Substance use among a regional sample of female nurses.

We assessed the prevalence of licit (e.g. alcohol) and illicit (e.g. cocaine) drug use, as well as prescription (e.g. tranquillizers) and over-the-counter medications (e.g. analgesics), in a regional sample of female nurses. Surveys were mailed to a random sample of 4000 nurses in Western New York. The survey focused on lifetime and current use of substances, negative consequences of alcohol consumption and dependence. Three mailings resulted in a return of 2400 (60%) surveys, of which 1951 (49%) were usable. We examined lifetime and current use in each of the four classes of substances in the context of nursing related-factors (e.g. type of nurse, nursing specialty, work setting) and demographic characteristics (e.g. age, marital status). There were significant differences within each of the different groupings. Lifetime experience of negative consequences were relatively rare and few nurses reported dependence on substances other than tobacco and caffeine.

Drinking restraint and alcohol-related outcomes: exploring the contributions of beverage instructions, beverage content and self-monitoring.

OBJECTIVE: We examined the role of drinking restraint (temptation and restriction), beverage instructions and content and self- monitoring in alcohol-related outcomes (consumption, subjective intoxication and blood alcohol concentration [BAC]) in a sample of moderate-to heavy-drinking young men. METHOD: Male social drinkers (N = 132) participated in an individualized taste-rating task (TRT), an unobtrusive method for determining ad libitum alcohol consumption. Beverages were presented using the format of the balanced placebo design (BPD), in which subjects' expectation of an alcoholic versus a non- alcoholic beer was crossed with their receipt of an alcoholic versus a nonalcoholic beer. During a single 30-minute drinking occasion, each subject sampled two beers and rated their taste characteristics on a computer. RESULTS: Consumption during the TRT, ratings of subjective intoxication and postdrinking BAC, served as criterion variables in regressions in which BPD beverage condition, the two aspects of drinking restraint, self-monitoring, and their interactions, served as the predictors. The results indicated that TRT consumption was mainly a function of the temptation to drink (an aspect of restraint). As expected, assignment to the conditions of the BPD predicted subjective intoxication and BAC. Self-monitoring did not have an impact on any of the alcohol- related outcomes. CONCLUSIONS: The results for TRT consumption suggest that drinking restraint, particularly the temptation to drink (i.e., view the regulation of intake as difficult and/or drink to repair negative affective states), enhances the consumption of social drinkers during a single drinking occasion. Consistent with previous research, the conditions of the BPD predicted some alcohol-related outcomes.

Multiple predictors of illicit drug use in methadone maintenance clients.

Many drug users in methadone maintenance treatment continue to use a variety of illicit drugs. The present study tested a hierarchical, multidimensional model to predict concurrent substance use in methadone maintenance clients. The model incorporated measures of demographics, personality, coping, motivation, and methadone beliefs. Subjects were 94 male and female injecting drug users in methadone treatment. Using multiple regression, results showed that a model incorporating all the predictors accounted for 51% of the variance in self-reported drug use. The study highlights the importance of using multidimensional models to study the complex factors involved in drug use.