Social connectedness and life satisfaction: Comparing mean levels for 2 undergraduate samples and testing for improvement based on brief counseling.

Objectives: Comparing the mean levels of social connectedness and life satisfaction, and analyzing their relationship for 2 undergraduate samples, and testing for an increase in their means for a brief counseling sample.

Participants: Between October 2013 and May 2015, 3 samples were collected: not-in-counseling (NIC; n = 941), initial counseling session (ICS; ie, triage session only; n = 168), and brief counseling (BC; ie, median of 4 additional counseling sessions; n = 28).

Methods: Online surveys measuring demographic and background control variables, social connectedness, and life satisfaction.

Using buprenorphine to treat opioid-dependent university students: opportunities, successes, and challenges.

Objective: : The objective of this study was to characterize a population of opioid-dependent university students who were treated with buprenorphine, describe their treatment outcome, and discuss challenges the authors faced in working with this population in the setting of a university counseling center.

Methods: : We conducted a retrospective chart review of 27 opioid-dependent university students treated with buprenorphine at the university's counseling center.

Results: : Students were predominantly white (85%, n = 23), male (63%, n = 17), average age of 22 years with an average of 33.

The implementation of buprenorphine/naloxone in college health practice.

Opiate abuse and dependence have become important concerns for college healthcare providers. The passage of the Drug Addiction Treatment Act of 2000 and the approval of the combination buprenorphine/naloxone for office-based treatment of opiate dependence have increased the options available for college students and their healthcare providers. The authors review the pharmacology of buprenorphine/naloxone and discuss how it can be implemented in college health practice.

A functional prodynorphin promoter polymorphism and opioid dependence.

Objectives: The prodynorphin gene (PDYN) promoter has a repeat polymorphism that is functionally important in association with substance abuse. We examined this polymorphism for association in our sample of 168 opioid-dependent patients and 122 ethnically and geographically matched controls.

Methods: Patients were selected from university-affiliated residential and non-residential addiction treatment programs in the Philadelphia area.

Novel exonic mu-opioid receptor gene (OPRM1) polymorphisms not associated with opioid dependence.

The mu-opioid receptor (MOR) mediates reward and dependence associated with opioids and other commonly abused substances. Variability in the MOR gene, OPRM1, may influence risk for opioid dependence. In this study, associations between two single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs), dbSNP rs540825 and dbSNP rs562859, and opioid dependence were investigated.

A genetic association study of the mu opioid receptor and severe opioid dependence.

Objectives: Twin, family and adoption studies have suggested that vulnerability to opioid dependence may be a partially inherited trait (Cadoret et al., 1986; Merikangas et al., 1998; Tsuang et al.

Methadone maintenance treatment.

Preview Substance abuse, particularly injecting drug use, is receiving increased attention because of its role in the spread of AIDS. Methadone maintenance treatment programs help curb the spread by decreasing injecting drug abuse and by offering HIV testing, counseling, and referral for care of infected patients. Drs DeMaria and Weinstein explain how methadone programs work and what primary care physicians need to know to refer their opiate-dependent patients.