Onset Of Drug Use Research Articles

The Prevalence of Sexual Abuse and Its Impact on the Onset of Drug Use Among Adolescents in Therapeutic Community Drug Treatment

ABSTRACT Assessing the prevalence of sexual abuse among adolescents is problematic because they are generally reluctant to disclose abusive experiences. Often the abuse is ongoing and may involve family members with whom the adolescent lives or with whom there may be strong emotional attachments. Statistics based on self-reports of childhood victimization suggest that issues of childhood abuse are critical factors in the initiation of drug use. The current study describes the prevalence of sexual abuse among a sample of 938 adolescents admitted to residential therapeutic communities for the treatment of substance abuse and related disorders. The data indicate that approximately one-third of the sample reported histories of sexual abuse. Prevalence rates were significantly higher for girls than boys (64% vs. 24%). A history of sexual abuse correlates with several social, behavioral, and psychological characteristics of clients at entry to treatment, including greater drug use, more severe psychopathology, family drug use and more deviant peer associations. Cox regression analyses show that a history of sexual abuse is related to earlier onset of alcohol and illicit drug use. One explanation of the findings is the self-medication hypothesis (Cavailo & Schiff, 1989) which states that drug use functions to ameliorate feelings of depression, and poor self-esteem which often accompany childhood abuse.

Drug use among inner-city African American women: the process of managing loss.

The grounded theory study described in this article investigated illicit drug use in the lives of 32 drug-using women living in two inner-city neighborhoods of a large metropolitan U.S. city. The underlying purpose was to describe the process of how life situations and events influenced the onset of drug use and changes in drug-using behaviors. Analysis of in-depth interviews revealed several themes. The basic social process, managing loss, was identified. Painful feelings of loss resulted from the separation of someone or something from the lives of participants and included death or desertion of a significant other, loss of child custody, and rejection by a significant other. Emotional, physical, and sexual abuse resulted in a loss of ability to give and receive love and trust in oneself or others. Losses resulted in an escalation of drug use. Findings have implications for interventions to assist women in dealing with drug use, violence in their lives, self-care, and parenting.

A PSYCHODEMOGRAPHIC STUDY OF THE PATIENTS OF A DEADDICTION CENTRE IN PUNE

One hundred and twelve patients who reported to a de-addiction centre were investigated with regard to their psychodemographic profile, 66.07% of them turned out to be exclusive alcohol dependent. Six (5.35%) of them turned out be exclusively dependent on brown sugar. About 28.57% of patients were dependent on more than one drug in various combinations. The mean age of onset of drug use was 26.8 years and mean age of reporting for treatment was 36.6 years. 66% of the drug dependents started first with alcohol as the initial drug followed by 26.78% of drug dependents with nicotine in the form of smoking bidi/cigarette or taking gutka. Other than the withdrawal syndrome the other associated psychiatric disorders were anxiety, depression, suicidal attempts, sleeplessness, drug induced psychosis and antisocial personality disorder.

Developmental Patterns Associated with the Onset of Drug Use: Changes in Postulated Mediators during Adolescence

This study longitudinally examines the changes in key mediators for adolescent substance use. Previous research and intervention strategies typically target mediators as important foci for program intervention. Findings presented here indicate that while some deterioration of key mediators occurs developmentally among all adolescents, the deterioration is more severe for students that initiate substance use. Furthermore, the rate of deterioration associated with the onset of substance use is more evident for some mediators (e.g. normative beliefs, commitment and lifestyle incompatibility) than for others (e.g. goal-setting and self-esteem). Finally, evidence indicates that the mediators that suffer the greatest deterioration significantly vary across substance. In other words, the degree of deterioration in mediators that should have a substantial influence on adolescent substance use varies across alcohol, tobacco, marijuana and inhalant use. Implications for program development and intervention strategies are discussed in light of these findings.

Pubertal Timing and the Onset of Drug Use and Sexual Behaviors in Early Adolescent Females

Pubertal Timing and the Onset of Drug Use and Sexual Behaviors in Early Adolescent Females

Frequent childhood geographic relocation: Its impact on drug use initiation and the development of alcohol and other drug-related problems among adolescents and young adults

Early geographic relocation has been implicated as an important correlate of psychopathology, learning difficulties, and behavioural problems among child and adolescent populations, yet systematic studies of the potential influence of relocation on youthful drug use have not been conducted. This study explored the relationship between number of geographic moves before the age of 16 and the timing of onset of drug use and progression to drug-related problems. Data were obtained from 3,700 young adults aged 18 to 35 years participating in the 1990–1991 Ontario Mental Health Supplement, a large random probability survey of the residents of the Province of Ontario, Canada. Holding constant potential confounding factors, results showed highly significant positive relationships between moving and early initiation of illicit drugs including marijuana, hallucinogens, crack/cocaine, and illicit use of prescribed drugs. Among marijuana users, moving was also associated with a hastening of time to marijuana-related problems. Relationships between moving and measures of alcohol use/problems (onset of first drink, onset of any alcohol-related problem) were either weak or nonsignificant. Important sex differences were found, with statistically significant relationships between moving and early drug use initiation and progression occurring primarily among males. Future research is required to test for possible mediating mechanisms linking relocation with drug use as well as moderating influences. Efforts should also focus on finding out why drug use appears to be a more common response to relocation among boys.

Age of onset of drug use and its association with DSM-IV drug abuse and dependence: results from the National Longitudinal Alcohol Epidemiologic Survey.

The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between early onset drug use and the development of lifetime DSM-IV drug abuse and dependence using a representative sample of the U.S. population. Prevalences of lifetime drug abuse and dependence were estimated for each year of age of onset of drug use from ages 13 and younger to 21 and older for the overall sample of drug users by race and gender. Linear logistic analyses were conducted to assess the relationship between age of drug use onset and lifetime drug use disorders controlling for important covariates. The major finding of this study was that early onset drug use is a significant predictor of the subsequent development of drug abuse over the life course. Early onset drug use was also a significant predictor of the subsequent development of lifetime alcohol dependence among males, females, and nonblacks, but not among blacks. After adjusting for important model covariates, the likelihood of lifetime drug abuse and dependence among the total sample of lifetime drug users was reduced by 4% and 5% with each year drug use onset was delayed. Implications of these findings are discussed in terms of the importance of collecting national data on drug use, abuse and dependence and the need for further research and its integration with prevention efforts.

Substance abuse risk reduction: Verbal mediational training for children by parental and nonparental models

Little is known regarding the etiology and maintenance of substance abuse, especially factors which place children at higher risk for later drug use. The present study evaluated the impact of a 12‐week verbal mediational program (Think Aloud), which teaches children and parents cognitive and social problem‐solving skills and addresses early childhood risk factors related to the onset of drug use in adolescence. Fifty children and parents were included in the present study and were randomly divided into four groups: two groups received either a verbal mediation condition comprising the Think Aloud training or time to complete homework assignments. Each of the topic groups was subdivided into two groups, one in which the parents served as models and one in which the experimenter served as the model. Measures of family cohesion, expressiveness, and conflict, family organization and control, social skills, level of disruptiveness of the child's peer choice, academic competence, and the child's problem behaviors were administered to the parents and the teachers pre‐ and postinterventivefy. Children in the verbal mediation condition with parental models were expected to show the greatest reduction in risk factor scores, and children in the verbal mediation condition with the experimenter model were predicted to show the second greatest reduction in risk factor scores at posttest. Results of the study demonstrated partial support for experimental hypotheses in that the children involved in the Think Aloud program showed improvement on four of the six factors on posttest measures. The superiority of the parental model was not found.

Anti‐social personality disorder and response to methadone maintenance treatment

A sample of 183 current methadone maintenance patients were interviewed on their drug use history, criminal history, current drug use, and symptoms of Anti-social Personality Disorder (ASPD). Thirty-nine percent of patients met the DSM-III-R criteria for a diagnosis of ASPD. ASPD patients had an earlier onset of drug use, drug injecting, heroin use, had wider polydrug using histories and had been arrested earlier and more frequently than other patients. Despite the different pretreatment histories of ASPD and other patients, there were no differences between the two groups in retention in treatment, methadone dosage or heroin use. It is concluded that heroin-dependent ASPD patients can be successfully retained in methadone treatment, on similar methadone doses and with similar in-treatment drug use patterns as those of non-ASPD heroin dependent patients.

Impact of Parent Monitoring on Initiation of Drug Use through Late Childhood

To examine whether parental supervision and monitoring in middle childhood might have a sustained impact on risk of drug use later in childhood and adolescence. An epidemiological sample of 926 urban-dwelling youths were individually interviewed annually, beginning in 1989 when the children were 8 to 10 years old, continuing through 1992. Standardized questions measured drug use, parenting behaviors, and other suspected determinants of drug use. Survival analysis estimates indicated that children in the lowest quartile of parent monitoring initiated drug use at earlier ages. The contrast in risk of initiating alcohol, tobacco, or other drug use across levels of parent monitoring was greatest when children were under 11 years old; at older ages there was no difference in risk. However, in analyses focused specifically on marijuana, cocaine, and inhalant drugs, we observed a sustained higher risk of starting to use these drugs among youths who had been monitored at the lowest levels in middle childhood. These results add to the chain of inference that effective supervision and monitoring in middle childhood by parents or guardians might induce a delay or prevent onset of drug use among youths living in urban areas, a hypothesis that now ought to be tested in rigorous field experiments.

Subtypes of Adult Antisocial Behavior among Drug Abusers

Recent work has shown that a substantial proportion of injecting drug users would have met criteria for antisocial personality disorder (ASPD) if the childhood trajectory of conduct disorder (CD) were ignored. From among 545 St. Louis, Missouri, drug users interviewed in person, we evaluated the clinical homogeneity of the 405 men and women with adult antisocial behaviors who did and did not have conduct disorder. The fully diagnosed ASPD group (those with CD) was distinguishable from the adult antisocial behavior only group without CD on all childhood behaviors, adult impulsive and aggressive behaviors, and measures of severe drug abuse, including earlier age of onset of drug use and drug treatment utilization. Clinical homogeneity of the groups was reflected by the group's similarity on indices such as types of adult antisocial behaviors, consequences of drug use, injection drug use history, and comorbid psychiatric disorders. Implications for a modification in the concept of ASPD are addressed.

At-Risk Students: drug prevention through afterschool/latchkey programs?

The importance of after school latchkey programs as a major deterrent to the onset of drug use among elementary and secondary school students is reviewed. Most of the data in this study support the need for after school latchkey programs, especially at the elementary school level. Elementary school students indicated gains in all diagnostic categories. The elementary school students showed positive gain scores in family, school, self-esteem, substance use, and personal abuse categories. Elementary school students showed positive gain scores in the substance use category while secondary school students showed negative gain in this area. There is a need to reassert the role of after school latchkey programs in the development of socially desirable behaviors in elementary school students, with a particular need to reassert the role of increasing positive self-esteem in relation to drug use and peer influences. Some implications for educational interventions and drug prevention programs are discussed.

Drug Use among Female Arrestees: Onset, Patterns, and Relationships to Prostitution

This study presents extensive life history information for a sample of 164 female arrestees in Manhattan who were interviewed and provided anonymous and voluntary urine specimens in 1984–85. It provides a unique opportunity to explore drug use and crime relationships in a sample that is similar to offenders currently being studied as part of the national Drug Use Forecasting (DUF) program. Over one-half of the females tested positive for a drug at arrest by urinalysis. Sixty percent tested positive for cocaine and twenty-seven percent for opiates. The female arrestees tended to be high school dropouts and to have come from broken homes. The majority were unmarried and had one or more children living with them. Approximately one-half of the arrestees had a history of prostitution, and these persons were more likely to be currently dependent on heroin or cocaine. Analyses examine personal backgrounds of the females, their pattern of onset of drug use, and the temporal sequence of drug use and prostitution.

Are Fluctuations in Delinquent Activities Related to the Onset and Offset in Juvenile Illegal Drug Use and Drug Dealing?

The authors examine fluctuations in the type and rate of delinquency as a function of the onset, continuation, and discontinuation of illegal drug use and drug dealing. The study subjects included 506 urban adolescent males between the ages thirteen and fifteen, who were followed up over six half-yearly data waves. Previous involvement in property offenses increased the risk of the onset of illegal drug use, while previous involvement in both property and person-related offenses increased the risk of the onset of drug dealing. The onset of drug use or drug dealing was associated with an increase in person-related offenses and carrying a concealed weapon. Initiation of drug dealing was uniquely related to an increased frequency of property offenses, particularly car-related theft and fraud. Discontinuation of illegal drug use or drug dealing was associated with a decrease in delinquency.

Effects of chronic marijuana use on human cognition

Impairments of human cognition and learning following chronic marijuana use are of serious concern, but have not been clearly demonstrated. To determine whether such impairments occurred, this study compared performance of adult marijuana users and non-users (N = 144 and N = 72, respectively) matched on intellectual functioning before the onset of drug use, i.e., on scores from standardized tests administered during the fourth grade of grammar school (Iowa Tests of Basic Skills). Subjects were given the twelfth grade versions of these tests (Iowa Tests of Educational Development) and other, computerized cognitive tests in successive test sessions. "Heavy" marijuana use (defined by use seven or more times weekly) was associated with deficits in mathematical skills and verbal expression in the Iowa Tests of Educational Development and selective impairments in memory retrieval processes in Buschke's Test. The retrieval impairments were restricted to words that were easy to visualize. Impairments depended on the frequency of chronic marijuana use, i.e., "light" and "intermediate" marijuana use (defined by use one to four and five to six times weekly, respectively) were not associated with deficits. Intermediate use was associated with superior performance in one condition ("fuzzy" concepts) of a Concept Formation test.

Onset of Drug Use among Rural Black Youth

A sample of 362 Black students (grades 7 to 12) who reside in a rural county in Alabama was surveyed by teacher-administered questionnaire to examine the age of onset and periods of risk for drug use, and patterns of multiple drug use. A questionnaire was used also to obtain demographic parameters of drug use as well as information about the use of six categories of drugs. Results suggest that aggregately rural Black youth began drinking alcohol, smoking cigarettes and marijuana, and using smokeless tobacco and solvents by age 10 years, whereas initiation into cocaine use began by age 1 years. The period of risk for initiation of drug use was between ages 10 and 14 years. Approximately 65% of ever-users were single drug users, whereas 35% were multiple drug users at the period of initial experimentation.

The use of psychoactive substances among Egyptian males working in the manufacturing industries

The current work is part of a series of epidemiological studies on the extent and patterns of the non-medical use of psychoactive substances by significant sectors of the Egyptian population. A standardized interviewing schedule was especially constructed for the present survey and item re-take reliabilities were established. The interview was conducted on 5108 men working in the manufacturing industries. Findings are discussed and comparisons made between these results and the corresponding data obtained in our previous investigations on other sectors of the society. Egyptian industrial workers, compared with male university students seem to have a rather late age of onset of drug use, and to go for natural narcotics rather than prescription psychotropic drugs and alcohol. Much more workers than students take alcohol as an analgesic. There were, however, a number of commonalities among workers and various types of students concerning drug-related behaviour.

The Interaction of Child and Environment in the Early Development of Drug Involvement:

This review covers four areas of work: first it provides an overview of the large scale studies of adolescent drinking and drug involvement, with particular focus on findings related to person-environment interaction, as these effects account for onset of drug use and involvement in drug use during the teen years. Of special interest is the extent to which different aspects of the environment (physiological, peer, parental) enter into the process. Section Two provides an extensive review of preadosure to drugs plays a role in the development of individual differences. Section Three examines issues of course, and presents a model for the way risk factors may aggregate or disaggregate over developmental time. Section Four describes a prevention program that was developed as a response to the issues reviewed. The question of whether drug abuse is a preventable phenomenon is also discussed.

Adolescent Substance Abuse: Diagnostic and Treatment Issues

For teenagers, substance use initiation peaks between 16 and 18 years of age, with the greatest use occurring over the subsequent four years, after which time there is a significant reduction in usage. Factors associated with adolescent substance abuse include rebelliousness, relative indifference to school, tolerance for social deviance, family disruption, parental tolerance of alcohol or other drug use, and early onset of drug use. One major problem for teenagers is that the diagnosis and treatment of adolescent substance abuse is based primarily on adult models of alcoholism.

Age of onset of drug abuse in psychiatric inpatients.

This study investigated the relationship between age of onset of drug use and patterns of ensuing drug abuse for white, middle-class psychiatric patients, ranging in age from 15 to 25 years. The results for male patients show that the earlier the onset of drug use (ages 12 to 14), the greater the likelihood of becoming heavily involved with a variety of drugs, excepting heroin. Males who start using drugs after age 14 tend to become more involved with heroin use. For female patients, the earlier the age of onset of drug use, the more likely they are to become involved in all drugs, including heroin. Furthermore, for younger females (ages 12 to 14), drug use and promiscuity were both seen as manifestations of emotionally unstable, antisocial behavior.