Is There a Need for Congruent Treatment Goals Between Alcohol-Dependent Patients and Caregivers?

Background: Alcohol-dependent patients have different treatment goals when entering treatment. Furthermore, different treatment settings advocate different treatment goals. Earlier studies have pointed out that treatment goal is important for treatment outcome, both in the treatment setting as well as in the patients themselves. However, to our knowledge, no study has so far investigated the interaction between patient's goal and the goal of the treatment setting. The aim of the study was therefore to study the interaction between these 2 factors on treatment outcome. Methods: Patients' (n = 201) goals from 2 treatment settings one that had an abstinence-oriented goal and one with a low-risk drinking goal—were investigated. The patients were followed up 2.5 years after treatment entry and effectiveness of congruent treatment goals on treatment outcome was investigated. Results: There was no significant association between congruent goals and treatment outcomes (p = 0.060). However, when comparing the effectiveness of congruent treatment goal between the 2 treatment settings, the abstinence-oriented treatment setting was significantly more effective (p < 0.01). Conclusions: The major finding was that there appeared to be no association between congruence itself and treatment outcome. On the other hand, we found that the treatment outcome was more successful if the patient as well as the treatment setting had abstinence as a goal (i.e., congruent goals of abstinence)

Well-Being, Mental Health Problems, and Alcohol Experiences Among Young Swedish Adolescents: A General Population Study

The aim of this study was to investigate patterns of self-reported emotional and behavioral problems and self-rated well-being in relation to alcohol experiences among Swedish girls and boys in early adolescence. A general sample of 1383 young people aged 12 to 13 years reported their internalizing and externalizing problem styles, and their well-being and alcohol experiences were measured. Person-oriented analyses were applied to the data to determine specific mental health configurations (“types”) that occurred more frequently than expected by chance. Externalizing problems, in contrast to internalizing problems, oc-curred more commonly in adolescents who reported a high degree of well-being. Girls with low well-being and mental health problems were overrepresented among those with alcohol experiences. Findings suggest that gender and positive psychology perspectives should be taken into account when describing and explaining mental health among adolescents, especially adolescents with an early alcohol debut

Results from a Large, Multinational Sample Using the Childhood Trauma Questionnaire

Childhood maltreatment has diverse, lifelong impact on morbidity and mortality. The Childhood Trauma Questionnaire (CTQ) is one of the most commonly used scales to assess and quantify these experiences and their impact. Curiously, despite very widespread use of the CTQ, scores on its Minimization-Denial (MD) subscale—originally designed to assess a positive response bias—are rarely reported. Hence, little is known about this measure. If response biases are either common or consequential, current practices of ignoring the MD scale deserve revision. Therewith, we designed a study to investigate 3 aspects of minimization, as defined by the CTQ’s MD scale: 1) its prevalence; 2) its latent structure; and finally 3) whether minimization moderates the CTQ’s discriminative validity in terms of distinguishing between psychiatric patients and community volunteers. Archival, item-level CTQ data from 24 multinational samples were combined for a total of 19,652 participants. Analyses indicated: 1) minimization is common; 2) minimization functions as a continuous construct; and 3) high MD scores attenuate the ability of the CTQ to distinguish between psychiatric patients and community volunteers. Overall, results suggest that a minimizing response bias—as detected by the MD subscale—has a small but significant moderating effect on the CTQ’s discriminative validity. Results also may suggest that some prior analyses of maltreatment rates or the effects of early maltreatment that have used the CTQ may have underestimated its incidence and impact. We caution researchers and clinicians about the widespread practice of using the CTQ without the MD or collecting MD data but failing to assess and control for its effects on outcomes or dependent variables

Platelet monoamine oxidase activity predicts alcohol sensitivity and voluntary alcohol intake in rhesus monkeys

Platelet monoamine oxidase B (MAO-B) has been proposed to be a biological marker for the properties of monoamine systems, with low activity being associated with vulnerability for high scores on personality traits such as sensation seeking, monotony avoidance, and impulsiveness, as well as for vulnerability for alcoholism. In the present study, platelet MAO-B activity was analysed in 78 rhesus macaques, and its relation to voluntary alcohol intake and behaviours after intravenous alcohol administration was observed

Proceedings of the 13th annual conference of INEBRIA

CITATION: Watson, R., et al. 2016. Proceedings of the 13th annual conference of INEBRIA. Addiction Science & Clinical Practice, 11:13, doi:10.1186/s13722-016-0062-9.The original publication is available at https://ascpjournal.biomedcentral.comENGLISH SUMMARY : Meeting abstracts.https://ascpjournal.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s13722-016-0062-9Publisher's versio

Excessive sexual activities among male clients in substance abuse treatment. An interview study.

Purpose: The co-occurrence of substance abuse and excessive sexual activities is acknowledged in research and treatment practice. Men seem particularly at risk for developing excessive sexual activities. Excessive sexual activities complicate substance abuse treatment, and clients with such co-occurring difficulties have considerable treatment needs. It is therefore considered important to investigate how male clients who had enacted excessive sexual activities, perceive their excessive sexual activities, and themselves. Design: Interviews were performed with five male clients in substance abuse treatment, who had enacted excessive sexual activities. The interviews concerned the participants’ perception of themselves and how they came to enact excessive sexual activities. The interviews were analyzed using thematic analysis. Results: Two major themes were identified. One theme concerned overwhelming shame and difficulties to discuss sexuality in treatment. The second theme concerned how perceptions about masculinity had influenced sexual activities. Sexuality was described as an absent topic in their previous and ongoing treatment, and the participants described a need to discuss sexuality. Implications: It seems important that future studies investigate how excessive sexual activities might be identified and handled in treatment. It also seems important to investigate how gender-perceptions might influence excessive sexual activities. As a suggestion, practitioners should address sexuality, shame and perceptions about gender during treatment. Keywords: Excessive sexual activities; Interview study; Masculinity; Shame; Substance abuse; Treatmen