Predicting intentions not to "drink and drive" using an extended version of the theory of planned behaviour.

The aim of this study was to determine to what extent the theory of planned behaviour (TPB) extended with moral norm and descriptive norm is able to predict intentions not to drink and drive. We also wanted to examine whether different processes guide intentions among young drivers (35 years and below) versus drivers aged above 35 years, and women's versus men's intentions. Questionnaires were sent to a sample of 4000 people in Norway aged between 18 and 70 years, and were completed by 1025 respondents.

A method to estimate total entry to hard drug use: the case of intravenous drug use in Norway.

Background/aims: Epidemiological measures such as the prevalence and incidence of hard drug use are important tools for evaluating drug situations and drug policies. Models for drug use trajectories illustrate how temporary and lasting cessation of and relapse into hard drug use are other important elements in the overall picture of change in hard drug use over time. Estimating the total entry to hard drug use broadens the knowledge of the change in such use.

Expectancies and intentions to use snus among Norwegian first-year students.

Introduction: The prevalence of use of snus (low-nitrosamine smokeless tobacco, Swedish type) has reached epidemic proportions in parts of Northern Europe, and the trend is escalating. Knowledge of variables influencing use of snus is scarce, and this study set out to explore expectancies related to the use of snus as possible determinants of intentions to use snus in the next 6 months.

Methods: The data stem from a questionnaire survey among university students in 2004 and included 141 snus users (mean age = 20.

The potential of the commonplace: A sociological study of emotions, identity and therapeutic change.

Aims: To explore aspects of treatment clients identify as having had a positive effect on their process of change.

Method: The first author conducted data collection for one year through both participant observation and interviews.

Results: Certain, apparently commonplace, informal interaction situations appear to constitute emotionally moving and identity-constructing contexts that have a significant impact on clients.

The association between use of snus and quit rates for smoking: results from seven Norwegian cross-sectional studies.

Aim: Swedish studies have shown that experience of using snus is associated with an increased probability of being a former smoker. We examined whether this result is also found in Norway.

Design:   Seven cross-sectional data sets collected during the period 2003-08.

The use of snus for quitting smoking compared with medicinal products.

Introduction: Given there are few experimental studies comparing the effects of snus and medicinal products for quitting smoking, self-reports from smokers who have used different methods for quitting smoking can be informative.

Methods: Fourteen thousand seven hundred and forty-four Norwegian men aged between 20 and 50 years were selected at random from a national representative web panel and sent a questionnaire by E-mail. Of the 7,170 (48.

The impact of drinking pattern on alcohol-related violence among adolescents: An international comparative analysis.

Introduction And Aims: Drinking pattern seems to be an important mediator of the alcohol-violence association. Aggregate level studies have demonstrated that the alcohol-violence association is stronger in countries where intoxication occurs relatively more frequent to the overall drinking. However, this has not been tested against empirical data at the individual level or with respect to violence among young people.

Communication between researchers and practitioners: findings from a qualitative evaluation of a large-scale college intervention.

Many community-based intervention studies experience problems with collaboration between researchers and practitioners. A preferred strategy appears to be to form community coalitions to carry out the proposed interventions in the community, but doing so risks shifting the focus from intervention objectives to coalition process. As a by-product, coalitions often lack understanding of the project goals and are not given specific instructions on how to implement the intervention.

Cannabis and crime: findings from a longitudinal study.

Aim: To examine the association between cannabis use during adolescence and young adulthood, and subsequent criminal charges.

Methods: Data were obtained from the Young in Norway Longitudinal Study. A population-based sample (n = 1353) was followed from 13 to 27 years of age.

Under double influence: assessment of simultaneous alcohol and cannabis use in general youth populations.

Background/aims: We assessed to what extent adolescents use alcohol and cannabis simultaneously and expanded previous research by estimating the proportion of all events of cannabis use that had occurred in relation to drinking. How the prevalence of this form of polysubstance use co-varied with the overall level of alcohol and cannabis use in different countries was also examined.

Method: We analysed individual level data from a survey of 14-20 year-olds in Norway (n=16 813) and population level data from the 2003 ESPAD study on substance use among 15-16 year-olds in 35 European countries.

Old enough for a beer? Compliance with minimum legal age for alcohol purchases in monopoly and other off-premise outlets in Finland and Norway.

Aim: To assess whether government monopoly outlets comply better with minimum legal age for purchase of alcohol compared to other off-premise outlets for alcohol sales.

Methods: Under-age-appearing 18-year-olds attempted to purchase alcohol in off-premise outlets applying identical procedures in Finland (n = 290) and Norway (n = 170). Outcomes were measured as whether or not the buyers were asked to present an identity (ID) card and whether or not they succeeded in purchasing alcohol.

Wetter and better? Changes in associations between drunkenness and other problem behaviors among Norwegian youth.

Background/aims: The consumption of alcohol and the frequency of intoxication among Norwegian youth increased significantly from 1992 to 2002, and we thus asked what, if anything, can be expected to happen to rates of other problem behaviors when heavy drinking becomes more widespread? Do such aggregate level changes in alcohol use imply that individual level associations between drunkenness and behavioral deviance change as well?

Method: School-based surveys of 16- to 19-year-old Norwegians that were carried out in 1992 (n = 4,744, response rate 97%) and 2002 (n = 5,458, response rate 92%).

Results: Contrary to rates of drunkenness, the level of theft/pilfering declined from 1992 to 2002, while rates of aggressive behavior and school misconduct remained unchanged. We assumed that heavy-drinking adolescents were relatively less deviant with regard to non-violent problem behaviors when the youth culture was relatively 'wet' (2002) as compared to the period when it was much 'drier' (1992) and revealed that this was the case.

A difference that makes a difference: young adult smokers' accounts of cigarette brands and package design.

Objective: To explore young adult smokers' construction of meaning and identity in accounts of cigarette brands and cigarette package design, and the processes by which positive associations with a brand may be reinforced and sustained.

Methods: Qualitative in-depth interviews with 21 smokers aged 18-23 in Norway, where advertising for tobacco has been banned since 1975.

Results: Cigarette brand and cigarette package design appear as an integrated part of young smokers' constructions of smoker identities, enabling the communication of personal characteristics, social identity and positions in hierarchies of status.

A cross-sectional study of changes in Norwegian adolescents' body image from 1992 to 2002.

The present study examines changes in adolescents' body image over a 10-year period. Both satisfaction with appearance in general, and satisfaction with different aspects of appearance (e.g.

Adolescent gambling and problem gambling: does the total consumption model apply?

This study describes the extent and distribution of gambling among Norwegian adolescents. The study assesses whether gambling frequency and expenditures and prevalence of problem gambling are associated both at the individual and aggregate (school) level, and in particular whether the total consumption model applies to gambling behaviour. Data comprised a national representative sample of 11,637 13- to 19-year-old students in 73 schools (response rate 92.

The population mean and the proportion of frequent gamblers: is the theory of total consumption valid for gambling?

The study looks at three representative samples of Norwegians in different age groups with the aim of finding evidence for the validity of the total consumption model for the area of gambling. The results show that gambling was distributed in the population in a way consistent with the predictions of the total consumption theory. Populations with a low mean gambling frequency had a lower proportion of frequent gamblers than populations with a high mean gambling frequency.

Trends in wine consumption in Norway: is diffusion theory applicable?

The study aimed at assessing whether diffusion theory may be applicable to explain the increasing trends in consumption of table wine in Norway over a four-decade period. Data comprised a series of eight cross-sectional surveys from 1962 to 1999 in national samples of adults. The results indicated that diffusion theory might in part be applicable to explain the trends in wine consumption in Norway.

The spread of drug use: epidemic models or social interaction?

This chapter argues that models trying to explain the spread of drug use should not be based on standard epidemiological models developed to describe the spread of infectious diseases. The main weaknesses of the standard model are the lack of attention to micro-foundations and the inappropriateness of several of its assumptions in the context of drug use. An approach based on mechanisms and social interaction is argued to provide a promising alternative to the standard approach.

Use of commercial and social sources of alcohol by underage drinkers: the role of pubertal timing.

We have explored whether alcohol use and procurement of alcohol from commercial and social sources vary with pubertal timing. A sub-sample of 9291 Norwegian minors (13-17 year-olds) was extracted from a nationwide school survey (response rate: 92%). Adolescents who had matured early (early developers, EDs) reported higher consumption and more alcohol-related harm than those who had matured late (late developers, LDs) or at the "normal" time (on time developers, ODs).

Predicting the intention to quit smoking and quitting behaviour: extending the theory of planned behaviour.

Objectives: The present study examined the ability of the TPB to predict the intention to quit smoking and quitting behaviour. In addition, the predictive power of future orientation, number of cigarettes smoked, planning, past behaviour and the interactions between intention and other predictors was examined.

Material And Methods: The data were derived from a longitudinal survey among 103 daily smoking students at the University of Oslo (mean age 24.

Drinking on the premises in Norway: young adults' use of public drinking places.

In this paper various aspects of young adults' use of premises licensed to sell alcoholic beverages are discussed. Data were obtained from national surveys of drinking habits in 1999 and 2004 (SIRUS), and the age group was 18 to 34 years. Bivariate methods showed a positive association between drinking in licensed premises and both alcohol consumption and frequency of intoxication.

Lessons from the grey area: a closer inspection of at-risk gamblers.

The study takes a closer look at at-risk gamblers, with the objective to see how they differ from no-risk gamblers. The data comes from a national gambling survey in 2002, and the age group is 15-74 years. The sample consists of 4188 current gamblers with no current gambling problems or pathology.

Alcohol and violence: use of possible confounders in a time-series analysis.

Aims: To assess the aggregate association between alcohol consumption and violence, while controlling for potential confounders.

Design And Measurements: The data comprise aggregate time-series for Norway in the period 1880-2003 and 1911-2003 on criminal violence rates and per capita alcohol consumption. Possible confounders comprise annual rates of unemployment, divorce, marriage, total fertility rate, gross national product, public assistance/social care and the proportion of the population aged between 15 and 25.