Predictors of Cannabis Use Among Canadian University Students.

Objective: To examine the correlates between cannabis use, motives to use, related psychosocial outcomes and academic behaviours among a sample of Canadian university students. Methods: A random sample of 6,000 students who were enrolled in at least one class and were 18 years or over were asked to complete a cross-sectional online survey. Of the 920 students that responded, 478 (ages 18-55; mean age = 25.02, SD = 5.95) identified as having used cannabis within the past six months and thus were included as participants in the current study. Participants completed a battery of measures designed to examine cannabis use and associated constructs (i.e., substance use risk, personal well-being, non-specific psychological distress, academic behaviours, and motivations for use). Results: Among the participants, 31% (n = 148) were found to be frequent (i.e., hazardous) users. Using cannabis for enhancement, coping, expansion, sleep difficulties, and conformity purposes, as well as impulsive personality traits were found to be predictors of cannabis use severity, with the enhancement motive identified as the strongest predictor for the total sample, males, and hazardous users. The coping motive was the strongest predictor for females, and impulsivity was the strongest predictor for non-hazardous users. Conclusion: Findings will help inform the development of campus guidelines for lower risk cannabis use. Information gleaned from this study will also provide important information for those that use cannabis, policymakers, and health care providers in considering optimal personal use, prevention, and intervention plans.

Honoring Indigenous culture-as-intervention: Development and validity of the Native Wellness AssessmentTM.

There is a need for Indigenous-centered research to appraise culture's role in wellness. Researchers described the development and validity of the Native Wellness Assessment (NWATM). The NWA has culture-as-intervention at its apex. Wellness, culture, and cultural intervention practices (CIPs) are explored from an Indigenous perspective. Indigenous clients completed matching self-report and observer versions of the NWA at three time points during addictions treatment. Statistically and psychometrically, the NWA content and structure performed well, demonstrating that culture is an effective and fair intervention for Indigenous peoples with addictions. The NWA can inform Indigenous health and community-based programs and policy.

Strength-based crisis programming: Evaluating the process of care.

In this study, a utilization-focused process evaluation framework was used to explore client and service providers' experiences of Crisis Management Services (CMS), their perceptions of the services provided, and the process of client engagement CMS offers. CMS is a strength-based program that targets individuals who experience crises every day. The Community-University Institute for Social Research facilitated the evaluation by engaging academic expertise in a coordinated collaborative approach to community-university partnerships. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with the clients and service providers. The general inductive approach was used for transcript analysis with seven themes emerging. A conceptual model of service delivery is presented, which integrates the interviews conducted with clients and service providers. Results affirm that the establishment of a close personal strength-based relationship is key to client engagement. Collaborative goal setting with informal and formal community resources viewed as potential assets, characterizes the process that enables clients to live at their optimal level of independence. This study is unique as it provides valuable insight on the perspectives of vulnerable individuals in crisis situations. Through the establishment of community-university partnerships the gap between scholarly research and its applicability to community organizations is narrowed with opportunities for improving the quality of life enhanced.

A scoping study of cultural interventions to treat addictions in Indigenous populations: methods, strategies and insights from a Two-Eyed Seeing approach.

BACKGROUND: This paper describes the methods, strategies and insights gained from a scoping study using a "Two-Eyed Seeing" approach. An evolving technique, Two-Eyed Seeing respects and integrates the strengths of Indigenous knowledge and Western sciences, often "weaving back and forth" between the two worldviews. The scoping study was used to inform a tool for measuring the impact of culturally based addictions treatment services on wellness in Indigenous populations. It formed part of a three-year study, Honouring Our Strengths: Indigenous Culture as Intervention in Addictions Treatment. The scoping study identified and mapped literature on cultural interventions in addictions treatment, and described the nature, extent and gaps in literature. METHODS: Using a Two-Eyed Seeing approach, we adapted, applied and enhanced a common framework of scoping studies. In the end stage of the scoping review process, an Ad Hoc Review Group, led by our project Elder, reviewed and interpreted Indigenous and Western understandings within the mapped information. Elements of the scoping study were joined with results from community focus groups with staff at treatment centres. RESULTS: Two-Eyed Seeing contributed differently at each stage of the scoping study. In early stages, it clarified team expertise and potential contributions. At the mid-point, it influenced our shift from a systematic to a scoping review. Near the end, it incorporated Western and Indigenous knowledge to interpret and synthesize evidence from multiple sources. CONCLUSIONS: This paper adds to the collective work on augmenting the methodology of scoping studies. Despite the challenges of a Two-Eyed Seeing approach, it enables researchers using scoping studies to develop knowledge that is better able to translate into meaningful findings for Indigenous communities.

Cultural interventions to treat addictions in Indigenous populations: findings from a scoping study.

BACKGROUND: Cultural interventions offer the hope and promise of healing from addictions for Indigenous people.a However, there are few published studies specifically examining the type and impact of these interventions. Positioned within the Honouring Our Strengths: Culture as Intervention project, a scoping study was conducted to describe what is known about the characteristics of culture-based programs and to examine the outcomes collected and effects of these interventions on wellness. METHODS: This review followed established methods for scoping studies, including a final stage of consultation with stakeholders. The data search and extraction were also guided by the "PICO" (Patient/population, Intervention, Comparison, and Outcome) method, for which we defined each element, but did not require direct comparisons between treatment and control groups. Twelve databases from the scientific literature and 13 databases from the grey literature were searched up to October 26, 2012. RESULTS: The search strategy yielded 4,518 articles. Nineteen studies were included from the United States (58%) and Canada (42%), that involved residential programs (58%), and all (100%) integrated Western and culture-based treatment services. Seventeen types of cultural interventions were found, with sweat lodge ceremonies the most commonly (68%) enacted. Study samples ranged from 11 to 2,685 clients. Just over half of studies involved quasi-experimental designs (53%). Most articles (90%) measured physical wellness, with fewer (37%) examining spiritual health. Results show benefits in all areas of wellness, particularly by reducing or eliminating substance use problems in 74% of studies. CONCLUSIONS: Evidence from this scoping study suggests that the culture-based interventions used in addictions treatment for Indigenous people are beneficial to help improve client functioning in all areas of wellness. There is a need for well-designed studies to address the question of best relational or contextual fit of cultural practices given a particular place, time, and population group. Addiction researchers and treatment providers are encouraged to work together to make further inroads into expanding the study of culture-based interventions from multiple perspectives and locations.

Implementing paraprofessional strength-based early intervention home visitations.

The purpose of the present study is to evaluate the implementation process for Parenting Plus, an early intervention program in a rural, western Canadian health district. Parenting Plus, as modeled after Hawaii Healthy Start, provides strength-based paraprofessional home visitations to overburdened parents of newborns. The general inductive approach guided the studies design and the methods used for data collection and analysis. Semi-structured in-depth interviews were conducted with health care practitioners and focus groups with program participants were held until theoretical saturation was achieved for both. Recommendations for policy and practice address the need for intersectoral involvement as crucial to a strength-based pilot project's success. Future research needs not only to look at the mode of service delivery but also, more importantly, at how the characteristics of the home visitor can effect change in the participant and what level of experience or education (paraprofessional or professional) is best suited to a particular client population.