Serotonin and addiction prevention

We present a detailed theoretical and methodological expertise for the implementation of the author's program for students “Safe Internet”. This program is relevant due to the need to study the effectiveness of comprehensive preventive work, including primary, secondary and tertiary prevention of Internet addiction among students in an integrated group in the conditions of the educational process at the university, since this approach helps to reduce the risk of the occurrence and development of this addiction in the student environment. We present the methodological basic principles of the program and its novelty, which fundamentally distinguishes the author's preventive program from similar ones. The form of organizing work with students in this direction and the content part of the program include three blocks: a block on working with the family (focused on educating the family); a block of personal development (focused on revealing students' personal resources that prevent the emergence or development of addiction); a leisure block (focused on productive employment of students and exciting leisure). We disclose and developed methodically each block. The structure of the program is built in such a way that the holistic and consistent implementation of all its constituent parts ensures that the primary, secondary and tertiary prevention of Internet-addictive behavior among students is carried out simultaneously in the conditions of the university.

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Addressing Addictive Behaviors in the Workplace

Substance Abuse and Addiction ◽

10.4018/978-1-5225-7666-2.ch022 ◽

2019 ◽

pp. 412-432

Author(s):

Debra N. Weiss-Randall ◽

Nancy Rich

Keyword(s):

Work Environment ◽

Addiction Treatment ◽

Addictive Behaviors ◽

Addiction Prevention ◽

Workplace Policies ◽

Employee Incentives ◽

Lost Productivity ◽

Related Drug ◽

Healthy Work ◽

Drug Free

Addictive behaviors pose increasingly serious problems in the workplace. Approximately 70% of the estimated 14.8 million Americans who use illegal drugs are employed. Recent changes in marijuana laws are a cause for concern. Substance abuse in the workplace costs employers an estimated $81 billion a year in workers' compensation, medical costs, absenteeism, lost productivity, and employee turnover. Managers needs to implement drug-free workplace policies and provide a healthy work environment to reduce stress-related drug abuse. EAPs must provide prevention activities that target at-risk employees, and identify users who need treatment. Health insurance should cover addiction treatment. Addiction is a function of not only the individual's behaviors and genetic disposition, but also his or her environmental influences. The workplace is an ideal setting for an addiction prevention program, as employees spend much of their waking lives there. Through strong leadership and provision of employee incentives, companies can make a healthy drug-free workplace a reality.

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Efficacy of a smartphone-based coaching program for addiction prevention among apprentices: study protocol of a cluster-randomised controlled trial

BMC Public Health ◽

10.1186/s12889-020-09995-6 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 20 (1) ◽

Author(s):

Severin Haug ◽

Raquel Paz Castro ◽

Andreas Wenger ◽

Michael P. Schaub

Keyword(s):

Randomised Controlled Trial ◽

Cigarette Smoking ◽

Internet Use ◽

Controlled Trial ◽

Intervention Group ◽

Cluster Randomised Controlled Trial ◽

Control Group ◽

Addiction Prevention ◽

Cluster Randomised ◽

Randomised Controlled

Abstract Background A large proportion of apprentices shows addictive behaviours like cigarette smoking, alcohol, cannabis, or compulsive Internet use, others do not show such behaviours at all. ready4life is a smartphone application-based coaching program for apprentices, which takes into account the heterogeneity of adolescent addictive behaviour by promoting life skills and reducing risk behaviours. The main objective of the planned study is to test the efficacy of ready4life for addiction prevention among apprentices in Switzerland within a controlled trial. Methods/design The efficacy of the ready4life coaching program will be tested in comparison to an assessment only control group, within a cluster-randomised controlled trial with one follow-up assessment after 6 months. At the beginning of the program, participants of the intervention group will receive an individual profile, showing areas in which they have sufficient resources and in which there is a need for coaching. Based on this feedback, they can select two out of the following six program modules: stress, social skills, Internet use, tobacco/e-cigarettes, cannabis, and alcohol. Participants of the intervention group will receive individualised coaching by a conversational agent (chatbot) for a period of four months. The coaching relies on motivational and social-cognitive principles of behaviour change. Within weekly dialogues, the coach provides individually tailored information in different formats, such as videoclips, texts, or pictures. Study participants will be 1318 apprentices with a minimum age of 15, recruited in approximately 100 vocational school classes in Switzerland. Primary outcome will be a composite measure for addictive behaviours including (1) at risk-drinking, (2) tobacco/e-cigarette smoking, (3) cannabis use, and (4) problematic Internet use. Discussion The study will reveal whether this universally implementable but individually tailored intervention approach is effective in preventing the onset and escalation of addictive behaviors among apprentices. Trial registration ISRCTN59908406 (registration date: 21/10/2020).

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Limited access to family-based addiction prevention services for socio-economically deprived families in Switzerland: a grounded theory study

International Journal for Equity in Health ◽

10.1186/s12939-020-01305-1 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 19 (1) ◽

Author(s):

Andreas Pfister ◽

Nikola Koschmieder ◽

Sabrina Wyss

Keyword(s):

Grounded Theory ◽

Everyday Life ◽

Prevention Services ◽

Poverty Threshold ◽

Addiction Prevention ◽

The Family ◽

Economically Deprived ◽

German Speaking ◽

Family Based ◽

Search For Information

Abstract Background Families living in poor socio-economic circumstances, already confronted with social and health inequalities, are often not reached by family-based addiction prevention services. Besides quantitative models and health literacy approaches, qualitative research is lacking that could shed light on the exact circumstances and processes that lead to hindered addiction prevention service uptake by these families. Drawing on the concept of candidacy, we therefore reconstructed how socio-economically deprived parents and their (pre) adolescent children in the German-speaking part of Switzerland (non-)identified their candidacy for family-based addiction prevention services. Methods Following grounded theory, we collected and analysed data in an iterative-cyclical manner using theoretical sampling and theoretical coding techniques. Sixteen families with children aged 10–14 years were interviewed in depth (parent/s and child separately). All but one family lived below the at-risk-of-poverty threshold. Results Socio-economically deprived families’ modes of recognizing and handling problems in everyday life were found to be core phenomena that structure the process towards (non) identification of candidacy for family-based addiction prevention services. Four modes anchored within socio-demographic resources were found: Families with mode A perceived their current life situation as existentially threatening and focused daily coping on the main pressing problem. Others (mode B) perceived prevalent multiple problems as normal (now); problems were normalized, often not recognized as such. In mode C families, problems were pragmatically recognized at a low threshold and pragmatically dealt with, mostly within the family. In mode D families, problems were constantly produced and dealt with early by the worried and anxious parents monitoring their child. From modes D to A, vulnerability increased concerning non-identification of candidacy for family-based addiction prevention services. Further, thematic relevance of addiction prevention, past experience with offers, integration in systems of assistance, strategies to protect the family, and families’ search for information influenced whether identification of candidacy took place. Conclusions Socio-economically deprived families differ in modes of problem construction and handling in everyday life; this differently opens up or closes routes to family-based addiction prevention. Addiction prevention practice should build on a bundle of diverse strategies for outreach to these families, stressing especially interventions on the structural and environmental level.

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Challenges to create an evidence-based programme register in France

European Journal of Public Health ◽

10.1093/eurpub/ckz185.507 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 29 (Supplement_4) ◽

Author(s):

P Arwidson ◽

C Verry-Jolive

Keyword(s):

Public Health ◽

Health Promotion ◽

Disease Prevention ◽

Scientific Literature ◽

The United States ◽

Expert Committee ◽

Evidence Based ◽

Local Health ◽

Addiction Prevention ◽

Prevention Interventions

Abstract The majority of health promotion and disease prevention interventions implemented in both targeted and general populations have unknown effectiveness. This contrasts with drug treatments which must be proven effective before they can be prescribed. The recent evaluation of four addiction prevention interventions chosen by public health implementers showed that two had positive impacts on addiction prevention and two had deleterious effects. Despite over 50 years’ worth of scientific literature on the evaluation of health promotion and disease prevention programmes, it is little known and little used by project promoters. These promoters cannot be blamed for not using this literature as it is often difficult to access, to read and to understand. Even if they successfully access and read the articles, interventions are often not described properly, rendering the text useless for implementers. It is therefore necessary to create interfaces that translate this literature into a form useful for funders and project promoters. As a result, Public Health France has studied existing portals in both the United States and in Europe. An independent double-reviewing process comparable to the review process used by scientific journals for manuscripts as in the Norwegian portal was chosen for this reason.An expert committee has worked during more than one year to design and test a scoring grid that will be published soon. The 80+ programme evaluations found in the scientific literature will now be reviewed with the approved grid. Public Health France has also begun visiting each region in France to present the portal to local health authorities and NGOs to enable project promoters to submit their programmes soon and to promote the use of evidence-based or research-based programmes when possible.

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