Validation of a short version of the revised drug use screening inventory in a Brazilian sample of adolescents.

The revised Drug Use Screening Inventory (DUSI-R) is a self-report questionnaire designed to quantify the severity of problems that are commonly associated with consumption of alcohol and other drugs. This study extends research conducted on the US population to determine whether the DUSI-R's substance abuse scale discriminates Brazilian youths in treatment (n = 41) from a general population sample (n = 43). A Portuguese translation of the substance abuse scale was administered in paper and pencil format at the time of intake into treatment and to randomly selected youths in school.

Psychiatric comorbidity related to alcohol use among adolescents.

Introduction: Alcohol use is apparently related to high prevalences of psychiatric comorbidity, although scientific studies focusing the problem among adolescents are still lacking.

Objective: To evaluate the performance of adolescents with different patterns of alcohol use on screening instruments for psychiatric disorders.

Method: Forty-one adolescents seeking assistance for alcohol-related problems were compared to a nonclinical sample of 43 adolescents.

Evolutional pattern of drug use by medical students.

Recent use of psychoactive substances among 456 medical students throughout the six grades was surveyed by way of a self-report questionnaire using World Health Organisation criteria. Among male medical students, the most frequently used substances were alcohol (80.5%), cannabis (25.

Factors associated with the use of solvents and cannabis by medical students.

Introduction: The use of alcohol and other drugs among medical students has been a theme of growing interest and concern on the part of researchers, teaching institutions and medical associations since the decade of the 1960's.

Objective: Recent use of alcohol, tobacco, tranquillisers, amphetamines, cannabis, organic solvents, and cocaine among 456 medical students was surveyed.

Method: Assessment was done by means of a self-report questionnaire according to World Health Organisation guidelines.

Cocaine Craving Questionnaire: assessing craving among cocaine users in Brazil.

The Cocaine Craving Questionnaire was administered to 205 cocaine addicts. A 6/5 cut-off corresponded to the scale's best performance. Reliability was 0.

Predicting craving among cocaine users.

Introduction: Craving for cocaine seems to play an important role in the continued use of and dependence on the substance.

Aims: to describe characteristics of the craving phenomenon in a sample of cocaine users and to identify those that could predict the appearance of the phenomenon.

Method: 205 cocaine users attending an outpatient clinic were interviewed to assess patterns of drug consumption and characteristics of craving for the drug.

Report on psychoactive drug use among adolescents using ayahuasca within a religious context.

Ritual use of ayahuasca within the context of the Brazilian ayahuasca churches often starts during late childhood or early adolescence. Premature access to psychoactive drugs may represent a risk factor for drug misuse. Conversely, religious affiliation seems to play a protective role in terms of substance abuse.

Ayahuasca in adolescence: Qaualitative results.

Qualitative research was conducted in Brazil among 28 ayahuasca-consuming adolescents members of the União do Vegetal Church, and 28 adolescents who never used ayahuasca. They were compared on a number of qualitative variables, including vignettes measuring moral and ethical concerns. Psychocultural studies utilizing co-occurences of variables in the realm of qualitative studies are useful in understanding and complementing quantitative studies also conducted among this population.

Ayahuasca in adolescence: a preliminary psychiatric assessment.

Ayahuasca is believed to be harmless for those (including adolescents) drinking it within a religious setting. Nevertheless controlled studies on the mental/ psychiatric status of ritual hallucinogenic ayahuasca concoction consumers are still lacking. In this study, 40 adolescents from a Brazilian ayahuasca sect were compared with 40 controls matched on sex, age, and educational background for psychiatric symptomatology.

Ayahuasca in adolescence: a neuropsychological assessment.

The purpose of the study was to evaluate neuropsychologically adolescents who use ayahuasca in a religious context. A battery of neuropsychological tests was administered to adolescents who use ayahuasca. These subjects were compared to a matched control group of adolescents who did not use ayahuasca.