Substance Abuse

Study involving 21 patients recruited from an alcohol treatment center

"We compared the baseline characteristics of four naturalistic groups (N = 4593): two e-therapy groups (2005-2006 and 2008-2009) and two consecutive series of ambulant face-to-face clients admitted for treatment as usual. The characteristics we were interested in were gender, age, education level, working situation, and earlier treatment for drinking problems."

A 32-year 12000+ person study among family members and neighbors to assess spread of alcohol consumption

"Data were from the combined 2005-2009 datasets of the National Survey on Drug Use and Health. Logistic regression models were used to calculate odds ratio and 95% confidence intervals. Results demonstrated that among respondents who need treatment but did not receive treatment for alcohol use disorder, drug use disorder and both alcohol and drug use disorders, 3.3%, 8.3% and 12.4% perceived a need for treatment, respectively. No single socio-demographic correlate was predictive of perceiving a need across the three subpopulations suggesting that screenings for substance use disorder should be done in a setting where the general population may be accessed, e.g. primary care settings. Correlates associated with perceiving a need for treatment for all three subpopulations included psychological distress, disorder severity and substance type. Although respondents with greater disorder severity were more likely to perceive a need for treatment, a large proportion of those still do not perceive a need for treatment. Screening and brief interventions would facilitate treatment entry among those with the most severe disorders."

"Self-efficacy is the belief that one has the ability to implement the behaviors needed to produce a desired effect. There has been growing interest in the role of self-efficacy as a predictor and/or mediator of treatment outcome in a number of domains. The present paper reviews the recent literature on self-efficacy in the substance abuse field. In numerous studies of substance abuse treatment, self-efficacy has emerged as an important predictor of outcome, or as a mediator of treatment effects. Despite these repeated positive findings, the self-efficacy concept has had little impact on the design of treatments. Since the concept was first introduced, there have been numerous suggestions regarding the means by which self-efficacy may be enhanced in clinical settings, but very little by way of empirical tests of those suggestions. This review concludes with a number of recommendations for further research to improve understanding of this potentially valuable concept and its interactions with other variables, and to develop effective strategies for enhancing self-efficacy."

"A wide range of studies found that opiate-dependent patients suffer from cognitive impairment due to a number of different factors. However, this issue has never been examined systematically. Thus, the aim of the present study is to provide a comprehensive analysis of factors that might contribute to cognitive impairment of opiate-dependent patients and specifically differentiates between various cognitive abilities as these might be impacted differently.'

"the team, comprised of researchers at the University of South Florida, Texas A&M University, Simon Frasier University and Emory University ... evaluated 3,288 offenders from various institutions and administered the Personality Assessment Inventory (PAI), a multi-scale report that identifies 344 specific items, and the Mental Health Screening Form-III, an 18 item tool created to evaluate the mental health status of someone with substance misuse issues. They found that "thirty-two percent of the sample had clinically significant alcohol problems, 67% had clinically significant drug problems, and 27% had elevations in both domains." Additionally, the researchers discovered that 70% of those evaluated also had a substance use issue."

"Brief Behavioral Activation Treatment for Depression (BATD) was implemented during a college orientation of students at the University of Maryland to determine what effect it would have on alcohol use and depressive symptoms."

Catalog record for a thesis from Brandeis University, can be accessed via Dissertations and Theses Fulltext (Proquest)

from the Foundation Center, directory of nonprofit financial support for mh and sa initiatives

Conclusion drawn from research "Addicts want their pleasures more but like them less," suggested for seeking such a dissatisfied personality in a leader

"This study estimated differential effects of an integrated treatment intervention (IT) across sub-groups of women in this population on services utilization outcomes. Data from a national study were used to cluster participants by symptoms and service utilization, and then estimate the effect of IT versus usual care on 12-month service utilization for each sub-group. The intervention effect varied significantly across groups, in particular indicating relative increases in residential treatment utilization associated with IT among women with predominating trauma and substance abuse symptoms. Understanding how IT influences service utilization for different groups of women in this population with complex needs is an important step toward achieving an optimal balance between need for treatment and service utilization, which can ultimately improve outcomes and conserve resources. "

"Preventing/reducing substance use and HIV among Hispanic youth is essential to eliminating the health disparities that exist between Hispanics and other segments of the population. The objective of this article is to describe a program of research involving Familias Unidas, a Hispanic-specific, parent-centered intervention, aimed at reducing substance use and HIV health disparities among Hispanic youth. This article will focus on the theoretical foundation of the intervention, the empirical research supporting the theoretical model, the intervention model itself, the findings of the program of research, and the translation of this intervention into community practice."

10 medical institutions create accredited residency programs in addiction medicine

distortion of perception under influence of heavy drinking reported in a University of Washington study of 500 college students

States the problem of family involvement in adolescent substance abuse treatment and goes on to show successful partnership examples from a variety of states and settings

Statistics from Massachusetts Bureau of Substance Abuse show decline in heroin addicts seeking treatment statewide, high concentration in Fall River

A video

Treatment Episode Data Set (TEDS) released May 3, 2011