Syftet med studien var att undersöka de professionellas uppfattningar om: a) de strategier och verktyg som deltagarna i ett tolvstegsprogram använder sig av och b) tolvstegsprogrammets effekter relaterat till målsättningen att deltagarna i behandlings-formen bibehåller ett nyktert och drogfritt liv. Den metodologiska utgångspunkten som användes i studien var fenomenologi med kvalitativa semistrukturerade intervjuer (Bryman, 2018 och Johansson, 2012). Vi höll intervjuer med sju olika informanter. Informanterna beskrev olika strategier och verktyg som deltagarna använder sig av under tolvstegsprogrammet samt vilka effekter dessa strategier och verktyg ger. De beskrev även vilka olika svårigheter som deltagarna stöter på under tolvstegs-programmet samt vilka framgångar som tolvstegsprogrammet ger. Informanterna beskrev att de använder sig av gruppsessioner, uppgifter samt undervisning som en del av behandlingen inom tolvstegsprogrammet. De beskrev även att tolvstegsprogrammet ger goda effekter som till exempel att deltagarna lär sig att bryta dåliga mönster och etablera en sundare livsstil. Det framkom att det religiösa i programmet är en svårighet som många deltagare upplever samt att en framgång som medföljer för de som arbetar i stegen är gemenskap och delaktighet, både i samhället och i gruppen. Vid analysen har vi använt oss av Jarvis (2010) teori om det livslånga lärandet, där faktorer som människan som social varelse, hur människors lärande sker via imitation samt omgivningens betydelse för människans utveckling har varit centrala i analysen. Studiens slutsats var att de socialpedagogiska begreppen gemenskap, delaktighet och meningsfullhet är viktiga komponenter både för att strategierna och verktygen ska ha önskad effekt och för att bibehålla och fortsätta arbeta på sin nykterhet och den förändring man gjort under tolvstegsprogrammet (Berglund och Cederlund, 2017). Det framkom även att det socialpedagogiska arbetssättets hörnstenar relation, struktur och förändring är av avgörande betydelse för tolvstegsprogrammets resultat av behandlingen (Storö, 2013).

The purpose of this research project was to explore the family structural variables of cohesion and adaptability as well as extracurricular activities, peer influences, and personal attitudes as they were manifested in adolescents classified as nonusers, users, and/or abusers of alcohol/drugs. Two hundred and thirty-seven adolescents responded to written questionnaires including the Alcohol and Drug Use Index, a reduced form of the Family Adaptability and Cohesion Evaluation Scales (FACES III), the Student Attitude and Behavior Questionnaire, and a Demographic Questionnaire. Information was obtained on age and grade level, gender and ethnicity, parental characteristics, and student's educational aspirations in an effort to identify factors associated with teenage alcohol/drug use. Some of the major findings suggested that the users/abusers groups reported less involvement with their families, educational pursuits, and extracurricular activities when compared to their nondrug using counterparts. The statistical analysis also confirmed some aspects of structural family therapy theory and refuted other aspects. The results of this study were also compared to prior research on adolescent substance use. These results further expanded the understanding of factors associated with adolescent use/abuse of alcohol/drugs. / Ph. D.

The purpose of this study was to gain a deep phenomenological understanding of how young adults living in a detoxification centre for people with no fixed abode made the life changing decision to free themselves from substance use and provide insights that could be helpful for counselling psychologists working therapeutically with this client group. An exploratory study was conducted using Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (IPA). The participants were between the ages of 25 and 29 years old (1 female and 5 males). All participants had spent 6 weeks in the detoxification centre at the time the interview took place. Two specific areas were pinpointed for exploration during the semi-structured interviews: (1) self-concept before entering the project and after having entered the project and been abstinent for at least 6 weeks, and (2) possible links between homelessness and substance use. Emerging themes were clustered in terms of polarities and existential dimensions. Four superordinate themes comprising of eight existential polarities were extrapolated: control-chaos; connectedness-disconnection; meaning-meaninglessness; responsibility-guilt. The data analysis revealed participants’ struggle to resolve the conflict between these polarities. Identity issues seemed to be crucial, as well as a sense of having lost touch with or possibly never developed an authentic self and a struggle to live and accept emotions in the present moment. Another aspect that emerged was difficulties in grieving losses as well as death anxiety. Connecting with others and caring about oneself seemed to be closely linked and conducive to wellbeing in participants’ experience of abstinence from substance use. On the basis of this study recommendations are made for professionals working therapeutically with this group of clients. These include taking an existential approach and using mindfulness techniques to support clients to accept the polarities we experience in life and to develop the capacity to embrace the contradictions of our existence.

Thesis (M.Ed.) (Clinical Psychology) --University of Limpopo, 2008. / There is a considerable literature linking aspects of personality, parenting, and risk behaviors such as alcohol abuse. Three hundred African university students participated in a study of the relationship between personality, assessed with the NEO PI-R (Costa & McCrae, 1992), and alcohol use. Personality traits did not predict alcohol use among the students. It was also predicted that the Parental Bonding Instrument (PBI; Parker, Tupling, & Brown, 1979) would mediate the relationship between personality and alcohol use. Results of the current study revealed no significant relationship between parenting and alcohol use. The results are discussed with regards the use of the NEO PI-R’s validity in the population used. Keyword: Five Factor Model; Parental bonding; Abstainers; Moderate drinkers; Heavy drinkers. / N/A

Substance abuse is a major social problem with far-reaching implications. Substance abuse is a critical problem in South Africa and across all segments of the population and in some way, impacts on all members of our society. The challenge is to explain why people engage in behaviours that they know will harm them. The aim of the study was to understand how people came to abuse substances, by exploring the factors that contribute to substance abuse by recovering service users at Newlands Park Rehabilitation Centre. The ecosystems perspective was used to guide the study. The study used an exploratory design as it attempted to explore new insights into factors contributing to substance abuse by service uses at Newlands Park Rehabilitation Centre. A qualitative research was used to understand the reasons that govern this behavior. Convenience sampling was used as a sampling technique. Ten participants were selected from a group of twenty service users that were in their last week of the rehabilitation program at Newlands Park Rehabilitation Centre. Semi-structured interviews were used as a primary technique for data collection. The data was analyzed thematically. The findings of the study reveal that there are several factors that led respondents’ to abuse substances. These are intrapersonal factors that both initiated and maintained the abuse of substances by respondents. The results from the study also show interpersonal and environmental factors that contributed to respondents’ abuse of substances. It is recommended that prevention and treatment programs for substance abuse take account of intrapersonal, interpersonal and environmental factors that contribute to substance abuse. / Thesis (M.A.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban, 2012.

This study proposed a multifactorial model of development to understand the development of infants during their first 12 months of life who had been born to chemically dependent women. The impact of maternal chemical dependency on pregnancy outcome, factors associated with severity of neonatal abstinence syndrome and effectiveness of three treatments used in the management of neonatal abstinence syndrome was studied in 271 mother-infant pairs, who were managed by the Chemical Dependency Unit, Royal Women’s Hospital, Melbourne between April 1991 and May 1994. / The chemically dependent mothers and their infants were grouped on the basis of their primary drug of abuse: viz methadone, heroin, non-opioid and codeine groups. Fifty two infants born to drug-free mothers were recruited from a routine antenatal clinic of the same hospital to serve as a control group. The controls were matched for maternal age, marital status, race socioeconomic status, educational level, alcohol and tobacco consumption. / Patterns of maternal drug use were determined by reports from methadone treatment programs, drug rehabilitation centres, medical records, personal interviews and urine toxicologic assays performed on mothers during pregnancy and on their infants during the first 48 hours of life. Urine was assayed for metabolites of methadone, amphetamines, barbiturates, cocaine, opiates, cannabis and benzodiazepines. / There were 180 heroin-dependent, one morphine-dependent and one pethidine-dependent pregnant women enrolled in methadone maintenance programs. The methadone group consisted of these 182 methadone-maintained women and their offspring. Thirty five heroin-dependent women and their offspring formed the heroin group. The non-opioid group consisted of 46 chemically dependent women who used multiple drugs but not opioid drugs during their pregnancy and their offspring. There were eight mother-infant pairs in the codeine group. The mothers in this group primarily abused medication containing codeine in pregnancy. (For complete abstract open document)

Masters of Art / High rates of substance use and its associated problems afflict Cape Town, underscoring the need for easily accessible substance abuse treatment. Despite the substantial benefits for both individuals and society at large that substance abuse treatment confers, substance abusers often first have to negotiate considerable challenges in order to access treatment and accumulate these gains. That is, experiencing barriers to accessing treatment, together with the presence of socio-demographic features, rather than “need for treatment”, decides who accesses treatment. Referrals are the gateway to inpatient substance abuse treatment in the Western Cape. While several barriers to accessing treatment have been identified by prior studies, none examine these phenomena from the point of view of the agents responsible for referring substance users for treatment. Moreover, access barriers to inpatient substance abuse services are a neglected area in extant literature. To address this gap, this study explored the perceptions of referring agents‟ of the barriers to accessing state-funded inpatient substance abuse treatment centres in the Western Cape. This enabled the researcher to compare existing access barriers to treatment as identified by prior research, to those elucidated in the study. Bronfenbrenner‟s Process-Person-Context-Time model was employed as the basis for understanding identified barriers. In accordance with the exploratory qualitative methodological framework of the study, six semi-structured individual in-depth interviews were conducted with referring agents‟ of differing professional titles who were purposefully selected and expressed a willingness to participate in the study. Interviews were audio-recorded, and transcripts were analysed and interpreted by means of Thematic Analysis. Two broad thematic categories of access barriers were identified: Person-related barriers (denial, motivation for treatment, gender considerations, disability, active TB disease, homelessness, psychiatric co-morbidity) and Context-related barriers to treatment (cultural and linguistic barriers, stigma, community beliefs about addiction and treatment, awareness of substance abuse treatment, affordability/ financial barriers, geographic locations of treatment facilities, waiting time, lack of collaboration within the treatment system, beliefs of service providers‟, lack of facilities/ resources within the treatment system, practices at inpatient facilities, referral protocol and uninformed staff). Results suggest that by targeting the aforementioned barriers, access to inpatient and outpatient treatment services can be improved, and recommendations for interventions are offered in this regard. Ethical principles such as obtaining informed consent and ensuring confidentiality were abided by throughout the study and thereafter.

The purpose of this study was to compare nonverbal emotional expressiveness between substance users and nonsubstance users.

Thesis (MPA.) -- University of Limpopo, 2016 / This study was undertaken in order to evaluate the effectiveness of the Employee Assistance Programme on substance abuse in the Department of Public Works. Qualitative and quantitative research approaches were applied in the study. Purposive sampling was used to select clients who were on the EAP data base due to substance abuse as well as supervisors as they have first-hand experience with employees utilising the Employee Assistance service and shop-stewards because they play significant role in the workplace in all matters affecting their members including substance abuse. Ten (10) EAP clients were interviewed using the structured interview schedule. A questionnaire was distributed amongst twenty (20) supervisors and six (6) shop-stewards. All EAP clients were males as they are mostly exposed to alcohol and drugs due to a cultural acceptance that men are allowed to drink alcohol and smoke in contrast to women. The majority of the respondents were Sepedi speaking as the study was conducted in Sekhukhune District which is dominated by the Sepedi speaking people. Some of the major findings of the study are: Most of the EAP clients with substance abuse problems had low education level which ranges between standard 3 to 9 and were mostly doing technical work which includes bricklaying, carpentry, welding, electrician work etc. Therefore this suggests that illiteracy contributes towards alcohol and drug abuse due to lack of information of the dangers of the substances. Supervisors and shop-stewards believe that the EAP plays a pivotal role in the workplace to address employees‟ problems such as substance abuse that negatively affects employees‟ performance and productivity. They are also aware of their role of identifying, supporting and referring employees who need help. However, more supervisory training should be conducted to capacitate and strengthen their skills and knowledge on EAP. vi The study revealed that the Department does not have an effective preventative method as well as aftercare programme to assist employees with substance abuse problem which was identified to be the most common in the workplace. It was also highlighted that EAP focus in the Department was more on HIV/AIDS related issues and counselling than other issues. Preventative programmes, such as awareness campaigns on substance abuse, alcohol educational programmes, and peer-intervention as well as aftercare programmes are not implemented. Known cases of substance abuse intervention were identified with no aftercare programme which leads to clients relapsing. It was also found out that there are challenges experienced by EAP clients, supervisors and shop-stewards while utilising the service. Some of the challenges identified were lack of resources such as shortage of staff and budget. The largest group of EAP clients prefer an off-site model as well as ninety-five (95%) of supervisors, who agree that an off-site model is the best for the Department as an in house model promotes conflict of interest and poses confidentiality risks. Nevertheless, all EAP clients maintained that the principle of confidentiality was adhered to. It was also emphasised by the respondents that an off-site model exposes clients to a pool of different professionals such as social workers, psychologists, psychiatrists, nurses etc. as compared to an in-house model where only one professional is rendering all services. From the findings it was concluded that EAP in the Limpopo Department of Public Works (LDPW) is not effective in addressing substance abuse since there are no preventative programmes as well as after-care services in place; hence the high rate of EAP clientele with substance abuse problem. However, the respondents are satisfied with the other services rendered through the EAP. For the programme to effectively address substance abuse problem it needs to be fully resourced with skilled staff and have enough budget.

Background: Adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) lead to high risk behaviors in adults. Annually, around 10,000 people die from alcohol-related motor vehicle injuries, and >1.1 million arrested for driving under the influence of alcohol or narcotics. An estimated 700,000 children reported abuse each year; 8.4% reported experiencing sexual abuse. Studies have reported the role of ACEs in alcohol consumption during adulthood. Additionally, evidence exists about the influence of parental substance abuse behaviors on addiction to alcohol and other substances of abuse. However, the association of adult drunk driving with childhood sexual abuse, and /or exposure to parental substance abuse behaviors has not been investigated. Objective: This study aimed to estimate the association of sexual abuse and/or parental substance abuse behaviors during childhood 2017 Appalachian Student Research Forum Page 57with drunk driving in US adults. Methods: Data were obtained from 4,374,390 adults who participated in the 2012 Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS). Participants' self-reported responses were used to define study outcome- drunk driving (no/yes) and study exposure- childhood sexual abuse (no/yes) and parental substance abuse behavior (no/yes). Covariates included age, sex, race, income, education, and marital status. Simple and multivariable logistic regression models were used to assess the relative odds of drunk driving among US adults who reported sexual abuse and/or exposure to parental substance behaviors during childhood. Interaction models were conducted to test for joint effects of study exposures on the outcome. Results: Approximately 3.6% of adults reported DD, 10.55% reported exposure to parental substance abuse behavior, and 11.1% adults reported childhood sexual abuse. Compared to adults who didn't experience sexual abuse during childhood, those who experienced were significantly associated with increased odds of drunk driving behavior (adjusted Odds Ratio (aOR): 1.67, 95% confidence interval (CI):1.27-2.20). Adults who reported exposure to parental substance abuse behavior were found to be associated with increased odds of drunk driving behavior (aOR:1.30, 95%CI:1.00-1.68) compared to unexposed adults. Conclusion: Adults who were sexually abused during childhood and had exposures to parental substance abuse behaviors were associated with increased relative odds of drunk driving. The study findings help public health professionals identify targeted high risk groups for interventions. Appropriate public health interventions and/or policies should be developed to prevent sexual abuse and exposure to parental substance abuse during childhood. Health education and promotional campaigns are vital to minimize drunk driving cases by targeting communities and individuals with high risk behaviors.