Current evidence suggests that non-medical prescription stimulant (NMPS) use is on the rise, particularly among college students. Identifying individuals at risk for regular and problematic use is a critical step towards the development of effective intervention efforts. A growing body of work has noted that individuals with elevated levels of social anxiety (SA) or social anxiety disorder are at an enhanced risk for developing substance use problems, including NMPS use disorder. Despite the relevance of SA and NMPS use among college students, no studies have attempted to examine subclinical SA or the relation between SA and NMPS use among college students specifically. Thus, the present study sought to extend this area by testing the relation of SA symptoms and NMPS use frequency among college students. A large online study of college students was conducted (N=1604) to identify 252 NMPS users (18-25 years; 68.3% female). A hierarchical linear regression was used to test the moderation of positive prescription stimulant expectancies on SA symptoms in predicting past year NMPS use frequency. A subsample of 15 participants was also brought into the lab to assess subjective (State Anxiety) and physiological (salivary cortisol) responding to a social stressor task. Overall, the current study did not provide evidence that SA, via retrospective self-report or real-time responding was related to past year NMPS use frequency. Additional research is needed to resolve the discrepancies between the present findings and prior work.

The unprecedented situation caused by the COVID-19 pandemic worldwide is characterized by social isolation, separation from loved ones and limited freedom. These events have been identified as adversely affecting the mental health of the population, who suffer mainly from depression, anxiety symptoms, anger and fear feelings as well as sleep problems. Based on general strain theory (Agnew, 1992) combined with the changing opportunities in crime (routine activity theories), the aim of the survey was to examine the impact of the negative mental health during the second wave of COVID-19 lockdown, in violent behavior and substance use of individuals residing or living in Greece. A secondary objective formulated based on gendered approach for which men are expected to act more violently than women and females are expected to have poorer mental health than males. An online survey was conducted and disseminated through Facebook groups. Approval of the informed consent was one of the criteria for participation in the study. The collected data included demographic characteristics, information about mental health, violent behavior, and substance use, like alcohol drinking and smoking cigarettes during the lockdown. The ANOVA shown that there is not any significant impact of poor mentality in aggressive behavior and substance use which could be explained by considering the Greek cultural context. The results of independent samples T-test indicated that male indeed act more violently than female, and that women report poorer mental health than men. This finding is consistent with the gender approach and could be further explored through feminist theories. The results of this research purposes to give more insight into this kindly new phenomenon and to present a perspective that may differ from other countries not only in the kind of measures adopted, but also in the perception of individuals that disclose the cultural variation.

Marijuana is the second most commonly used substance in the US. A growing literature suggests that socially anxious individuals use marijuana to manage their symptoms in social situations, which may explain why they are also more likely to experience problems. Unfortunately, the majority of the literature is based on research conducted with adult samples or the co-occurrence of diagnoses in adolescent samples. The proposed study sought to test the link between social anxiety (SA) and proxies for ‘real-time' marijuana use behaviors (i.e., use willingness) as well as use-related problems among adolescents. Participants were 69 adolescents (15-17; 55% female) recruited from the community reporting any lifetime marijuana use. Participants were randomly assigned to a novel social rejection or neutral laboratory task and completed measures of SA, marijuana use frequency, and related problems. Consistent with adult findings, main effects of SA and experimental condition on marijuana use willingness were expected to be qualified by an interaction in which the greatest marijuana use willingness would occur among high SA youth post-rejection (H1), SA would be positively related to marijuana use problems (H2), and among adolescents in the rejection condition, marijuana use willingness would be positively correlated with use problems (H3). Only H2 was supported, highlighting areas of convergence and divergence in the role of SA and social stress on marijuana outcomes. These data stand to improve the scientific knowledge on the relative roles of SA and social stress on marijuana use within an understudied, high-risk population and help inform future intervention efforts.

Bakgrund: Substansberoende är ett samhällsproblem som leder till både psykisk och fysisk skada hos den som är beroende, detta leder i sin tur till sjukhusinläggningar orsakade av beroendet. Studier visar att personer med ett substansberoende känner sig stigmatiserade och dåligt bemötta av vårdpersonal. Syfte: Syftet var att beskriva sjuksköterskors upplevelser i vårdmötet med personer som har ett substansberoende. Metod: En beskrivande litteraturstudie. Tio vetenskapliga artiklar användes, dessa hittades i databaserna PubMed och Cinahl. Huvudresultat: Resultatet visar att sjuksköterskor känner sig osäkra att tillhandahålla vård till patienter med ett substansberoende och att de upplever känslor av misstro och manipulation, frustration, hot och våld i vårdmötet. Vårdmötet påverkades av attityder och bristande kunskap om patienternas problematik. Det visade sig att personliga erfarenheter ledde till bättre förståelse men att det fanns ett behov av mer utbildning. Slutsats: I denna litteraturstudie visar resultatet att sjuksköterskorna känner en osäkerhet i att vårda patienter med ett substansberoende, de upplever känslor såsom misstro, manipulation, stigmatisering och rädsla för hot och våld som gör att de tar avstånd från patienterna. På grund av dessa känslor och den bristande kunskapen blir vårdmötet med denna patientgrupp lidande. En ökad kunskap hos sjuksköterskan gav en bättre förståelse för individen och underlättade vårdmötet. / Background: Substance use disorder is a societal problem that leads to both mental and physical harm to the addict, this in turn leads to hospitalizations. Studies show that people who are addicted to substances have felt stigmatized and that they have been treated badly in healthcare. Aim: The aim was to describe the nurse´s experiences in the care meeting of people with a substance use disorder. Method: A descriptive literature study. Ten scientific articles were used, these were found in the databases PubMed and Cinahl. Result: The results showed that nurses feel insecure in providing care to patients with a substance addiction and that they experience feelings of mistrust and manipulation, frustration and threats and violence in the care meeting. The care meeting is affected by attitudes and a lack of knowledge about the patients´ problems. They found that personal experiences led to a better understanding but that there was a need for more education. Conclusion: In this literature study, the results show that the nurses feel insecure in caring for patients with a substance use disorder, they experience emotions such as mistrust, manipulation, stigmatization and fear of threats and violence that make them distance themselves from the patients. Due to these feelings and the lack of knowledge, the care encounter with this patient group suffers. An increased knowledge of the nurse gave a better understanding of the individuals and facilitated the care meeting.

Bakgrund: Sjuksköterskor upplever det som problematiskt att vårda personer med beroendesjukdom. Sjuksköterskor beskriver svårigheter att leva upp till sin professionella yrkesroll. Brist på förståelse och kunskap hos sjuksköterskorna bidrog till frustration och osäkerhet samt framkallade negativa attityder. Sjuksköterskor har i tidigare studier upplevt patienter med beroendesjukdom som manipulativa och med avsaknad vilja att ta eget ansvar. Tidigare studier tyder på att personer med beroendesjukdom har blivit bemötta på ett fördomsfullt sätt samt att sjuksköterskor hade låg motivation till att vårda dessa patienter. Syfte: Syftet med intervjustudien var att beskriva sjuksköterskors erfarenheter av att vårda personer med beroendesjukdom. Metod: Tio sjuksköterskor inom öppen- och slutenvården intervjuades med semi-strukturerade intervjuer. Intervjuerna spelades in och transkriberades ordagrant. En kvalitativ innehållsanalys användes vid analysering av materialet. Resultat: I analysen av sjuksköterskors erfarenheter av att vårda personer med beroendesjukdom framkom tre kategorier och åtta subkategorier som handlade om sjuksköterskans yrkesroll, relationen mellan sjuksköterska och patient samt att möta brister. Slutsats: Sjuksköterskor upplevde arbetet som utmanande och att personer med beroendesjukdom var komplicerade och svåra att vårda. Viktigt i mötet var gränssättning och tydliga ramar. Sjuksköterskorna beskrev att starka känslor väcktes. Bemötandet var av stor betydelse för en god relation mellan patient och sjuksköterska. Fördomar gentemot personer med beroendesjukdom upplevdes av samtliga sjuksköterskor. Det fanns en önskan hos sjuksköterskorna att bidra till att dessa fördomar mot patientgruppen minskade. / Background: Nurses found it problematic to care for people with substance use disorder (s.u.d.). A lack of understanding and knowledge among nurses has contributed to frustration and uncertainty as well as induced negative attitudes. Nurses described difficulties in living up to their professional and occupational role. Previous research has shown that patients with s.u.d. were perceived as manipulative and unwilling to take their own responsibility. Previous studies indicate that people with s.u.d. have been treated in a prejudicial manner and that nurses had low motivation to care for these patients. Objective: The purpose of the interview study was to describe nurses' experiences of caring for people with s.u.d. Method: Ten nurses in open and closed wards were interviewed with semi-structured interviews. The interviews were recorded and transcribed word for word. A qualitative content analysis was used in analyzing the material. Results: In the analysis from the nurses' experience of caring for people with s.u.d. three categories and eight subcategories emerged, the nurse's professional role, the relationship between the nurse and the patient and how to overcome obstacles with shortcomings. Conclusion: Nurses perceived their work as challenging and that people with s.u.d. were complicated and difficult to care for. Important in the meeting were boundaries and clear frameworks. The nurses described that strong feelings were aroused. The response was of great importance for a good relationship between the patient and the nurse. Prejudice towards people with addictive illness was experienced by all nurses. There was a desire on the part of the nurses to help reduce these prejudices against the patient group. / <p>Godkännandedatum: 2020-01-15</p>

Philosophiae Doctor - PhD / This thesis researched the relationship between alcohol consumption, socioeconomic characteristics and alcohol-related harms such as subjective health status, chronic health conditions and mental health status in South Africa. The study sought to determine if the alcohol harm paradox (AHP) exists in the country. The AHP is the empirical finding that socioeconomically disadvantaged individuals tend to suffer more alcohol-related harms compared to individuals who are socioeconomically advantaged, despite reporting similar or lower levels of alcohol consumption on average. The research presented the contextual background to alcohol consumption in the country that helped form the current drinking culture, which includes the harmful drinking culture fomented by the apartheid system in the townships and farms of South Africa. The study also reviewed the effectiveness of current alcohol policies and legislation in addressing alcohol-related harms in the South African society. / 2023

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No description available.

Background: Rates of preterm delivery, a major proximate cause of perinatal morbidity and mortality, have been increasing. Prenatal alcohol exposure has been implicated in preterm delivery, although results have been inconsistent due to inadequate control for confounding factors, insufficient power, unreliable and inaccurate assessment of both exposure and gestational age, and lack of stratification of prematurity into severity levels. The purpose of this study was to examine the relation between maternal alcohol, cocaine and cigarette use during pregnancy, and extreme and mild preterm birth. Methods: Three thousand one hundred thirty consecutive gravidas were followed prospectively for antenatal substance use and had ultrasound confirmed pregnancy dating. Results: Alcohol and cocaine, but not cigarette use, were associated with increased risk of extreme preterm delivery after control for potential confounders. For every unit increase in alcohol exposure, risk of extreme preterm delivery increased significantly [odds ratio (OR) 34.8]. Furthermore, in women aged 30+, alcohol exposure was associated with mild prematurity. Abstention from alcohol while continuing to use cocaine and tobacco was related to a decrease in extreme prematurity of 41%. Conclusions: The risk of extreme preterm delivery associated with alcohol use is substantial and similar in magnitude to other well-recognized risks. Increased accuracy in identifying exposure and the use of ultrasound to confirm gestational age dating likely contributed to the findings of the current study. These findings suggest that eliminating pregnancy alcohol use might substantially reduce the risk of preterm delivery.

Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) affect numerous outcomes in adulthood, but relatively few studies examine their implications for adolescents. Understanding the effects of ACEs is important since adolescent behaviors affect subsequent life course milestones and transitions. One area of the ACEs research that is deficient involves adolescent substance use. In addition, there is a paucity of studies addressing whether the association between ACEs and substance use differs by race/ethnicity. Using data from the Fragile Families and Child Wellbeing Study, this study aims to fill these gaps by (a) examining whether adolescents who experience more ACEs tend to be at higher risk of alcohol and marijuana use; and (b) whether the association between ACEs and these forms of substance use differs among White, Black, and other racial/ethnic youth. The results show that, among Black youth, ACEs tend to affect alcohol and marijuana use at high levels (four or more). Among White youth, this association is limited to marijuana use. Nonetheless, age and peer substance use appear to have more consequential effects on the odds of alcohol and marijuana. The findings suggest that additional research is warranted, but that ACEs should be a focus of research on adolescent substance use.