This research project addresses the substance abuse cycle intervention and prevention strategies used amongst individuals who are a part of generational substance abuse. Participants were recruited from an inpatient drug rehabilitation center in Southern California. Qualitative interviews were conducted in order to gain additional knowledge on this topic. The interviews were audio recorded, transcribed, and then analyzed by the researcher. Participants’ first hand experiences contributed to a better understanding of effective ways to address this cycle. The results consisted of the following themes: childhood substance abuse, environmental influence, Child Protective Services involvement, problem recognition, structure, counseling, relationships, higher power, positive attitude and hope for the future. Contributions to social work practice are discussed along with recommendations for future research. Findings were given to California State University, San Bernardino and were provided to the drug rehabilitation center used in this study.

Substance use disorders are chronic brain disorders and must therefore be treated on an ongoing basis. Accordingly, the concept of recovery capital has been developed to account for the internal and external resources that an individual can mobilize in order to recover from a substance use disorder. However, the concept has scarcely been applied to emerging adults. Although they are at twice the risk of developing a substance use disorder relative to their adult or adolescent counterparts, emerging adults in addiction and recovery are understudied. This phenomenological study aims to explore and describe the experience of emerging adults in recovery and to identify the barriers and facilitators to their recovery. The informants (n=8) were 18-25 year olds in recovery from substance use disorders. Data was collected using semi-structured interviews and subsequently analyzed for emerging themes. The results from this study suggest that the developmental tasks facing emerging adults are exacerbated in addiction and recovery.

Research suggests that substance use is a risk factor for increased suicidal ideation. This study explored the relationship between substance use, suicidal ideation, and impulsivity in a sample of college students and individuals seeking outpatient treatment. Participants were interviewed for information on severity of suicidal ideation and substance use. Participants completed the Psychiatric Diagnostic Screening Questionnaire, the substance use section of the Structured Clinical Interview for the DSM-IV, the Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test, the Scale for Suicide Ideation, and the UPPS-P Impulsivity Behavior Scale. These measures were used to determine the amount of variance in suicidal ideation accounted for by substance use. Variables reflecting substance use classification, frequency, and severity were used to predict severity of suicidal ideation.

Research in the late 1990s and early 2000s projected that the number of people aged 50 and older who needed treatment for illicit drug use and abuse of prescribed medications to increase from approximately 1.7 million in 2001 to approximately 4.4 million in 2020. The purpose of this study was to examine how gender, marital status, employment status, and primary referral source predicted treatment outcomes with this older population. Of interest was how these predictions could better prepare treatment providers to treat individuals born between 1946 and 1964 who are addicted to substances. This quantitative study used an archival database, the Treatment Episode Dataset-Discharges (TEDS-D) from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration. A discriminant function analysis revealed significance in the predictor variables with treatment outcomes. The second research question asked whether the criminal justice system/legal system alone, as the primary referral source, could predict treatment outcomes. A chi-square test revealed the primary referral source had a significant impact on treatment outcomes. These findings have implications for positive social change by empowering practitioners working with the older adult generation in substance abuse treatment to recognize the changing roles of retirement. These findings may, in turn, help those adults cope with physical health problems and loss of mobility, foster social supports within the community, and address the mental health problems among this population.

published_or_final_version / abstract / toc / Clinical Psychology / Master / Master of Social Sciences

Substance abuse has a severe impact on the South African population. Various organizations, governmental and non-governmental, take on the challenge to assist in the treatment of substance abuse. Several gaps have been identified in dealing with substance abuse in South Africa. One of these gaps includes regular audits of treatment services and prevention programmes. One of the major concerns is that most primary prevention programmes appear to be implemented in the absence of evidence on their effectiveness and are mostly implemented on an ad hoc basis. The respondent organizations appear to display a poor understanding of evaluation. It was evident that there is a need for a systematic review of what works in the context of substance abuse prevention among the South African population as well as the development of an effective regulatory regime regarding primary prevention activities. Evaluation can be an important tool to provide monitoring, as well as a tool to identify strengths and weaknesses in treatment programmes. In light of the above, the South Coast Recovery Centre, a substance abuse treatment centre that operates in the private sector, was approached to evaluate the effectiveness of its treatment programme. The research focused on gaining insight into and exploring the strengths and weakness of the programme based on how patients experienced the programme and how satisfied they were with it. The use of multimethod approach which included positivist and interpretative approaches to evaluation was viewed as an appropriate method to use for the study in facilitating an understanding of the patient’s experience of the programme and how satisfied they were with the intervention they received. The study is both qualitative and quantitative in nature and used questionnaires and focus group interviews as data sources. All participants in the study were inpatients at the South Coast Recovery Centre. Frequency distributions, chi square analysis, as well as a thematic analysis were used to analyze the data of the study. The study concluded that patients were in general satisfied with the treatment programme. The programme provided opportunity for behavior changes and introspective learning. They were satisfied with professionals’ skills and behaviours, 6 types of interventions provided, efficacy and accessibility. Areas that patients were not satisfied with included: the facilitated involvement of relatives, the provision of information, and the large amount of residents in the programme. Recommendations were made with regards to programme improvement. The recommendations included the following: a. A coherent programme with clear links between outcome objectives and programme activities should be created. b. The number of counsellors in the programme should be reconsidered. c. The number of patients that should be allowed in the programme should be reconsidered. d. A platform for counsellors to deal with their personal emotions and counter transference should be created. e. Counsellors’ emotional involvement with patients should be addressed and exposed. f. More structured leisure activities that use interactive learning styles could be implemented in order to facilitate the learning of social skills. g. An awareness of possible comorbid mental disorders should be developed. h. Patients can be more involved with the cost aspect of the programme in order to facilitate more ownership of their treatment process. i. Provision should be made in the programme to allow for more involvement of relatives. / Thesis (M.A.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban, 2009.

Substance use among adolescents in South Africa is a growing concern. While a growing body of research is outlining the ability of parents to influence and moderate the uptake of risk behaviours, limited literature is available in South Africa on the links between parenting practices and substance use. The present study explored adolescents’ perceptions of parenting practices with respect to their substance use behaviours. Eight focus group discussions were conducted with grade 8 and 9 school-going learners from four purposively selected public high schools in the eThekwini region of KwaZulu-Natal. The discussions were informed by constructions of the Integrated Model of Change (I-Change Model) and appropriate literature. Data was analysed thematically. This study provides further evidence that parenting behaviours can influence adolescent behaviour. The findings suggest that specific parenting practices pertaining to parent-child communication, parental support, warmth, and monitoring can have an influence on adolescent alcohol and tobacco use. Negative parenting may lead to disruptive behaviour, vulnerability to peer pressure and subsequent substance use. It is recommended that early intervention and prevention programs for substance use include aspects of parenting practices that influence adolescent substance use. / Thesis (M.A.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban, 2008.

Substance abuse is a major problem amongst the youth worldwide. The goal of this study was to explore the knowledge and perceptions on the dangers of substance abuse among the affected youth attending St John of God Community Services, in Mzuzu, Malawi. The participants in the study were selected on the basis that they had been diagnosed as having a substance induced psychotic disorder and are currently receiving treatment from the hospital either as hospitalised or as outpatients. The study used both quantitative and qualitative research designs. The purposive sampling method was used to identify the quantitative sample while the qualitative sample was selected by using the theoretical sampling method. Forty-five participants completed the questionnaire to provide the quantitative data and 7 participants were interviewed to provide the qualitative data. The quantitative data was analysed by using Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) and the results were presented in tables and graphs. The qualitative data was analysed manually and the results were presented by using the participants' direct quotes. The findings of the study revealed that lack of knowledge and perceptions of the dangers of substance abuse are not the only contributing fac tors to substance abuse amongst the youth. As the results showed, that the youth had vast knowledge on the dangers of substance abuse and they also perceived these dangers negatively. However, it was found that other factors such as the enjoyment aspect and unemployment influenced the youth to start abusing substances. / Thesis (M.N.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, 2005.

Thesis (M.S.)--University of North Texas, Dec., 2007. / Title from title page display. Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (M.A.)--Carleton University, 2004. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 134-144). Also available in electronic format on the Internet.