Optimizing Digital Tools for the Field of Substance Use and Substance Use Disorders: Backcasting Exercise.

Background: Substance use trends are complex; they often rapidly evolve and necessitate an intersectional approach in research, service, and policy making. Current and emerging digital tools related to substance use are promising but also create a range of challenges and opportunities.

Objective: This paper reports on a backcasting exercise aimed at the development of a roadmap that identifies values, challenges, facilitators, and milestones to achieve optimal use of digital tools in the substance use field by 2030.

Psycho-Emotional Factors Associated with Depressive Symptoms during Lockdown Due to the COVID-19 Pandemic in the Mexican Population.

The COVID-19 pandemic has had a significant impact on mental health, leading to the increase of depressive symptoms. Identifying these symptoms and the factors associated with them in women and men will allow us to understand possible mechanisms of action and develop more specific interventions. An online survey was conducted from 1 May to 30 June 2020 using snowball sampling; the final sample comprised 4122 adult inhabitants of Mexico; 35% of the total sample displayed moderate-to-severe depressive symptoms, with a greater proportion of depression being among female respondents.

Impact of Facebook on Social Support and Emotional Wellbeing in Perinatal Women during Three Waves of the COVID-19 Pandemic in Mexico: A Descriptive Qualitative Study.

The COVID-19 pandemic affected the mental health of pregnant and postpartum women in unique, unprecedented ways. Given the impossibility of delivering face-to-face care, digital platforms emerged as a first-line solution to provide emotional support. This qualitative study sought to examine the role that a closed Facebook group (CFG) played in providing social support for Mexican perinatal women and to explore the concerns they shared during the COVID-19 pandemic.

How culturally unique are pandemic effects? Evaluating cultural similarities and differences in effects of age, biological sex, and political beliefs on COVID impacts.

Despite being bio-epidemiological phenomena, the causes and effects of pandemics are culturally influenced in ways that go beyond national boundaries. However, they are often studied in isolated pockets, and this fact makes it difficult to parse the unique influence of specific cultural psychologies. To help fill in this gap, the present study applies existing cultural theories linear mixed modeling to test the influence of unique cultural factors in a multi-national sample (that moves beyond Western nations) on the effects of age, biological sex, and political beliefs on pandemic outcomes that include adverse financial impacts, adverse resource impacts, adverse psychological impacts, and the health impacts of COVID.

Brief interventions for alcohol use disorders in low- and middle-income countries: barriers and potential solutions.

Global alcohol consumption and harmful use of alcohol is projected to increase in the coming decades, and most of the increase will occur in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs); which calls for cost-effective measures to reduce alcohol exposure in these countries. One such evidence based measure is screening and brief intervention (BI) for alcohol problems. Some of the characteristics of BI make them a particularly appealing choice of interventions in low-resource settings.

Satisfaction and Acceptability Ratings of a Web-Based Self-help Intervention for Depression: Retrospective Cross-sectional Study From a Resource-Limited Country.

Background: Web-based interventions are at an early stage in non-English-speaking low- and middle-income countries, where they remain scarce. Help for Depression (HDep) is one of the few unguided web-based interventions available in Latin America. The results of a use/usability analysis of the original version served as the basis for generating a more user-friendly second version.

Prioritizing Variables for Evaluating the Efficacy and Effectiveness of Brief Interventions for Reducing Alcohol Consumption: A Latin American Perspective.

Objective: The purpose of this study was to identify priority variables to evaluate alcohol brief interventions from the perspective of experts in the field in Latin America.

Method: A two-round Delphi procedure was carried out through online surveys of 465 individuals from 18 Latin American countries, including core outcome set developers, researchers, health professionals, users of healthcare services, journal editors, members of nongovernmental organizations, and policymakers. The questionnaire, in Spanish and Portuguese, rated 101 variables according to their relevance to the efficacy and effectiveness of brief interventions.

Psychoactive Substance Use and Its Relationship to Stress, Emotional State, Depressive Symptomatology, and Perceived Threat During the COVID-19 Pandemic in Mexico.

People can increase their use of psychoactive substances in response to stressful situations as a maladaptive mechanism for reducing negative affective states. It is therefore necessary to examine changes in the use of such substances and their relationship to mental health in light of the COVID-19 pandemic. Evaluate the relationship between psychoactive substances and stress, emotional state, and symptomatology during the COVID-19 lockdown in Mexico.

The Effectiveness of a Web-Based Self-Help Program to Reduce Alcohol Use Among Adults With Drinking Patterns Considered Harmful, Hazardous, or Suggestive of Dependence in Four Low- and Middle-Income Countries: Randomized Controlled Trial.

Background: Given the scarcity of alcohol prevention and use disorder treatments in many low- and middle-income countries (LMICs), the World Health Organization has launched an eHealth portal that includes the web-based self-help program "Alcohol e-Health."

Objective: We aimed to test the effectiveness of the Alcohol e-Health program in a randomized controlled trial.

Methods: This was a two-arm, individually randomized, and controlled trial across four LMICs comparing the self-help program and a psychoeducation and internet access as usual waiting list.

Factors Associated with Sexual Debut in Mexican Adolescents: Results of the National Survey on Drug Use among Students in 2014.

Introduction: Although first sexual experience (understood as first sexual intercourse) is one of the most commonly assessed characteristics of adolescents, recent research emphasizes the importance of understanding other related social factors. This study highlights factors associated with first sexual experience in a nationally representative sample of adolescent students in Mexico.

Aims: The goals of this study were (i) to determine the proportion of adolescents aged 12-17 who had had their first sexual experience; (ii) to identify the factors associated with first sexual experience; and (iii) to analyze the conditions (condom use, substance use) in which first sexual experience takes place.

Web-Based Intervention to Reduce Substance Abuse and Depression: A Three Arm Randomized Trial in Mexico.

Background: Web-based cognitive-behavioral interventions to reduce substance use can be a useful low-cost treatment for a large number of people, and an attractive option in countries where a greater availability of treatment is needed.

Objective: To evaluate the feasibility and initial effectiveness of a web-based cognitive-behavioral intervention for the reduction of substance use and depression compared with treatment as usual, with and without a printed self-help manual.

Method: Individuals seeking outpatient treatment for substance use were randomly assigned to one of the following: (1) the web-based Help Program for Drug Abuse and Depression (n = 23); (2) an in-person session with an addiction therapist and use of the Alcohol, Smoking, and Substance Involvement Screening Test Self-Help Strategies guide, followed by treatment as usual (n = 25), or (3) treatment ordinarily offered in the participating treatment centers (n = 26).

Alcohol e-Help: study protocol for a web-based self-help program to reduce alcohol use in adults with drinking patterns considered harmful, hazardous or suggestive of dependence in middle-income countries.

Background And Aims: Given the scarcity of alcohol prevention and alcohol use disorder treatments in many low and middle-income countries, the World Health Organization launched an e-health portal on alcohol and health that includes a Web-based self-help program. This paper presents the protocol for a multicentre randomized controlled trial (RCT) to test the efficacy of the internet-based self-help intervention to reduce alcohol use.

Design: Two-arm randomized controlled trial (RCT) with follow-up 6 months after randomization.

Web-Based Intervention to Reduce Substance Abuse and Depressive Symptoms in Mexico: Development and Usability Test.

Background: The development of Web-based interventions for substance abuse in Latin America is a new field of interest with great potential for expansion to other Spanish-speaking countries.

Objective: This paper describes a project aimed to develop and evaluate the usability of the Web-based Help Program for Drug Abuse and Depression (Programa de Ayuda para Abuso de Drogas y Depresión, PAADD, in Spanish) and also to construct a systematic frame of reference for the development of future Web-based programs.

Methods: The PAADD aims to reduce substance use and depressive symptoms with cognitive behavioral techniques translated into Web applications, aided by the participation of a counselor to provide support and guidance.

A four-year experience with a Web-based self-help intervention for depressive symptoms in Mexico.

Objective: To describe a four-year descriptive, naturalistic study monitoring the use of HDep (Help for Depression or Ayuda para depression (ADep)in Spanish), an open-access/free Web-based, psycho-education, cognitive-behavioral intervention program produced in Mexico consisting of seven self-help modules that include feedback-generating assessments of depressive symptoms, vignettes, recorded messages, a relaxation exercise, a personal workbook, blogs, and user discussion forums.

Methods: Data were collected on all individuals who entered the HDep site since the program's launching in 2009. Those who entered the site two or more times and also registered as "users" or "participants.