http://www.hindawi.com The latest articles from Hindawi Publishing Corporation © 2013 , Hindawi Publishing Corporation . All rights reserved. Sun, 31 Mar 2013 15:21:58 +0000 http://www.hindawi.com/journals/jadd/2013/516342/ Introduction and Aim. Although tobacco and alcohol use have declined substantially in the Australian community, substance use among prisoners remains high. The aim was to compare the smoking, drug, and alcohol characteristics, sociodemographic profile, and general health of Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal male prisoners in a smoking cessation intervention. Design and Methods. This study was a descriptive cross-sectional analysis of data from 425 male prisoners who joined a quit smoking trial conducted at 18 correctional centres in NSW and Queensland using data collected by standardised self-report instruments. Results. Average age was 33 years with 15% from Aboriginal descent. Compared to non-Aboriginal prisoners, Aboriginal prisoners were significantly more likely to have left school with no qualifications, to have been institutionalised as a child, to be previously incarcerated, and commenced smoking at a younger age. The tobacco use profile of both groups was similar; most of them had a medium to high level of nicotine dependence, smoked roll your own tobacco, and were “serious” about quitting. Discussion and Conclusion. Despite differences in terms of sociodemographic characteristics and offending history, the smoking characteristics of Aboriginal and non- Aboriginal prisoners were similar. Incarceration offers an opportunity to encourage smoking cessation and reduction of drug use. Robyn L. Richmond, Devon Indig, Tony G. Butler, Kay A. Wilhelm, Vicki A. Archer, and Alex D. Wodak Copyright © 2013 Robyn L. Richmond et al. All rights reserved. Mon, 25 Mar 2013 08:36:52 +0000 http://www.hindawi.com/journals/jadd/2013/826039/ Purpose. Men who have sex with other men (MSM) account for more than one-half of all new HIV infections in the USA. This study reports on the prevalence of a variety of HIV risk behaviors in one specific subpopulation of risk-seeking MSM. Methods. The study was based on a national sample of 332 MSM who use the Internet to find partners for unprotected sex. Data collection was conducted via telephone interviews between January 2008 and May 2009. Results. Unprotected oral and anal sex was commonplace among study participants. Men engaged in a large number of other risky behaviors as well, including having had multiple recent sex partners (mean number = 11), simultaneous double-penile penetration of the anus (16%), eating semen out of another man’s anus (17%), engaging in multiple-partner sexual encounters (47%), engaging in anonymous sex (51%), and having sex while “under the influence” (52%). Conclusions. HIV intervention and prevention programs need to address numerous behaviors that place MSM at risk for contracting/transmitting HIV. Merely focusing on unprotected anal sex does a disservice to members of this community, who typically engage in many types of behavioral risks, each of which requires addressing if HIV transmission rates are to be reduced. Hugh Klein Copyright © 2013 Hugh Klein. All rights reserved. Wed, 20 Mar 2013 10:05:05 +0000 http://www.hindawi.com/journals/jadd/2013/579310/ Data from the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reveal high numbers of adolescent substance use in the United States. Substance use among adolescents can lead to increased risk of transmission of sexually transmitted infections, vehicular fatalities, juvenile delinquency, and other problems associated with physical and mental health. Adolescents are particularly susceptible to involvement in substance use due to the underdeveloped state of the adolescent brain, which can lead to reduced decision-making ability and increased long-term effects of drugs and alcohol. Understanding the causes of adolescent substance use is vital for successful prevention and intervention programs. Mackenzie Whitesell, Annette Bachand, Jennifer Peel, and Mark Brown Copyright © 2013 Mackenzie Whitesell et al. All rights reserved. Thu, 14 Mar 2013 09:59:26 +0000 http://www.hindawi.com/journals/jadd/2013/205189/ The purpose of this study is to further the understanding of how parenting and the relationship between the parent and the youth influence adolescent alcohol use in Mexican American families, with particular attention to acculturation. Results indicated that parental warmth is a strong factor in predicting adolescent alcohol use among Mexican adolescents. The parent-youth relationship played an important role in lowering alcohol use for Mexican American youth. Acculturation has an impact on the level of warmth, control, and the parent-youth relationship for Mexican American families. Findings indicate that there are unique family mechanisms for Mexican American families that should be considered when developing prevention and treatment options. Cristina Mogro-Wilson Copyright © 2013 Cristina Mogro-Wilson. All rights reserved. Sun, 17 Feb 2013 08:56:39 +0000 http://www.hindawi.com/journals/jadd/2013/680705/ Purpose. The objective of this study was to document the number of controlled substance prescriptions filled by adolescents and young adult patients in the 2 years prior to presentation for opiate dependence treatment. Methods. Opiate-dependent youth () presenting to our Medication-Assisted Treatment for Addiction program from January 1, 2008 to June 30, 2010 were identified via electronic medical record. Subjects were further classified based on their opiate use as dependent to heroin-only, prescription (Rx) opiate-only, or combined heroin + Rx opiate only. The Ohio Automated Rx Reporting System (OARRS) was used to identify each subject's controlled substance prescription history. Negative binomial regression was used to examine the relationships between patient characteristics and the total number of prescriptions filled. Results. Twenty-five percent of subjects had filled ≥6 prescriptions, and 15% had filled ≥11 prescriptions. The mean number of prescriptions filled was 5 (range: 0–59). Thirteen percent had filled ≥6 opiate/narcotic prescriptions, and 8% had filled ≥11 prescriptions. Conclusions. A subset of opiate-dependent youth had filled multiple opiate/narcotic prescriptions providing some evidence that physician-provided prescriptions may be a source of opiate abuse or diversion for a minority of opiate-dependent adolescents and young adults. Steven C. Matson, Cathleen Bentley, Vicki Hughes Dughman, and Andrea E. Bonny Copyright © 2013 Steven C. Matson et al. All rights reserved. Tue, 15 Jan 2013 13:13:43 +0000 http://www.hindawi.com/journals/jadd/2013/709207/ This study explored the extent to which nonprescription and prescription drugs misuse among adolescents/young adults are related to their perception that it is safer than illicit drugs, ease of access, and lower societal stigma. Adolescents/young adults (; , ) completed an online survey about their nonprescription and prescription drug misuse, other substance use, and correlates of use. Perceived risk, societal stigma, and access to nonprescription and prescription drugs were predictive of misuse. Results support program planners working towards targeting perceived risk and societal stigma in reducing misuse and the need to restrict and monitor access to nonprescription and prescription drugs for adolescents/young adults. Sasha A. Fleary, Robert W. Heffer, and E. Lisako J. McKyer Copyright © 2013 Sasha A. Fleary et al. All rights reserved. Thu, 27 Dec 2012 07:49:59 +0000 http://www.hindawi.com/journals/jadd/2013/636854/ Prior studies have suggested that affect lability might reduce the risk for problematic drinking among sensation seekers by compensating for their deficiencies in emotional reactivity and among individuals high on negative urgency by disrupting stable negative emotions. Due to the high prevalence of college drinking, this study examined whether affect lability interacted with sensation seeking and negative urgency to influence college student problematic drinking. 414 college drinkers (mean age: 20, 77% female, and 74% Caucasian) from a US Midwestern University completed self-administered questionnaires online. Consistent with our hypotheses, our results indicated that the effects of sensation seeking and negative urgency on problematic drinking weakened at higher levels of affect lability. These findings emphasize the importance of considering specific emotional contexts in understanding how negative urgency and sensation seeking create risk for problematic drinking among college students. These findings might also help us better understand how to reduce problematic drinking among sensation seekers and individuals high on negative urgency. Kenny Karyadi, Ayca Coskunpinar, Allyson L. Dir, and Melissa A. Cyders Copyright © 2013 Kenny Karyadi et al. All rights reserved. Sun, 23 Dec 2012 17:19:06 +0000 http://www.hindawi.com/journals/jadd/2013/573906/ The principal barriers to universal screening for the cooccurring disorders of mental illness and substance abuse are training, time, cost, and a reliable and valid screen. Although many of the barriers to universal screening still remain intact, the lack of a cooccurring screen that is effective and can be administered in a cost efficient way is no longer an obstacle. This study examined the reliability, factor structure, and convergent validity of the 15-item AC-OK Cooccurring Screen. A total of 2,968 AC-OK Cooccurring Screens administrated to individuals who called or went to one of the nine participating mental health and substance abuse treatment facilities were administrated and analyzed. Principal axis factor (PAF) analysis was used in the confirmatory factor analysis to identify the common variance among the items in the scales while excluding unique variance. Cronbach's Alpha was used to establish internal consistency (reliability) of each subscale. Finally, the findings from the AC-OK Cooccurring Screen were compared to individual scores on two standardized reference measures, the addiction severity index and the Client assessment record (a measure of mental health status) to determine sensitivity and specificity. This analysis of the AC-OK Cooccurring Screen found the subscales to have excellent reliability, very good convergent validity, excellent sensitivity, and sufficient specificity to be highly useful in screening for cooccurring disorders in behavioral health settings. In this study, the AC-OK Cooccurring Screen had a Cronbach's Alpha of .92 on the substance abuse subscale and a Cronbach's Alpha of .80 on the mental health subscale. Andrew L. Cherry and Mary E. Dillon Copyright © 2013 Andrew L. Cherry and Mary E. Dillon. All rights reserved. Mon, 17 Dec 2012 15:35:53 +0000 http://www.hindawi.com/journals/jadd/2013/461029/ Numerous studies have reported neurocognitive impairments associated with chronic marijuana use. Given that the hippocampus contains a high density of cannabinoid receptors, hippocampal-mediated cognitive functions, including visuospatial memory, may have increased vulnerability to chronic marijuana use. Thus, the current study examined brain activation during the performance of a virtual analogue of the classic Morris water maze task in 10 chronic marijuana (MJ) users compared to 18 nonusing (NU) comparison subjects. Imaging data were acquired using blood oxygen level-dependent (BOLD) functional MRI at 3.0 Tesla during retrieval (hidden platform) and motor control (visible platform) conditions. While task performance on learning trials was similar between groups, MJ users demonstrated a deficit in memory retrieval. For BOLD fMRI data, NU subjects exhibited greater activation in the right parahippocampal gyrus and cingulate gyrus compared to the MJ group for the Retrieval-Motor Control contrast (NU > MJ). These findings suggest that hypoactivation in MJ users may be due to differences in the efficient utilization of neuronal resources during the retrieval of memory. Given the paucity of data on visuospatial memory function in MJ users, these findings may help elucidate the neurobiological effects of marijuana on brain activation during memory retrieval. Jennifer Tropp Sneider, Staci A. Gruber, Jadwiga Rogowska, Marisa M. Silveri, and Deborah A. Yurgelun-Todd Copyright © 2013 Jennifer Tropp Sneider et al. All rights reserved. Thu, 13 Dec 2012 15:02:22 +0000 http://www.hindawi.com/journals/jadd/2013/276024/ Introduction. Emotional responsiveness (ER) has been theorized to play a protective role in pathways to tobacco initiation, regular use, and dependence, yet a possible association between ER and smoking behavior has not been studied. Our aim was to test whether measuring ER to a neutral stimulus was associated with decreased odds of current smoking. Methods. We measured ER and smoking status (current, former, and never) in two datasets: a cross-sectional dataset of persons with diabetes () and a prospective dataset of depressed patients () from an urban primary care system. Because there were few former smokers in the datasets, smoking status was dichotomized (current versus former/never) and measured at baseline (cross-sectional dataset) or at 36 weeks after-baseline (prospective dataset). ER was ascertained with response to a neutral facial expression (any ER versus none). Results. Compared to their nonresponsive counterparts, adjusted odds of current smoking were lower among participants endorsing emotional responsiveness in both the cross-sectional and prospective datasets (ORs = .29 and .32, ’s , resp.). Discussion. ER may be protective against current smoking behavior. Further research investigating the association between ER and decreased smoking may hold potential to inform treatment approaches to improve smoking prevalence. Robert D. Keeley and Margaret Driscoll Copyright © 2013 Robert D. Keeley and Margaret Driscoll. All rights reserved. Tue, 11 Dec 2012 16:24:47 +0000 http://www.hindawi.com/journals/jadd/2013/591521/ The purpose of the present study was to investigate the impact of therapist’s gender and gender roles on attitudes toward clients. Attitudes toward motivational interviewing were also a focus as MI can be hypothesized to be feminine rather than masculine in nature. The subjects () were Finnish substance abuse therapists. Their attitudes toward clients were measured using a vignette task. Results indicated that female therapists were significantly more positive toward clients than were male therapists. Although females were significantly more feminine than males, they saw themselves as masculine as the males did. The more feminine the therapist was, the more s/he preferred MI. In the future, an examination of this kind should be combined with measurement of treatment processes and outcomes. Tytti Artkoski and Pekka Saarnio Copyright © 2013 Tytti Artkoski and Pekka Saarnio. All rights reserved. Sat, 01 Dec 2012 12:33:19 +0000 http://www.hindawi.com/journals/jadd/2013/156365/ Previous research has reported a strong relationship between endorsing gambling as an escape and problem/pathological gambling as measured by the South Oaks Gambling Screen (SOGS). The present study recruited 249 university students to complete the Gambling Functional Assessment-Revised (GFA-R), which measures the function of the respondent’s gambling, as well as the SOGS and the Problem Gambling Severity Index (PGSI), which was designed to identify gambling problems in the general population. Endorsing gambling as an escape on the GFA-R was again predictive of SOGS scores. The function of one’s gambling was also predictive of the respondents’ PGSI scores, but whether gambling for positive reinforcement or as an escape was the significant predictor differed between male and female respondents. Scores on the GFA-R subscales also accounted for a significant amount of variance in PGSI scores above and beyond that accounted for by SOGS scores. The present results support the idea that both practitioners and researchers should be interested in the function of an individual’s gambling as well as the presence or the absence of pathology. They also suggest that differences in the function of gambling might also exist between the sexes. Jeffrey N. Weatherly Copyright © 2013 Jeffrey N. Weatherly. All rights reserved. Tue, 23 Oct 2012 09:35:26 +0000 http://www.hindawi.com/journals/jadd/2013/753409/ Objective. To report the one-year retention rate and the prevalence of illicit opioid use and cocaine use in the Low-Threshold/High-Tolerance (LTHT) methadone maintenance treatment (MMT) clinic located in Saint John, New Brunswick, Canada. Methods. A description of the LTHT MMT clinic is provided. The one-year retention rate was determined by collecting data on patients who enrolled in the LTHT MMT clinic between August 04, 2009 and August 04, 2010. The prevalence of illicit drug use was determined using a randomly selected retrospective cohort of 84 participants. For each participant the results of six consecutive urine tests for the most recent three months were compared to the results of the first six consecutive urine tests after program entry. Results. The one-year retention rate was 95%, 67% of the cohort achieved abstinence from illicit opioids and an additional 13% abstained from cocaine use. Conclusion. The novel feature of the LTHT MMT clinic is that patients are not denied methadone because of lack of ancillary services. Traditional comprehensive MMT programs invest the majority of financial resources in ancillary services that support the biopsychosocial model, whereas the LTHT approach utilizes a medical model and directs resources at medical management. Timothy K. S. Christie, Alli Murugesan, Dana Manzer, Michael V. O'Shaughnessey, and Duncan Webster Copyright © 2013 Timothy K. S. Christie et al. All rights reserved. Tue, 18 Sep 2012 13:03:38 +0000 http://www.hindawi.com/journals/jadd/2013/160486/ This study explored whether exposure to second-hand smoke (SHS) has a detrimental impact upon everyday memory in two groups of non-smokers; one which reported regular exposure to SHS and one that reported never having been exposed to SHS. Thirty-four non-smokers who reported having been regularly exposed to SHS (SHS group) and 34 non-smokers who reported never having been exposed to SHS (non-SHS group) were compared on self-reports of prospective memory (PM: remembering future intentions and/or activities) and executive function (EF: those processes involved in attention, multitasking and decision-making). The Prospective and Retrospective Memory Questionnaire (PRMQ) assessed everyday PM lapses; the Executive Function Questionnaire (EFQ) assessed self-reported problems in EF; a drug-use questionnaire and a mood questionnaire were also administered. Two univariate ANCOVAs were applied to the PM and EF data, controlling for between-group differences in age, weekly alcohol use, anxiety and depression scores, and self-reported retrospective memory scores. The SHS group reported significantly more lapses on the PRMQ and more deficits on the EFQ than the non-SHS group. These findings provide new insights into PM and EF deficits associated with prolonged exposure to SHS in a group of non-smokers. Possible explanations and suggestions for future research are also considered. Thomas M. Heffernan and Terence S. O'Neill Copyright © 2013 Thomas M. Heffernan and Terence S. O'Neill. All rights reserved. Mon, 27 Aug 2012 09:09:27 +0000 http://www.hindawi.com/journals/jadd/2013/307845/ 1300 students (54.3% girls) 13–16 years old were interviewed in the urban area of Bologna during 2010. Random effect multiple logistic regression models were used. Results show a reciprocal relationship between alcohol use, tobacco, and cannabis. Most users were offered cannabis, began using at 14 years of age, and do not believe using is very dangerous. They live with only one parent, have more than 50 euros of spending money per month, and abuse alcohol, abuse that increases relative to the intensity of cigarette smoking. Legal/illegal dichotomy seems to overturn, where alcohol becomes a “drug” and the use of tobacco, similar to other drugs, is motivated as a solution to reduce anxiety, combat boredom, relax, and to ease loneliness. Raimondo Maria Pavarin and Dario Consonni Copyright © 2013 Raimondo Maria Pavarin and Dario Consonni. All rights reserved. Wed, 18 Jul 2012 09:56:12 +0000 http://www.hindawi.com/journals/jadd/2013/631912/ Background. It has been widely documented that males were more likely to drinking alcohol and have alcohol use disorders (AUD). The degrees of the male-female differences in drinking and AUD have varied across countries. The reasons behind these variations have not been fully understood. The current study compared the estimated male-female differences across US-born and foreign-born Latino and Asian Americans with respect to alcohol drinking behavior and AUD. Method. Data come from the National Latino and Asian American Study (NLAAS), a national household survey of adults with Latinos and Asian decent in the United States. Male-female differences were estimated for drinking behavior and AUD among drinkers for US-born and foreign-born individuals, respectively. Zero-inflated Poisson regressions were utilized to estimate male-female differences in the number of AUD clinical features once it occurs. Results. Larger male-female differences were found for foreign-born individuals as compared to US-born individuals, especially the occurrence of AUD among drinkers. Once AUD clinical feature occurs, there was no male-female difference for foreign-born individuals, while there was a males excess in the number of clinical features for US-born individuals. Conclusion. Results from this study supports the importance of sociocultural influence in drinking and AUD. Implications for prevention and intervention programs were discussed. Hui G. Cheng and Orla McBride Copyright © 2013 Hui G. Cheng and Orla McBride. All rights reserved.