Impacts of alcohol consumption by mothers and fathers, parental monitoring, adolescent disclosure and novelty-seeking behaviour on the likelihood of alcohol use and inebriation among adolescents

The aim of this prospective cohort study was to examine how alcohol consumption by mothers and fathers, parental monitoring (knowledge, control, and solicitation), adolescent disclosure and novelty seeking were associated with the likelihood of alcohol use and inebriation among adolescents in three different age groups (13–14 years, 14–15 years, and 17 years). The results showed that alcohol consumption by parents is of significance for adolescent alcohol consumption (odds ratio mothers: 1.47 [1.17–1.84], odds ratio fathers 1.33 [1.08–1.65]) and inebriation, especially in the 17-year-old age group. The results showed that novelty seeking was a strong risk factor in all three age groups, while parental control and knowledge had no impact. This study shows that parental solicitation increased the odds at age 17 for alcohol consumption (2.64 [1.02–6.83]) and inebriation, while adolescent disclosure decreased the odds (0.18 [0.05–0.68]). In summary, the study shows that parents should be particularly attentive to adolescents with high novelty-seeking behaviour and that parental alcohol consumption influences adolescent alcohol habits.publishedVersio

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. Hence, little is known about this measure. If response biases are either common or consequential, current practices of ignoring the MD scale deserve revision. Therewith, we designed a study to investigate 3 aspects of minimization, as defined by the CTQ’s MD scale: 1) its prevalence; 2) its latent structure; and finally 3) whether minimization moderates the CTQ’s discriminative validity in terms of distinguishing between psychiatric patients and community volunteers. Archival, item-level CTQ data from 24 multinational samples were combined for a total of 19,652 participants. Analyses indicated: 1) minimization is common; 2) minimization functions as a continuous construct; and 3) high MD scores attenuate the ability of the CTQ to distinguish between psychiatric patients and community volunteers. Overall, results suggest that a minimizing response bias—as detected by the MD subscale—has a small but significant moderating effect on the CTQ’s discriminative validity. Results also may suggest that some prior analyses of maltreatment rates or the effects of early maltreatment that have used the CTQ may have underestimated its incidence and impact. We caution researchers and clinicians about the widespread practice of using the CTQ without the MD or collecting MD data but failing to assess and control for its effects on outcomes or dependent variables

Diagnosinstrument för beroende och missbruk - Granskning av ADDIS validitet och interna konsistens gällande alkoholproblem

The Swedish National Board on Health and Welfare recommends that structured assessment instruments should be used in medical as well as in social treatment of substance misusers. These should be validated in a Swedish context. Instruments for diagnoses of dependence/abuse (DSM-IV) and dependence/harmful use (ICD-10) have been used in Sweden for many years, although not yet validated in Swedish. ADDIS, the Swedish version of the American SUDDS, is used in four Nordic countries and the most often used diagnostic instrument in Sweden. This article investigates the psychometric properties of ADDIS alcohol module, including discriminant and construct validity and internal consistency. The two main constructs in DSM - dependence and abuse - as well as the seven criteria for dependence and the four criteria for abuse are studied. Further, the value of each of the 44 specific items in ADDIS for capturing these criteria is studied. Two samples are explored: 1) a clinical sample (n = 349; incl. 129 women) and 2) a sample of 400 men convicted for driving while intoxicated. Mean age was the same (41 ys.). Using discriminant analyses on lifetime prevalence, the items correctly classify 94% of the cases in the two samples. Using one-factor principal component analysis to explore homogeneity of the combined samples, all 28 items on dependence and 15 of 18 items on abuse have loadings above 0,40 (R2 dependence = 0,46; abuse = 0,40). Separate analyses of the two samples, as well as on women, show similar results. Cronbach's alpha is excellent for dependence and satisfactory for abuse in all analyses. Analyses of specific criteria show satisfactory results on dependence and acceptable on abuse. Minor revisions are proposed to make ADDIS more user-friendly and to improve some specific items. In conclusion: ADDIS has acceptable to excellent discriminant and construct validity as well as internal consistency and captures the specific criteria of DSM-IV. It has the preconditions for sensitive assessment of alcohol use disorders in men and women

Eftervården eftersatt! En genomgång av studier om fortsatt vård efter LVM

Hur fungerar eftervården efter LVM? I vilken omfattning finns den och vad har den för innehåll? Behövs den? Det är några frågor som berörs i denna artikel av Arne Gerdner, lektor i socialt arbete, Mitthögskolan, Östersund, som tidigare har presenterat många studier om LVM-vården och dess utfall. Ibland diskuteras under begreppet "eftervård" även andra viktiga stödåtgärder som handlar om boende, sysselsättning och försörjning etc. Andra har påvisat stora brister i dessa avseenden (se t.ex. Yohannes m.fl. 2002). Denna artikel koncentreras dock på frågan om eftervård i en snävare mening, dvs insatser som handlar om stöd, vård och behandling med fokus på att hantera missbruket.</p