Young adult Ecstasy users' enhancement of the effects of their Ecstasy use

The Associations of Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) With Substance Use in Young Adults: A Systematic Review

Introduction

Young adulthood is a transitional period between adolescence and adulthood. Due to the unique pressures of taking on a new social role and associated uncertainties, young adults are at heightened risk for drug and alcohol use. Furthermore, adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) increases the likelihood of using maladaptive coping strategies such as using substances to avoid or soothe negative emotions. The current review aimed to summarize the associations between exposure to ACEs before the age of 18 years and subsequent drug or alcohol use between the ages of 18 and 25 years.

Methods

The review was performed in accordance with the 2020 Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) guidelines. The literature search of the Web of Science, PubMed, and PsycINFO databases was conducted in February 2022.

Results

The initial search yielded 7178 articles, with 777 duplicates. Consequently, 6401 titles were inspected for relevance. After reading the full text, 88 articles were included in the review.

Conclusion

This review provides clear evidence that exposure to multiple ACEs is a robust risk factor for the use of alcohol, cannabis and other drugs by young adults. Poor self-regulation and maladaptive coping strategies were identified as mechanisms explaining this link; however, further detailed research is needed.

Use and abuse of dissociative and psychedelic drugs in adolescence

Adolescence is a period of profound developmental changes, which run the gamut from behavioral and neural to physiological and hormonal. It is also a time at which there is an increased propensity to engage in risk-taking and impulsive behaviors like drug use. This review examines the human and preclinical literature on adolescent drug use and its consequences, with a focus on dissociatives (PCP, ketamine, DXM), classic psychedelics (LSD, psilocybin), and MDMA. It is the case for all the substances reviewed here that very little is known about their effects in adolescent populations. An emerging aspect of the literature is that dissociatives and MDMA produce mixed reinforcing and aversive effects and that the balance between reinforcement and aversion may differ between adolescents and adults, with consequences for drug use and addiction. However, many studies have failed to directly compare adults and adolescents, which precludes definitive conclusions about these consequences. Other important areas that are largely unexplored are sex differences during adolescence and the long-term consequences of adolescent use of these substances. We provide suggestions for future work to address the gaps we identified in the literature. Given the widespread use of these drugs among adolescent users, and the potential for therapeutic use, this work will be crucial to understanding abuse potential and consequences of use in this developmental stage.

A critical scoping review about the impact of music in the lives of young adults who use drugs

ISSUES

Music is among the most frequently used medium to promote young adults' well-being. To that aim, the efficiency of music is explained by its capacity to modulate emotions through its effect on the brain's reward pathways. Hence, music could help individuals suffering from dysregulations in these pathways, whose experience of positive emotions is often inhibited. Such dysregulations are particularly present in individuals with problematic psychoactive substance (PAS) use, who are overrepresented in the context of homelessness. While few of them initiate treatment, they successfully rely on their own resources to promote their well-being, including music, though its impact in this context remains under-studied.

APPROACH

This scoping review describes the impact of music on the well-being, PAS use and addictive trajectory of young housed and homeless individuals with problematic PAS use. Eleven French and English databases were screened for peer-reviewed articles using concepts and keywords related to music, PAS and well-being. From the 3697 results, 39 were reviewed. Results were organised according to the observed impact of music and analysed critically.

KEY FINDINGS

Literature shows that PAS users value the impact of music in meeting emotional, psychological and social needs, especially when they experience homelessness. Yet, research has been highly limited to the harmful consequences of music, limiting our knowledge of its potential benefits.

IMPLICATIONS AND CONCLUSION

To deepen our understanding about the impact of music, future research should endorse a broader perspective and consider the personal and contextual experiences accompanying the involvement in music, factors that were traditionally overlooked.

Effects of MDMA on attention to positive social cues and pleasantness of affective touch

The psychostimulant drug ±3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA) reportedly produces distinctive feelings of empathy and closeness with others. MDMA increases social behavior in animal models and has shown promise in psychiatric disorders, such as autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). How it produces these prosocial effects is not known. This behavioral and psychophysiological study examined the effects of MDMA, compared with the prototypical stimulant methamphetamine (MA), on two measures of social behavior in healthy young adults: (i) responses to socially relevant, "affective" touch, and (ii) visual attention to emotional faces. Men and women (N = 36) attended four sessions in which they received MDMA (0.75 or 1.5 mg/kg), MA (20 mg), or a placebo in randomized order under double-blind conditions. Responses to experienced and observed affective touch (i.e., being touched or watching others being touched) were assessed using facial electromyography (EMG), a proxy of affective state. Responses to emotional faces were assessed using electrooculography (EOG) in a measure of attentional bias. Subjective ratings were also included. We hypothesized that MDMA, but not MA, would enhance the ratings of pleasantness and psychophysiological responses to affective touch and increase attentional bias toward positive facial expressions. Consistent with this, we found that MDMA, but not MA, selectively enhanced ratings of pleasantness of experienced affective touch. Neither drug altered the ratings of pleasantness of observed touch. On the EOG measure of attentional bias, MDMA, but not MA, increased attention toward happy faces. These results provide new evidence that MDMA can enhance the experience of positive social interactions; in this case, pleasantness of physical touch and attentional bias toward positive facial expressions. The findings are consistent with evidence that the prosocial effects are unique to MDMA relative to another stimulant. Understanding the behavioral and neurobiological processes underlying the distinctive social effects of MDMA is a key step to developing the drug for psychiatric disorders.

Patients on Opioid Substitution Treatment in the Republic of Macedonia: What Do Treatment Demand Data Tell Us?

AIM: The aim of the survey is to analyze national data from opioid substitution treatment (OST) medical records and to compare it with the data from EU countries.MATERIAL AND METHODS: The survey is quantitative analytical cross-sectional study conducted in the period September - December 2013. Medical records from all patients on OST at national level during the year 2012 were analyzed. EMCDDA questionnaire from treatment protocol 3.0 was used. Data for OST patients on MMT was take from all 12 public treatment facilities, three private centers and 3 prisons. Data for OST patients on buprenorphine was taken from public clinic as the only one responsible for this type of treatment.RESULTS: A comprehensive network, diverse models of treatment intervention exists in the MKD. Total number of OST patients in 2012 in all treatment facilities was 1857 (1356 are in public, 141 in private, 360 in prison settings) 10% are on Buprenorphine and 90% are on Methadone, 52% in age group 20-34. Ratio of male to female heroin clients is 9:1; 162 are female (9 %); 107(66%) are in treatment in the age group 20-34. Average number of OST patients is 0.1% of the total population in each of the 10 cities analyzed. The mean age at first heroin use is 18 years. 40% of patients haven’t high school. With their family lives 65% of OST patients; 487 patients (36%) have children; 80% of patients use of benzodiazepines.CONCLUSION: Although treatment network of drug addiction is quite developed, perceived need for further capacity building and increase the quality of medical care implies increasing the availability, diversification in terms of sensitivity to cultural differences, gender, age, ethnicity, as well as the treatment of dependence of different types of psychoactive substances.