Showing posts with label Alcohol use disorder. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Alcohol use disorder. Show all posts

Monday, September 7, 2015

Offenders with Cognitive Deficits in a Canadian Prison Population: Prevalence, Profile, and Outcomes

Impaired cognitive function has been associated with criminal behavior. In Canada it is unknown the extent to which this disorder affects federal inmates or its impact on key correctional outcomes. In this study, 488 incoming male offenders were assessed on the Cognistat, a neuropsychological screening tool. 

Twenty-five percent of offenders were found to have some level of cognitive deficit. Lower levels of educational achievement, unstable employment history, learning disability, serious alcohol problems, and symptoms of Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) were significantly associated with the presence of cognitive deficits in this sample. 

Although there was a significant trend for offenders with cognitive deficits to have more admissions to segregation, level of cognitive deficit was not consistently related to rates of institutional charges or rates of completion of required correctional programs. On release, cognitive deficits were not related to returns to custody or returns to custody with an offence. 

These results indicate that while offenders with cognitive deficits may require assistance with educational upgrading and employment to improve their reintegration potential, they do not pose a particular management problem in the community after release relative to offenders without cognitive deficits.

Via: http://ht.ly/RTPny

By: Stewart LA1Wilton G2Sapers J3.
  • 1Correctional Service of Canada, 340 Laurier Ave W, Ottawa ON, Canada, K1A 0P9. Electronic address: lynn.stewart@csc-scc.gc.ca.
  • 2Correctional Service of Canada, 340 Laurier Ave W, Ottawa ON, Canada, K1A 0P9. Electronic address: geoff.wilton@csc-scc.gc.ca.
  • 3Correctional Service of Canada, 340 Laurier Ave W, Ottawa ON, Canada, K1A 0P9.

Monday, August 17, 2015

The Social Construction of Violence among Northern Plains Tribal Members with Antisocial Personality Disorder and Alcohol Use Disorder

Below:  Northern plains AI-SUPERPFP sampling strategy


Whereas recent reports from national studies have presented extremely high rates for many personality disorders in American Indian communities, persistent concerns about the meaning of these symptoms have left many troubled by these reports. American Indians as a group are known to suffer disproportionately from a number of violent experiences, but the dynamics of this violence have received little attention. This paper examines perspectives on violence in the lives of 15 northern plains tribal members who met criteria for antisocial personality disorder and comorbid alcohol use disorder. It explores how study participants constructed and understood their own violent encounters, as well as the motivations they described (characterized here as reputation, leveling, retaliation, catharsis, and self-defense). Violence was gendered in this study, with men generally presenting as perpetrators and women as victims. Men often described themselves as ready participants in a violent world, while women were quite clear that aggression for them was often simply required as they tried to defend themselves from male violence. While this analysis does not replace clinical analyses of violence in antisocial personality disorder, it does reveal an underlying cultural logic that may play a role in shaping the recourse to violence for that minority of individuals for whom it appears to be the obvious choice.

Read more at:  http://ht.ly/QZHxx HT @UofOklahoma 

Wednesday, August 12, 2015

Alcohol Use Disorder Severity and Reported Reasons Not To Seek Treatment: A Cross-Sectional Study in European Primary Care Practices

Below:  Probabilities of reporting reasons for not seeking treatment, predicted by alcohol use disorder severity. Severity of alcohol use disorders in the past 12 months ranged from sub threshold (reference) to severe as defined by DSM-5. Predictions are based on multinomial logistic regression. Reasons are grouped by Saunders' theoretical framework. 95 % confidence intervals are indicated


Below:  Theoretical framework of the treatment seeking process as suggested by (Saunders et al. [17]). Each step in the process of seeking treatment for an alcohol use disorder is related to specific reasons for not seeking treatment. Reprinted from Journal of Substance Abuse Treatment, 30 (3), Saunders, Zygowicz, & D'Angelo, Person-related and treatment-related barriers to alcohol treatment, p. 261–270, © 2006, with permission from ELSEVIER


Of 1,008 patients diagnosed with an alcohol use disorder (via general practitioner or patient interview) in the past 12 months, the majority (N = 810) did not receive treatment and 251 of those gave a reason for not seeking treatment. The most frequent reason was ‘lack of problem awareness’ (55.3 % of those who responded), the second most common response was ‘stigma or shame’ (28.6 %), followed by ‘encounter barriers’ (22.8 %) and ‘cope alone’ (20.9 %). The results indicated lower probabilities of reporting ‘denial’ and higher probabilities to report ‘encounter barriers’ as alcohol use disorders severity increases. However, both trends were discontinued for patients with severe alcohol use disorders.

Particularly at lower levels of alcohol use disorder severity, a lack of problem awareness prevents patients from seeking treatment. Routinely alcohol consumption monitoring in primary care practices could help primary and secondary prevention of alcohol use disorders and increase treatment coverage.

Read more at:  http://ht.ly/QPX6z HT @CAMHnews