated per 10,000 person years for the patient cohort, and for an age- and gender-matched control group of 492,397 people with no history of treatment for drug and alcohol problems. The incidence of victimization for the AUD/DUD sample was 145.6 per 10,000 person years and 5.4 per 10,000 person years for the comparison cohort. Results of multivariate Cox regression on specific types of substance use supported Goldstein’s psychopharmacological and economic compulsive models of victimization, but not the systemic model. Gender-stratified results showed that the use of cannabis and methadone was associated with victimization in women treated for AUD and DUD. Patients with a non-Western background were more likely to experience victimization than Danish patients. The study highlights the strong association between substance use disorder and victimization, and the important role that service providers play in addressing the high levels of victimization experienced by patients with AUD or DUD.
Bullying victimization among adolescents is associated with increased illicit substance use. This research estimates whether the association between bullying victimization and substance use is ...significantly greater among female adolescents. Using R software and the national Youth Risk Behavior Survey (2011, 2013, 2014, and 2017), interactions were estimated to determine the association between self-reported school or electronic bullying victimization and previous 30-day alcohol use, binge drinking, marijuana use, cigarette smoking, and electronic vaping product use. Bullying victimization was significantly associated with each of the substance use variables, Effects were significantly greater in female students. Efforts should be put in place in schools and communities to reduce bullying, mitigate the harmful effects of this form of victimization, and reduce illicit substance use.
The overall aim of the present study is to examine the utility of the DSM OUD Checklist and the NM-ASSIST screening tools to identify symptoms consistent with OUD among incarcerated women in county ...jails. This study contributes to the existing literature because research on screening and assessment approaches for incarcerated women has been limited. The focus of the current study is to describe the screening procedures and study recruitment for a larger parent study focused on increasing treatment linkages. Study findings indicate a positive correlation between indicators of OUD using the two screening tools, as well as a high degree of correlation between street opioid misuse and other high-risk drug indicators (overdose and injection practices). These findings underscore the importance of outreach, screening, and intervention in real-world settings, including jails, in order to increase access to OUD treatment among this vulnerable sample of women.
Research of military personnel who deployed to the conflicts in Iraq or Afghanistan has suggested that there are differences in mental health outcomes between UK and US military personnel.
To compare ...the prevalence of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), hazardous alcohol consumption, aggressive behaviour and multiple physical symptoms in US and UK military personnel deployed to Iraq.
Data were from one US (n = 1560) and one UK (n = 313) study of post-deployment military health of army personnel who had deployed to Iraq during 2007-2008. Analyses were stratified by high- and low-combat exposure.
Significant differences in combat exposure and sociodemographics were observed between US and UK personnel; controlling for these variables accounted for the difference in prevalence of PTSD, but not in the total symptom level scores. Levels of hazardous alcohol consumption (low-combat exposure: odds ratio (OR) = 0.13, 95% CI 0.07-0.21; high-combat exposure: OR = 0.23, 95% CI 0.14-0.39) and aggression (low-combat exposure: OR = 0.36, 95% CI 0.19-0.68) were significantly lower in US compared with UK personnel. There was no difference in multiple physical symptoms.
Differences in self-reported combat exposures explain most of the differences in reported prevalence of PTSD. Adjusting for self-reported combat exposures and sociodemographics did not explain differences in hazardous alcohol consumption or aggression.
Friends with benefits relationships (FWB) are a blend of friendship and physical intimacy outside of a committed romantic relationship. This study examined young adults’ (
n
= 889) engagement in, ...and reactions to, a FWB relationship in the past year based on their gender, psychological distress, alcohol use, and relationship attitudes. Men (54.3%) were more likely than women (42.9%) to report at least one FWB relationship and both men and women reported that FWB relationships were associated with more positive emotional reactions than negative ones although this difference was larger for men. Greater alcohol use was related to engaging in a FWB relationship and this relationship was stronger for women. Further, thoughtfulness about relationship decisions moderated the relationship between alcohol use and engaging in FWB relationships, and again this moderation effect was stronger for women than men. Young adults with more psychological distress and who felt constrained in the FWB relationship were more likely to report negative emotional reactions. Implications for psychoeducational programs and future research are offered.
The individual predictors of drinking behaviors among second-generation immigrant adolescents are still understudied. This study investigated emotion regulation strategies and alcohol abuse in 472 ...adolescents (86 second-generation immigrants and 386 Italian natives; age range: 17–18). The Emotion Regulation Questionnaire and the Alcohol Use Disorder Identification Test were used to assess cognitive reappraisal, emotional suppression, and alcohol abuse, respectively. Immigrants reported lower alcohol abuse than natives. A negative relationship between cognitive reappraisal and alcohol abuse was found for immigrants, but not for natives. Specifically, cognitive reappraisal was a protective factor against alcohol abuse only for immigrant adolescents. Clinical and research implications are discussed.
Alcohol use among people living with HIV (PLWH) can reduce adherence and worsen health outcomes. We evaluated the economic cost of an effective smartphone application (HealthCall) to reduce drinking ...and improve antiretroviral adherence among heavy-drinking PLWH participating in a randomized trial.
Participants were randomized to receive a brief drinking-reduction intervention, either (a) the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA) Clinician's Guide (CG-only,
= 37), (b) CG enhanced by HealthCall to monitor daily alcohol consumption (CG+HealthCall,
= 38), or (c) motivational interviewing delivered by a nonclinician enhanced by HealthCall (MI+HealthCall,
= 39). We used micro-costing techniques to evaluate start-up costs and incremental costs per participant incurred from the health care sector perspective in 2018 U.S. dollars. We also investigated potential cost offsets using participant-reported health care utilization.
Participants attended three intervention visits, and each visit cost on average $29 for CG-only, $32 for CG+HealthCall, and $15 for MI+HealthCall. The total intervention cost per participant was $94 for CG-only, $114 for CG+HealthCall, and $57 for MI+HealthCall; the incremental cost of CG+HealthCall compared with CG-only was $20 per participant, and the incremental savings of MI+HealthCall compared with CG-only was $37 per participant. No significant differences in health care utilization occurred among the three groups over 12 months.
The cost of enhancing CG with the HealthCall application for heavy-drinking PLWH was modestly higher than using the CG alone, whereas MI enhanced with HealthCall delivered by a nonclinician had a lower cost than CG alone. HealthCall may be a low-cost enhancement to brief interventions addressing alcohol use and antiretroviral adherence among PLWH.
Alcohol is attributable to many diseases and injury-related health conditions, and it is the fifth leading risk factor of premature death globally. Hence, the objective of this study was to assess ...the proportion and associated factors of problematic alcohol use among University students.
Cross-sectional study was conducted among 725 randomly selected University students from November to December 2015. Data were collected by self-administered questionnaire, and problematic alcohol use was assessed by Alcohol Use Disorder Identification Test. Chi-square test was used to show association of problematic use and each variable and major predicators was identified using logistic regression with 95% confidence interval (CI); and variables with
-value less than 0.05 were considered statistically significant.
About 83 (11.4%) of the samples were problematic alcohol users of which 6.8% had medium level problems and 4.6% had high level problems. Significantly associated variables with problematic alcohol use among students were presence of social phobia (AOR = 1.7, 95% CI: 1.0, 2.8), lifetime use of any substance (AOR = 6.9, 95% CI: 3.8, 12.7), higher score in students cumulative grade point average (AOR = 0.6, 95% CI: 0.4, 0.9), and having intimate friend who use alcohol (AOR = 2.2, 95% CI: 1.3, 3.8).
Problematic alcohol use among university students was common and associated with social phobia, poor academic achievement, lifetime use of any substance, and peer pressure. Strong legislative control of alcohol in universities is important to reduce the burden of alcohol.
Substance use disorders (SUDs) are among the most common sequelae of childhood maltreatment, yet the independent contributions of SUDs and childhood maltreatment to neurobiological changes and the ...effect of the latter on relapse risk (a critical variable in addiction treatment) are relatively unknown.
To identify structural neural characteristics independently associated with childhood maltreatment (CM; a common type of childhood adversity), comparing a sample with SUD with a demographically comparable control sample, and to examine the relationship between CM-related structural brain changes and subsequent relapse.
Structural magnetic resonance imaging study comparing 79 treatment-engaged participants with SUD in acute remission in inpatient treatment at a community mental health center vs 98 healthy control participants at an outpatient research center at an academic medical center. Both groups included individuals with a range of CM experiences. Participants with SUD were followed up prospectively for 90 days to assess relapse and relapse severity.
Standard 12-step, recovery-based, inpatient addiction treatment for all participants with SUD.
Gray matter volume (GMV), subsequent substance use relapse, days to relapse, and severity of relapse.
Controlling for SUD and psychiatric comorbidity, CM (dichotomously classified) was uniquely associated with lower GMV across all participants in the left hippocampus (cornu ammonis 1-3, dentate gyrus), parahippocampus (presubiculum, parasubiculum, prosubiculum, subiculum, and entorhinal cortex), and anterior fusiform gyrus (corrected P < .05; uncorrected P = .001). Among the sample with SUD, CM prospectively predicted a shorter relapse to use of any drug (P = .048), while CM-related GMV reductions predicted severity of substance use relapse (P = .04).
Findings indicate that CM was related to decreased GMV in limbic regions, which in turn predicted increased risk of relapse in SUD. These results suggest that CM may significantly affect the course of SUD treatment outcomes and that SUD treatment planning may benefit from identifying and addressing CM.
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