Category Archives: Substance use (alcohol, tobacco, other drugs)

The moderating effect of family and community protective factors on the relationship between family and community risk factors and adolescent alcohol and marijuana use

Posted on by
2

Katarina Serdar1 & Martina Ferić1

1Laboratory for prevention research (PrevLab), Department of Behavioural Disorders, Faculty of Education and Rehabilitation Sciences, University of Zagreb

The following research work was presented as a poster at the 14th EUSPR Conference, which took place in Sarajevo in 2023.

The aim of this poster is to present a doctoral thesis on “The moderating effect of family and community protective factors on the relationship between family and community risk factors and adolescent alcohol and marijuana use.” The purpose of this work is to provide insights into how family and community protective factors modify the relationship between family and community risk factors and adolescent alcohol and marijuana use. The theoretical starting points of the work are the social development strategy and the concept of risk and protective factors. Although there are a number of studies that demonstrate the influence of risk and protective factors in the family and community on adolescent alcohol and marijuana use, there are almost no studies that have examined the moderating effect of protective factors in the family and community on the relationship between risk factors in the family and community and adolescent alcohol and marijuana use. There are no such studies in Croatia. Therefore, the study of the moderating effect of family and community protective factors on the relationship between family and community risk factors and adolescent alcohol and marijuana use represents the scientific contribution of this dissertation.

Continue reading →

Harm Reduction in Schools. Why Not?

Posted on by
2

In this article, Jose López-Guerrero and Claudio Vidal Giné from ABD – Energy Control (Spain) provide their opinions on harm reduction programmes within the school setting. 

It seems like a century ago, but the last Harm Reduction International Conference, held in Porto in April 2019, welcomed the words of Michelle Bachelet, the current United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights and former President of Chile. In her speech [1], she listed in a convincing way the benefits of drug policies framed within a well-being and health-oriented harm reduction perspective regarding people who use drugs. Opioid substitution treatment, syringe exchange programmes or drug consumption rooms have shown their effectiveness and usefulness where they have been applied and well-funded. However, harm reduction adapted to educational contexts is far from the implementation and recognition shown by previous schemes. Continue reading →

Responding to complex needs of young people who access substance use services in the criminal justice system

Posted on by
1

In this blog, Dr Helen Gleeson offers interesting insights on the needs of young people with a have a history of substance use who come into contact with the criminal justice system in the UK. Curious? Read on.

In the UK, many young people who come into contact with the criminal justice system have some history of substance use. Most of these young people will be ordered by the police or the courts to attend a mandatory substance use program as part of their sentence or caution. Unsurprisingly, it can be difficult to engage this group in a program that they are attending in order to avoid criminal sanctions (e.g. a custodial sentence). As part of the EPPIC (Exchanging Prevention practices on Polydrug use among youth In Criminal justice systems) project, research teams have been collecting qualitative interview data from young people and professionals in substance use intervention and criminal justice settings in six European countries (UK, Denmark, Germany, Italy, Poland, and Austria). In the UK, I was part of a research team that interviewed 38 young people and 25 professionals from youth offending teams (YOTs), community services, children’s services and third sector organisations who offer substance use services to young people both in and outside of the criminal justice system. Continue reading →

Policy reform towards implementing harm reduction in Nigeria

Posted on by
3

In this blog, Adebisi Yusuff Adebayo takes a critical look at the implementation of harm reduction measures to address the health risks related to injection drug use in Nigeria.

Despite the fact that there are numerous strong global proofs that support harm reduction strategies1,2, the coverage, adoption and implementation for people who inject drugs (PWID) is poor and Nigeria is not an exception to this. PWID constitute a considerable quota of people at-risk in Nigeria and 20% of people who use drugs are injecting drugs3. It has been reported that the most common drugs injected were pharmaceutical opioids, followed by cocaine and heroin. In Nigeria, the level of risky injecting practices and risky sexual behaviors among PWID is worrisome3. Particularly, women who inject drugs are more prone to engage in high-risk sexual behaviors compared to the male counterpart which further catalyze their risk of acquiring and transmitting HIV among other infections. This problem is doubly compounded by the criminalization of drug use and the non-adoption of evidence-based harm reduction strategies in the country. Continue reading →

  1. Degenhardt, L., Mathers, B., Vickerman, P., Rhodes, T., Latkin, C., & Hickman, M. (2010). Prevention of HIV infection for people who inject drugs: Why individual, structural and combination approaches are needed. Lancet; 376:285–301. [↩]
  2. MacArthur, G., Minozzi, S., Martin, N., Vickerman, P., Deren, S., Bruneau, J., et al. (2012). Opiate substitution treatment and HIV transmission in people who inject drugs: Systematic review and meta-analysis. British Medical Journal; 345:e5945. [↩]
  3. United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (2018). Drug use in Nigeria 2018. Available from http://www.unodc.org/documents/nigeria//Drug_Use_Survey_Nigeria_2019_BOOK.pdf. Accessed: 10/08/2019 [↩]

Embracing a cultural perspective into Prevention Science

Posted on by
1

In this blog, Dr Giovanni Aresi will discuss some reasons why adopting a cultural perspective is important for prevention scientists.

The 2018 conference was the first time I came in contact with the European Society for Prevention Research (EUSPR). As I have done (so far) little in terms of preventive intervention development, implementation and evaluation, I was actually unsure whether or not my work on alcohol drinking cultures (i.e., schema of beliefs, practices, and values maintained by a cultural group or society regarding alcohol use) would fit into the scope of the EUSPR. I was therefore very surprised when I learnt that I was awarded the 2018 early career award for outstanding promise based on poster presentation. On second thought, in a socio-ecological perspective, culture is an important level of influence to health outcomes, and therefore needs to be taken into consideration during all stages of intervention. This makes culture an important object of interest for EUSPR members. Continue reading →

Thinking about prevention through the lens of “everyday spaces”

Posted on by
2

At the beginning of her academic life, Angelina Brotherhood was an urban sociologist, and this perspective still informs her work as a prevention researcher. In this blog, she presents emerging findings from her doctoral research and a possible dilemma she might soon face. Intrigued? Read on.

My doctoral research focuses on how people think about spaces in their everyday life, and how those ways of thinking relate to their substance use in those spaces. To generate data, I conducted interviews with 24 female students aged 18-26 years at the University of Vienna who reported alcohol and/or cigarette use in the last 3 months, but no use of illicit substances in the last 12 months. Continue reading →

Update on the conscious clubbing collaboration

Posted on by
2

Dr Emma L Davies is a Senior Lecturer in Psychology at Oxford Brookes University, UK.  In this article, she updates us on a project that started as a result of a post on this blog. On the 22nd June 2016, I published a post on this blog called ‘Reflections on sober raving: alcohol free fun for further research? This post is about what happened next.

The post that started it all

The original post was about alcohol-free events that involve music and dancing, often described as ‘sober raves’ or ‘conscious-clubbing’ events. At conscious-clubbing events, the experiences are enjoyed without alcohol and other drugs. The term conscious-clubbing puts this kind of event in opposition to clubs and festivals where alcohol and other drugs are used to enhance experiences and interactions between people. A wide range of different types of events can be considered ‘conscious-clubbing’ and people have enjoyed these for many years for spiritual reasons and to improve wellness.  However, our current focus was on early morning raves, and evening events that might appeal to a student population. Continue reading →

My first experiences in alcohol use research: recommendations for early career researchers

Posted on by
5

In this article, Joella shares her first experiences of working as a research assistant on a research placement at the University of Balearic Islands alongside the Research Group in Data Analysis.The project that Joella is currently working on focuses on young people’s alcohol use, specifically in the psychosocial evaluation of alcohol use in young people of Palma de Mallorca. This evaluation includes the assessment of risky alcohol use, attitudes towards alcohol use and socioeconomic status. Joella’s role in this study is to coordinate and implement data collection. It is hoped that throughout the placement Joella will gain essential research and project management skills that will help her pursue a PhD in prevention research. Joella concludes with some key recommendations for other early career researchers who are trying to gain experience in their field.

Continue reading →

International Drug Control vs. Preventing Harm from Substance Use in Afghanistan

Posted on by
3

In this month’s blog post, Abdul Subor Momand and Larissa J. Maier provide a perspective on current drug policy developments in Afghanistan and emphasize how these impact prevention efforts in the country. The authors will explore what it needs to tackle substance use among youth and people with substance use disorders during times of political instability and nationwide grief.

Continue reading →

Come on let’s TWIST again! Early Career Bursaries @LxAddictions 2017

Posted on by
Reply

In this post, Dijana Jerković and Larissa J. Maier share their experiences of securing funding through the TWIST project, in order to attend LxAddictions 2017. The aim is to describe the TWIST training and the application process to support other early career researchers who may want to contribute to the upcoming third conference in 2019.

Continue reading →