Use Of Intoxicants Research Articles

Sexual experiences of military conscripts at the end of the 1990s

The sexual socialization and sexual experiences of young men past their adolescence have been studied relatively little thus far. ln the present study, the subject was approached through surveys conducted in 1996 and 1998 in a number of garrisons. There were 984 male respondents in 1996 and 1220 in 1998. 20 years old on average. Both years, the response rate consisted of 98 percent of the conscripts selected for the study. The themes of the study were the sexual experience, number of partners and use of condoms among young men, and how these relate to the mens habits and values in general. Seventy-six percent of the men had engaged in sexual intercourse. One out of two had only one partner over the last year, and one out of four had more than one. For one out of three men. The most recent sexual itercourse occurred with a non-steady partner: Less than half of the men used a condom in their most recent sexual intercourse. The age for initiation into sexual intercourse and the number of partners were strongly correlated with whether the conscripts had secondary education and their use of intoxicants. Those who used more intoxicants, started engaging in sexual intercourse at a younger age and engaged into more relationships. Young men had steady relationships and acquired sexual experiences in accordance with their social skills and the choices the had made regarding their career.

How We Carry Liquor

The story of wine is the story of human culture. From the dim, legendary days when Osiris, reigning on earth as a king, taught the ancient Egyptians to cultivate wheat and barley, to train the vine, and to tread the purple grapes in the wine press, we find in the use of intoxicants one of the distinguishing marks of the higher types and races of humanity. Throughout the world corn and wine have gone together as at once the agents and the symbols of civilization, and their mystic significance is still recognized today in the most solemn and sacred rite of the Christian religion.

Influences of fraternity membership, athletics, and male living arrangements on sexual aggression.

Fraternal membership, intercollegiate athletic participation, and sex composition of living arrangements were investigated as possible correlates of sexual coercion. Four hundred seventy-seven male undergraduates enrolled in a large southeastern university were surveyed in classroom settings regarding their experiences with sexual aggression and coercion, as well as their self-reported rape proclivity. Fraternity members displayed significantly more use of intoxicants in obtaining sex, and also more use of nonphysical verbal coercion, but no greater use of physical force, than independents (nonfraternity members). Athletes displayed greater rape proclivity, but no greater coercive/aggressive sexual behavior. Sex composition of living arrangements had no significant effect on rape proclivity or sexual victimization. The results are discussed in light of other recent evidence indicting fraternities for their sexual conduct.

TRAUMA: The Unrecognized Epidemic

Trauma is an integral part of human existence. From the time that Cain slew Abel, humans have learned that the most effective way to end a disagreement and silence an opponent is to bring the controversy to a traumatic ending, quieting rancor and anger with the never-ending stillness of death. The limitations of stones, clubs, and fists impelled humans to develop more efficient means of destruction—knives, spears, guns, and finally, atomic weapons. More arguments are terminated, and ever-increasing numbers of people are silenced, but violence and trauma remain. The development of high-speed methods of transportation has facilitated travel and the movement of goods but, at the same time, has increased the risk of serious injury. Manufacturing and the use of heavy machinery also have added risk factors, while the use of intoxicants adds risks by releasing inhibitions and obscuring judgment. The recent development and wide use of psychotropic drugs and their ready availability further complicate the issue of traumatic injury. Reading newspapers and magazines in the United States might lead one to conclude that trauma is essentially an American affair, 23 with other nations too civilized to indulge themselves in the violent orgies so characteristic of large American cities. Wars elsewhere are looked upon as character aberrations and not truly representative of popular mores. This concept is untrue, because violence and trauma appear to be characteristic of humankind and not a special trait of any race, nationality, religion, ethnic grouping, or gender. Trauma is a global phenomenon and a major cause of morbidity and mortality throughout the world. The anesthesiologist is a physician-citizen whose interest in trauma must be multifaceted. As an anesthesiologist, one is immersed in the daily clinical care problems of the injured. As a physician, one recognizes the totality of injury, with the alterations in anatomy and physiology attendant upon trauma, and the mechanical and pharmacologic manipulations necessary to restore the patient to his or her prior state of well-being. As an informed citizen, the physician must seek to know the causes of trauma and develop preventive safeguards via education and, when appropriate, legislation. The physician must lead the way in developing trauma care teams and trauma hospitals with adequately trained personnel who possess the latest knowledge and equipment.

Alcohol Consumption, Smoking and Drug Abuse Among Icelandic Teenagers: A study into the effectiveness of the ‘Skills for Adolescence’ programme

Many of the social and health problems of teenagers today are related to the use of intoxicating drugs. In 1990 the use of the Lions-Quest programme, Skills for Adolescence (SFA), began in compulsory schools in Iceland. With SFA the young are taught life skills in order to be helped to live a healthy life without tobacco, alcohol or other intoxicating drugs. The aim of this study, therefore, was to try to determine what factors influence teenage use of intoxicants and whether the attitudes and drug consumption of those teenagers who had participated in the SFA programme were any different from those who had not. The research is a continuation of a comparative study where students were administered questionnaires to ascertain their attitudes toward life and toward the use of intoxicating substances. In 1989 the survey covered 566 students 12–13 years of age and 3 years later in 1992 reached 500 of the former respondents when they were 15–16 years old. The schools were chosen such that the study reflected t...

Parasuicide and use of intoxicants among Norwegian adolescents.

Self-reported history of parasuicide was analyzed with respect to use of intoxicants in a national sample of 12,000 Norwegian adolescents. The proportion of parasuicides was 8.3%, being higher among girls and among those living without both parents, and it increased with age, with use of intoxicants, depression, and loneliness. Calculations of relative risks and adjusted odds ratios demonstrated positive associations between parasuicide and use of intoxicants, and no significant gender differences were found. The findings are discussed with reference to impacts of intoxication and risk-taking behavior.

Dimensions of Self-Efficacy among Three Distinct Groups of Condom Users

Condom use self-efficacy can be defined as expectations about one's ability to use condoms under a variety of circumstances. This investigation examined the factor structure of the Condom Use Self-Efficacy Scale (CUSES) in an 18- to 23-year-old college population (N = 339) and tested the ability of the factors to distinguish among three groups of condom users (nonusers, sporadic users, and ritualistic users). Emerging from a principal components analysis were four reliable factors labeled Mechanics, Partner's Disapproval, Assertive, and Intoxicants. Results from a discriminant analysis indicated that sporadic users were best distinguished from ritualistic users by number of sex partners, use of intoxicants, and intensity of alcohol use. The sporadic users had more sex partners, were less confident of their ability to use condoms when intoxicated, and were heavier drinkers than were the ritualistic users. Nonusers were best distinguished from ritualistic users by the factor labeled Assertive. Nonusers were significantly less confident in their ability to discuss condoms and to insist on their use with a sexual partner. Implications of the findings for improving campus-based programs to prevent the spread of human immunodeficiency virus infection and sexually transmitted diseases are discussed.

AIDS/HIV risk behavior among the chronic mentally ill.

There is growing concern that chronic mentally ill adults living in the community have a high risk for HIV infection. The purpose of this study was to identify risk knowledge, high-risk behaviors, and risk-related encounters of chronic psychiatric outpatients. Detailed information on high-risk behaviors and risk-related situations during the past 12 months was collected from 60 outpatients appearing for regular visits at inner-city community mental health clinics. Of the 60 outpatients, 37 (62%) had been sexually active during the past year, and 42% of the men and 19% of the women reported multiple sexual contacts and infrequent use of condoms during intercourse. Assessments of the patients' knowledge of AIDS risks revealed substantial deficits in their practical understanding of AIDS and risk reduction measures. Although use of intravenous drugs was uncommon in this group, many subjects reported histories of 1) trading sex for money, drugs, or a place to stay, 2) coercion to engage in unwanted sex, 3) causal sexual encounters, and 4) sexual activity after use of drugs or intoxicants. Twenty percent of the subjects had met their sexual partners on the streets, in parks, or in other public places. One-third had been treated for sexually transmitted diseases other than AIDS. These findings underscore the need for AIDS risk assessment, counseling, and prevention programs for the chronic mentally ill.

Predictors of vulnerability to AIDS risk behavior relapse.

Sixty-eight gay men who earlier attended AIDS prevention sessions were longitudinally followed for 16 months and categorized as successful or unsuccessful in change maintenance. Psychological and behavioral data obtained prior to entry in the prevention program were used as variables to predict long-term change. Resumption of high-risk sexual practices was associated with younger age, earlier history of frequent unprotected receptive anal intercourse with multiple partners, greater number of past sex partners, reinforcement value levels of high-risk practices and condom use, intoxication preceding sex, lower scores on a depression measure, greater belief that HIV infection is largely determined by external factors such as chance or luck, and homosexuality "outness." Discriminant analysis revealed that 86% of Ss could be classified as relapsers or change-maintainers on the basis of these variables. Prevention implications are discussed.The longitudinal research study of 68 gay men from a Southern town in 1987 was able to successfully identify 86% of those who were likely to relapse in unprotected anal intercourse. The men were followed 16 months after receiving 12 AID's health risk reduction sessions. The mean age of the population was 32.7 years; 945 were white and 6% African-Americans or Hispanics. Multivariate discriminant analysis was used to identify the relative magnitude of each predictor variables contribution (minimum coefficient of + or - .30). Predictor variables included demographic data and sexual risk behaviors which the subject ranked by the degrees of pleasure on a 4 point scale. Also included were the role of intoxication in sexual behavior, the Beck Depression Inventory, the State Trait Anxiety Inventory, the Health Locus of Control Scale (HLOC), and the AID's Risk Behavior Knowledge Scale. Role plays involving each subject were rated by 2 judges on the overall skill in resisting coercive sexual pressures. After 16 months, 41 reported no occurrence of unprotected anal sex during the preceding 16 months and 27 reported some occurrence, of which the mean frequency was 5.9 occurrences in the preceding 4 months. The relapse population tended to be younger and more out about their homosexuality. The number of sexual partners, use of intoxicants with sex, and frequency of unprotected receptive anal intercourse were the strongest predictors. These predictors were the same for the relapsed men before the risk reduction sessions. These relapsed men also reported lower depression levels and higher scores on HLOC. Similar to cigarette smoking, resuming risk behavior was related to the strength, frequency, and reinforcement value level of past behavior. Outness may be related to frequency of sexual contact and HLOC to beliefs that luck, fate, or other determine risk. Serostatus data was not collected. The limitation of this study was that situational dimensions such as the environment, cognitive, affective, and interpersonal patterns were relevant but not included. Identification of such factors is a needed future research objective.

Changes in the use of intoxicants after onset of pregnancy

A sample of 416 pregnant women were interviewed with emphasis on their use of alcohol, tobacco, and legally prescribed and illegal drugs before and after onset of pregnancy. The results indicate a significant reduction in alcohol consumption, tobacco smoking and the use of legally prescribed and illegal drugs in connection with the pregnancy. There was no correlation between socio-economic level and use of intoxicants. There was a correlation, however, between the use of intoxicants by the pregnant women and the use of such substances by other significant persons in their environment.

Introduction to the special issue on creative arts therapies in the treatment of substance abuse

“Drugs appear to give an enormous impetus to the creative intuition.” Alan Watts (1962) “No one can look upon God’s face, and live.” Hemik Ibsen, in Peer Gynt The treatment of substance abuse with the creative arts therapies is confronted with a paradox: the creative arts and mind-altering substances are not entirely antagonistic forces; in fact they share close ties. Both have been hailed as methods of opening the ‘ ‘doors of perception, ’ ’ as Afdous Huxley (1954) proclaimed. Festivals and celebrations, such as Mardi Gras, are characterized both by intoxication and the arts, as are many central figures of mythology, religion, and literature, such as Dionysus, Bacchus, or Alice in Wonderland. Creative artists have often used stimulants to help access inner images, as well as sedatives to numb the intensity of their psychic visions. Shamans, who are often cited as models for creative arts therapists, generally use psychoactive substances to enhance their healing powers (Harner, 1980). So how can it be said that creativity is an antidote to substance abuse, when the two seem to occur so often together? When so many creative artists become addicts, like James Joyce, or Eugene O’Neill, or Alvin Ailey? One might argue that the healing power of both the creative arts and psychoactive substances is derived from the same source! For example, Carl Jung took this stance when he told Bill W. that a person’s use of intoxicants (“spirits”) may be motivated by a spiritual quest, that is, a search for God that also underlies the arts (Jung, 1974). The questions are, Do creative expression and addiction support each other? or Can creativity become a replacement for addiction, as a kind of homeopathic alternative? Aldous Huxley defended the use of drugs to help people “get in touch” with their inner unconscious images, which societal dictates often suppress. Likewise, the creative arts therapies allow for the expression of essential aspects of self by circumventing the rigid censorship of the superego. However, in conditions characterized not by an overly rigid superego, but a weak one, perhaps a different approach is needed, A large body of evidence indicates that a primarily extemally-focused, suppressive, and supportive approach to substance abuse, such as found in Alcoholics Anonymous (AA), has been the most successful. This approach advocates a focus on the disease, not on the self; on the present, not on the past; on the search for contact with a Higher Power, not resources within the self. It emphasizes naming feelings, not examining them. In general the intent is to distract the addict from the self and direct him or her toward other people and the battle with the disease. Introspection leads to self-preoccupation, which leads to relapse. How can the creative arts therapies, which stimulate an inner-directed state, fit in with this approach? Substance abuse programs also advocate avoidance of emotional arousal, as arousal leads to bodily tension that leads to relapse when addicts try to numb themselves. The emotional arousal offered by the creative arts therapies, stimulating clients’ bodies, sights, and imaginations, is well-known, and has been identified as the key element in the treatment of other diagnoses, particularly depression and dementia. We all know of the “high” accompanying a truly creative achievement, followed by the “down.” One study of drama therapy noted increased acting out and substance abuse following an intense and successful

Isopropyl Alcohol Intoxication

Three patients had neurologic signs due to isopropyl alcohol (IPA) intoxication. Over a several-week period, a known alcoholic developed apathy, confusion, ataxia, and hyperreflexia. During this period, there was no ethanol available to him, and he denied use of other intoxicants. He was found stuporous in the hospital after drinking IPA and admitted to IPA abuse during the preceding weeks. Two other men were admitted in a stupor after large ingestions of IPA. Intoxication with IPA has two different presentations: stupor in a known alcoholic and encephalopathy of unknown cause in individuals who hide their addiction. Ethanol, methanol, IPA, and ethylene glycol intoxications are associated with different clinical and laboratory findings.

Drugs and homicide: A theory

In this paper we report our experience with 24 cases in which there was a homicide or homicides committed in association with use of large amounts of psychoactive drugs. Many, if not most of these homicides, would not have occurred without drug effects, for frequently there was evidence of grossly illogical thinking in close temporal association with use of intoxicants and in many cases there was no previous history of violence, no evidence of premeditation, no plan to avoid arrest and little or no discernible motivation. Usually there were multiple losses or other severe stress in the lives of the persons committing the homicide in the months preceding the crime. The stress increase was accompanied by increased and extraordinary intake of psychoactive substances. We theorize that high doses of psychoactive drugs impaired severely the brain systems upon which the mental functions of reality testing and judgment depend. Drug induced impairment of reality testing and judgment is frequently uncritically equated with hallucinations, disorientation, changes in time perception or other drug induced mental phenomena. Impairment of reality testing and judgment are basic criteria for linking drug effects with the behavior of homicide in the cases reviewed.

The Role of the Pediatrician in Substance Abuse Counseling

The past two decades have been marked by both an increasing recognition of the pediatrician's responsibilities toward the adolescent and the emergence of substance abuse as a critical concern for those who care for children and youth. The use and abuse of psychoactive substances have become common even among young adolescents, and the pediatrician must be prepared to address this issue as part of routine health care. In addition, the counsel of the pediatrician regarding substance abuse is often sought by families, schools, and community agencies. Familiarity with the extent and nature of adolescent drug use, as well as the health consequences of such use, has become a necessary part of the body of pediatric knowledge. The pediatrician must possess the skills necessary to determine which young patients are at risk from substance abuse and be able to offer appropriate counseling to the adolescent and his or her family so as to minimize the risk of future illness and dysfunction. The pattern of substance abuse among teenagers has undergone rapid change during the past 15 years. During the late 1960s the abuse of psychoactive drugs, previously a predominantly adult phenomenon, became widespread among adolescents. Opiates, amphetamines, barbiturates, hallucinogens, and inhalants were all used and abused by large numbers of teenagers.1 The use of tobacco in this age group represents a significant health threat, and during the past decade the use of cocaine and other intoxicants, in particular alcohol and marijuana, has increased dramatically among adolescents. These drugs now cause major concern to those who provide health care for teenagers.

The role of alcohol, drugs, suicide attempts and situational strains in homicide committed by offenders seen for psychiatric assessment. A controlled study.

The use of alcohol and drugs at the time of offence, suicide attempts and situational strains were compared in 109 killers and 38 nonviolent offenders seen for psychiatric assessment. More killers than nonviolent offenders used alcohol and drugs at the time of their offence but there was no difference in previous attempts at suicide nor in situational strains. Killers, however, did have more recent frustrations than the other group. Results suggest that the use of intoxicants in violence-prone individuals is the most important factor in homicide.

Alcohol Abuse and Tavern Reform in Late Colonial Mexico City

S TUDIES on drinking customs and practices in a number of eighteenth and early nineteenth-century American and European cities all underline the importance of alcoholic beverages and taverns in the lives of the poor. The works on the lower classes of London, Paris, and New York also document the social ills resulting from alcohol abuse, most notably, poverty, crime, family dissolution, and disease.' The study of alcohol use and abuse in colonial Mexico, however, has been severely hampered by the controversy engendered by proponents of the Black and White Legends. The simplistic Black Legend view of exploited and demoralized inebriated native peoples was based on standard, often published accounts of moralizing Spanish officials and clergy who essentially presented traditional Hispanic attitudes towards the Indians and their use of intoxicants. Almost a decade ago, one historian wrote that alcoholism remains one of the important relatively unstudied topics in Spanish colonial history, and called for a moratorium on unsubstantiated generalizations and for serious archival research.2 William B. Taylor has recently published the first major study on alcohol use in New Spain, although it concentrates primarily on the drinking habits and patterns in the countryside.3

American Indian Anthropology and Medicine

To the Editor.— The hypothesis advanced by Wellmann that North American Indian rock paintings were executed by shamans under the influence of hallucinogens (239:1524, 1978) is intriguing. Grant 1 also proposed this explanation and suggested that much of the rock art in Southern California likely dealt with healing, puberty, and fertility ceremonies. If this hypothesis is true, it serves to underscore two points often overlooked. First, the traditional use of hallucinogens and intoxicants among Indian tribes was a highly structured, religious experience. The introduction of grain alcohol led to a fundamentally antitraditional movement in which social controls of behavior were undermined. 2 Secondly, there existed within American Indian cultures an unusually strong interest in empirical pharmacology and medical practice. The European invaders failed to recognize this shared interest, which could have served as a unique cultural bridge when the two societies encountered one another. 2 California holds yet another mystery

Problem and non-problem drinking among high school students in abstinence communities.

Cultural variation has been treated as an important factor in a number of current theories regarding the use and the misuse of beverage alcohol. The major assumption underlying these theories, normally designated as the sociocultural approach, is that within the cultural system of a group of people there is a general ethos or sense of decorum concerning the role of alcohol which in turn determines the type of response men make toward it (Pittman, 1967). Put in another way, the common fabric of values, symbols, and meanings shared by a group governs who drinks and drinking styles (Zucker, 1965). Explanations of an individual’s use or nonuse of intoxicants, therefore, can be accounted for in large measure by the cultural prescriptions for alcohol intake that are included in the social groups of which he is a member. Within American society, these cultural attitudes run the gamut from absolute prohibition to permissiveness toward moderate drinking (Pittman, 1967). One reflection of these differences is revealed by studies of the drinking patterns of rural and urban residents. In farm

The Drinking Patterns of Negro and White High School Students in Two Mississippi Communities

In recent years there has been a rapidly expanding literature on the role of beverage alcohol in the adolescent subculture. Consequently, it is now possible to posit several generalizations with respect to the factors associated with the use and nonuse of intoxicants within this population group.1 Virtually untouched, however, are studies of the drinking habits of young people of different racial and ethnic background. Accordingly, the focus of this paper is to make a comparative analysis of the social factors related to the use and the nonuse of alcohol by a sample of white and Negro high school students in two Mississippi communities.

Defective Social Intelligence as a Factor in Crime

STUDIES OF causal factors in criminal behavior have multiplied rapidly in the last half century. We cannot review the major or the more recent of these studies. Suffice it to say that many of them have suffered from a too heterogeneous selection of cases. The endless complexities entering into the behavior patterns of varied age groups, of varied nationalities, of varied cultures, of different stages of criminal behavior, almost preclude scientific findings. A second serious limitation is that the different determinants of criminal behavior almost invariably have been studied as unitary, e.g., such factors as lack of home restraint, or urban conditions of life, or the thwarting of the social wishes, or emotional imbalance, have been listed with little or no reference to the cultural world nor to the changes in the role of personality which influence the behavior pattern. This situation does not mean that students of criminology do not fully appreciate the intricate complexities of criminal behavior. There is considerable intellectual appreciation and much profound academic discussion, but there has been little actual collection and use of facts on a large scale under controlled conditions. The obstacles encountered in studies of closely interrelated multiple factors, viewed as a Gestalt, even of a more or less homogeneous group of offenders, are numerous and complex. The writer, therefore, offers the following preliminary study in a series of other studies of adult offenders, with considerable hesitancy. Two thousand consecutive probation records of men who had applied for probation at the Los Angeles County Probation Department during I933 were taken for study.' These records revealed the following facts: 57 percent were under 30 years of age; 75 percent were native-born; 86 percent were non-transients; 59 percent were reared by both parents and 83 percent were reared at home by one or both parents; 45 percent had completed at least grammar school and 63 percent had more than eighth but less than twelfth grade education; 65 percent were Protestants; go percent were of normal intelligence; 95 percent were in good health at the time of arrest; 56 percent had committed crimes against property, that is, they were charged with burglary, robbery, grand larceny, auto theft, forgery, and embezzlement. Ninety percent admitted the use of intoxicants, and 30 percent admitted the use of alcohol to excess; only 2 percent admitted the use of drugs.