The Brief Addiction Science Information Source (BASIS)

Addiction & the Humanities, Vol. 5(8) - Addiction recovery as TV drama: A&E’s “The Cleaner”

During recent years, television-based portrayals of mental health problems, particularly addiction, have exploded, both in terms of the number of shows addressing these issues and in their viewership. Leading the way is the A&E network whose prime time hit, “Intervention,” is a reality program that documents individuals and families struggling with addiction. During the show, protagonists prepare for, and execute, a Vernon Johnson style Intervention method. Influenced by the early success of this show, A&E now airs the reality programs “Obsessed,” which tracks the lives and treatment of those with anxiety disorders, and “Hoarders,” which follows individuals who obsessively accumulate... Read more →

ASHES, Vol. 5(8) - Lessons Learned from an Evaluation of a Smoking Cessation Program

Adolescent smoking rates in tobacco-growing states are higher than the national average (Eaton et al., 2008). Adolescents from these communities face unique social pressures that deter them from quitting smoking. The Adolescent Cessation of Tobacco: Independent of Nicotine (ACTION) program was designed to help adolescents who live in tobacco-growing communities stop using tobacco by prompting them to reflect on social pressures not to quit. This week’s ASHES reviews a recent study (Stein-Seroussi, Stockton, Brodish, & Meyer, 2009) which evaluates the efficacy of ACTION, and, in doing so, highlights several practical issues that can hamper efforts to evaluate school-based intervention programs.... Read more →

The DRAM Vol. 5(8) – Tell me who your friends are and I'll tell you who you are: Romantic relationships and alcohol use by adolescents.

Some people suggest that you can tell a lot about people by the company that they keep. It is unclear, however, whether behavioral similarities of friends and partners are due to influence (people becoming like their friends or partners) or selection (people gravitating toward similar friends or partners). Addressing this issue, this week’s The DRAM reviews a study that examines the associations between adolescent alcohol use and adolescents’ perception of their partners’ alcohol use (van der Zwaluw et al., 2009). Method Participants and procedure: Investigators interviewed parents and adolescents from 428 Dutch families once a year for four years (T1-T4).... Read more →

The WAGER, Vol. 14(7) – College Gambling Activities: Gambling Groups by Games Played

Longitudinal studies have focused on adolescents’ impulsive activities and have found this to be a period during which youth explore and engage in gambling (Vitaro, Wanner, Ladouceur, Brendgen, & Tremblay, 2004; Wanner, Vitaro, Ladouceur, Brendgen, & Tremblay, 2006). However, very few longitudinal studies have focused on the gambling activities of young adults. This week, the WAGER reviews a study (Goudriaan, Slutske, Krull, & Sher, 2009) that examined clusters of gambling activities among college students over a four year period to examine whether there were changes in gambling behavior/participation over time. Methods Incoming students from the University of Missouri-Columbia between the... Read more →

STASH, Vol. 5(7) – Schizophrenia and substance abuse: The risk for violence

Research indicates that people diagnosed with schizophrenia are at an increased risk of committing a violent act compared to those who do not suffer from this mental disorder (Joyal, Dubreucq, Grendon, & Millaud, 2007). What remains uncertain is the degree to which schizophrenic people are at risk for violence (Mullen, Burgess, Wallace, Palmer, & Ruschena, 2000; Rasanen et al., 1998; Steadman et al., 1998). This week’s STASH reviews a longitudinal study that examined how substance abuse affects risk for violent behavior among people with schizophrenia (Fazel, Langstrom, Hjern, Grann, & Lichtenstein, 2009). Methods Study Groups 8,003 people from the nationwide... Read more →