The complexity of information produced since the 1980's on co-occurring severe mental illness and substance misuse makes it difficult for social workers to grasp the current state of the question. This is a new field of study, and much of the information is incomplete or contradictory. This review examines epidemiological studies carried out in North America. We identify the varied semantic and philosophical approaches to the question of dual diagnoses, and provide an overview of etiological theories, as well as of the theory and practice of treatment for these disorders. Emergent concepts of recovery are also discussed. / Major findings. epidemiological data vary, but all point to a widespread problem. The diversity of meaning and of etiological theories appears to be linked to the heterogeneity of this population. An integrated treatment strategy is the current modality of choice, despite outcomes that are only mildly encouraging; finally, there is consensus among consumers that recovery from a disease is possible even in the absence of a complete cure. / Research limitations and knowledge gaps are to be expected in a new field of study. Additional research is necessary to determine the extent and causes of these comorbidities. Social workers must become knowledgeable in this field and remain abreast of new developments in order to engage in evidenced-based practice. Greater education about comorbidities is necessary, as is an overarching policy response from all levels of government. The principal contribution of this master's thesis to the discipline of social work is to provide a general synthesis of knowledge in a domain that is highly medicalized in the literature.

This study addressed the efficacy of a multimodal substance abuse prevention program with elite-level athletes. By utilizing components of substance abuse information and education, coping skills training, and self-esteem strategies, the study examined the effect of these variables on the subsequent alcohol and drug use behaviors and attitudes of the participants.In addition, measures of self-esteem and stress were examined to determine the effect of prevention on these variables. Gender differences were examined regarding substance use behaviors and attitudes, and change score measures were utilized to observe for behavioral changes from pretest to follow-up testing.Results indicated no differences on any of the dependent measures. Utilizing a repeated measures multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA), no significant differences in substance use behaviors and attitudes between athletes in the treatment and control conditions were found. There were also no gender differences reported on the dependent measures. In addition, chisquare (X2) analyses demonstrated no behavioral or attitudinal differences. A significant finding indicated that control group subjects had more substance abuse changes (both positive and negative) than the treatment condition. The hypotheses of the study were unconfirmed as a result of the statistical analyses.Limitations of the present study include the small sample size (although representative of the population), the small amount of actual reported use behaviors, and the length of the program (not sufficient time). It is recommended that future research in this area maintain the multimodal approach, while lengthening the time of implementation. Future dependent measures must be able to accurately detect small fluctuations in reported substance abuse behavioral changes.The survey data suggest that athletes at the elite level do demonstrate alcohol and drug use behaviors that may be detrimental to their personal and professional potential. Substance abuse education programs are necessary components of holistic prevention for athletes at all levels of training and competition. Future programs must consider the present study in the development of more successful and practical substance abuse education for athletes. / Department of Counseling Psychology and Guidance Services

Bakgrund: Substansberoendet ökar stadigt i hela världen, vilket ökar trycket på den somatiska vårdens kunskap att vårda patienter med substansberoende. Sjuksköterskor upplever att de inte har tillräcklig kunskap och erfarenhet av att behandla patienter med substansberoende, vilket ofta leder till att patienter känner sig felbehandlade och sjuksköterskor känner sig obekväma i sin sjuksköterskeroll i olika vårdsituationer. Syftet var att undersöka hur sjuksköterskors utbildning påverkar omvårdnad av patienter med substansberoende, inom den somatiska vården. Metoden är en litteraturstudie med fokus på sjuksköterskors utbildning om substansberoende och omfattar sju kvantitativa och sex kvalitativa vetenskapliga artiklar från olika delar av världen. Resultatet visade sjuksköterskors upplevelse i mötet med substansberoende patienter och behov av utbildning för sjuksköterskor om substansberoende. Det framkom att sjuksköterskor har förutfattade meningar och negativa attityder om patienter med substansberoende. De förutfattade meningarna och negativa attityderna beror ofta på att sjuksköterskor inte har en tillräcklig utbildning i att vårda personer med substansberoende. Slutsats: För att minska de förutfattade meningar och förbättra attityden hos sjuksköterskor krävs mer utbildning om hur sjuksköterskor bör agerar i mötet med patienter som har substansberoende. Sjuksköterskor behöver mer tid för att utföra korrekta prioriteringar av patienter med substansberoende samt har en önskan om både teoretisk och praktisk utbildning och handledning. / Background: Substance dependence is steadily growing across the world, calling for increasing knowledge on how to care for patients with substance dependence within the somatic field. Nurses feel that they do lack sufficient training and experience in treating patients with substance dependency, causing patients to feel mistreated while the nurses feel uncomfortable in their nursing role in various caring situations. The purpose of this paper has been to examine how the training nurses receive impacts on the care of patients with substance dependence in the area of somatic care. The method used is a literature study focusing on nurses’ training within substance addiction, containing seven qualitative and six quantitative scientific articles from different parts of the world. The results described nurses’ experiences in meeting patients with drug addiction and the need for education of nurses regarding drug dependency. It showed that nurses have preconceived ideas and negative attitude towards patients with substance dependency. The preconceived ideas and negative attitudes are often a result of nurses having insufficient training in caring for patients with substance dependency. Conclusion: To reduce preconceptions and to improve the prevailing attitudes of nurses, more training is needed regarding how nurses should act when meeting patients suffering from substance dependency. Nurses need more time to make correct priorities for patients with substance dependency and they request more theoretical and practical training and coaching.

Program Description CHOICES: A Brief Alcohol Abuse Prevention and Harm Reduction Program, is a research-based intervention program that can assist college students in making safer choices as it relates to alcohol consumption. Students in CHOICES are informed of the risks associated with alcohol use and are provided with the tools and strategies necessary for reducing these risks. Students who complete CHOICES leave with the knowledge and strategies that are required to modify risky drinking behavior and reduce negative consequences related alcohol consumption. Evaluation Questions The purpose of the evaluation was to determine how effective is the CHOICES program. Program effectiveness was measured through the assessment of student’s change in background knowledge, knowledge of health related risks associated with alcohol consumption, and attitudes towards excesive drinking. Student’s perceived effectiveness of the program and their likelihood to modify their behavior was also assessed. Below are the five evaluation questions: Do students display an increase in background knowledge of alcohol consumption? Do students display an increased knowledge of health-related risks associated with alcohol consumption? Do students display a change in attitudes towards excessive drinking? Do students consider the CHOICES Program an effective alcohol abuse prevention program? Are students likely to modify their behavior as a result of the CHOICES Program? Methods There were 88 students mandated to participate in and complete Georgia State University’s CHOICES Program from May 2013 to December 2013. Of those 88 students, 83 of them completed pre- and post-tests, and 84 completed the de-identified evaluation. The data was entered directly into IBM’s SPSS Statistics Desktop Version 21. Reliability analyses were conducted to evaluate the internal consistency and reliability of the scales created to answer the evaluation questions. Frequencies were run on the responses from the pre-tests, post-tests and evaluations. A paired-samples t-test was used to compare mean scores of students before and after completing the CHOICES Program. An independent-samples t-test was used to compare the difference in mean scores between men and women. Key Findings Statistically significant findings suggests that CHOICES is an effective alcohol abuse prevention program. There was a statistically significant increase in background knowledge scores from the pre-test to the post-test. These results indicate that students who complete CHOICES display an increase in background knowledge of alcohol use. There was also a statistically significant increase in health knowledge scores from the pre-test to the post-test. This indicates that students who complete CHOICES display an increase in knowledge of health-related risk associated with alcohol consumption. Statistical significance was also found in the increase of student’s attitude scores from the pre-test to the post-test, indicating that students who complete CHOICES display a positive change in attitude towards excessive drinking. Over half of students gave CHOICES an overall rating of “excellent” and 38.6% gave it a rating of “good”. Also, 60.6% of students scored above a 28 on the Program Effectiveness Scale. These results indicate that students consider CHOICES an effective alcohol abuse prevention program. 60.7% of students reported that they would “definitely” change some aspect of their alcohol-related behavior as a result of the CHOICES Program. 29% reported “maybe”. These results indicate that the majority of students are likely to modify their behavior as a result of CHOICES. Students who participate in CHOICES leave the program with increased knowledge, a change in attitude towards excessive drinking and are motivated to make safer choices related to drinking.

Typescript. / Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Hawaii at Manoa, 1990. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 164-179) / Microfiche. / x, 179 leaves, bound ill. 29 cm

Thesis (MPsy(Clinical))--University of South Australia, 1999.

Thesis (MPsy(Clinical))--University of South Australia, 2001.

Thesis (Ph.D.)--Ohio University, August, 2007. / Title from PDF t.p. Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis PlanB (M.S.)--University of Wisconsin--Stout, 2007. / Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (M.A.)--Bowling Green State University, 2007. / Document formatted into pages; contains ix, 61 p. Includes bibliographical references.