The problem of "just for fun": patterns of use situations among active club drug users

Psychosocial Correlates of Motivation for Abstinence Among People Who Used Drugs After Community Rehabilitation Treatment in China: A Structural Equation Modelling

Background

Enhancing abstinence motivation of drugs is an effective strategy for the rehabilitation of people who used drugs and prevention of drug use relapse. However, little is known about its risk and protective factors. This study aimed to examine the potential intrapersonal (ie, impulsivity, depression, anxiety, sleep quality) and interpersonal factors (ie, perceived social support) of abstinence motivation among people who completed the community rehabilitation treatment.

Methods

A total of 222 participants (mean age = 43; male = 89.2%) were recruited from eleven communities located in Wenzhou, China. Data were collected using a self-reported questionnaire in counselling room settings between April and June 2021.

Results

The proportions of participants with depression, anxiety, and poor sleep quality were 38.8%, 19.5%, and 21.2%, respectively. Age and family history of physical disease were significant background factors of abstinence motivation. Impulsivity, depressive symptoms, anxiety symptoms, and poor quality of sleep were negatively associated with abstinence motivation. Perceived social support from family and important others was positively associated with abstinence motivation. Structural equation modeling fitted the data well in which impulsivity and perceived social support were both associated with abstinence motivation indirectly through mental health problems.

Conclusion

The identified psychosocial factors should be addressed in community rehabilitation treatment and follow-up service to enhance abstinence motivation and the long-term effectiveness of the treatment.

Associations of deviant peer affiliation with youths' substance use disorder abstention motivation: The mediating role of perceived social support and the moderating role of collective identity

The aim of the current study is to explore the mechanism by which deviant peer affiliation affects substance abusers' substance abstention motivation and the mediating role of perceived social support in the relationship between these concepts. Moreover, we also investigated whether collective identity moderates the relations among deviant peer affiliation, perceived social support, and substance rehabilitation. The participants were 430 male substance abstainers who completed a battery of questionnaires. The Chinese versions of the Deviant Peer Affiliation Questionnaire, Motivation for Abstention Scale, Perceived Social Support Scale and Identity Orientation Scale were used. The results showed that all the dimensions of deviant peer affiliation were negatively associated with the dimensions of substance abstention motivation. Moreover, perceived social support partially mediated the relations between deviant peer affiliation and substance abstention motivation. Additionally, collective identity was a significant moderator of the relations between perceived social support and substance abstention motivation. These findings provide a clearer understanding regarding the impact of deviant peer affiliation and perceived social support on substance abstention motivation in individuals with substance use disorder.

Influences of motivational contexts on prescription drug misuse and related drug problems

Prescription drug misuse has emerged as a significant problem among young adults. While the effects of motivational contexts have been demonstrated for illicit drugs, the role of motivational contexts in prescription drug misuse remains understudied. Using data from 400 young adults recruited via time-space sampling, we examined the role of motivational contexts in the frequency of misuse of three prescription drug types as well as drug-related problems and symptoms of dependency. Both negative and positive motivations to use drugs are associated with increases in prescription drug misuse frequency. Only negative motivations are associated directly with drug problems and drug dependence, as well as indirectly via prescription pain killer misuse. Addressing positive and negative motivational contexts of prescription drug misuse may not only provide a means to reduce misuse and implement harm reduction measures, but may also inform the content of treatment plans for young adults with prescription drug misuse problems.

Syndemic and other risk factors for unprotected anal intercourse among an online sample of Belgian HIV negative men who have sex with men

Men who have sex with men (MSM) are confronted with different health problems. Next to a higher HIV prevalence and a higher reporting of depressive symptoms and other mental health problems, there is also evidence of substance dependence and sexual compulsivity occurring simultaneously. Using a sample of 591 HIV-negative Belgian MSM, we examine the relationships between depressive symptoms and other risk factors of unprotected anal intercourse (UAI) practice with casual partners. These risk factors include depressive symptoms, sexual behavioural indicators, individual risk perception of UAI, intrapersonal factors measured by the sexual sensation seeking scale, substance use, sources of social support and social norming regarding condom use and finally the location where or media through which men find sex partners. Our findings show that multifactorial, intertwined factors contribute to the explanation of UAI among MSM at risk for HIV infection. These findings underline the need for an integrated sexual health approach for MSM.

Assessing the validity and reliability of the farsi version of inventory drug-taking situations

OBJECTIVE

Inventory Drug-Taking Situations (IDTS) is a universal instrument used to determine high-risk situations resulting in drug abuse. The aim of this study was to translate this questionnaire to Farsi, and to assess its validity and reliability by applying it to Iranian drug users.

METHODS

As a psychometric study, 300 drug users participated in a treatment program in National Center of Addiction Studies filled in a version of Inventory of Drug Taking Situations. We assessed face and content validity, internal consistency, and reliability based on the completed questionnaires, using test-retest method and confirmatory factor analysis.

RESULTS

Internal consistency analysis confirmed that all subscales of IDTS were reliable (Cronbach alpha was ranging from 0.7 to 0.81). Analyses indicated that each of the subscales was unifactorial; however, unpleasant emotions had a second eigenvalue that was nearly large enough to be a second factor. Confirmatory factor analysis was used to test the fit of the data to the original version of IDTS. Based on goodness of fit indices, we found that all factors were fitted (χ2/df = 1.43, GFI = 0.98, RMSEA = 0.038). The test-retest reliability was satisfactory(r > 0.6).

CONCLUSION

The Farsi version of Inventory of Drug Taking Situations was shown to be a valid and reliable instrument to apply in clinical and research settings in Iran.

Profiles of executive functioning: associations with substance dependence and risky sexual behavior

The present investigations applied a theoretical perspective regarding the impact of executive functioning (EF) on sexual risk among substance users, using a methodological approach designed to examine whether EF subtypes differentially predict behavior patterns. Participants included 104 substance-using HIV-negative gay and bisexual men. Participants completed 5 neuropsychological assessment tasks selected to tap discrete EF components, and these data were linked to data on substance dependence and behavioral reports of substance use and sexual risk in the past 30 days. Cluster analysis identified 3 EF subtypes: (a) high performing (good performance across all measures); (b) low performing (poor performance across all measures); and (c) poor IGT performance (impairment on the Iowa Gambling Task [IGT] and its variant, but good performance on all other tasks). The 3 subtypes did not differ in amount of substance use, but the low-performing subtype was associated with greater rates of substance dependence. The low-performing subtype reported the highest rates of sexual behavior and risk, while the poor-IGT-performance subtype reported the lowest rates of sexual risk taking. Global associations between substance use and sexual risk were strongest among the low-performing subtype, but event-level associations appeared strongest among individuals in the high-performing subtype. These data suggest complex associations between EF and sexual risk among substance users, and suggest that the relationship between substance use and sexual risk may vary by EF subtypes.

Variation in substance use relapse episodes among adolescents: a longitudinal investigation

Substance use disorders are chronically relapsing conditions, and there is a need to evaluate whether relapse precursors are consistent across multiple relapses. We identified latent groups of relapse characteristics over time in adolescents with alcohol and substance use disorders following an inpatient treatment episode. Youth (N = 124, mean age = 16 years, 56% male, 60% Caucasian) were interviewed while in treatment and biannually during the first year after treatment to gather contextual information about first and second relapse episodes. We identified two latent classes of relapse precursors labeled aversive-social (41% at initial relapse, 57% at subsequent relapse) and positive-social (59% at initial relapse, 43% at subsequent relapse). Classes were stable in structure over time; however, only 61% of those assigned to aversive-social and 39% assigned to positive-social classes at initial relapse remained there for the subsequent relapse. Findings highlight the dynamic nature of relapse for youth and have important clinical implications.