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The Authors’ Own Words: Organizational Predictors and Use of Evidence-Based Practices in Adolescent Substance Abuse Treatment

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We ask authors to describe their impressions regarding the implications of their accepted work, how their findings will change practice, and what is noteworthy about the work.

Organizational Predictors and Use of Evidence-Based Practices in Adolescent Substance Abuse Treatment
Maria Paino , Lydia Aletraris , Paul M. Roman
Substance Abuse
Vol. 36, Iss. 4, 2015

The findings from this paper address treatment quality in settings where adolescents receive SUD treatment. When treatment centers serve adolescents, the adolescent clients are likely to receive care in adolescent-only tracks, thus meeting a minimum threshold of quality for adolescent SUD treatment. Despite evidence that medications for SUD can be used for adolescent clients, they are less likely to receive treatment in centers that offer a variety of Medication-Assisted Treatments, but they are more likely to receive treatment in centers with more extensive psychosocial evidenced based practices. These data were drawn from a nationally representative sample which enhances confidence in generalizability.

The Authors’ Own Words: A Review on Attachment and Adolescent Substance Abuse: Empirical Evidence and Implications for Prevention and Treatment

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We ask authors to describe their impressions regarding the implications of their accepted work, how their findings will change practice, and what is noteworthy about the work.

A Review on Attachment and Adolescent Substance Abuse: Empirical Evidence and Implications for Prevention and Treatment
Andreas Schindler , Sonja Bröning
Substance Abuse
Vol. 36, Iss. 3, 2015

Attachment theory holds great explanatory power with regard to the massive emotional and relational changes occurring during adolescence. Thus far, its influence on the development of SUD during adolescence has been understudied. This paper reviews and structures existing evidence linking attachment and SUD development in order to guide future research in the field. Though we still face a lot of unknowns in the relation between attachment and SUD, there is strong evidence for a general link between SUD and insecure attachment. Data on connections between different patterns of attachment and different pathways towards SUD mainly point to disorganized and externalizing pathways. Evidence suggests that fostering attachment security might improve the outcome of state-of-the-art approaches in both early interventional treatment and prevention.

The Authors’ Own Words: Enrollment in Hispanic Serving Institutions as a Moderator of the Relationship Between Drinking Norms and Quantity of Alcohol Use Among Hispanic College Students

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We ask authors to describe their impressions regarding the implications of their accepted work, how their findings will change practice, and what is noteworthy about the work.
Enrollment in Hispanic Serving Institutions as a Moderator of the Relationship Between Drinking Norms and Quantity of Alcohol Use Among Hispanic College Students
Ellen L. Vaughan , Tiffany K. Chang , Oscar S. Escobar , Marcel A. de Dios
Substance Abuse
Vol. 36, Iss. 3, 2015

Colleges and universities are tasked with understanding the prevention needs of various student populations. Research on Hispanic college students growing, but questions remain regarding the extent to which known correlates of drinking apply in this population. Further, the literature on drinking by Hispanic students at Hispanic Serving Institutions is particularly scarce. The results provide a starting point for understanding differences between institution type and the correlates of drinking. Implications for prevention include that while there were differences in the relationships between norms and personal consumption, norms interventions may be an important part of prevention on both types of campuses. Still, other prevention strategies may need to be quite different for Hispanic students attending predominantly White institutions. Finally, the results also underscores the need for more research that identifies important correlates of drinking for Hispanic students at all types of institutions of higher education.

The Authors’ Own Words: Increased Energy Drink Use as a Predictor of Illicit Prescription Stimulant Use

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We ask authors to describe their impressions regarding the implications of their accepted work, how their findings will change practice, and what is noteworthy about the work.

Increased Energy Drink Use as a Predictor of Illicit Prescription Stimulant Use
Conrad L. Woolsey , Ronald D. Williams , Bert H. Jacobson , Jeff M. Housman , Jason D. McDonald , Julie H. Swartz , Marion W. Evans , Thomas E. Sather , Adam E. Barry , Robert T. Davidson
Substance Abuse
Vol. 36, Iss. 4, 2015

The U.S. Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration ranks non-medical use of prescription drugs as the second most commonly used illicit form of drug use. Additionally, the consumption of energy drinks has increased significantly in recent years. Misuse or abuse of these substances increases health risks for consumers, particularly in college students who are is more likely to use both. A recent study indicated that the frequency of energy drink use may be a significant predictor of the increased odds for illicit prescription stimulant use among college students. The current study replicated and strengthened these previous findings and highlights that the risky behavior of combining energy drinks with prescription stimulants is still relatively high among college students. In general, stimulant users reported significantly more energy drink use which was indicative of increased illicit prescription stimulant use. The strongest predictors of prescription stimulant use were the number of days using energy drinks in the past 30 days and number of energy drink binges in the past 30 days. It is time for concerted efforts to be made to address energy drink use and illicit prescription stimulant use on college campuses. College health promotion campaigns should focus on educating students on the risks of using these substances with particular attention on the promotion of physical activity, balanced nutrition, and mental health which can serve as healthy alternatives to energy drink use.

The Authors’ Own Words: Latino Immigrants’ Biological Parents’ Histories of Substance Use Problems in Their Country of Origin Predict Their Pre- and Post-Immigration Alcohol Use Problems

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We ask authors to describe their impressions regarding the implications of their accepted work, how their findings will change practice, and what is noteworthy about the work.

Latino Immigrants’ Biological Parents’ Histories of Substance Use Problems in Their Country of Origin Predict Their Pre- and Post-Immigration Alcohol Use Problems
Timothy C. Blackson , Mario De La Rosa , Mariana Sanchez , Tan Li
Substance Abuse
Vol. 36, Iss. 3, 2015

This is the first study to document that biological parents’ histories of substance use problems in their country of origin predict recent young adult Latino immigrants’ severity of alcohol use problems pre- and post-immigration to the U.S. As such, it is important for clinicians, health care service providers and social policy advocates to encourage recent Latino immigrants to disclosure their family histories of substance use problems along with their current alcohol use problems so that culturally competent prevention and intervention programs can offer services to redirect Latino immigrants on trajectories to develop alcohol use disorders to healthier post-immigration outcomes. Furthermore, future research studies guided by innovative differential susceptibility theory, which take into account intergenerational family histories of substance use problems, may elucidate etiological mechanisms, processes and gene-environment interactions underlying Latino immigrants’ trajectories to both good and poor post-immigration outcomes.