Biomedical subjects
Publications and source records attributed to E M Adlaf.
The extent of substance use and problems among adolescent 'street' and homeless populations is largely undocumented. This study describes the prevalence of drug use among a sample of 145 adolescent street youth interviewed during February and March 1990 in Toronto, Canada, and compares these data to those derived from other adolescent street and mainstream populations.
Cirrhosis mortality and morbidity rates have declined in many jurisdictions, including the U.S., in recent years. Previous research in Canada and Europe suggests that these declines are linked to changes in per capita consumption of alcohol and changes in the availability and/or utilization of services to reduce abusive drinking (e.g., treatment, Alcoholics Anonymous). In this study, changes in cirrhosis death rates in the 50 U.S. states and the District of Columbia between 1974 and 1983 were regressed onto changes in per capita consumption (1974-83). AA membership (1974-83) and alcoholism treatment (1979-82). No significant relationship between treatment and cirrhosis changes was observed; however, the measure of change in treatment may not reflect the full extent of changes that occurred in the 1974-83 period. As predicted, decreases in per capita consumption and increases in AA membership were significantly associated with decreases in cirrhosis rates.
This article examines the use of the CAGE scale, a 4-item self-report screening test designed to identify problem drinkers, among 703 drinkers aged 18 and over interviewed in a general population survey. The results showed that 10.9% of drinkers reported two or more items affirmatively, the suggested cut-off indicative of problem drinking. This rate is similar to the percentage of drinkers who consume four or more standard drinks daily, derived from aggregate per capita consumption estimates. Factor analysis of the items showed a unidimensional scale with good psychometric properties. Other cut-offs are also compared with other alcoholism estimates. In general, the results indicated some utility of the CAGE in general population surveys.
This paper examines the proportion of drug abusers who report cocaine abuse as their primary problem at a Toronto clinic. In addition, characteristics of cocaine abusers are compared with those of alcohol and cannabis abusers. There is a significant increase in the proportion of drug abusers seeking treatment for cocaine use relative to other drugs, and a dramatic increase in their absolute numbers. Differences in age, marital status and socioeconomic status among cocaine, alcohol, and cannabis abusers are also noted.
Two long-term surveys of drug use have been carried out in Ontario, Canada--one involving middle- and high-school students, and the other adults in the general population. These studies revealed that use of tobacco and alcohol is common and that cannabis is the most widely used illicit drug by both the students and adults (15.9% and 9.5%, respectively, in 1987). Use of other illicit drugs is much less common. The trend data from 1977 to 1987 show a decrease in all drug use among students and a basically stable pattern among adults, with the exception of an upward trend in cocaine use. A study of adult cocaine users in the community found that half had experienced intense cravings for cocaine and other adverse effects. Demographic information was also gathered that made it possible to outline the most common characteristics of cannabis and cocaine users.
Re-analysis employing covariance-structural models was conducted on Strickland's (1983) survey data on 772 drinking students from Grades 7, 9 and 11. These data bear on the relations among alcohol consumption, alcohol abuse, association with drinking peers and exposure to televised alcohol advertising. Whereas Strickland used a just-identified model which, therefore, could not be tested for goodness of fit, our re-analysis tested several alternative models, which could be contradicted by the data. One model did fit his data particularly well. Its major implications are as follows: (1) Symptomatic consumption, negative consequences and self-rated severity of alcohol-related problems apparently reflect a common underlying factor, namely alcohol abuse. (2) Use of alcohol to relieve distress and frequency of intoxication, however, appear not to reflect abuse, although frequent intoxication contributes substantially to it. (3). Alcohol advertising affects consumption directly and abuse indirectly, although peer association has far greater impact on both consumption and abuse. These findings are interpreted as lending little support to further restrictions on advertising.
The present study addresses two limitations of the literature regarding the ethnicity-drug use relationship, namely, the absence of ethnically diverse samples and also the inadequate control of background variables. The data employed consisted of responses from 3,697 students derived from a single-stage probability survey from which eight ethnic groupings were constructed: (1) Eastern European, (2) Western European, (3) British Isles, (4) Black, (5) Oriental, (6) East/West Indian, (7) Jewish, and (8) Mediterranean. The findings reveal that, first, the significant zero-order ethnicity effect for alcohol use did not attenuate after controlling for background variables. Also, this relationship was not conditional upon other independent variables. Second, for other substance use measures, the significant zero-order ethnicity effect was found to be spurious or conditional.
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In recent years investigators have examined patterns of drug use among various populations. None, however, have examined the changes in drug patterns over time. The present study analyzed changes in patterns of drug use among a population of drug-using adolescent students in Ontario (Canada). Three cross-sectional surveys conducted in 1968, 1977 and 1985, which sampled students in grades 7, 9, 11 and 13 (ranging in age from 12 to 20 years), were employed. Using eight substance types as measures (cannabis, barbiturates, stimulants, tranquillizers, inhalants, LSD, heroin and others), four general patterns were constructed: single-drug psychotherapeutic users; multiple psychotherapeutic users; exclusive cannabis users; and multiple-illicit. The findings indicated the following: a significant decrease in the representation of both exclusive and multiple psychotherapeutic users between 1968 and 1977; a significant increase in exclusive cannabis users between 1968 and 1977, and following this a decline into 1985; and a significant increase in multiple illicit users between 1968 and 1977. In all a major shift from a psychotherapeutic-illicit dichotomy to an overwhelming illicit pattern has occurred during the past decade.
The purpose of the present paper was to examine the latent structure of self-reported cocaine reactions among a purposive sample of 103 social-recreational users. From a set of 24 items, factor analysis yielded seven distinct factors: the first was indicative of minor reactions consistent with intranasal administration; the second was reflective of sensory-perceptual distortions; the third of stimulatory-insomnious effects; the fourth of paranoic-aggressive reactions; the fifth of positive social effects; the sixth of physio-logical-cardiovascular reactions; and the seventh of physical-psychological problems of a chronic nature. Although particular dimensions of cocaine reactions were suggested, future research could focus on the issue of the degree of seriousness of consequences of these underlying dimensions.
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The effect of happy hour discounts on alcohol consumption has become an important policy concern. Few studies, however, have examined this relationship. To examine the impact of banning happy hours in Ontario, an observational study of patron alcohol consumption was conducted in five taverns before and after the ban. Aggregate alcohol sales and impaired-driving charges were also collected. The results indicated no significant preban-postban differences in alcohol consumption among all individuals nor within taverns. Aggregate alcohol sales data also indicated no significant trends over a similar period. Although a significant decline for impaired-driving charges was suggested, it could not be causally attributed to the independent effect of the happy hour ban. Substantial price reductions may be required before increased alcohol consumption is discernable. Future research could focus on this issue.
Interviews with 104 youths convicted of an underage alcohol offence (young drinking offenders), 30 youths convicted of an offence not involving alcohol (delinquents) and 31 youths with no convictions (comparison group) were conducted. Young drinking offenders and delinquents differed from the comparison group, but not each other, on measures of attitude, drinking behaviour and problems, other drug use and previous criminal activities. However, the young drinking offenders did differ from the delinquents on measures of social environment. The high levels of alcohol consumption and alcohol problems reported by the young drinking offenders and delinquents reveal large numbers of problem drinkers in these two groups. It is proposed that the deviant behaviour displayed by these two groups may be a result of similar underlying processes, which can be modified by social environment factors.
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The purpose of the present study was to investigate the relationship between several forms of drug-use behaviour and risk-taking propensity. Jackson's (1976) risk-taking measure was employed among a sample of high school students (N = 634) selected from a province-wide probability survey on student drug use. The authors predicted that risk-taking would be associated with: (i) the dependence potential of a given drug; (ii) level of drug use; (iii) polydrug use. No conclusive evidence was found confirming the first two hypotheses; however, the data clearly demonstrated that level of polydrug use was significantly related to risk scores. The authors suggest that risk-taking as a general personality trait may more readily distinguish non-users from users of various drugs than discriminate among degrees of use in the latter.
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Based on 1853 questionnaires derived from adolescent students participating in the 1995 Ontario Student Drug Use Survey, this article describes the prevalence of rave attendance and the drug-use profile of rave attendees and those participating in similar activities (i.e. bush parties). The results showed that 13% of the sample attended a rave during the 12 months before the survey. Although rates of drug use were higher among rave attendees than nonattendees, differences were more related to participation in other recreational activities. The drug-use pattern for one-third of rave attendees (those who did not attend similar activities, i.e., bush parties) was not dramatically different from those who attended bush parties only. However, for two-thirds of rave attendees, drug use was significantly elevated. Although rave attendance is not prevalent, experienced drug users are attracted to raves, as earlier generations of drug users were attracted to rock concerts. Consequently, although the size of this population is relatively small, the implementation of harm reduction strategies is appropriate.
This paper reports a study of alcohol- and drug-use by older clients in relation to their health and well-being. The sample of 349 persons was drawn from adults aged 60 and over living in senior citizens apartments in Toronto. Interviews were done in several languages. The results indicated that males and those aged 60 to 65 were less happy and healthy, had fewer social supports, and more alcohol-related problems. Drug-related problems were less numerous but occurred equally for both sexes. These results indicate that new alcohol programs are needed for the elderly, and these should focus on males, especially the younger elderly in transition from work to retirement.