High Intensity Drinking (HID) Assessed by Maximum Quantity Consumed Is an Important Pattern Measure Adding Predictive Value in Higher and Lower Income Societies for Modeling Alcohol-Related Problems.

Adjusting for demographics and standard drinking measures, High Intensity Drinking (HID), indexed by the maximum quantity consumed in a single day in the past 12 months, may be valuable in predicting alcohol dependence other harms across high and low income societies. The data consisted of 17 surveys of adult (15,460 current drinkers; 71% of total surveyed) in Europe (3), the Americas (8), Africa (2), and Asia/Australia (4). Gender-disaggregated country analyses used Poison regression to investigate whether HID (8-11, 12-23, 24+ drinks) was incrementally influential, beyond log drinking volume and HED (Heavy Episodic Drinking, or 5+ days), in predicting drinking problems, adjusting for age and marital status.

Characteristics of women with alcohol use disorders who benefit from intensive motivational interviewing.

Background: Women with alcohol disorders have more severe problems related to their drinking than men. They have higher mortality from alcohol-related accidents and enter treatment with more serious medical, psychiatric, and social consequences.

Unlabelled: : This study assessed the effects of Intensive Motivational Interviewing (IMI), a new, 9-session counseling intervention for women with drinking problems.

"I have more support around me to be able to change": A Qualitative Exploration of Probationers' and Parolees' Experiences Living in Sober Living Houses.

Persons in the U.S. who are incarcerated for drug offenses are increasingly being released into the community as a way to decrease prison and jail overcrowding.

Heavy Drinking among Women Receiving Intensive Motivational Interviewing: 6-Month Outcomes.

Compared to men, women with alcohol use disorders experience more severe consequences related to drinking. Intensive Motivational Interviewing (IMI) is a new 9-session version of Motivational Interviewing (MI) designed for women with alcohol use disorders. The current study reports outcomes from a randomized clinical trial of IMI compared to a single session of MI.

Intensive Motivational Interviewing for Heavy Drinking among Women.

Objectives: Women suffer more severe consequences related to heavy drinking than men. Relative to men, women who are heavy drinkers experience higher severity of medical, psychiatric, and social problems, even when they have fewer years drinking. Currently there are few gender-specific, evidence-based interventions for heavy drinking among women.

Beneficial effects of motivational interviewing case management: A latent class analysis of recovery capital among sober living residents with criminal justice involvement.

Background: This secondary analysis uses data from a recent clinical trial conducted with probationers and parolees with substance use disorders (N = 330) residing in Sober Living Houses (SLHs). The treatment condition received Motivational Interviewing Case Management (MICM), while controls received usual care SLH residency. Both conditions improved on multiple domains, though residents randomized to MICM improved significantly more than usual care controls on criminal justice outcomes.

Dose-Response Relationship of Alcohol and Injury Cause: Effects of Country-Level Drinking Pattern and Alcohol Policy.

Background: The dose-response relationship of alcohol and injury and the effects of country-level detrimental drinking pattern (DDP) and alcohol control policy on this relationship are examined for specific causes of injury.

Methods: The dose-response risk of injury is analyzed on 18,627 injured patients in 22 countries included in the International Collaborative Alcohol and Injury Study, using case-crossover analysis by cause of injury (traffic, violence, falls, other), DDP, and the International Alcohol Policy and Injury Index.

Results: Risk of all injury was higher at all volume levels in higher DDP countries compared to lower DDP countries and for each cause of injury.

Drinking context and cause of injury: Emergency department studies from 22 countries.

Background: It is estimated that up to a third of injuries requiring emergency department admission are alcohol-related. While injuries that are alcohol-related are unsurprising to emergency department staff, less is understood about the precursors to the injury event.

Methods: Using data from representative emergency department injury patients in 22 countries, we examined associations between context of injury (private or public), cause of injury (fall or trip, being stuck/cut/ or burned and violence) and alcohol use.

Sober living house characteristics: A multilevel analyses of factors associated with improved outcomes.

Safe and stable housing is integral to addiction recovery. Across numerous studies, recovery housing has been found to be associated with improvements in a variety of domains. Although procedures for operating some types of recovery housing have been manualized and national standards established, there are few empirical findings identifying which recovery residence characteristics may lead to improved outcomes.

Risk of Alcohol-Related Injury: Does Societal Drinking Context Make a Difference?

Objective: The aim of this study is to examine whether country-level frequency of drinking in a public context and in a private context is associated with rates of alcohol-related injury in emergency department studies from those same countries.

Method: Emergency department data on 5,104 injured patients in 10 countries from the International Collaborative Alcohol and Injury Study (ICAIS) and aggregate level drinking context data from the Gender, Alcohol and Culture: An International Study (GENACIS) are analyzed. The association of societal drinking context (public and private) with variation in the rate of self-reported drinking before injury is examined using multilevel modeling.

Motivational Interviewing Case Management (MICM) for Persons on Probation or Parole Entering Sober Living Houses.

The failure of incarceration as a response to drug offenses has resulted in new policies supporting community-based alternatives. One challenge has been finding appropriate housing for persons on probation and parole. Sober living houses (SLHs) are alcohol- and drug-free living environments that are increasingly being used as housing options for these individuals.

Estimating alcohol-attributable fractions for injuries based on data from emergency department and observational studies: a comparison of two methods.

Aim: To compare the injury alcohol-attributable fractions (AAFs) estimated using emergency department (ED) data to AAFs estimated by combining population alcohol consumption data with corresponding relative risks (RRs).

Design: Comparative risk assessment.

Setting And Participants: ED studies in 27 countries (n = 24 971).

A multi-level analysis of emergency department data on drinking patterns, alcohol policy and cause of injury in 28 countries.

Background: While individual-level drinking pattern is an important risk factor for alcohol-related injury, societal-level pattern and alcohol policy are also important, and no research exists on the relationship of these variables with specific causes of injury.

Methods: A probability sample of 14,142 emergency department (ED) patients from 32 ED studies in 28 countries included in the International Collaborative Alcohol and Injury Study (ICAIS) is analyzed using multilevel modeling of individual-level volume and pattern of drinking, country-level detrimental drinking pattern (DDP), and alcohol policy using the International Alcohol Policy and Injury Index (IAPII) on self-reported drinking prior to the injury event, categorized as traffic, violence, fall or other cause. The IAPII includes four domains: availability, vehicular, advertising, and drinking context.

Multi-level analysis of alcohol-related injury, societal drinking pattern and alcohol control policy: emergency department data from 28 countries.

Background And Aims: Societal-level volume and pattern of drinking and alcohol control policy have received little attention in the alcohol and injury literature. The aim of this study was to estimate the association between alcohol-related injury, individual-level drinking variables, country-level detrimental drinking pattern and alcohol policy.

Design: Probability samples of emergency department (ED) patients from the International Collaborative Alcohol and Injury Study (ICAIS), which includes four collaborative ED studies on alcohol and injury, all using a similar methodology, were analyzed with multi-level modeling of individual-level drinking variables and aggregate-level variables (country drinking pattern and alcohol policy) on alcohol-related injury in 33 ED studies.

Development of the International Alcohol Policy and Injury Index.

Objective: The current work develops the International Alcohol Policy Injury Index (IAPII) to measure the effectiveness of control policies that impact reduction of alcohol-related injury.

Methods: Using cross-sectional data on alcohol policies from five policy domains ( and ), injury death, and alcohol-attributable fractions (AAFs) for vehicular deaths were accessed from the WHO database for 156 countries. A composite indicator, the International Alcohol Policy Injury Index (IAPII), was created to assess the association between policy and death due to injury.

Development of Intensive Motivational Interviewing (IMI) and Modifications for Treating Women with Alcohol Use Disorders.

Women have greater vulnerability to alcohol problems than men. They become intoxicated after drinking half as much as men, develop cirrhosis of the liver more rapidly, and have a greater risk of dying from alcohol-related accidents. Despite more serious consequences related to their drinking, treatment for women with alcohol use disorders has been understudied relative to treatment for men.

Comparing substance use and mental health outcomes among sexual minority and heterosexual women in probability and non-probability samples.

Objective: To examine similarities and differences in demographics and key substance use and mental health outcomes in a probability sample of heterosexual women and two samples of sexual minority women (SMW), one recruited using probability and the other using non-probability methods.

Methods: Using data from four waves of the National Alcohol Survey (NAS; n = 315 SMW; 10,523 heterosexual women) and Wave 3 of the Chicago Health and Life Experiences of Women (CHLEW; n = 688 SMW) study, we examined hazardous drinking, drug use, tobacco use, depression, and help-seeking for alcohol or other drug problems.

Results: Compared to SMW in the probability sample, SMW in the non-probability sample were older, more likely to be college educated, and more likely to be in a partnered relationship.

The Effects of Acute Cannabis Use on Nontraffic Injury Risk: Reviewing the Available Literature and Identifying Ways Forward.

Recent evidence has indicated that cannabis use before driving is associated with a modest but increased risk for traffic-related injuries. However, the question of whether recent cannabis use is associated with a greater risk for other types of injuries remains unanswered. Aiming to understand better how acute cannabis use might affect the risk for all causes of injury, we have summarized the limited data available in the literature on the risk of non-traffic injuries associated with recent cannabis use.

Strengths and coping strategies in the life narratives of sexual minority women.

This study explored self-described strengths and strategies for coping with stress among sexual minority women (SMW), drawing on qualitative narratives of sexual minority and heterosexual women who were recruited from a population based sample. In-depth follow-up qualitative telephone interviews were conducted with 48 women who had participated the National Alcohol Survey, a U.S.

Problems and Service Needs Among Ex-Offenders with HIV Risk Behaviors Entering Sober Living Recovery Homes.

There is currently a nationwide effort to decrease the number of persons who are incarcerated in jails and prisons. However, many ex-offenders on probation or parole do not have access to affordable housing and larger proportions have histories of HIV risk as well as substance abuse problems. In California, sober living houses (SLHs) are becoming an increasingly popular housing option for these individuals.

Housing Status, Psychiatric Symptoms, and Substance Abuse Outcomes Among Sober Living House Residents over 18 Months.

Studies show individuals entering sober living recovery houses (SLHs) make significant, sustained improvement on measures of substance abuse problems, employment, and arrests. The current study assessed changes in housing status among SLH residents over 18 months and the relative influences of housing status and psychiatric distress on substance abuse outcomes. Two hundred forty one men and 58 women, all age 18 and older, were interviewed within their first week of entering 20 SLHs and again at 6-, 12-, and 18-month follow-up.

Social Support Influences on Substance Abuse Outcomes Among Sober Living House Residents with Low and Moderate Psychiatric Severity.

Social support and psychiatric severity are known to influence substance abuse. However, little is known about how their influences vary under different conditions. We aimed to study how different types of social support were associated with substance abuse outcomes among persons with low and moderate psychiatric severity who entered Sober Living Houses (SLHs).

Interaction of Motivation and Social Support on Abstinence among Recovery Home Residents.

Background And Aims: The impetus to abstain from alcohol and drugs is especially robust when individuals seek help. However, motivation to continue abstinence during ongoing recovery is less understood. The present study assessed how social support interacted with motivation to affect abstinence over an 18-monthe time period.

Course of Psychiatric Symptoms and Abstinence among Methamphetamine-Dependent Persons in Sober Living Recovery Homes.

Background: Although studies of co-occurring psychiatric disorders among methamphetamine (MA)-dependent persons have been conducted in treatment programs, none have examined them in service settings used to sustain long-term recovery, such as sober living houses (SLHs).

Methods: Residents entering SLHs (N = 243) were interviewed within two weeks and at 6-, 12-, and 18-month follow-up. Measures assessed psychiatric symptoms using the Brief Symptom Inventory (BSI), past-year drug and alcohol dependence, and abstinence over six-month time periods.

Prevalence and Trajectories of Psychiatric Symptoms Among Sober Living House Residents.

Objective: Sober living houses are alcohol- and drug-free recovery residences that help individuals with substance use disorders maintain long-term abstinence. Given the prevalence of co-occurring mental disorders among individuals entering substance use treatment, it is likely that many such residents are also contending with psychiatric symptoms, and it is unclear how these symptoms may affect their sobriety. This study sought to describe the prevalence and trajectories of different types of symptoms among sober living house residents and examine how these symptoms affect substance use outcomes.