Drugnet Ireland - Issue 53, Spring 2015

There is considerable evidence of a cultural shift towards heavier alcohol consumption among university students, especially women. This study aims to investigate the prevalence and correlates of hazardous alcohol consumption (HAC) among university students with particular reference to gender and to compare different modes of data collection in this population.

Description and outcome evaluation of Jigsaw: an emergent Irish mental health early intervention programme for young people

O’Keeffe L, O’Reilly A, O’Brien G, Buckley R and Illback RJ Irish Journal of Psychological Medicine (2015) early online

http://www.drugsandalcohol.ie/23291/

Jigsaw is an early intervention mental health service developed by Headstrong which provides support to young people, aged 12–25 years, in 10 communities across Ireland. This study aimed to profile young people who availed of Jigsaw, in one calendar year, and to provide evidence that Jigsaw’s model facilitates the reduction of psychological distress.

How social context impacts on the development, identification and treatment of mental and substance use disorders among young people – a qualitative study of health care workers

Leahy D, Schaffalitzky E, Armstrong C, Latham L, McNicholas F, Meagher D, Nathan Y, O’Connor R, O’Keane V, Ryan P, Smyth B, Swan D and Cullen W Irish Journal of Psychological Medicine (2015) early online

http://www.drugsandalcohol.ie/23277/

Social context has a major influence on the detection and treatment of youth mental and substance use disorders in socio-economically disadvantaged urban areas, particularly where gang culture, community violence, normalisation of drug use and repetitive maladaptive family structures prevail. This paper aims to examine how social context influences the development, identification and treatment of youth mental and substance use disorders in socio-economically disadvantaged urban areas from the perspectives of health care workers.

Do importance of religious faith and healthy lifestyle modify the relationships between depressive symptoms and four indicators of alcohol consumption? A survey of students across seven universities in England, Wales, and Northern Ireland

El Ansari W, Sebena R and Stock C Substance Use & Misuse (2014) 49(3): 211–220

http://www.drugsandalcohol.ie/23273/

This paper examines the associations between depressive symptoms and four indicators of alcohol consumption (high frequency of drinking, frequency of heavy episodic drinking, problem drinking, and possible alcohol dependence). It also explores whether personal importance of religious faith as well as healthy lifestyle had any modifying roles in these relationships. During 2007–2008, 3,220 students at seven UK universities completed a questionnaire containing questions on CAGE, frequency alcohol use, heavy episodic drinking, modified Beck-Depression Inventory, physical activity and sleep, and importance of religious faith. Multivariate logistic regressions were performed separately for the four alcohol consumption indicators, stratified by gender. Controlling for demographic variables, depressive symptoms were positively associated with problem drinking and possible alcohol dependence for both genders. Religiosity was negatively associated with frequency of drinking and heavy episodic drinking among both genders, while healthy lifestyle was not associated with any of the four measures of alcohol consumption among both genders. No evidence suggested that either religiosity or healthy lifestyle modified the relationships between depressive symptoms and any of the four measures of alcohol consumption. This study shows a link between hazardous drinking and mental ill health and suggests religiosity as a protective factor for high alcohol consumption. Promotion of students' mental and spiritual health could have a preventive role in hazardous drinking at universities.

‘Causes of causes’: ethnicity and social position as determinants of health inequality in Irish Traveller men

Hodgins M and Fox F Health Promotion International (2014) 29(2): 223–234

http://www.drugsandalcohol.ie/23272/

This study sought to engage Traveller men in a discussion about their lives, their health and key determinants of their health, with a view to engaging Traveller men in health promotion initiatives. Irish Travellers are an indigenous ethnic minority, constituting 0.8% of the population. As a marginalised group, they experience significantly poorer health status than their counterparts in the settled community. Traveller men have 3.7 times the mortality of the males in the general population. Travellers are identified as a hard-to-reach group and Traveller men particularly so. Traveller men have rarely participated in the research studies on health and health service utilization, and the results of this study, in which Traveller men participated in three focus groups, are therefore of particular interest. The Traveller men, in discussing health, related it to the absence of specific illnesses and conditions, expressing a negative and a physical concept of health. The results of the study provide evidence for the role of social constructions of masculinity in determining the health and help-seeking behaviour of Traveller men, but also the influence of wider social determinants such as ethnicity and social status. The futility of approaches to health promotion that comprise simplistic health information/education interventions is outlined in this context. The study presents a challenge to address both hegemonic versions of masculinity and discrimination based on ethnic status, and rather than challenge the behaviour of men or of health services that they come into contact with, to changing the conditions of Traveller men's lives.

The association between parental and adolescent substance misuse: findings from the Irish CASE study

Keeley HS, Mongwa T and Corcoran P Irish Journal of Psychological Medicine (2015) early online

http://www.drugsandalcohol.ie/23244/

This study indicates that parental substance misuse affects the development of both alcohol and drug misuse in adolescent children independent of other family problems and the psychological characteristics of the adolescent. A wider perspective is needed, including societal and family issues, especially parental behaviour, when attempting to reduce risk of adolescent addiction. The impact on children of parental substance misuse also needs consideration in clinical contexts.

This article is described more fully in a report elsewhere in this issue of Drugnet Ireland.

Hospital-treated deliberate self-harm in the western area of Northern Ireland

Corcoran P, Griffin E, O’Carroll A, Cassidy L and Bonner B Crisis (2015) early online

http://www.drugsandalcohol.ie/23287/

This study aims to establish the incidence of hospital-treated deliberate self-harm in the western area of Northern Ireland, and to explore the profile of such presentations. Deliberate self-harm presentations made to the three hospital emergency departments operating in the area during the period 2007–2012 were recorded.

There were 8,175 deliberate self-harm presentations by 4,733 individuals. Respectively, the total male and female age-standardised incidence rate was 342, 320, and 366 per 100,000 population. City council residents had a far higher self-harm rate. The peak rate for women was among 15–19-year-olds (837 per 100,000), and for men among 20–24-year-olds (809 per 100,000). Risk of repetition was higher in 35–44-year-old patients if self-cutting was involved, but was most strongly associated with the number of previous self-harm presentations.

The incidence of hospital-treated self-harm in Northern Ireland is far higher than in the Republic of Ireland and more comparable to that in England.

Parental rules, parent and peer attachment, and adolescent drinking behaviors

McKay MT Substance Use & Misuse (2015) 50(2): 184–188

http://www.drugsandalcohol.ie/22795/

Family factors have been widely implicated in the development of adolescent drinking behaviours. These include parental attachment and parental rules concerning drinking behaviours. Moreover, throughout adolescence attachment to parents gives way to attachment to peers, and parental rules about alcohol use become less strict. The present study examined the relationship between parental and peer attachment, parental rules on drinking and alcohol use in a large sample (n=1,724) of adolescents in the United Kingdom. Controlling for school grade (proxy for age), sex and the non-independence of respondents (clustering at school level), results showed that scores on a parental rules on drinking questionnaire were a significant statistical predictor when comparing moderate drinkers and abstainers, as well as moderate drinkers and problematic drinkers. Scores on both attachment scales were also significant, but only in the comparison between moderate and problematic drinkers, with lower attachment to parents and higher attachment to peers associated with problematic drinking.

Modeling the impact of place on individual methadone treatment outcomes in a national longitudinal cohort study

Murphy E and Comiskey CM Substance Use & Misuse (2015) 50(1): 99–105

http://www.drugsandalcohol.ie/22782/

Little has been published on the effect of geography on methadone treatment outcomes. This study aims to measure the effect of place on longitudinal outcomes. From 2003 to 2006, 215 clients were recruited to a cohort study of methadone treatment. Participants had their address and clinic geocoded. Treatment outcomes were measured at intake, at one and three years post-treatment, using the Maudsley Addiction Profile instrument. Spider diagrams and buffer rings were used to visually map clinics and clients. Regression models were used to measure the effect of place.

Clients’ accommodation and social and criminal problems in the region had a medium to large effect on heroin use. Analysis of buffer rings revealed that clients located within a 10-km radius of a major clinic demonstrated poorer outcomes in terms of heroin use. Findings illustrated the relevance of geography on drug treatment outcomes and the planning of services.

The association between family affluence and smoking among 15-year-old adolescents in 33 European countries, Israel and Canada: the role of national wealth

Pförtner TK, Moor I, Rathmann K, Hublet A, Molcho M, Kunst AE and Richter M Addiction (2015) 110(1): 162–173

http://www.drugsandalcohol.ie/22734/

This report examines the role of national wealth in the association between family affluence and adolescent weekly smoking, early smoking behaviour and weekly smoking among former experimenters.

Data were used from the Health Behaviour in School-aged Children (HBSC) study conducted in 2005/2006 in 35 countries from Europe and North America that comprises 60,490 students aged 15 years. Multilevel logistic regression was conducted using Markov Chain Monte Carlo (MCMC) methods to explore whether associations between family affluence and smoking outcomes were dependent on national wealth.

Pregabalin abuse for enhancing sexual performance: case discussion and literature review

Osman M and Casey P Irish Journal of Psychological Medicine (2014) 3(4): 281–286

http://www.drugsandalcohol.ie/22563/

Pregabalin is a γ-aminobutyric acid analogue that is primarily prescribed in psychiatry for management of generalised anxiety disorder. The belief in its low potential for abuse has placed it in a superior position to other anxiolytic agents. However, more recent concerns have been raised about the addictive potential of pregabalin. This problem has not received much attention nor has the mechanism of its development. There is also a lack of understanding of the difference in the experience of abusing pregabalin in contrast to abusing other illicit drugs.

We report the case of a 55-year-old patient with a background history of multiple psychoactive substances misuse who elaborated on his own personal experience of pregabalin abuse. He consumed a month’s supply of this medication over two days and realised an enhancement in sexual desire and excitement. This effect should be considered when prescribing pregabalin.

Cigarette smoking impairs human pulmonary immunity to mycobacterium tuberculosis

O’Leary SM, Coleman MM, Chew WM, Morrow C, McLaughlin AM, Gleeson LE, O’Sullivan MP and Keane J American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine (2014) 190(12): 1430–1436

http://www.drugsandalcohol.ie/22976/

Cigarette smoking is linked to important aspects of tuberculosis, such as susceptibility to infection, disease reactivation, mortality, transmission and persistent infectiousness. The mechanistic basis for this remains poorly understood. This study aims to compare the functional impairment, seen in human alveolar macrophages (AM) from non-smokers, smokers and ex-smokers, after infection with Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Mtb).

Sexually transmitted infection incidence among adolescents in Ireland

Davoren MP, Kevin H, Horgan M and Shiely F The Journal of Family Planning and Reproductive Health Care (2014) 40 (4): 276–282

URL: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC417401...

http://www.drugsandalcohol.ie/23124/

The burden of sexually transmitted infections (STIs) rests with young people, yet in Ireland there has been very little research into this population. The purpose of this study was to determine the incidence rate and establish risk factors that predict STI occurrence among adolescents in Ireland.

When the smoke clears….

Kelly P Irish Pharmacist (2014) 10(16): 4–8

URL: http://www.greencrosspublishing.ie/attachments/IRI...

http://www.drugsandalcohol.ie/22966/

Pharmacists are increasingly being asked to play a greater role in front-line public health delivery. Pat Kelly looks at how the sector is promoting smoking cessation for the overall benefit of public health and health services themselves.

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