Substance use & misuse
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Substance use & misuse · Jan 2015
Some Musings About Big Events and the Past and Future of Drug Use and of HIV and Other Epidemics.
The term "Big Events" began as a way to help understand how wars, transitions and other crises shape long-term HIV epidemiology in affected areas. It directs attention to the roles of ordinary people in shaping these outcomes. Big Events themselves can take years, as in long-term armed struggles like those in Colombia and also long-term political and economic changes like the turn over the last 15 years of many Latin American countries away from neoliberalism and towards attempts to build solidarity economies of some form. ⋯ Issues of time loom large in other articles in this Special Issue as well. Some articles and commentaries in this issue point to another important phenomenon that should be studied more: The positive contributions that people who use drugs and other members of the population make towards helping other people in their communities during and after Big Events. Finally, this Commentary calls for more thought and research about an impending very Big Event, global climate change, and how it may exacerbate HIV, hepatitis C and other epidemics among people who use drugs and other members of their networks and communities.
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Substance use & misuse · Jan 2015
A Qualitative Study of Smoker Identity Among College Student Smokers.
This research was motivated by findings that college students who smoke cigarettes often self-categorize as nonsmokers, that is, they reject the social identity of "smoker." ⋯ These findings support the notion that there are different types of smokers, both daily and occasional, in the college population. We suggest that researchers, healthcare providers, and prevention/intervention programs may all benefit from distinguishing between these different types of smokers.
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Substance use & misuse · Nov 2014
Randomized Controlled Trial Multicenter StudyCharacteristics of a treatment-seeking population in outpatient addiction treatment centers in Mexico.
Baseline patients' characteristics are critical for treatment planning, as these can be moderators of treatment effects. In Mexico, information on treatment seekers with substance use disorders is scarce and limited to demographic characteristics. ⋯ Substance use related problems, clinical features, and addiction severity reported by treatment seekers are important characteristics to take into account when planning treatment as they facilitate tailoring treatment to meet patients' needs.
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Substance use & misuse · Sep 2014
Randomized Controlled TrialPerceived peer drinking norms and responsible drinking in UK university settings.
Heavy drinking is common among students at UK universities. US students overestimate how much their peers drink and correcting this through the use of social norm messages may promote responsible drinking. ⋯ In this UK based study, although perceived social norms about peer drinking were associated with individual differences in drinking habits, campus wide norm messages about responsible drinking did not affect students' intentions to drink more responsibly. More research is required to determine if this approach can be applied to UK settings.