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Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI) / Rates of vaping among high school students have increased significantly over the past decade. Prior research has found significant associations between youth vaping and substance use. However, little is known about how vaping is associated with various patterns of polysubstance use and asthma in youth. We aimed to identify how youth are best categorized into classes based on co-occurring vaping and polysubstance use behaviors, how these classes are associated with youth background and demographic characteristics, and if these classes significantly predict asthma outcomes. Our sample consisted of nationally representative data from the 2017 and 2019 waves of the Youth Risk Behavior Survey (N = 28,442). We utilized Latent Class Analysis, multinomial logistic regression analyses, and binary logistic regression analyses to examine relationships between youth vaping, polysubstance use, and asthma. Three latent classes of substance use were identified: Polysubstance Users, Lifetime Alcohol and Vape Users, and Abstainers. Age, gender, grade and race were all significantly associated with odds of membership in the Polysubstance Users class, compared to the Abstainers class. Sexual identity was not associated with class membership. Membership in the Polysubstance Users class was significantly associated with higher odds of asthma, as compared to membership in the other two classes. These findings indicate that recent vaping is associated with high probabilities of recent polysubstance use. They also suggest that youth with high probabilities of vaping and polysubstance use are at significantly high risk for asthma compared to other classes vi of youth users and non-users. We recommend that future youth intervention strategies be tailored differently toward different classes of substance use and vaping. Future research should examine how the classes of vaping and substance use that we identify emerge in youth and what social factors (e.g., peer behavior, parental connectedness, etc.) influence their development.

No description available.

Magister Artium (Psychology) - MA(Psych) / Western Cape has the highest prevalence rates of Substance Use Disorder (SUD) with prevalence rates of 18.5%, versus the national average of 13.3%. Existing studies have emphasised that SUD is associated with exposure to trauma and Post-traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). In addition, demographic factors such as gender, race and socio-economic status have been correlated with SUD. However, limited research exists on the correlates of SUD among inpatients at substance abuse rehabilitation facilities in the Western Cape Province. The study aimed to address this gap in the literature by investigating the correlates of SUD among inpatients at SUD rehabilitation treatment facilities.

Nonsuicidal Self-Injury (NSSI), or the deliberate damage of bodily tissue without suicidal intent, is a prevalent issue in young people. Relative to those who have never self-injured, young people with either recent (i.e., past-year) or distal (i.e., lifetime, but not in the past year) histories of NSSI demonstrate difficulties with emotion regulation, the process of modulating emotional responses. Emotion regulation difficulties are a risk factor for other forms of Self-Damaging Behaviours (SDBs), including binge drinking, substance use, and binge eating, which are more prevalent among individuals with a history of NSSI. Prominent theoretical models of NSSI and other SDBs posit that these behaviours may share a common function of altering negative mood states, explaining their frequent co-occurrence. The present study hypothesized that first-year university students with distal, recent, or no history of NSSI a) would differ in their rates of SDB engagement over seven months, and b) would differ in their strength of association between changes in stress and concurrent SDB engagement. Further, the present study hypothesized that emotional dysregulation would moderate the association between stress and SDB engagement. Multilevel modelling with longitudinal data from two cohorts of first-year undergraduates (N=540) revealed that students with either distal or recent NSSI histories were more likely to engage in substance use than their peers who had never self-injured, but did not report a greater frequency of binge eating or binge drinking. Regardless of NSSI history, substance use was unrelated to within-person changes in stress or emotional dysregulation. Higher-than-usual stress was associated with increased frequency of binge eating and binge drinking, but this association was unrelated to NSSI history or emotional dysregulation. Results suggest that elevated risk for substance use may persist even after NSSI has stopped, while other forms of SDBs (i.e., binge drinking and binge eating) were not predicted by NSSI history. Further, results suggest that some SDBs (i.e., binge drinking and binge eating) are enacted more frequently during periods of stress, but that this pattern is not unique to those with a history of NSSI or those who struggle to regulate their emotions. Consistent with person-centred models of NSSI recovery, these results suggest that vulnerability to some SDBs may persist even after NSSI has stopped. Future research should further examine the mechanisms underlying the complex association between NSSI and SDBs. / Graduate

Alcohol-related Liver Disease (ALD) represents almost half of all deaths attributable to liver disease (LD) in the US. Despite the large proportion of deaths from ALD, however, only 1.4% of all liver transplants were for patients with ALD. ALD presents a range of medical and ethical concerns for those who drive the policy and practices of liver transplantation (LT). While, historically, stringent eligibility criteria for LT precluded many with ALD from receiving a transplant, more recent research suggests such criteria may be misguided. The following review compares LT outcomes between ALD and non-ALD recipients and finds that LT recipients with ALD have equal, if not better, survival rates than those with non-ALD. The findings of this review suggest a need for revisiting transplant criteria for patients with ALD to ensure parity.

Benämningen dubbeldiagnos är ett vitt begrepp men i denna kontext syftar det på personer som har en psykiatrisk diagnos i kombination med ett dokumenterat och diagnostiserat alkohol- och/eller narkotikamissbruk. Personer med dubbeldiagnos är en utsatt grupp i samhället med betydligt högre dödlighet än övriga befolkningen. Trots detta verkar det finnas svårigheter i samverkan kring behandling, främst eftersom vården är utlagd på två huvudmän. Syftet med denna studie är därför att undersöka hur samverkan kring behandlingsinsatserna fungerar mellan kommun och region för personer med dubbeldiagnos i en mellanstor kommun. Undersökningen har genomförts med semistrukturerade intervjuer som analyserats med hjälp av konventionell innehållsanalys. Data har insamlats från åtta respondenter, fyra från vardera huvudman.    Resultatet visar att region och öppenvård inte har ett gemensamt synsätt när det gäller vilken behandling som är bäst för personer med dubbeldiagnos. Båda instanser ser behov av samtidig behandling för bägge tillstånden men regionen ser medicinsk behandling som det primära medan kommunen anser att allians och långsiktig behandling är det viktigaste. Resultatet visar också att det saknas riktlinjer och en gemensam strategi för att lösa de befintliga samverkansproblemen. De hinder för samverkan som respondenterna belyste handlade främst om strukturella faktorer som resursbrist och byråkrati.    Det är svårt att komma tillrätta med de glapp som uppstår mellan regionens slutenvård och kommunens öppenvård och i detta glapp finns en hög återfallsrisk. Respondenternas rekommendation för att minska det tidigare nämnda glappet mellan huvudmännen är ett slags mellanhus. Detta skulle ge kommunen förutsättningar att stå redo med insatser när klienten är medicinskt färdigbehandlad från regionens sida. Personer med dubbeldiagnos skulle på så sätt ges möjlighet att få vård och fortsatt stöd i de perioder då risken för återfall är som störst. Slutsatsen är att det finns brister i samverkan mellan kommun och region. En metod för att bättra samverkan är interprofessionella team som arbetar tillsammans mot gemensamma mål. På så sätt tas den bästa kunskapen tillvara från såväl socialtjänst som region. Inte minst visar dubbeldiagnosteamet på att detta är en framgångsrik väg för god samverkan.

Natural recovery is inhibition or moderation of problematic substance use without employing the use of formal addiction services. A neuroanthropological approach to natural recovery highlights the importance of both social and biological aspects of achieving this "self" led process of change. Throughout this project I take a critical anthropological approach to natural recovery, which explores a more holistic conception and historically situated view of current natural recovery theory. This research project employs a neuroanthropological perspective to assess how college students perform natural recovery. Using ethnographic methods, which highlight the social and physical experience of moderation, I discuss how students negotiate pathways for cessation/moderation within the university structure. The university is increasingly a neoliberal space, which influences the way key stakeholders (faculty, staff, and students) perceive and pursue pathways for cessation/moderation. Thus, I found students pursue natural recovery by pulling on recovery capital, facilitated by the university, but outside of traditional cessation pathways, to stop problematic use. Additionally, I employed Bourdieu’s notions of practice and habitus to highlight how students negotiate their lives within this structure and pull on their recovery capital to mitigate cues, proposing a biocultural perspective of natural recovery. The goal of this research is to show how students leverage social relationships and cues in ways that are meaningful to sustaining abstinence/moderation without formal guidance or structure. This work contributes to the small body of literature already established around natural recovery and cue reactivity, and shows how ethnographic methods can and should be applied to both of these fields of research.

Thesis ( M.A. ( Clinical Psychology )) -- University of Limpopo, 2013 / The aim of the study is to investigate the perceptions of alcohol use and its behavioral impact upon learners at Makgofe Area in the Limpopo Province. Quantitative, descriptive research was conducted to determine if there were any differences between the perceptions and the behavioural impact of alcohol use. Data was collected using a semi-structured questionnaire. A total number of 100 participants, divided into two groups, took part in the study. Fifty (50) learners, who drink alcohol, formed the experimental group, while another fifty (50) learners, who do not drink alcohol, formed the control group. Data was analysed using SPSS. The study has highlighted the perceptions held by learners and the behavioural impact it has on behaviour. The findings revealed that learners using alcohol perceive its usage positively. It was also found that leaners using alcohol perceive alcohol as having a positive impact on their behaviour. The study concludes by advocating psycho education regarding the use and effects of alcohol at schools around Limpopo Province.

Studying dopamine-dependent functions such as memory and creativity can help us understand and improve quality of life in populations at risk for dopaminergic network dysfunction. I examined memory and creativity in a series of studies in different at-risk populations. The first study investigated marijuana initiation and learning in 119 inner-city youth, some with prenatal substance exposures, including to cocaine. I hypothesized that earlier-onset marijuana use would predict poorer developmental learning trajectories, and non-use the most positive. Results suggested that initiation’s effects on learning may reflect psychosocial factors rather than prenatal substance exposure status or time of marijuana initiation. The potential importance of the dopamine-related personality factor “openness to experience” motivated additional studies. One hypothesized and found different neurocognitive outcomes in young-adult substance users (n=41) based on maladaptive or adaptive substance use motives. The other studies examined Parkinson’s disease (PD), a disorder characterized by the degeneration of brain dopaminergic networks. Participants were individuals with PD without dementia (33-42 “PDs”/study), age-matched normal control adults (26-28 “NCs”/study), and younger control adults (37-41 “YCs”/study). The first PD study examined neuropsychological and personality correlates of learning and memory. I hypothesized that in each group, openness would explain a significant amount of the variance in learning, and higher openness would be associated with better learning and memory, particularly in PDs. Results supported this hypothesis in PDs only. The second PD study examined creativity—specifically, divergent thinking, which correlates with openness and shares dopaminergic neural substrates. Based on research demonstrating that brief walking improves divergent thinking in young adults, and that exercise changes dopamine transmission, I hypothesized that brief walking would improve divergent thinking in PDs, NCs, and YCs. In PDs, I expected higher disease severity (more compromised dopamine function) to correlate with less improvement after walking. None of the hypotheses were supported, potentially due to the low intensity of the intervention, but openness appeared protective of creativity in YCs and PDs. Taken together, the results of the studies demonstrate the importance of psychosocial factors in dopamine-dependent cognition. In at-risk populations, openness’s benefits may surpass effects of moderate substance use, and they may offer neuroprotection in PD.