Addiction
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Randomized Controlled Trial Comparative Study
Motivational interviewing versus feedback only in emergency care for young adult problem drinking.
To establish the efficacy of a brief motivational intervention compared to feedback only when delivered in an emergency department for reducing alcohol use and problems among young adults. ⋯ This study provides new data supporting the potential of the motivational intervention tested to reduce alcohol consumption among high-risk youth.
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Randomized Controlled Trial
Brief alcohol intervention and alcohol assessment do not influence alcohol use in injured patients treated in the emergency department: a randomized controlled clinical trial.
To evaluate the effectiveness of brief alcohol intervention (BAI) in reducing alcohol use among hazardous drinkers treated in the emergency department (ED) after an injury; in addition it tests whether assessment of alcohol use without BAI is sufficient to reduce hazardous drinking. ⋯ This study provides the evidence that a 10-15-minute BAI does not decrease alcohol use and health resource utilization in hazardous drinkers treated in the ED, and demonstrates that commonly found decreases in hazardous alcohol use in control groups cannot be attributed to the baseline alcohol assessment.
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Randomized Controlled Trial
Do coping skills mediate the relationship between cognitive-behavioral therapy and reductions in gambling in pathological gamblers?
Cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) is useful for treating substance abusers, and recent data suggest it is also efficacious for pathological gamblers. CBT is purported to exert its beneficial effects by altering coping skills, but data supporting coping changes as the mechanism of action are mixed. This study examined whether coping skills acquisition mediated the effects of CBT on decreasing gambling in pathological gamblers. ⋯ CBT's beneficial effects in decreasing gambling may be related partly to changes in coping responses, and improvements in coping are associated with long-term changes in gambling. However, relationships between coping skills and gambling behavior are fairly strong, regardless of treatment received.
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Despite good evidence of increased availability and use of amphetamines world-wide, relatively little is known about the epidemiology of young adult amphetamine use; relationships with social functioning, other drug use and mental health at this age; nor of the adolescent predictors of such use. We examined these issues using a representative cohort of young people followed-up in Victoria, Australia. ⋯ Young people in Australia using amphetamine at age 24 years are highly likely to be significant polydrug users. The risks for both initiation of young adult amphetamine use, and maintenance of such use, pertain to the heavy use of other drugs. Interventions for heavy amphetamine users at this age are likely to require attention to multiple drug problems.