A Multivariate Associative Finite Growth Mixture Modeling Approach Examining Adolescent Alcohol and Marijuana Use

Theoretical and empirical substance use development research suggests that adolescent populations are not homogenous and can often be separated into subpopulations characterized by qualitatively different patterns of substance use development. This paper demonstrates the application of a multivariate associative finite latent growth mixture modelling approach to examine heterogeneity in patterns of adolescent alcohol and marijuana use and the influence of age, gender, parent, and peer substance use. Substance use problem outcomes were also examined. Participants were male and female adolescents (N = 1,044) ranging in age from 11 to 17 years at the first assessment (Mean age = 14.47; SD = 1.95). Individuals were 45% female and 82% Caucasian. Using growth mixture methodology, a 7-class model captured distinct simultaneous alcohol and marijuana use patterns over a 3-year period. Findings highlight the importance of examining subgroups of adolescent substance use, rather than focusing only on single samples.     

Persons as goods: response to Patrick Lee.

Developing a British perspective on the abortion debate, I take up some ideas from Patrick Lee's fine paper, and pursue, in particular, the idea of individual humans as goods in themselves. I argue that this notion helps us to avoid the familiar mistake of making moral value impersonal. It also shows us the way out of consequentalism. Since the most philosophically viable notion of the person, the individual human, is (as Lee argues) a notion of individual substance that is there from conception, the move has a third effect, which is to rule out abortion.     

The community substance use environment: The development and predictive ability of a multi‐method and multiple‐reporter measure

This study tested the feasibility and utility of developing a multiple‐method and multiple‐reporter measure that describes the community substance use environment. Data on community‐level norms and availability of substances were reported by 5261 students and 181 prevention‐focused community leaders (CL) involved in the 28 promoting school–university–community partnerships to enhance resilience (PROSPER) Project communities between 2002 and 2005. Additionally, locations of alcohol and tobacco outlets were geocoded. Initially, these four subscales were aggregated to measure the community substance use environment. Analyses demonstrated this measure was associated with community rates of adolescent reported cigarette use, but it was not associated with community rates of adolescent reported alcohol use. Further analyses tested the relative strength of the four different subscales in predicting rates of student use. Implications of these results for the field of community‐based prevention are discussed, as well as limitations and future directions. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

A Longitudinal Analysis of Psychiatric Severity upon Outcomes Among Substance Abusers Residing in Self-Help Settings

A longitudinal analysis of psychiatric severity was conducted with a national sample of recovering substance abusers living in Oxford Houses, which are self-run, self-help settings. Outcomes related to residents' psychiatric severity were examined at three follow-up intervals over one year. Over time, Oxford House residents with high versus low baseline psychiatric severity reported significantly more days using psychiatric medication, decreased outpatient psychiatric treatment, yet no significant differences for number of days abstinent and time living in an Oxford House. These findings suggest that a high level of psychiatric severity is not an impediment to residing in self-run, self-help settings such as Oxford House among persons with psychiatric comorbid substance use disorders.     

酒依赖与酒文化

作为一种精神障碍,越来越多的与饮酒有关的问题在我国引起了专业人员的重视。酒依赖不仅对个体的心理和躯体健康有害,还会引起一系列的社会问题。对酒这种精神活性物质作了多维度的评价,描述了形形色色的酒文化现象,探讨了我国酒文化在饮酒及饮酒相关问题发生中的作用。     

The Relationship between Religiosity and Drug Use among “At Risk” Women

This study focuses on the interplay between religiosity and drug use in a sample of 250 adult women from the Atlanta, Georgia metropolitan area who were interviewed between August 1997 and August 2000. The research addresses two principal questions: (1) Is there a relationship between the level of religiosity and the amount of illegal drug use reported? (2) If so, is this relationship maintained in multivariate analysis when the effects of other potentially relevant factors like demographic characteristics, childhood maltreatment experiences, psychosocial traits, and substance user-related measures are taken into account? We found that religiosity is related to the amount of drugs women used. Four variables were retained in the final multivariate drug use prediction model: religiosity, coping with everyday stresses, number of family members who are substance abusers, and amount of oral sex. Greater amounts of drugs were used by women who were less religious, less capable of coping with stress, had more drug-abusing family members, and reported having more oral sex. Together, these items explained nearly one-fifth of the variance in the dependent variable. The implications for substance abuse prevention and intervention efforts are discussed.     

BENCHMARKS AFFECT PERCEPTIONS OF PRIOR DISABILITY IN A STRUCTURED INTERVIEW

Though covered under the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990, job candidates with a record of a disability may be adversely evaluated. Two experiments demonstrate that subtle knowledge of a prior disability creates a bias that can be removed by a structured interview. A job candidate was labeled as having once suffered from depression, substance abuse, cancer, or no disability. The candidate who once suffered from depression or substance abuse was judged more negatively than a control candidate, while a cancer survivor was not. Though disabilities are not perceived equally, benchmarked rating scales can enhance attention to relevant behaviors, thus controlling the potential for bias.We thank Steven Gregson, Michael Records and Cynthia Strickland for their help with pilot studies. Shawn Bocketti is now with IBM, Stephen Maser is with Linkage Incorporated, and Craig Wennet is with the United States Coast Guard.     

Perception: Mirror-Image or Action?

In the article two viewpoints on the mind’s influence on perception are considered. One of them was developed on the assumption that perception is a nonproblematic source of knowledge about the world, which is free from mind’s influence—perception as a mirror-image. Another viewpoint is perception as action, i.e. active search and gathering the relevant information, its processing and evaluation. First viewpoint has dominated in philosophy for a long time, the second one has been developing in psychology from the 80th of the 20th century. The aim of the paper is to examine some philosophically significant corollaries from both positions concerning objectiveness, epistemological status of an observation, truth, meaning of name. Analysis showed that perception as action is non-compatible with many traditional concepts, and it goes both against empiricism and against realism as it involves some critical arguments, e.g. theory ladenness of observations, underdetermination of theory by facts, the historical development of a scientific fact.     

"我思":从笛卡儿到萨特

Cogito, as the first principle of Descartes’ metaphysical system, initiated the modern philosophy of consciousness, becoming both the source and subject of modern Western philosophical discourse. The philosophies of Maine de Biran, Kant, Husserl, Heidegger, Sartre, Merleau-Ponty, and others developed by answering the following questions? Is consciousness substantial or not? Does consciousness require the guarantee of a transcendental subject? Is Cogito epistemological or ontological? Am I a being-for-myself or a being-for-others? Outlining the developmental history of the idea of Cogito from Descartes to Sartre is important for totally comprehending the evolution and development of Western philosophy.