Polysubstance use among first-year NCAA collegiate student-athletes

The purpose of this article is to investigate polysubstance use among college student-athletes and determine whether use is independent of gender, race, season status, and athletic division. College student-athletes responded to questions related to their past-30-day use of alcohol, tobacco, marijuana, and prescription drugs. Findings suggest that polysubstance use differs significantly by gender, race, season status, and athletic division. Although a majority of college student-athletes do not engage in polysubstance use, it is reported more frequently for alcohol and tobacco, and alcohol and marijuana. Due to serious consequences associated with polysubstance use, practitioners should consider expanding prevention and treatment efforts to address polysubstance use

The Role of Research Evidence in Drug Policy Development in Australia

The mantra of “evidence-based policy” is continuing to gain ground, with calls for public policy to be informed by scientific evidence. However, in many areas of public policy the role of evidence and science is highly contested. This is amply demonstrated in the area of illegal drugs policy. Illegal drugs policy, concerned with governments’ approaches to controlling the sale and use of drugs such as heroin, cocaine, and cannabis, is a highly contested area, and hence a fruitful case example of the complexity of policy. The features of illicit drug policy explored in this paper are: government actors, which span multiple departments; political ambivalence and multiple stakeholders outside government; community attitudes and a high media profile. These features need to be taken into account in understanding the relationship between policy and research evidence. In this context, the role of research evidence can be fraught. Examination of a number of current ‘hot topics’ in drug policy demonstrates the variety of ways in which evidence is used in drug policy processes

Arch Suicide Res

Parents with psychopathology such as alcohol use disorder (AUD) that confers risk for suicide attempt (SA) may have children who are more likely to develop such psychopathology and to attempt suicide, suggesting that risk may be "transmitted" from parents to children. We examined this phenomenon during the transition from childhood to adolescence, when risk for SA increases dramatically. A cohort of 418 children were examined at average age 9.4 (range 7-14) years at enrollment (Time 1, childhood) and approximately 5 years later, prior to reaching age 18 (Time 2, adolescence). One or both biological parents, oversampled for AUD, were also interviewed. Structural equation models (SEM) examined father-child, mother-child, and either/both parent-child associations. The primary outcome was SA over follow-up among offspring, assessed at Time 2. As hypothesized, parental antisocial personality disorder predicted conduct disorder symptoms in offspring both during childhood and adolescence (parent-child model, father-child model) and maternal AUD predicted conduct disorder symptoms during childhood (mother-child model). However, we did not find evidence to support transmission of depression from parents to offspring either during childhood or adolescence, and parent psychopathology did not show statistically significant associations with SA during adolescence. In conclusion, we conducted a rare study of parent-to-child "transmission" of risk for SA that used a prospective research design, included diagnostic interviews with both parents and offspring, and examined the transition from childhood to adolescence, and the first such study in children of parents with AUD. Results provided mixed support for hypothesized parent-child associations.R01 CE001882-01/CE/NCIPC CDC HHS/United StatesU10 AA008401/AA/NIAAA NIH HHS/United StatesU10AA08401/AA/NIAAA NIH HHS/United States2015-01-01T00:00:00Z24716789PMC405939

Estimated Probability of Becoming a Case of Drug Dependence in Relation to Duration of Drug-Taking Experience: A Functional Analysis Approach

Measured as elapsed time from first use to dependence syndrome onset, the estimated induction interval for cocaine is thought to be short relative to the cannabis interval, but little is known about risk of becoming dependent during first months after onset of use. Virtually all published estimates for this facet of drug dependence epidemiology are from life histories elicited years after first use. To improve estimation, we turn to new month-wise data from nationally representative samples of newly incident drug users identified via probability sampling and confidential computer-assisted self-interviews for the United States National Surveys on Drug Use and Health, 2004-2013. Standardized modules assessed first and most recent use, and dependence syndromes, for each drug subtype. A four-parameter Hill function depicts the drug dependence transition for subgroups defined by units of elapsed time from first to most recent use, with an expectation of greater cocaine dependence transitions for cocaine versus cannabis. This study\u27s novel estimates for cocaine users one month after first use show 2-4% with cocaine dependence; 12-17% are dependent when use has persisted. Corresponding cannabis estimates are 0-1% after one month, but 10-23% when use persists. Duration or persistence of cannabis smoking beyond an initial interval of a few months of use seems to be a signal of noteworthy risk for, or co-occurrence of, rapid-onset cannabis dependence, not too distant from cocaine estimates, when we sort newly incident users into subgroups defined by elapsed time from first to most recent use

A Highly Polymorphic Copy Number Variant in the NSF Gene is Associated with Cocaine Dependence

Cocaine dependence is a complex psychiatric disorder involving both genetic and environmental factors. Several neurotransmitter systems mediate cocaine's effects, dependence and relapse, being the components of the neurotransmitter release machinery good candidates for the disorder. Previously, we identified a risk haplotype for cocaine dependence in the NSF gene, encoding the protein N-Ethylmaleimide-Sensitive Factor essential for synaptic vesicle turnover. Here we examined the possible contribution to cocaine dependence of a large copy number variant (CNV) that encompasses part of the NSF gene. We performed a case-control association study in a discovery sample (359 cases and 356 controls) and identified an association between cocaine dependence and the CNV (P=0.013), that was confirmed in the replication sample (508 cases and 569 controls, P=7.1e-03) and in a pooled analysis (P=1.8e-04), with an over-representation of low number of copies in cases. Subsequently, we studied the functional impact of the CNV on gene expression and found thatthe levels of two NSF transcripts were significantly increased in peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) along with the number of copies of the CNV. These results, together with a previous study from our group, support the role of NSF in the susceptibility to cocaine dependenc

Examining risk for frequent cocaine use: Focus on an African American treatment population

BACKGROUND: Cocaine use and its consequences are disproportionately higher and more severe among African Americans compared to other ethnic/racial groups. OBJECTIVES: The aims of this study were to examine a risk model specific for African American users and assess whether risk varies as a function of sex. METHODS: 270 African American adults in a residential drug treatment facility completed measurements assessing first and past year crack/cocaine use frequency, childhood trauma, and stress reactivity. Multiple linear regression analysis was used to examine the unique effect of each predictor variable on past year crack/cocaine frequency. Sex was included as a moderator variable in the regression analysis. RESULTS: All predictor variables were positively correlated with past year crack/cocaine use. However, sex differences were also observed: females reported higher rates of childhood emotional abuse, childhood sexual abuse, and stress reactivity-as well as past year crack use and cocaine use-than males. Regression analyses were performed with sex, first year use, and stress reactivity emerging as the only significant predictors for frequency of crack and cocaine use among all study participants. Moreover, sex differences were observed in the influence of first year crack use frequency on past year crack use frequency, such that the effect was stronger for males than for females. Conclusion/Importance: This study offers a clearer understanding of the risk factors for crack and cocaine abuse specific to African Americans, as well as sex specific pathways to risk, providing useful implications for future prevention and treatment efforts

Drug Alcohol Depend

BackgroundIn the present study, we examined the relationship between cannabis involvement and suicidal ideation (SI), plan and attempt, differentiating the latter into planned and unplanned attempt, taking into account other substance involvement and psychopathology.MethodsWe used two community-based twin samples from the Australian Twin Registry, including 9,583 individuals (58.5% female, aged between 27 and 40). The Semi-Structured Assessment of the Genetics of Alcoholism (SSAGA) was used to assess cannabis involvement which was categorized into: (0) no cannabis use (reference category); (1) cannabis use only; (2) 1\ue2\u20ac\u201c2 cannabis use disorder symptoms; (3) 3 or more symptoms. Separate multinomial logistic regression analyses were conducted for SI and suicide attempt with or without a plan. Twin analyses examined the genetic overlap between cannabis involvement and SI.ResultsAll levels of cannabis involvement were related to SI, regardless of duration (Odds ratios [ORs] = 1.28 \ue2\u20ac\u201c 2.00, p 0.10). Associations persisted even after controlling for other psychiatric disorders and substance involvement. Overlapping genetic (rG=0.45) and environmental (rE=0.21) were responsible for the covariance between cannabis involvement and SI.ConclusionsCannabis involvement is associated, albeit modestly, with SI and unplanned suicide attempts. Such attempts are difficult to prevent and their association with cannabis use and cannabis use disorder symptoms requires further study, including in different samples and with additional attention to confounders.K02 DA032573/DA/NIDA NIH HHS/United StatesDA32573/DA/NIDA NIH HHS/United StatesP60 AA011998/AA/NIAAA NIH HHS/United StatesP50 AA011998/AA/NIAAA NIH HHS/United StatesR01 AA007728/AA/NIAAA NIH HHS/United StatesF32 AA023693/AA/NIAAA NIH HHS/United StatesDA12854/DA/NIDA NIH HHS/United StatesR01 DA023668/DA/NIDA NIH HHS/United StatesK21 DA000272/DA/NIDA NIH HHS/United StatesR56 DA012854/DA/NIDA NIH HHS/United StatesR01 AA013321/AA/NIAAA NIH HHS/United StatesR01 DA018267/DA/NIDA NIH HHS/United StatesAA07728/AA/NIAAA NIH HHS/United StatesT32 DA007313/DA/NIDA NIH HHS/United StatesF32 AA013221/AA/NIAAA NIH HHS/United StatesAA11998/AA/NIAAA NIH HHS/United StatesAA13221/AA/NIAAA NIH HHS/United StatesR01 DA012854/DA/NIDA NIH HHS/United StatesR37 AA007728/AA/NIAAA NIH HHS/United StatesDA18267/DA/NIDA NIH HHS/United StatesT32DA007313/DA/NIDA NIH HHS/United StatesR49 CE001510/CE/NCIPC CDC HHS/United StatesK21DA00272/DA/NIDA NIH HHS/United StatesDA23668/DA/NIDA NIH HHS/United States2016-05-01T00:00:00Z25772435PMC446082

Relação entre a formação acadêmica dos estudantes de enfermagem e sua percepção quanto ao tabagismo

O tabagismo é um grave problema de saúde pública que aflige a população mundial e a medida mais eficaz e economicamente viável para minimizar o impacto negativo do fumo na saúde das pessoas é a promoção e a prevenção em saúde desenvolvidas na atenção primária. Os agentes da implementação dessas medidas são os profissionais de saúde. O enfermeiro tem em sua formação acadêmica a educação em saúde enquanto uma estratégia de cuidado. O objetivo do presente estudo é conhecer a percepção dos estudantes de enfermagem acerca do tabagismo visando obter informações que possam nos auxiliar a planejar a melhor forma de abordar esse conteúdo nas diversas disciplinas oferecidas na graduação em enfermagem. O estudo foi realizado em uma instituição de ensino superior federal entre os anos de 2005 e 2006 com alunos do curso de enfermagem. Para coleta de dados foi utilizado um questionário e posteriormente foi realizada a análise de conteúdo das respostas obtidas.   Os resultados apontam para uma percepção repleta de juízos de valor e experiências pessoais prévias a respeito do uso de tabaco. Assim, no planejamento da inserção desse conteúdo nas disciplinas do curso de enfermagem é importante que seja considerada esta questão