Harm Experienced from the Heavy Drinking of Family and Friends in the General Population: A Comparative Study of Six Northern European Countries.

Background: Epidemiological research on alcohol-related harm has long given priority to studies on harm to the drinker. A limitation with this perspective is that it neglects the harm drinking causes to people around the drinker, and thus, it fails to give a full picture of alcohol-related harm in society.

Aim: The aim was to compare the prevalence and correlates of experiencing harm from the heavy drinking by family and friends across the Nordic countries and Scotland and to discuss whether potential differences match levels of drinking, prevalence of binge drinking, and alcohol-related mortality.

Negative consequences of other people's drinking: Prevalence, perpetrators and locations.

Introduction And Aims: While both policy makers and researchers have shown renewed interest in drinking and harm to others, several questions concerning the issue remain unanswered. The aim of this study was to address some of these questions by: (i) presenting updated figures on the prevalence of experienced harm from other people's drinking in various sub-groups; and (ii) examining in which locations such episodes most often occur and who the perpetrators usually are.

Design And Methods: Data were obtained from a general population survey among 16- to 79-year-old Norwegians (n = 1947), where experiences of five negative consequences related to other people's drinking (e.

Comparison of drugs used by nightclub patrons and criminal offenders in Oslo, Norway.

The aim of this study was to investigate psychoactive drug use among nightclub patrons by analysing samples of oral fluid and compare with findings in blood samples from criminal suspects. We hypothesized that the profile of illicit drug use among nightclub patrons is different from what we observe in those forensic cases. Research stations were established outside nine popular nightclubs with different profiles and patron-characteristics in downtown Oslo.

How Well Do Survey Studies Capture Alcohol's Harm to Others?

Empirical studies assessing alcohol's harm to others very often rely on population survey data. This study addresses some of the problems and challenges in using survey data for this purpose. Such problems include the limited capacity of population surveys in identifying infrequent harm and long-term consequences of drinking.

Minimization of Childhood Maltreatment Is Common and Consequential: Results from a Large, Multinational Sample Using the Childhood Trauma Questionnaire.

Childhood maltreatment has diverse, lifelong impact on morbidity and mortality. The Childhood Trauma Questionnaire (CTQ) is one of the most commonly used scales to assess and quantify these experiences and their impact. Curiously, despite very widespread use of the CTQ, scores on its Minimization-Denial (MD) subscale-originally designed to assess a positive response bias-are rarely reported.

Estimating incidence of problem drug use using the Horwitz-Thompson estimator - A new approach applied to people who inject drugs in Oslo 1985-2008.

Background: The trend in the number of new problem drug users per year (incidence) is the most important measure for studying the diffusion of problem drug use. Due to sparse data sources and complicated statistical models, estimation of incidence of problem drug use is challenging. The aim of this study is to widen the palette of available methods and data types for estimating incidence of problem drug use over time, and for identifying the trends.

Alcohol consumption in the aftermath of a natural disaster: a longitudinal study.

Objectives: In this study, we examined changes in alcohol consumption in the aftermath of a natural disaster, as well as possible predictors of both increased and decreased drinking.

Study Design: Observational longitudinal study.

Methods: Repatriated Norwegian adults who resided in areas affected by the 2004 Southeast Asia tsunami completed a questionnaire at 6 and 24 months postdisaster (N = 649).

A Cohort Study on Long-Term Adverse Effects of Parental Drinking: Background and Study Design.

Although many studies have addressed adverse outcomes in children of parents with alcohol abuse/dependence, less is known about the possible long-term effects of more normative patterns of parental alcohol consumption, including drinking at lower risk levels and heavy episodic or binge drinking. The extent of harm from parental drinking may therefore be underestimated. With this research proposal, we describe a project that aims to assess possible long-term adverse effects of parental drinking by combining survey and nationwide registry data.

Use of alcohol and drugs by employees in selected business areas in Norway: a study using oral fluid testing and questionnaires.

Background: Alcohol or drug use and associated hangover may reduce workplace safety and productivity and also cause sickness absence. The aims of this study were to examine (i) the use of alcohol and drugs, and (ii) reduced efficiency at work and absence due to such use among employees.

Methods: Forty-four companies were invited; half of them agreed to participate.

The Norwegian Offender Mental Health and Addiction Study - Design and Implementation of a National Survey and Prospective Cohort Study.

The Norwegian prison inmates are burdened by problems before they enter prison. Few studies have managed to assess this burden and relate it to what occurs for the inmates once they leave the prison. The Norwegian Offender Mental Health and Addiction (NorMA) study is a large-scale longitudinal cohort study that combines national survey and registry data in order to understand mental health, substance use, and criminal activity before, during, and after custody among prisoners in Norway.

Experienced Harm from Other People's Drinking: A Comparison of Northern European Countries.

Objective: This study addresses how experienced harm from other people's drinking varies between six Northern European countries by comparing 1) the prevalence of experienced harm and 2) the correlates of harm.

Method: The data comprise 18-69-year olds who participated in general population surveys in Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway, Sweden, and Scotland during the period 2008-2013. Comparative data were available on five types of harm: physical abuse, damage of clothes/belongings, verbal abuse, being afraid, and being kept awake at night.

Gambling and gambling policy in Norway--an exceptional case.

Aims: The aim of this paper is to provide an overview of the development and current status of gambling and gambling policy in Norway.

Methods: An overview of the research literature and official documents and websites.

Results: Gambling on electronic gaming machines (EGMs) increased dramatically in the 1990s in response to technological development and liberalization of gambling policy.

Public opinion and medical cannabis policies: examining the role of underlying beliefs and national medical cannabis policies.

Background: Debate about medical cannabis legalization are typically informed by three beliefs: (1) cannabis has medical effects, (2) medical cannabis is addictive and (3) medical cannabis legalization leads to increased used of cannabis for recreational purposes (spillover effects). We examined how strongly these beliefs are associated with public support for medical cannabis legalization and whether this association differs across divergent medical cannabis policy regimes.

Methods: Robust regression analysis was used to analyse data derived from two nationally representative samples of adults participating in comparable cross-sectional online surveys in one country where medical cannabis smoking is illegal (Norway, n = 2175, 51 % male) and in one country where medical cannabis smoking is legal (Israel, n = 648, 49 % male).

Overlap in attitudes to policy measures on alcohol, tobacco and illegal drugs.

Background: Effective alcohol, tobacco and illegal drug policies reduce the harm to users and third parties. Knowledge about determinants and interrelations between attitudes held by the general public to different types of policy measures can benefit policy-makers who aim to increase acceptance for effective policy. The present study describes the level of support for various policy measures held by the general public, and investigates the association between attitudes to policy measures on alcohol, tobacco and illegal drug.

Who receives cannabis use offers: A general population study of adolescents.

Background: Drug use is predicated on a combination of "willingness" and "opportunity". That is, independent of any desire to use drugs, a drug use opportunity is required; be it indirect (i.e.

Parental drinking and adverse outcomes in children: A scoping review of cohort studies.

Introduction And Aims: There is a growing interest in measuring alcohol's harms to people other than the drinker themselves. 'Children of alcoholics' and foetal alcohol spectrum disorder have received widespread attention. Less is known about how children are affected by post-natal exposure to parental drinking other than alcohol abuse/dependence.

Alcohol use-sickness absence association and the moderating role of gender and socioeconomic status: A literature review.

Issues: How strong is the available empirical evidence for an association between alcohol use and sickness absence? Does type of measures influence the association, and is the association moderated by gender and socioeconomic status?

Approach: We designed a search strategy to find all studies on the alcohol use-sickness absence association using individual-level data, published in peer-reviewed journals from 1980 onwards. The quality of the associations was evaluated, giving a score of 0-4 points.

Key Findings: Our inclusion criteria were met by 27 papers containing 28 separate studies, testing 48 associations.

Does parental drinking influence children's drinking? A systematic review of prospective cohort studies.

Aims: To evaluate evidence of the capacity for causal inference in studies of associations between parental and offspring alcohol consumption in the general population.

Methods: A systematic search for, and narrative analysis of, prospective cohort studies of the consequences of drinking, except where assessed prenatally only, or with clinically derived instruments. Primary outcome measures were alcohol use or related problems in offspring, which were collected at least 3 years after exposure measures of parental drinking.

Social Inequality in Cigarette Consumption, Cigarette Dependence, and Intention to Quit among Norwegian Smokers.

Background: The study aim was to examine the influence of education and income on multiple measures of risk of smoking continuation.

Methods: Three logistic regression models were run on cigarette consumption, dependence, and intention to quit based on nationally representative samples (2007-2012) of approximately 1 200 current smokers aged 30-66 years in Norway.

Results: The relative risk ratio for current versus never smokers was RRR 5.

Is 'age at first drink' a useful concept in alcohol research and prevention? We doubt that.

Aim: To address and discuss the weaknesses of age at first drink (AFD) as a concept in alcohol research and prevention.

Methods: Narrative literature review.

Results: Varying from one sip to the consumption of several full drinks, and sometimes including the specification of particular conditions (e.

Why the 'last drinking occasion' approach to measuring alcohol consumption should be avoided.

Introduction And Aims: There has been debate about which type of measurement instrument gives the best alcohol consumption estimates. This study used alcohol consumption data for a simulated population to compare the last drinking occasion (LDO) method against the true alcohol consumption. The LDO method requires respondents to indicate the quantity consumed at the LDO, and this information is used to calculate population estimates.

Are overdoses treated by ambulance services an opportunity for additional interventions? A prospective cohort study.

Aims: To assess whether people who inject drugs (PWID) and who are treated for overdose by ambulance services have a greater mortality risk compared with other PWID, and to compare mortality risk within potentially critical time-periods (1 week, 1 month, 3 months, 6 months, 1 year, 5 years) after an overdose attendance with the mortality risk within potentially non-critical time-periods (time before and/or after critical periods).

Design: A prospective cohort study.

Setting: Oslo, Norway.

Associations between emotional distress and heavy drinking among young people: A longitudinal study.

Introduction And Aims: This study adds to the meagre body of longitudinal research on the link between emotional distress and alcohol use among young people. We address the following research questions: Are symptoms of anxiety and depressed mood likely to be causally related to heavy episodic drinking (HED)? Does the association change as individuals move from adolescence to early adulthood?

Design And Methods: Data stemmed from a national sample of young people in Norway that was assessed in 1992 (T1; mean age = 14.9 years), 1994 (T2), 1999 (T3) and 2005 (T4) (response rate: 60%, n = 2171).

Predicting patient post-detoxification engagement in 12-step groups with an extended version of the theory of planned behavior.

Introduction: Individuals with substance use disorders can receive important abstinence-specific support in 12-step groups (TSGs). However, our understanding of key factors that influence TSG participation remains limited. This study used an extended version of the theory of planned behavior (TPB) to enhance the understanding of TSG affiliation.