Substance misuse

Alcohol use disorders (AUDs) impose an enormous societal and financial burden, and world-wide, alcohol misuse is the 7th leading cause of premature death1. Despite this, there are currently only 3 FDA approved pharmacological treatments for the treatment of AUDs in the United States. The neurotensin (Nts) system has long been implicated in modulating behaviors associated with alcohol misuse. Recently, a novel compound, SBI-553, that biases the action of Nts receptor 1 (NTSR1) activation, has shown promise in preclinical models of psychostimulant misuse...

Heavy substance use (SU) and substance use disorders (SUD) have complex etiologies and often severe consequences. Certain personality traits have been associated with an increased risk for SU(D), but far less is known about personality changes related to SU(D). This review aims to synthesize the existing literature on this research question. A systematic literature search was conducted from November 2022 to February 2023 in PubMed, EbscoHost, and Web of Science. Peer-reviewed original papers on SU(D)-related personality changes were included...

Aim: Knowledge of the cardiovascular and respiratory effects of cannabis use by route of administration is unclear. This evidence is necessary to increase clinical and public health awareness given the recent trend in cannabis legalization, normalization, and surge in the availability and usage of various forms of cannabis products. Methods: Search was conducted in Web of Science, ProQuest, Psych INFO, Scopus, Embase, and Medline databases, and subsequently in the references of retrieved articles. Peer-reviewed articles published between 2009 and 2023, that reported on cardiovascular and respiratory effects of cannabis use by route of administration were included...

The misuse of pharmaceuticals has significantly increased in recent decades, becoming a major public health concern. The risks associated with medication misuse are particularly high in cases of overdose, especially when the active substances are chiral, as enantioselectivity plays an important role in toxicity. Promethazine (PMZ) is a chiral antihistamine marketed as a racemate and it is misused in "Purple Drank", a recreational drug beverage, that combines codeine and/or PMZ, with soda or alcohol leading to serious health consequences and fatalities in consumers around the world, particularly among teenagers...

BACKGROUND: Alcohol misuse is common and causes substantial harm. Internet-delivered cognitive behaviour therapy (ICBT) is effective in reducing alcohol misuse; however, the literature investigating how treatment outcomes are impacted by patients' preferences for therapist- versus self-guided ICBT for alcohol misuse is sparse. METHODS: In this preference trial, 74 eligible patients (who reported ≥ 14 drinks in the previous week and obtained scores suggesting hazardous or harmful drinking) chose between enrolling in either therapist- or self-guided ICBT for alcohol misuse...

BACKGROUND: People with functional/dissociative seizures (FDS) are at elevated suicidality risk. OBJECTIVE: To identify risk factors for suicidality in FDS or epilepsy. METHODS: Retrospective cohort study from the UK's largest tertiary mental healthcare provider, with linked national admission data from the Hospital Episode Statistics. Participants were 2383 people with a primary or secondary diagnosis of FDS or epilepsy attending between 01 January 2007 and 18 June 2021...

Bacterial infections trigger inflammation and impede the closure of skin wounds. The misuse of antibiotics exacerbates skin infections by generating multidrug-resistant bacteria. In this study, we developed chemo-photothermal therapy (chemo-PTT) based on near-infrared (NIR)-irradiated chitosan/gold nanorod (GNR) clusters as anti-methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) agents. The nanocomposites exhibited an average size of 223 nm with a surface charge of 36 mV. These plasmonic nanocomposites demonstrated on-demand and rapid hyperthermal action under NIR...

Background: Violence within nighttime entertainment districts (NEDs) has been blamed on problematic masculinity and has predominantly been attributed to excessive alcohol intake and steroid use in men. In this report we conducted two studies to: (1) ascertain whether researchers could act as third-party raters of body weight and muscle mass in NED patrons; and (2) to examine the relationship between body self-image, inebriation, alcohol preloading behaviors and drug use in the NEDs. Methods: Study 1 employed an observational approach to establish inter-rater reliability for ratings of muscle mass and weight...

BACKGROUND: Disability is associated with alcohol misuse and drug overdose death, however, its association with alcohol-induced death remains understudied. OBJECTIVE: To quantify the risk of alcohol-induced death among adults with different types of disabilities in a nationally representative longitudinal sample of US adults. METHODS: Persons with disabilities were identified among participants ages 18 or older in the Mortality Disparities in American Communities (MDAC) study ( n  = 3,324,000)...

Introduction : Research indicates that take-home naloxone (THN) is saving lives across rural Appalachia, but whether it also results in treatment for opioid use disorders (OUDs) remains unclear. This study involves a detailed qualitative analysis of interviews with 16 individuals who had overdosed on opioids 61 times to understand why a THN intervention does not routinely lead to OUD treatment. Methods : This study builds upon a one-year (2018) qualitative study on community responses to opioid overdose fatalities in four adjacent rural counties in Western Pennsylvania...

INTRODUCTION: Assessing the internal dynamics of organizations has been shown to provide information that can help planners and policymakers improve service delivery. A good organizational climate, which in this study incorporates mission clarity, team cohesion, staff autonomy, communication, levels of stress, and openness to change has been shown to be of particular importance. Still, there is a dearth of evidence in this area, and while relationships between organizational factors have been identified, little is known about the mechanisms that might underpin these relationships, and there is little understanding of how to address deficits once they are identified...

Background: The stigma and discrimination experienced by individuals with an alcohol/substance use disorder often extends to the family members and friends who provide care, which is known as courtesy stigma. This courtesy stigma can lead to isolation, poor mental health and might impact the quality-of-care these individuals provide. The aim of this study was to examine the frequency of experienced courtesy stigma/discrimination in individuals in a family support service for a loved one's substance use, and to examine any cross-sectional associations with changes in mood, health- and social-related outcomes...

Residential treatment for substance use disorders (SUDs) is effective at reducing substance use, dependence, and other related problems. However, dropout from treatment against medical advice (AMA) is common in residential treatment settings. Studies have shown that impulsivity is associated with substance misuse and treatment dropout in predominately male samples, but less is known regarding whether impulsivity dimensions predict treatment dropout among women. This study examined impulsivity dimensions (ie, negative urgency, positive urgency, lack of perseverance, lack of premeditation, and sensation seeking) as predictors of dropout AMA among women in a residential substance use treatment facility (N = 229)...

Background : Prior research has discovered an association between vaping activities and increased delinquent behaviors. However, this relationship has been exclusively studied among adolescents and has not been examined among an adult sample. Methods : The current study uses a nationally representative sample of approximately 45,000 adults from the 2021 National Survey on Drug Use and Health. Logistic regression and negative binomial regression are employed to assess the association between three types of vaping (marijuana, nicotine, flavor) and five crime measures (arrest, sold drugs, stole >$50, attack, crime index), net of covariates...

BACKGROUND: Varying patterns in eating disorder (ED) classification are evident and may impact ED treatment and prevention. However, investigations of patterns of heterogeneity in ED presentations have been limited to civilian samples, despite the high prevalence of EDs in military personnel and veterans. The present study aimed to explore ED-related symptom patterns, including emotional overeating, in women veterans. METHODS: Participants were 407 women veterans using health care services at a large Veterans Affairs health care system who completed mental health measures via surveys...

OBJECTIVES: Theory and research suggest that distinct self-damaging behaviours (SDBs; e.g., nonsuicidal self-injury [NSSI], restrictive eating, binge eating, drug misuse, alcohol misuse) share similar motives. However, few studies have used a common self-report inventory to investigate the shared relevance and relative salience of motives for SDBs. Accordingly, the present study: (1) examined whether self-report scales assessing intrapersonal motives (i.e., relieving negative emotions, enhancing positive emotions, punishing oneself) and interpersonal motives (i...

Substance misuse is a pernicious health concern for many unhoused people. A deep understanding of turning points - what propels someone to take concrete action toward addressing substance misuse - is needed to inform recovery policies and practices. This study sought to identify common elements in turning points among unhoused people vis-à-vis a phenomenological qualitative approach. Twenty people ( M age = 47.47, SD  = 9.75; 50% female) who self-identified as being in recovery while unhoused participated in semi-structured interviews in Anchorage, Alaska, a community with high rates of both houselessness and substance misuse...

PURPOSE: Loneliness disproportionately affects people with mental disorders, but associations with mental health outcomes in groups affected remain less well understood. METHOD: A cohort of patients receiving mental healthcare on 30th June 2012 was assembled from a large mental health records database covering a south London catchment area. Recorded loneliness within the preceding 2 years was extracted using natural language processing and outcomes were measured between 30th June 2012 until 30th December 2019, except for survival which applied a censoring point of 6th December 2020 according to data available at the time of extraction...

Polysubstance use (PSU), the use of two or more substances proximally, is highly prevalent and has amplified the risk for morbidity and mortality. However, PSU patterns and associated risk factors are not well characterized. This may be especially relevant to women who are known to be vulnerable to stress/trauma, craving, pain, and anxious and depressive symptoms as associated risk factors for PSU. A cross-sectional observational study was conducted to characterize substance use patterns in women who regularly used cocaine, opioids, marijuana, alcohol, benzodiazepines and/or nicotine and were being assessed for a placebo-controlled study of guanfacine treatment (n = 94; ages 19-65)...

OBJECTIVE: Being a mother of a young child may be protective against alcohol misuse for some, but not all, women. This is the first paper to identify the mental health and psychosocial correlates of alcohol misuse among postpartum mothers. METHODS: Mothers with a child under 12-months ( n =319) were recruited via social media to complete a cross-sectional online survey. Two hierarchical logistic regressions examined unique factors associated with heavy episodic drinking and hazardous alcohol use, including sociodemographic, mental ill-health, and psychosocial factors...