Kunskap om ungdomars alkohol- och drogvanor är en viktig aspekt i förhållande till socialt arbete. Kunskaperna kan bidra till verktyg för att kunna göra rätt bedömningar och insatser. Med detta som utgångspunkt har denna studie utförts med syftet att undersöka uppfattningar om alkohol och droger hos ungdomar mellan 13-15 år. Studien är utförd med en kvantitativ ansats. Ett utskick av 164 enkäter gick ut till högstadieelever på en skola i Mellansverige. Studien bygger bland annat på faktorer som könskillnader, debutålder, hur och var eleverna får tag på alkohol och droger samt om det finns samband mellan dessa. De signifikanta resultaten från studien har visat att ungdomar med högre konsumtion av alkohol eller en allt lägre debutålder för alkoholdrickande löper en högre risk för att testa droger än de ungdomarna med en högre ålder för alkohol debut och en lägre konsumtion av alkohol. Studien visade också att ungdomar som får alkohol utköpt av någon i hemmet löper en högre risk för att ha en intensivkonsumtion av alkohol jämfört med ungdomar som ej fick alkoholen utköpt av någon i hemmet. Resultaten har sedan jämförts med tidigare nationell- och internationell forskning. Gällande könskillnader visade resultaten visade bland annat att pojkarna i studien hade en lägre debutålder för alkohol än flickorna. / Knowledge of youth alcohol and drug habits is an important aspect in relation to social work. Knowledge can contribute to the tools to make the right judgments and actions. With this in mind, this study has been performed with the intent to investigate the perceptions of alcohol and drugs among young people aged 13-15 years. The study was conducted with a quantitative approach and was distributed to 164 to students at a school in the middle of Sweden. The study is based on factors such as gender differences, onset/debut age, how and where students get hands on alcohol and drugs, and if there were a correlation between them. The significant findings of the study has shown the link between young people with higher consumption of alcohol or a lower onset age of alcohol drinking are at higher risk for testing drugs and showed that young people who get alcohol out bought by someone in the home are at higher risk of having a binge of alcohol. The results were then compared with previous national and international research. Concerning gender differences the results showed that the attending boys in the study had a lower debut age of alcohol drinking compared to the girls.

PSYCHOLOGICAL CORRELATES OF TOBACCO, ALCOHOL AND DRUG USE AMONG ADOLESCENTS KarakaS, &Ouml / zge M.S., Department of Psychology Supervisor: Assoc. Prof. Belgin AyvaSik July 2006, 130 pages The aim of the present study was to identify sociodemographic and psychological correlates of adolescent tobacco, alcohol and drug use. Participants were 854 high school students (485 girls, 369 boys) aged between 14-18. Participants were administered a Demographic Information Form, Arnett Inventory of Sensation Seeking, seven subscales of Drug Use Screening Inventory (DUSI) and Tobacco, Alcohol and Drug Use Questionnaire. Twelve point two percent of the students reported cigarette use, 23.5 % reported alcohol use and 2.3 % reported illicit drug use at least once in their lives. Independent Samples t-test Analysis revealed that smokers received higher scores than non-smokers on sensation seeking, psychiatric disorder, behavior patterns, school performance / adjustment, peer relations, family system and leisure subscales of DUSI but there was not a significant difference between smokers and non-smokers in terms of social competency. Also, it was found that both alcohol users scored higher than non-users on sensation seeking, psychiatric disorder, behavior patterns, school performance / adjustment, peer relations, family system but there was not a significant difference between alcohol users and non-users in terms of scores on leisure and social competency. Drug users scored significantly higher than randomly selected non-users on sensation seeking, behavior patterns and peer relations scales. Logistic regression analysis revealed that adolescent smoking was predicted by gender, age, G.P.A., place of birth, peer smoking, behavior patterns, social competency, school problems and family relations. Besides, alcohol use was predicted by gender, age, number of siblings, maternal education, peer smoking, peer alcohol use, social competency, school performance / adjustment and family relations. Findings are discussed within the context of the relevant literature.

Current literature suggests that family stressors are positively related to adolescent psychopathology; however, few studies have examined the relationship between family stressors and positive indicators of mental health, such as life satisfaction. Additionally, past literature has found support for life satisfaction as a mediating variable between environmental experiences (i.e., parent-child relationships, major life events) and adolescent psychopathology. Research questions answered in the current study pertain to: (a) the relationship between family stressors (i.e., socio-economic status, family structure, major life events, interparental conflict) and adolescents' life satisfaction, (b) the overall contribution of family stressors to life satisfaction and which stressors are most strongly associated with life satisfaction, and (c) whether life satisfaction mediates the relationship between family stressors and substance use. To answer these questions, self-report surveys from 183 middle school students were analyzed. Results indicate that experiencing major life events and interparental conflict were unique predictors of life satisfaction, and all the family stressors combined accounted for 37% of the variance in life satisfaction. Additionally, the relationship between these two family stressors and substance use was shown to be mediated by life satisfaction. Implications for school psychologists and future directions are discussed.

published_or_final_version / Social Work and Social Administration / Doctoral / Doctor of Philosophy

This qualitative study purports to explore the prevailing phenomenon of ‘Chem-Fun’, i.e. the combination of drug use and gay sex in the Hong Kong gay community, with the use of in-depth interviews (March 2012 to August 2013 [n=30]), participant observation (February 2012 to July 2013 [18 months]), and textual analysis of two gay websites (March to April 2012 [2 months]). By pinpointing the two loopholes of epidemiological dominance and missing drug in the local drug and local gay literature respectively, this study adopts a cultural approach to fill the gap in which the crucial elements of agency, pleasure, and context are examined. Drawing on the three theoretical strands of postmodern intimacies, geographies of sexuality, and Foucauldian notion of power/resistance, a four-dimensional analytical model has been derived from the data to explore the four major aspects of ‘Chem-Fun’: contexts, spaces, intimacies, and subjectivities. Instead of viewing ‘Chem-Fun’ as a ‘trinity of double’, i.e. double sin (moral/ legal sin), double epidemic (drug addiction and HIV/STDs infection), and double marginalization (from straight/gay world) but rather a ‘way of life’, this study argues that ‘Chem-Fun’ should be understood as a specific form of gay choices, gay project, gay connection, and gay mastery. For contexts, the emergence, prevalence, and transformation of ‘Chem-Fun’ represent a mixture of glocalized and personalized product revolving around the community culture and individual choices, i.e. gay choices. For spaces, the ‘Chem-space’ constitutes a ‘do-it-yourself project’ for the gay men to undermine the dominations of heteronormativity, health imperialism, and homonormativity and hence reclaim their selves and uses of pleasure, i.e. gay project. For intimacies, the intimate ethics of pure eroticism or the ‘RCTF’ culture (respect, collectivity, trust, and flexibility) demonstrates the three principles of emotional democracy (egalitarianism, autonomy, and solidarity) and cultivates an alternative political agenda of gay hedonism, i.e. gay connection. For subjectivities, the refashioning of ‘Chem-Fun’ as an edgework suggests the complicated subjectivities of playmates, i.e. gay mastery. Informed by the cultural approach, these four aspects have painted an alternative picture about ‘Chem-Fun’ in contrast with the epidemiological way of understanding. They are not necessarily a passive, fixed, and pathological retreatist but an arch-inventor, sensation-seeker, and edgeworker to build their own life. Without ignoring the relevant risks, this study gives pleasure an adequate space to understand ‘Chem-Fun’. As a form of queer life, ‘Chem-Fun’ is not just about personal experiences but also collectivities that implies the possible way out of local tongzhi movement from gay pride to gay shame. In this sense, there should be ‘Chem-Fun’ stories but not story. Apart from filling the missing gay and missing drug in local drug and gay study respectively, this research contributes to the sociology of sexuality by connecting the individual intoxicated eroticism to the runaway world of social flows, engaging with the existing concepts to explore the postmodern lives and geographies in the non-Western context, enriching the telling sexual stories tradition, and serving as a methodological remedy for the inadequacy of ethnography or insider perspective in examining drug-related practices in Hong Kong. / published_or_final_version / Sociology / Doctoral / Doctor of Philosophy

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published_or_final_version / abstract / toc / Social Work and Social Administration / Doctoral / Doctor of Philosophy

Neracionalus vaistų vartojimas yra viena svarbiausių problemų pasaulyje. PSO duomenimis, maždaug pusė visų pacientų medikamentus vartoja netinkamai ir nesilaiko gydytojo nurodymų. Ypač didelė problema yra netinkamas vaistų vartojimas namuose tiek pagal gydytojo paskyrimą, tiek savarankiškai. Iki šiol Lietuvoje dar nebuvo atliktas tyrimas, kokius vaistus žmonės turi savo namų vaistinėlėse ir ar tinkamai juos vartoja. Nežinoma, kokios yra racionaliai ar neracionaliai vaistus vartojančių Lietuvos žmonių savybės. Šiuo tyrimu buvo siekiama nustatyti galimus rizikos veiksnius, lemiančius neracionalų ambulatorinių vaistų vartojimą. Buvo atrinkti ir namuose apklausti 36 pacientai, kuriems KMUK buvo paskirtas antibiotikų kursas namuose. Su gautais duomenimis buvo atlikta aprašomoji ir lyginamoji statistinė analizė pagal Pirsono chi kvadrato kriterijų (statistiškai patikimu rezultatu laikoma reikšmė, kai chi kvadratas > 4, p < 0,05). Namų vaistinėlėse pacientai turėjo daugiau receptinių vaistų nei nereceptinių. Daugiausiai turima receptinių širdies ir kraujagyslių sistemą veikiančių vaistų. Savigydai dažniausiai naudojami nereceptiniai virškinimo sistemą ir metabolizmą veikiantys vaistai ir analgetikai. Nustatyta, kad 31 proc. pacientų paskirtuosius antimikrobinius vaistus vartojo nedrausmingai. Vartojimo drausmingumas gydymo atveju buvo geresnis nei profilaktikos atveju. Jei vaistus reikia vartoti ilgai, 48 proc. pacientų teigė esantys nedrausmingi. Taigi, trumpalaikės terapijos... [toliau žr. visą tekstą] / Irrational drug use is one of the biggest problems in the world. According to WHO, about half of all the patients don‘t use their medicine properly and fail to adhere to prescribed therapy. Irrational drug treatment at home (including use of prescribed medicines and self-medication) is a great problem. There have been no researches made in Lithuania up till now about what kind of drugs people have at home and if they use them properly. There was no information about characteristics of people who use drugs rationally or irrationally. So, the purpose of this research was to identify possible risk factors, which determine irrational drug treatment at home. There were chosen 36 patients who had got antimicrobial therapy at home after treatment or for prophylaxis in Clinics of Kaunas University of Medicine. Those patients had been questioned at home. Data were analyzed statistically (descriptive and comparative statistic analysis by parameter of Pearson’s chi square (statistically significant result was when chi square > 4, p < 0, 05)). At home people had more prescribed drugs than over the counter ones (mostly drugs acting on cardiovascular system). For self-medication the most popular are over the counter drugs acting on alimentary tract and metabolism and analgesics. It was determined that 31 percent of patients fail to adhere to prescribed antimicrobial therapy. Patients’ adherence was higher for treatment than for prophylaxis. 48 percent of the patients who used medicine for... [to full text]

According to Amos (1989) the use of, and the attitudes towards alcohol amongst young people in Africa is an area about which little is known but which has potentially major health implications. Neither has much been done about primary prevention in this field. The case studies which included a participatory research was conducted among three groups of people in the Clermont Township near Durban in the Natal Region. The aim of the research was to describe alcohol abuse as a social problem among the black adolescents and to compare and contrast the implementation of alcohol abuse prevention strategies that were and are used by the different groups of people in their community. The case study approach documented the work of each community. All the three groups of people who participated in the research agreed that alcohol abuse was a problem in their community. They described factors in their township which were contributory to the alcohol problems in their community and described the various cycles of negative effects and consequences to the individual, family and to the community. They agreed that in the past alcohol was not a problem in the traditional African society because of cultural and economic factors. Most interesting was the serious effects all groups described alcohol abuse amongst both teachers and the pupils in the Black education system. Each group planned, implemented and evaluated a unique alcohol preventive strategy. While the youth group maintained a strong alcohol focus with an educational programme, both the adult groups moved into the more general issues of economic empowerment. All three groups also used the participation and capacity building. The willingness to get involved, and to address the problems of the groups were remarkable. The following were the research conclusions: * Material resources were relatively available in this community. * Health professionals were available in this community, but they did not follow the Comprehensive Primary Health Care approach and were not involved in community development. * Integrated drinking seemed to be in harmony with the values of these groups and could be used in the alcohol abuse prevention. An integrative, multi-faceted and comprehensive community based partnership approach was used to the multi-causal alcohol abuse prevention programmes and strategies. This strategy was successful in involving community partners and leading to the solving of the actual problems and the development of positive health behaviours. The research revealed that the development projects needed "seed money" to initiate and to maintain. Alcohol abuse prevention can be used as a vehicle to enter a community and to engage it in a health directed partnership. / Thesis (Ph.D.)-University of Natal, 1995.

This dissertation examines the influence of love and other emotions on sexual and drug-related HIV risk among female sex workers who inject drugs and their intimate, non-commercial partners in Tijuana, Mexico. My work on a public health study along the Mexico-U.S. border and independent ethnographic research in Tijuana suggests the importance of emotions in shaping sex workers' relationships and health risks. Love is a universal human emotional experience embodied within broader cultural, social, and economic contexts. A growing body of cross-cultural research suggests that modern relationships have transformed to emphasize love and emotional intimacy over moral or kinship obligations. Particularly in contexts of risk and uncertainty, intimate relationships provide emotional security. Drug-using couples may engage in unprotected sex or even needle sharing to convey notions of love and trust and help sustain emotional unity, but such acts also place partners at heightened risk for HIV. For female sex workers in Tijuana who endure poverty, marginality, and an increased risk of contracting HIV, establishing and maintaining emotional bonds with intimate partners may be of paramount importance. Yet little is known about how female sex workers' intimate male partners shape their HIV risk perceptions and practices. Moreover, male partners' perspectives are critically absent in HIV prevention strategies. This dissertation is nested within Proyecto Parejas, a study of the social context and epidemiology of HIV among sex workers and their non-commercial male partners in Tijuana and Ciudad Juarez, Mexico. Through semi-structured and ethnographic interviews, photo elicitation interviews, and participant observation, I got to know seven of the couples in Tijuana who are enrolled in Parejas. I examine their relationships through the lens of critical phenomenology, which combines concern with experience, emotions, and subjectivity with political economy perspectives that argue sex work, drug use, and HIV/AIDS is not randomly distributed but historically and structurally produced. My work suggests that female sex workers and their intimate partners experience their relationships in gradations of love and emotional content. These relationships hold significant meaning in both partners' lives for emotional and material reasons, and shape each partner's HIV risk within and outside of the relationships. Couples choose not to use condoms with each other, often to define themselves as a couple. Sex outside of the relationship occurs for economic and culturally conditioned reasons, but does not necessarily diminish the meaning of the primary relationship. Motivations and ability to use condoms with clients and outside partners are context dependent and, in order to preserve trust and unity, sexual risks are typically not discussed. Partners share drugs and syringes with each other as a sign of care within a context of scarce material resources. Emotionally close couples tend to confine their sharing within the relationship, whereas less close couples also share with friends and family in more social forms of drug use. Given their vulnerability within a milieu of poverty, social marginalization, and discrimination, love alone cannot explain the HIV risk that female sex workers and their partners face. Nevertheless, emotions are significant factors in both risk taking and risk management. This study encourages researchers, practitioners, and policy makers to consider the affective dimensions of HIV risk within sex workers' intimate relationships as an integral part of a multi-level strategy to address each partner's health and wellbeing.