Drug and alcohol dependence
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Drug Alcohol Depend · Feb 2021
Association between observing peers vaping on campus and E-cigarette use and susceptibility in middle and high school students.
This study examines the association between exposure to e-cigarette use on school campus and e-cigarette use behaviors among adolescents in the United States. ⋯ Observing e-cigarette use on school campus was associated with greater odds of e-cigarette use and susceptibility. It is plausible that observing e-cigarette use on campus reinforces the social acceptability of adolescent e-cigarette use. Findings inform on the prevalence of e-cigarettes use on-campus as well as how this phenomenon may influence e-cigarette use/susceptibility among youth. The observed relationship highlights the role of schools in the efforts to reduce adolescent e-cigarette use.
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Drug Alcohol Depend · Feb 2021
Alcohol use and mental health during COVID-19 lockdown: A cross-sectional study in a sample of UK adults.
The aim was to examine the correlates of increased alcohol consumption during the COVID-19 pandemic-related restrictions that were implemented in a sample of UK adults. ⋯ More than one in six UK adults increased their alcohol consumption during lockdown and a higher proportion of these were younger adults. Increased alcohol consumption was independently associated with poor overall mental health, increased depressive symptoms and lower mental wellbeing. These findings highlight the importance of planning targeted support as we emerge from lockdown and plan for potential second and subsequent waves.
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Drug Alcohol Depend · Feb 2021
Comparing actual and forecasted numbers of unique patients dispensed select medications for opioid use disorder, opioid overdose reversal, and mental health, during the COVID-19 pandemic, United States, January 2019 to May 2020.
COVID-19 community mitigation measures (e.g., stay-at-home orders) may worsen mental health and substance use-related harms such as opioid use disorder and overdose and limit access to medications for these conditions. We used nationally-representative data to assess dispensing of select substance use and mental health medications during the pandemic in the U.S. ⋯ Ongoing concerns about the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on substance use and mental health underscore the need for innovative strategies to facilitate continued access to treatment.
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Drug Alcohol Depend · Jan 2021
Alexithymia and pain experience among patients using methadone-maintenance therapy.
Alexithymia, difficulty identifying and describing one's emotions coupled with a tendency to externalize, is a potentially important yet understudied treatment target for patients with opioid use disorder. The aim of this study was to examine the role of alexithymia in pain experience among individuals with opioid use disorder. ⋯ These findings suggest that alexithymia, as well as both pain catastrophizing and pain acceptance, contribute to interference associated with pain and are potentially important intervention targets among methadone-treated patients with pain.
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Drug Alcohol Depend · Jan 2021
Multicenter StudyPerceived risk, attitudes, and behavior of cigarette smokers and nicotine vapers receiving buprenorphine treatment for opioid use disorder during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Cigarette smoking may increase the risk of COVID-19 complications, reinforcing the urgency of smoking cessation in populations with high smoking prevalence such as individuals with opioid use disorder (OUD). Whether the COVID-19 pandemic has altered perceptions, motivation to quit, or tobacco use among cigarette smokers and nicotine e-cigarette vapers with OUD is unknown. ⋯ Most patients with OUD believed that smoking and vaping increased their vulnerability to COVID-19, half reported increased interest in quitting, but others reported increasing smoking and vaping during the COVID-19 pandemic.