A Re-Examination of the Motivations for Using Substances Questionnaire: Motives for Alcohol and Simultaneous Alcohol and Marijuana Use

The growing body of research examining simultaneous alcohol and marijuana (SAM) use suggests motivations for alcohol-only, marijuana-only, and SAM use, especially among college-aged people, warrant further examination to ultimately tailor interventions to not only specific substances but also the underlying motivations for using those substances. Thus, the purpose of the present study was to test the measurement invariance of a novel broadband motives measure, the Motivations for Using Substances Questionnaire (MUSQ), across alcohol-only, marijuana-only, and SAM users and further test motivations’ relationships to use-related problems. However, due to insufficient sample sizes of marijuana-only users (n = 175), the MUSQ was subjected to two-group invariance testing across alcohol-only (n = 461) and SAM users (n = 374). Confirmatory factor analysis of the MUSQ revealed an 8-factor baseline model that combined items developed from the MUSQ’s piloting study related to (a) reducing anxiety and unpleasant arousal, reducing negative affect, and increasing positive affect under one latent variable (Manage Emotional States; MES) and (b) using to manage negative social interactions with conformity motives under one latent variable (Manage Negative Social Interactions – Revised; MNSI-r). Configural and metric invariance were observed and partial invariance at the scalar level was demonstrated for the MUSQ across groups. SAM users tended to use more frequently for all motives except MNSI-r than alcohol-only users. MES motives consistently predicted use-related problems across groups. Thus, the MUSQ is a psychometrically appropriate assessment tool to evaluate meaningful differences in the reasons individuals use alcohol by itself and in combination with marijuana

The Development and Exploration of a Twelve-Factor Model of Motivations for Using Substances

The existing literature suggests inconsistent and limited application of various salient motives to use substances across substance classes and has been further limited by only measuring substance use motives by the frequency at which one uses for a given reason. The purpose of this study was the development and initial validation of the Motivations for Substance Use Questionnaire (MUSQ). The MUSQ was intended to be a more comprehensive measure identifying motives to use that have been selectively included in some measures and expanding the breadth of substances addressed. We also aimed to index and test cognitive aspects of the motives (i.e., wanting, and liking and satisfaction) for use-related patterns. Factor analysis (n = 367) indicated that the MUSQ was characterized by 12 factors: Reduce Anxiety/Unpleasant Arousal, Conformity, Effects of Other Substances, Relative Low Risk, Positive Social Interactions, Rebellion, Altered Perceptions/Experiential Processes, Performance/Arousal Enhancement, Increase Positive Affect, Manage Negative Social Interactions, Reduce Negative Affect, and Substitution. Regressions supported the predictability of wanting, but not liking and satisfaction, for severity and change variables. Canonical correlations were conducted to assess incremental validity of the MUSQ but were limited due to small effects and sample sizes. ANOVAs suggested salient motives differed by drug of choice. This measure may direct motivational interviewing dialogue by supporting change talk and may expand the current understanding of substance use motivation

Art based research: an exploration of social work facing climate change in the North East of Scotland.

This presentation discusses research that explores the level of awareness that social work practitioners have about climate change and its potential impact on their profession. Additionally, the research seeks to raise awareness and share knowledge of climate change, using co-production as an approach to identify possible solutions

The social work practitioner role and the multifaceted challenges posed by the environmental crisis.

This research aims to explore the level of awareness social work practitioners have about climate change and its potential impact on their profession and to raise awareness and share knowledge about climate change and use coproduction as a tool to consider solutions

Working with refugees an exploration through conversations and drawings.

While the experience of refugees is explored via various avenues, the voices of the workers who support their resettlement are rarely heard. Hence, rather than focusing on the Syrian refugees and their experience of settling in the North East of Scotland, this study considered the people who support them through this often long lasting process. Their voices were captured via an unstructured interview, but also encapsulated within drawings the participants were asked to produce. The drawings allowed the significant expansion of the often cognitively controlled conversations and permitted for emotions and affect to emerge. In some cases the drawings were a summary or an expansion of the narrative, in others a contraction, as the participants appeared to struggle between their professional identity, presented within the interview, and their emotional involvement, clearly visible in their drawings

TB20: Preliminary Tables of Some Chemical Elements in Seven Tree Species in Maine

These tables show the amount in grams for each of twelve elements for the complete tree and the merchantable bole, for seven tree species (red spruce, balsam fir, hemlock, white pine, white birch, red maple, aspen) in terms of five height classes and ten diameter classes.https://digitalcommons.library.umaine.edu/aes_techbulletin/1180/thumbnail.jp