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The present study sought the views of stakeholders, including school leaders and statutory stakeholders, on the content and evaluation of a classroom-based alcohol education intervention in a Randomised Controlled Trial in Scotland and Northern Ireland. Purposive sampling was used to ensure that schools from both the Intervention and Control groups were equally represented, and to ensure that similar numbers and grades of stakeholders in both countries were represented. A total of 27 participants (Male = 13 (48%); Female = 14 (52%)) engaged in a semi-structured interview prior to the end of the trial. Results suggest that: schools generally design their own alcohol education programmes; that intervention schools thought highly of the particular intervention tested; and that both groups engaged meaningfully in the research. The threshold for acceptance of the intervention was lower than the successful outcome of the trial. More pragmatic considerations were considered equally important. From the point of view of the statutory stakeholders, funding of an intervention depends on a successful outcome evaluation, but that "success" may mean a positive impact on at-risk groups, and not necessarily at a universal level. School-based participants also focussed on ease of delivery and user friendliness as key determinants of programme utilisation.

The Temporal Focus Scale (TFS) is a 12-item self-report measure of cognitive engagement with the temporal domains of past, present and future. Developed in college student samples, a three-factor structure with adequate reliability and validity was documented in a series of independent studies. We tested the factor structure of the scale in a sample of Northern Irish adolescents and found that our data supported a three factor structure, although there were problems with item 10. Because time perspective measures have been found to relate differentially to various health behaviours, we tested the relations between scores on the TFS and self-reported alcohol use. Results showed that scores on the TFS were not consistent statistical predictors of drinking category in a logistic regression. Results are discussed in terms of scale development, future scale use and the assessment of health-compromising behaviours such as adolescent alcohol consumption. (Contains 4 tables.)

Time perspective is a cognitive-motivational construct, which has been shown to be related to decision-making, motivation and adjustment. The majority of research into time perspective has been conducted in college students and/or general population samples. Focus groups were held as part of a larger investigation into the relationship between adolescent time perspectives and alcohol-related behaviours. Results show that adolescents conceptualise time in both objective and more abstract ways. In particular, they appear to conceptualise short-term past and future more objectively and long-term past and future in more abstract terms. Their conceptualisation of the present predominated on immediate events, although in some cases the present was an extended one, covering a school-related period of time.

Cross-sectional and longitudinal studies have reported equivocal findings regarding the association between self-esteem, self-efficacy and adolescent alcohol use. Data were collected from a sample of 11-16-year olds in Northern Ireland (n = 4088) over two consecutive academic years measuring global self-esteem, academic, social and emotional self-efficacy and alcohol involvement. Results showed a domain-specific association between alcohol involvement and self-efficacy, with more problematic alcohol use associated with higher social self-efficacy but lower emotional and academic self-efficacy. Additionally, regression analyses revealed that all self-concept measures significantly predicted drinking group membership. The results are discussed in terms of reported drinking behaviour, interventions with adolescent groups and general development. (Contains 5 tables.)

There has been recent UK media attention on the global impact of the cocaine trade and the morality of personal use of cocaine powder. In this study we investigated whether people who use cocaine engage in moral disengagement (MD) strategies to reduce anticipated guilt associated with use. Participants read text describing the impact of the global cocaine market on others and completed a range of measures including assessments of substance use, MD, anticipated guilt, internalised moral identity, and empathy. We hypothesised that cocaine-related MD would positively predict cocaine use, and this would be partly mediated by anticipated guilt. Complete data were obtained from 254 participants through an anonymous cross-sectional survey (59.8% Female; mean age 30.8 ± 12.6 years). Our hypotheses were supported; (i) MD predicted cocaine use positively and anticipated guilt negatively; (ii) anticipated guilt negatively predicted cocaine use; anticipated guilt partially mediated the relationship between MD and cocaine use. People who use powder cocaine may use MD to reduce the anticipated guilt associated with knowledge of the harms associated with the drugs trade. Campaigns that focus on the morality of cocaine use or ethical choices may therefore have limited impact unless MD is challenged as part of these campaigns. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract Cyproheptadine is a cheap, widely available anti-allergy drug with a broad receptor binding profile which resembles that of clozapine. In rats discriminating clozapine from vehicle cyproheptadine mimicked clozapine very [...]

Abstract Previous investigations of the subjective effects of MDMA (material sold as ecstasy) have conducted interviews and surveys of various groups of ecstasy users within particular sub-populations. This study examined [...]

Stigmatising attitudes towards people who use drugs are pervasive amongst the public. We investigated whether public stigma was affected by presentation of a history of adversity, and how substance use was described. A cross-sectional online study using a convenience sample, with a randomised 2 × 2 × 2 factorial design. Participants read one of eight randomly presented vignettes that described a fictional case history of substance use. In each vignette, the gender of the subject (male or female), description of the subject's substance use ('addict' vs substance use disorder), and life history ('tough life' vs description of four adverse childhood experiences (ACEs)) were varied. Participants then completed an adapted version of the attribution questionnaire (AQ-9), which assessed stigmatising beliefs. Data were obtained from 502 participants (53.0% female; mean age 36.5 ± 13.5 years). There was a significant effect of life history on AQ-9 scores (p =.012), and presentation of ACEs was associated with lower stigmatising attitudes. Our findings suggest that describing the life histories of people who have experienced problems with substances may lead to less stigmatising public attitudes. Further research should explore the best ways to utilise this information to develop public-targeted anti-stigma interventions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract National drugs information strategies convey the message that use of Ecstasy is associated with an increase in both the incidence and severity of major depressive disorder. However, very little [...]

The article explores a series of addiction studies undertaken in the late 1970s by researcher Bruce K. Alexander and colleagues at Simon Fraser University in Canada. The studies found that rats housed in enriched environments consumed less morphine than those in isolated cages. Other topics include how the studies became known as "Rat Park," follow-up studies related to the project and replication attempts that offered disparaging results.