Side-effects of mdma-assisted psychotherapy: a systematic review and meta-analysis.

Evidence suggests that MDMA-assisted psychotherapy (MDMA-AP) has therapeutic potential for treatment of psychiatric illness. We conducted the first comprehensive systematic review and meta-analysis of the side effects of MDMA-AP across indications. We also assessed the quality of side effects-reporting in published trials of MDMA-AP.

Underreporting of implementation strategies and barriers in physical activity interventions for young people at risk of problematic substance use: a brief report.

Background: Several studies have assessed whether physical activity interventions can reduce substance use in young people at risk of problematic substance use. This report identifies and describes the reporting of implementation characteristics within published studies of physical activity interventions for young people at risk of problematic substance use and provides recommendations for future reporting.

Methods: Reported implementation strategies (including intervention manualization), barriers, implementation fidelity, and personnel acceptance were extracted from studies of physical activity interventions for young people aged 12-25 years at risk of problematic substance use that were included in a previous systematic review of intervention efficacy.

Laboratory method to induce state boredom increases impulsive choice in people who use cocaine and controls.

Impulsive choice is associated with both cocaine use and relapse. Little is known about the influence of transient states on impulsive choice in people who use cocaine (PWUC). This study investigated the direct effects of induced boredom on impulsive choice (i.

The Study of Ketamine for Youth Depression (SKY-D): study protocol for a randomised controlled trial of low-dose ketamine for young people with major depressive disorder.

Background: Existing treatments for young people with severe depression have limited effectiveness. The aim of the Study of Ketamine for Youth Depression (SKY-D) trial is to determine whether a 4-week course of low-dose subcutaneous ketamine is an effective adjunct to treatment-as-usual in young people with major depressive disorder (MDD).

Methods: SKY-D is a double-masked, randomised controlled trial funded by the Australian Government's National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC).

Behaviour change techniques in physical activity-focused interventions for young people at risk of problematic substance use: A systematic review and meta-analysis.

Aim: This systematic review investigates behaviour change techniques in interventions promoting physical activity for young people aged 12-25 years at heightened risk of problematic substance use, and the effect of these techniques on physical activity participation and substance use outcomes.

Methods: Four databases (PsycINFO, CINAHL, SPORTDiscus and Medline) were searched between November 2020 and November 2022 for randomized and non-randomized controlled studies according to inclusion criteria. Meta-analyses were calculated using weighted, standardized averages of effect sizes (Hedges' g).

A systematic review and meta-analysis of health, functional, and cognitive outcomes in young people who use methamphetamine.

Methamphetamine use typically starts in adolescence, and early onset is associated with worse outcomes. Yet, health, functional, and cognitive outcomes associated with methamphetamine use in young people are not well understood. The aim of this study was to comprehensively assess the evidence on health, functional, and cognitive outcomes in young people (10-25 years-old) who use methamphetamine.

Dark loops: contagion effects, consistency and chemosocial matrices in psychedelic-assisted therapy trials.

What happens when an emerging programme of medical research overlaps with a surging social movement? In this article we draw on the anthropological term 'chemosociality' to describe forms of sociality born of shared chemical exposure. Psychedelic administration in the context of recent clinical trials appears to have been particularly chemosocial in nature. We argue that one consequence is that psychedelic-assisted therapy (PAT) clinical research trials tend to breach key assumptions underlying the logic of causal inference used to establish efficacy.

Understanding the complexity, patterns, and correlates of alcohol and other substance use among young people seeking help for mental ill-health.

Purpose: Use of alcohol and other substances is a multifaceted issue impacting young people across multiple life domains. This paper aims to elucidate patterns of substance use and associated demographic and clinical factors among young people seeking treatment for their mental health.

Methods: Young people (12-25 years old) were recruited from five youth-specific primary mental health ("headspace") services in Australia.

Smoked cannabis reduces peak cocaine plasma levels and subjective effects in a controlled drug administration study of polysubstance use in men.

Background: Despite the high prevalence of polysubstance use, outcomes and potential risks associated with common drug combinations are not well characterized. Many individuals who use cocaine also use cannabis, yet little is known about how interactions between the two drugs might contribute to continued co-use.

Methods: The aim of this double-blind, placebo-controlled study was to determine the physiological and subjective effects of smoked cannabis with smoked cocaine, to identify variables that may contribute to the continued use of this drug combination.

MDMA-assisted psychotherapy for post-traumatic stress disorder: The devil is in the detail.

Recent years have seen escalating media, public and scientific interest in psychedelic medicine. Australia and New Zealand have been late to this research; however, in the past 2 years, rapid developments suggest that this is changing. Here, we argue for the need to critically review existing evidence in this field to guide future directions.

Prevalence and Correlates of Tobacco Use in Young People Presenting to Australian Primary Mental Health Services.

Introduction: In Australian youth primary mental health settings it is unclear as to the rates and correlates of tobacco use at service entry.

Aims And Methods: We aimed to delineate the prevalence and correlates of recent tobacco use (eg, cigarettes, chewing tobacco, cigars, etc) in the past 3 months in young people at their first presentation to primary mental health services as a function of age. Cross-sectional self-report measures were collected using a tablet device from young people presenting to one of five Australian primary mental health (headspace) services.

A placebo-controlled investigation of the analgesic effects, abuse liability, safety and tolerability of a range of oral cannabidiol doses in healthy humans.

Aims: Preclinical studies demonstrate that cannabidiol (CBD) elicits an antinociceptive response in animal models of neuropathic pain; in humans, limited data are available to support such analgesic effects. Few studies have examined CBD's analgesic effects when administered without other compounds, and little is known regarding dose-dependent effects in noncannabis users.

Methods: This double-blind, placebo-controlled, within-subject outpatient clinical laboratory study sought to determine the analgesic effects, abuse liability, safety and tolerability of acute CBD (0, 200, 400 and 800 mg orally) in healthy noncannabis-using volunteers (n = 17; 8 men, 9 women).

Responses to social evaluative stress in regular cannabis smokers.

Background: Aspects of the canonical stress response differ in stimulant, opioid, and alcohol users relative to controls, and dysregulated responses to stress may contribute to continued use of these drugs. Little prior research has focused on stress responses in regular cannabis smokers. We assessed responses to a standardized laboratory social stress assay (the Trier Social Stress Task; TSST) in regular cannabis smokers (CANs) compared with controls (CONs).

Individual differences in distress, impulsivity, and coping motives for use as predictors of problematic ecstasy use.

Background: Ecstasy users who report problematic use of ecstasy experience adverse social, psychological, and health-related consequences not reported by non-problem users. Relatively little is known about the risk factors for the development of problematic ecstasy use. Such information would be valuable for targeted intervention, prevention, and education AIMS: The current study aimed to fill this gap by investigating several hypothesised risk factors for problematic use and the relationships between them.

Detection of acute 3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA) effects across protocols using automated natural language processing.

The detection of changes in mental states such as those caused by psychoactive drugs relies on clinical assessments that are inherently subjective. Automated speech analysis may represent a novel method to detect objective markers, which could help improve the characterization of these mental states. In this study, we employed computer-extracted speech features from multiple domains (acoustic, semantic, and psycholinguistic) to assess mental states after controlled administration of 3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA) and intranasal oxytocin.

Cognitive function in aging cocaine smokers.

Background: Little is known about the functional status of older drug users, who may pose challenges to public health systems in coming years. Here, we assessed cognitive function in aging cocaine smokers compared to demographically matched controls.

Methods: A total of 22 non-treatment-seeking aging (50-60 years old) cocaine smokers (⩾twice/week; ⩾15 years of weekly use) and 19 controls completed a comprehensive cognitive battery.

Making risky decisions to take drug: Effects of cocaine abstinence in cocaine users.

Risky decision-making is characteristic of drug users, but little is known about the effects of circumstances, such as abstinence, on risky choice behavior in human drug users. We hypothesized that cocaine users would make more risky choices for cocaine (defined as taking a chance to receive a large number of cocaine doses as opposed to choosing to receive a fixed amount of cocaine) after 3 or 7 days of cocaine abstinence, compared to 1 day of cocaine abstinence. Six male nontreatment-seeking current cocaine smokers were enrolled in a 21-day inpatient within-subject study.

Social motivational processing and interpersonal function in aging cocaine smokers.

Illicit drug use among aging cohorts is increasing, yet little is known about functional impairments in older drug users. Given the importance of social integration for aging and documented social decrements in cocaine users, we examined social function and its neurocognitive substrates in aging cocaine users relative to carefully matched non-cocaine users. Regular (≥twice/week), long-term (≥15 years) cocaine smokers 50-60 years old (COCs; n = 22; four women) and controls (CTRLs; n = 19; four women) underwent standardized probes of social reward and threat processing during functional magnetic resonance imaging and a behavioral facial affect recognition task.

Guanfacine decreases symptoms of cannabis withdrawal in daily cannabis smokers.

The α2a-adrenergic agonist, lofexidine, reduced cannabis withdrawal-related sleep disruption in the laboratory, but side effects (e.g. fatigue, hypotension) limit its utility as a treatment for cannabis use disorder.

Impact of co-administration of oxycodone and smoked cannabis on analgesia and abuse liability.

Cannabinoids combined with opioids produce synergistic antinociceptive effects, decreasing the lowest effective antinociceptive opioid dose (i.e., opioid-sparing effects) in laboratory animals.