Substance use disorders (SUDs) are often comorbid with other psychopathology such as mood disorders, anxiety disorders, and personality disorders. While some research suggests individuals with comorbid psychopathology are more likely to seek substance use treatment than those with independent disorders, other studies have also shown many individuals with dual diagnoses still never seek treatment. Moreover, few studies have tried to elucidate the underlying structure of SUD treatment rejection, and instead examined it in more simplistic terms. In addition, studies have tended to examine the impact of individual disorders on treatment rejection, but have not incorporated an empirically supported approach to conceptualizing psychopathology in terms of comorbidity between broad latent dimensions referred to as internalizing (e.g., depression, anxiety) and externalizing (e.g., antisocial personality disorder, polysubstance use) psychopathology. Modeling psychopathology in terms of internalizing and externalizing psychopathology is becoming a prominent approach to understanding mental disorders, yet little research to date has investigated the effects these broad dimensions have on SUD treatment rejection. The current study utilized latent variable modeling techniques to (1) determine the latent structure of SUD treatment rejection in a large U.S. sample, and investigate whether treatment rejection is a multidimensional construct; and (2), to explore the ability of internalizing psychopathology, externalizing psychopathology, and personality pathology to predict the SUD treatment rejection factor(s). The current study relied on use of a general population sample of 43,093 individuals from the first wave of National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism's National Epidemiologic Survey on Alcohol and Related Conditions (NESARC) study. Support was found for the hypothesis that SUD treatment rejection would be a multidimensional construct.  Exploratory structural equation modeling indicated a three-factor model best fit the data. Operational definitions and clinical implications of these three treatment rejection factors ("Objective barriers," "Psychological barriers," and "Self-focused barriers") are discussed. Among internalizing psychopathology, externalizing psychopathology, and personality pathology, structural equation modeling identified internalizing psychopathology as the most robust predictor of these three factors for alcohol treatment rejection (n = 1063), indicating endorsement of treatment barriers increased as levels of internalizing psychopathology increased. This pattern also held true for externalizing psychopathology, while personality pathology only negatively predicted objective treatment barriers.  For drug treatment rejection (n = 562), only internalizing psychopathology significantly predicted the treatment rejection factors, indicating treatment endorsement of drug treatment barriers increased as levels of internalizing psychopathology increased. Implications of these findings and directions for future research are discussed.

Background: Previous research shows that individuals with substance use disorder experience stigmatization in society, close relationships and even negative attitudes in health care. These individuals increase in number and are a patient group that general nurses can meet in their daily work. It has also been shown that nursing treatment with regard to these individuals may be crucial for seeking and maintaining treatment. This study therefore focuses on nurses’ attitudes towards these individuals but also on their experiences when caring for them. Aim: To investigate the nurse’s attitudes to and experiences of care of individuals with substance abuse disorder. Method: The method used was a systematic literature study with basic qualitative analysis. Result: The results is presented in two domains; "Nurses’ approach" and "Nurses’ experiences" with seven categories. What turned out was a link between high level of knowledge and awareness and good care. The results also showed that some nurses had negative expectations for this patient group, which negatively affected nursing care. We could also discern an inner conflict within the nurses, who often felt insufficient and unable to provide the care the individual was entitled to. Conclusion: Nursing approaches and experiences varied. A link between knowledge and awareness and provision of good care and preventing or reducing prejudice, was found. Society and its culture tend to affect the nurses’ views of individuals with substance abuse disorder. The inner conflicts occurred when nurses did not give the individual the care that he or she were entitled to.

Reitan and Wolfson's General Neuropsychological Deficit Scale and Left and Right Neuropsychological Deficit Scales were applied to Halstead-Reitan test data of individuals with psychotic or substance abuse disorders with and without a head injury.

Inoculation is a robust theory applied to a variety of health behaviors. Social marketing is designed to change behavior by applying marketing tactics in the context of social change. This study combines inoculation theory with social marketing in the context of substance abuse disorders to promote long-term recovery. This is a pilot project that specifically focuses on the Beacon House, a residential recovery treatment center in Louisville, Kentucky. With the growing drug problem in America, it is necessary to implement effective recovery strategies in treatment programs. The social marketing plan focuses on the target audience to outline potential barriers, motivators, and competition to remaining in long-term recovery. Three intervention strategies were developed as part of the project: a core inoculation message, booster messages, and refusal skills training. These strategies utilize inoculation messages in various ways to address the complexity of long-term recovery. While this study focuses on the Beacon House treatment facility, the concepts can be applied to similar treatment centers.

The Argus Commission identified three major federal priorities related to health care, including the precision medicine initiative, the Cancer Moonshot and the opioid abuse epidemic. Current activities at the federal level were summarized and an analysis of activities within the profession, and academic pharmacy specifically, was prepared. The implications for pharmacy education, research and practice are compelling in all three areas. Recommendations, suggestions and two policy statements aim to optimize the attention to these priorities by the academy. Further, aligning the AACP Strategic Engagement agenda with the opportunities and threats acknowledged in the analysis is essential.

Both smoking addiction and illicit substance abuse are prevalent issues in the United States today. Furthermore, these are issues that have significant impact on women’s health and mental state. Despite research that shows that smoking cessation coupled with substance abuse recovery can decrease likelihood of relapse post-recovery, few substance abuse recovery facilities today offer smoking cessation programming options. To address the issue of smoking addiction on top of substance abuse recovery, formative research was conducted through this study to determine the underlying causes of smoking habits coupled with recovery efforts and the attitudes. Through focus group sessions with women in a residential treatment facility in the southeastern US, a determination of the specific audience’s motivations to smoke and perceived self-efficacy to quit smoking was made. Based on the findings of this formative research, a full social marketing plan was then developed to offer an intervention program option for smoking cessation among a target audience of women undergoing residential treatment for substance abuse. The study conducted and the social marketing developed from it proposes a pilot program that may be implemented in other similar settings with similar populations in the future.

Background: Patients with a substance abuse disorder can experience that caregivers lack knowledge and understanding about how the disorder affects their life and health. The patients’ sufferings are not only caused by the disorder but also the physical, psychological and social aspects that might be a reason for, or a result of the substance abuse disorder. To provide care to these patients hence places special demands on nurses’ approaches. Aim: To describe nurses' experiences of caring for patients with substance abuse disorder. Method: A systematic review with a descriptive synthesis. Result: Nurses have experiences that it is engaging and rewarding to care for patients with substance abuse disorder. The result shows that the nurses have experiences that it is difficult and complicated to care for patients with substance abuse disorder and that it can be associated with fear, insecurity, organizational challenges and challenges in keeping a professional relation to patients who are socially exposed and have an unpredictable behavior. The result also points out the presence of prejudices and generalized attitudes towards the patients. There are also examples of experiences that the approach, experience and education can improve and facilitate the care. Conclusion: In order to provide an equal and successful care for patients, substance abuse disorder should be considered equal to other diseases and nurses need to regard the patient's living conditions. Keywords: caring relationship, dependency care, experiences, literature study, nurses, substance abuse disorder / Bakgrund: Patienter med beroendeproblematik kan uppleva att vårdpersonal saknar kunskap och förståelse för hur beroendet påverkar deras livssituation och hälsa. Patienternas lidande är inte bara orsakat av beroendet i sig utan påverkas även av fysiska, psykiska och sociala aspekter, vilka kan vara en orsak till eller en följd av missbruket. Att vårda dessa patienter ställer därför speciella krav på sjuksköterskors förhållningssätt. Syfte: Att beskriva sjuksköterskors erfarenheter av att vårda patienter med beroendeproblematik. Metod: En systematisk litteraturstudie med beskrivande syntes. Resultat: Sjuksköterskor har erfarenheter av att det är engagerande och givande att vårda patienter med beroendeproblematik. I resultatet framkommer vidare att sjuksköterskorna erfar att det är svårt och komplicerat att vårda patienter med beroendeproblematik och att det kan vara förknippat med rädsla, osäkerhet, organisatoriska utmaningar samt utmaningar i att förhålla sig professionella till patienter som är socialt utsatta och har ett oberäkneligt beteende. Resultatet visar också att det förekommer fördomar om och generaliserade attityder kring patienterna. Sjuksköterskans förhållningssätt, erfarenhet och utbildning kan förbättra och underlätta vården. Slutsats: För att ge en jämlik och framgångsrik vård bör beroendeproblematik jämställas med andra sjukdomar och sjuksköterskor behöver ta hänsyn till patientens livsförhållanden. Nyckelord: beroendeproblematik, beroendevård, erfarenheter, litteraturstudie, sjuksköterskor, vårdande relation.