University of Macau / Faculty of Health Sciences

The involvement of significant others in substance abuse treatment has been shown to be beneficial in the alcohol and cigarette literatures. However, these findings have not been extended to treatment for other substance abuse, particularly marijuana. This study examined whether partner involvement leads to improved outcomes for people seeking treatment for marijuana abuse. In addition, we examined what possible mechanisms can account for a partner's contribution to positive treatment outcomes. Hypotheses were only partially supported. Treatment conditions did not lead to differential changes in partner behaviors. However, there was some evidence that these partner behaviors do have impact on treatment outcomes. In particular, negative partner behaviors were associated with poorer outcomes. / Master of Science

Theory and previous research indicate that a person's broader set of life goals may have motivational properties for specific behavior change efforts. The present study examined the types of life goals and ratings of life goal attributes as predictors of marijuana treatment outcomes in a sample of marijuana dependent individuals. Results were generally not consistent with hypotheses. It was expected that ratings of conflict between life goals and marijuana use would be associated with less marijuana use and fewer related problems and dependence symptoms following treatment, but results indicated few associations between life goal ratings and treatment outcome variables. Similarly, types of goals expected to be associated with better treatment outcome were not significantly correlated with reductions in outcome variables at follow-up assessments. Some support was demonstrated for a causal model in which goal conflict with marijuana use influenced posttreatment symptoms of dependence via indirect associations with outcome expectancies and readiness to change. / Master of Science

Cognitive behavior theory indicates that situational determinants may have a substantial impact on substance use and relapse into use. The present study described situational use of marijuana in dependent individuals, analyzed relationships among various constructs in existing theory, determined their effects on treatment outcomes, and explored interactions with self-efficacy. Results were generally consistent with hypotheses. Use in negative affective situations was independently associated with psychological distress, maladaptive coping strategies, and poorer outcomes post-treatment. Additionally, negative affective use interacted with self-efficacy for psychologically distressing situations to produce differential outcomes. This study adds to the existing literature on situational marijuana use by establishing relationships with motives for use and lending support to the cognitive behavioral theory model. / Master of Science

Dissertation submitted in partial compliance with the requirements for the Master's Degree in Technology, Homoeopathy, Technikon Natal, 1996. / The aim acupuncture of this study was to compare the treatment and homoeopathic treatment smoking cessation. The study was a clinical trial, in which an acupuncture treatment group group. Thirty was compared with a homoeopathic treatment volunteers who were anxious to stop smoking participated in the trial and were randomly divided into two groups. One group received acupuncture treatment (n=l5), while the other group received homoeopathic treatment (n=l5) in the form of isotherapy. The study took place over a period of 9 months and each participant completed a 3-month trial period. Prior to the trial period each sUbject completed a set of questionnaires. These ~ncluded the Fagerstrom Tolerance Test which determined their dependence on nicotine; a questionnaire to determine if the subject smoked predominantly for reduction of negative affect, for positive affect or as an habitualaddiction; and a questionnaire to determine the subject's estimation of the health risks of smoking. / M

published_or_final_version / Public Health / Master / Master of Public Health

Smoking cessation leads to weight gain but the reason for this gain is not clearly established. The objective of this study was to compare the mean change in dietary intake among quitters and non-quitters enrolled in a smoking cessation program. Mean dietary intake was measured using 24-hour recall over the telephone at baseline and 6 weeks after the scheduled 'quit date'. Baseline data were obtained from 177 subjects and 130 (73%) were recontacted with complete data. There were 47 quitters (27%). The mean self-reported weight gain among the quitters and non-quitters was 2.4 kg +/- 3.1 and 0.04 kg +/- 2.5 respectively (p = 0.001). Mean energy intake was the same at baseline between the quitters and non-quitters. There were statistically significant changes in dietary intake between quitters and non-quitters. Given the high within-individual variability (sd 832) this sample size was only sufficient to detect differences in the change in intake of approximately 460 kcals between quitters and non-quitters.

No description available.

Dissertation submitted in partial compliance with the requirements for the Master’s Degree in Technology: Homoeopathy, Durban University of Technology, 2011. / ‘Cigarette smoking is a modern day epidemic that poses a substantial health burden’, it has been proven that smokers die on average fourteen years earlier than non smokers as a direct result of their smoking. An abundance of evidence indicates that the health risks associated with cigarette smoking can however be reversed with a sufficient period of abstinence. Thus achieving life-long abstinence must be a health priority for both developing and developed countries (Caponnetto &, Polosa, 2008). Over 80% of smokers express a desire to stop smoking and 35% of them try to stop each year. However, less than 5% are successful in un-aided attempts to quit (American Psychiatric Association, 1995). The greatest challenge facing smokers who wish to quit are nicotine withdrawal symptoms; these include dysphoric or depressed mood, insomnia, irritability, frustration, anger, anxiety, difficulty concentrating, restlessness, decreased heart rate and increased appetite or weight gain (American Psychiatric Association, 1995). The aim of this double blind placebo controlled quantitative study was to determine the effectiveness of a homoeopathic complex (Caladium seguinum 30 CH, Nux vomica 30 CH and Staphysagria delphinium 30 CH); a tautopathic preparation and the combined effect thereof, in the treatment of nicotine withdrawal syndrome as determined by the Tolerance Dependence Questionnaire, Smoking History and Perceptions of Treatment Questionnaire. Methodology Forty participants recruited by means of convenience sampling were randomly and equally divided into one of four treatment groups, namely tautopathic group, homoeopathic group, combined tautopathic and homoeopathic group and placebo group. The duration of the study was 2 weeks and two consultations with each participant were conducted. The respective interventions were administered in oral spray format; participants were asked to spray their respective preparations directly into their mouth three times daily and to repeat the dose whenever they had a craving for a cigarette. iv Measurements in the form of the Tolerance Dependence Questionnaire (Appendix D), Perceptions of Treatment Questionnaire (Appendix H), and Smoking History (Appendix G) were used to quantify response to treatment. Non-parametric statistical analysis was conducted to analyse the data. Results All four research groups experienced a statistically significant reduction in the amount of cigarettes smoked, favourable perceptions of their response to treatment and improved tolerance. Statistically however when the groups were compared with each other they were similar with respect to their tolerance to nicotine, perception of response to treatment and reduction in amount smoked. Although interventions were statistically similar in terms of effectiveness, the data does suggest that Tautopathy as an intervention warrants exploration. The Tautopathic group achieved the highest reduction in the number of cigarettes smoked when comparing medians (11 less smoked per day), achieved the highest percentage of participants who experienced reduced cravings, and the highest percentage of participants who would continue using the intervention (90% respectively) as well as improvements in 6/9 variables of the Tolerance Dependence Questionnaire. Conclusions The study concludes that each of the four subject groups (including placebo) proved to be successful in aiding the participant to cease smoking. The results showed a significantly positive perception of the participants to the interventions used. The influence of the placebo effect however was very evident in this study; in addition other factors such as the unique method of administration of the medication (oral spray format on demand) the Hawthorn effect and the participants’ desire/commitment to quit smoking may have contributed to the positive results obtained. Notwithstanding the above and although not statistically significant; positive trends within the data do suggest that the Tautopathic approach used in this study should be further investigated in future.

Socialtjänsten och tidigare forskning beskriver att anhörigas integrering i missbruksvården är bristfällig. Trots detta understryker allt mer forskning att denna integrering är en viktig och betydelsefull del i missbruksvården. Utifrån detta ämnade vi undersöka hur anhöriga integreras och vilken betydelse integreringen hade för de anhöriga, för missbrukaren samt för missbruksvården och behandlingen. Studien genomfördes genom fyra kvalitativa intervjuer med socialsekreterare och missbruksbehandlare som var verksamma inom Socialtjänstens vuxenenhet. Resultaten utifrån hermeneutisk tolkning, empowerment- och systemteori visade att anhörigas integrering i ett professionsperspektiv är en självklar del i arbetet med missbrukaren och att integreringen har stor betydelse för såväl missbrukarens tillfrisknande som för anhörigas livskvalité. Integreringen skapade kunskap och förståelse bland de anhöriga så att de frångick sin roll som möjliggörare för missbruksbeteendet och lärde sig sätta gränser gentemot missbrukaren. För att missbrukarens tillfrisknande skulle vara hållbart var således förutsättningen att missbruket sattes i förhållande till ett större sammanhang, missbrukarens sociala nätverk. / The social services and previous research has argued that the integration of relatives and close family to addictive health care is lacking. Despite this, an increasing number of researchers underline its importance and meaningfulness in addictive health care. Building on this, our aim was to investigate how relatives and close family are integrated in addictive health care and what implications it has for the relatives, the addict, as well as the addictive healt care and the treatment. The study is based on four qualitiative interviews with social workers and treaters of addictive behaviors. The results based on heremenutic interpretation, empowerment- and systems theory showed that the integration of relatives from a professional perspective is an obvious part of the work with the addict and that the intregation have a great impact on the addict’s recovery as well as on the quality of life for the relatives. The integration built on knowledge and understanding among the relatives, enabled them to divert from their role as enablers of addictive behavior, and instead being able to set boundaries against the addict. In order to make the addicts recovery durable, a prominent condition was thus that the addiction was put into a bigger frame, i.e. the addict’s social network.