scholarly journals Implicit and Explicit Self-Identification as a Drug User in People Who Used Heroin and Methamphetamine

2021 ◽  
Vol 12 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jianyong Chen ◽  
Meng Zhang ◽  
Jifan Zhou ◽  
Xinyu Li ◽  
Feng Zhang ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Drug Use ◽  
Drug User ◽  
Implicit Association Test ◽  
Drug Users ◽  
Implicit Associations ◽  
Self Identity ◽  
Frequency Of Use ◽  
Collective Group ◽  
Single Category ◽  
Implicit And Explicit

Implicit and explicit self-identification as a drug user specific to the substance used (e.g., viewing oneself as a drinker) have been examined, as they relate to that drug use. However, studies have rarely explored whether identifying as a “drug user” differs implicitly and explicitly for people who use different drugs and how this identification relates to drug-use behaviors or abstinence. This study examined implicit and explicit self-identification as a “drug user” and their associations with drug-use behaviors and abstinence in people who used heroin (PWUH) and people who used methamphetamine (PWUM). Forty PWUH and 35 PWUM in a rehabilitation facility completed the single category implicit association test (SC-IAT), which evaluated implicit associations of a “drug user” with “self,” and a measure of explicit self-identification as a “drug user.” Prior drug-use behaviors and current abstinence duration of the participants were assessed. PWUH demonstrated stronger implicit “self + drug user” associations and higher levels of explicit self-identification as a “drug user” than PWUM. A higher frequency of drug use was associated with higher levels of explicit drug-user self-identity, and longer abstinence duration was positively related to stronger implicit “self + drug user” associations in PWUH. The drug type of heroin (vs. methamphetamine) participants used was associated with a higher frequency of use, which, in turn, predicted higher levels of explicit drug-user self-identity. Given that the PWUH group differs from the PWUM group in terms of implicit and explicit self-identification as “drug users,” it would be more appropriate to address drug-user self-identity of individuals according to the substance they use rather than as a collective group.

Situational Victimization Cues Strengthen Implicit and Explicit Self-Victim Associations: An Experiment With College-Aged Adults

2020 ◽  
pp. 088626052092236
Author(s):  
Nicole M. Sachs ◽  
Bonita M. Veysey ◽  
Luis M. Rivera
Keyword(s):  
Identity Formation ◽  
Implicit Association Test ◽  
Social Identities ◽  
Self Report ◽  
Repeat Victimization ◽  
Situational Cues ◽  
Single Category ◽  
Victimization Experience ◽  
Implicit And Explicit ◽  
Analyze Data

Contextually salient social identities are those that individuals may not think of often but that may be temporarily activated by relevant situational cues. We hypothesized that victim, one of many identities people may possess, is a contextually salient identity that operates both implicitly and explicitly. To test this hypothesis, the present research tests the effect of a situational victimization cue on implicit and explicit self-victim associations. We utilized an experiment with a 2 (Victimization salience: yes vs. no) × 2 (Past victimization experience: yes vs. no) between-participants design. One hundred eighty-one undergraduate student participants were recruited and randomized into one of two conditions: (a) an experimental condition reminding them of a previous victimization experience or (b) a control condition whereby they did not receive a reminder. All participants then completed one Single-Category Implicit Association Test, and self-report measures of explicit self-victim associations and victimization experience. Between-participants analyses of variance were used to analyze data. Results indicated that individuals who were reminded of a previous victimization exhibited stronger explicit and implicit self-victim associations compared to those who were not reminded. This research provides initial evidence that victim is a contextually salient identity, which has implications for the factors and processes underlying identity formation, revictimization, and the prevention of repeat victimization.

Crack Abusers and Noncrack Abusers: Profiles of Drug Use, Drug Sales and Nondrug Criminality

1994 ◽  
Vol 24 (1) ◽  
pp. 117-141 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bruce D. Johnson ◽  
Mangai Natarajan ◽  
Eloise Dunlap ◽  
Elsayed Elmoghazy
Keyword(s):  
Drug Use ◽  
Drug User ◽  
Drug Abusers ◽  
Cash Income ◽  
Use Patterns ◽  
Drug Sales ◽  
Crack Use ◽  
Frequency Of Use ◽  
User Groups ◽  
The Cost

Based on more than one thousand interviews with drug abusers in 1988 and 1989, the drug use patterns, selling behavior, and other crimes (robbery, burglary theft, etc.) of crack abusers are compared with those of heroin injectors, cocaine snorters, marijuana-only users, and nondrug users. Several striking differences in the frequency of crack use and dealing emerge among the various drug user types. Crack abusers were found to be using drugs at high rates and were receiving high incomes from drug sales and nondrug criminality. Among crack abusers, crack use greatly exceeded the cost and frequency of use of other specific drugs, which they were also consuming. For all user subgroups, crack selling was the most frequent crime and generated the largest cash income. Important patterns of polydrug use were found among most drug user groups. These findings have important implications for policies directed toward drug abusers.

Names Matter in the Opioid Epidemic

Pained ◽  
2020 ◽  
pp. 125-126
Author(s):  
Michael D. Stein ◽  
Sandro Galea
Keyword(s):  
Drug Use ◽  
Drug Users ◽  
Opioid Epidemic ◽  
Drug Problem ◽  
Self Identity ◽  
Collective Effort ◽  
The Face ◽  
The Right ◽  
A Minor ◽  
Persons Who Use Drugs

This chapter discusses the stigma attached to those who use drugs. We are accustomed to using language to distance ourselves from those with substance use problems, making sure we mark those who use drugs as “the other,” as not like us. Indeed, we have used nouns to label those who use drugs so that they are discredited; this has consequences for their self-identity. Part of the challenge of the opioid epidemic is the ongoing stigmatization of persons who use drugs. We have shown ourselves to be comfortable letting the problems of persons who use drugs remain their business, deluding ourselves into thinking the health of drug users is not intimately tied to our own. The current epidemic has taught us that we all know someone who has developed a drug problem. In the face of this crisis, quibbling over words may seem like a distraction, a minor issue, but, in fact, using the right language to talk about drug use is a step toward ending this epidemic. It helps us remember drug use is not just a problem for “them,” but for everyone, and that only through compassion and collective effort can we effectively address the disease of addiction.

scholarly journals Researching Hard-to Reach Populations: Privileged Access Interviewers and Drug Using Parents

2005 ◽  
Vol 10 (2) ◽  
pp. 55-62 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nicola Jane Taylor ◽  
Jackie Kearney
Keyword(s):  
Drug Use ◽  
Drug User ◽  
Drug Users ◽  
Service Providers ◽  
Privileged Access ◽  
Veil Of Ignorance ◽  
Policy Makers ◽  
Hard To Reach Populations ◽  
The Media

Accessing drug using populations is notoriously fraught with difficulties for researchers (Gurdin & Patterson, 1987; Griffiths, Gosspo & Strang, 1993; Renzetti & Lee, 1993; Spreen & Zwaagstra, 1994; Goode, 2000; Elliott et al., 2002). These difficulties are the result of a number of reasons. The main one being that drug use is often illicit and/or illegal which often leads to the stigmatization of drug users within the media and elsewhere and this may ultimately lead to their lives being ‘concealed by a veil of ignorance’ (Elliott et al., 2002: 172). When one adds to this the fact that the population in question may have even more reason to remain hidden, for example, that they are drug using parents who may wish to conceal their identity as either parent or as drug user, accessing them may be even more complicated for researchers, service providers and policy makers alike.

scholarly journals Implicit and explicit affective associations towards cannabis use in patients with recent-onset schizophrenia and healthy controls

2009 ◽  
Vol 40 (8) ◽  
pp. 1325-1336 ◽  
Author(s):  
N. Dekker ◽  
A. M. Smeerdijk ◽  
R. W. Wiers ◽  
J. H. Duits ◽  
G. van Gelder ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Psychotic Disorder ◽  
Treatment Strategies ◽  
Cannabis Use ◽  
Implicit Associations ◽  
Healthy Controls ◽  
Recent Onset ◽  
Important Mediator ◽  
Single Category ◽  
Affective Associations ◽  
Implicit And Explicit

BackgroundCannabis use is common in patients with recent-onset schizophrenia and this is associated with poor disease outcome. More insight in the cognitive-motivational processes related to cannabis use in schizophrenia may inform treatment strategies. The present study is the first known to compare implicit and explicit cannabis associations in individuals with and without psychotic disorder.MethodParticipants consisted of 70 patients with recent-onset psychotic disorder and 61 healthy controls with various levels of cannabis use. Three Single-Category Implicit Association Tests (SC-IAT) were used to assess ‘relaxed’, ‘active’ and ‘negative’ implicit associations towards cannabis use. Explicit expectancies of cannabis use were assessed with a questionnaire using the same words as the SC-IAT.ResultsThere were no differences in implicit associations between patients and controls; however, patients scored significantly higher on explicit negative affect expectancies than controls. Both groups demonstrated strong negative implicit associations towards cannabis use. Explicit relaxed expectancies were the strongest predictors of cannabis use and craving. There was a trend for implicit active associations to predict craving.ConclusionsThe findings indicate that patients suffering from schizophrenia have associations towards cannabis similar to controls, but they have stronger negative explicit cannabis associations. The strong negative implicit associations towards cannabis could imply that users of cannabis engage in a behaviour they do not implicitly like. Explicit relaxing expectancies of cannabis might be an important mediator in the continuation of cannabis use in patients and controls.

scholarly journals How has the COVID-19 Epidemic Changed Drug Use and the Drug Market in Slovenia?

2021 ◽  
Vol 30 (2) ◽  
pp. 313-332
Author(s):  
Matej Sande ◽  
Simona Šabić ◽  
Mina Paš ◽  
Marko Verdenik
Keyword(s):  
Drug Use ◽  
Representative Sample ◽  
Drug Users ◽  
Illicit Drugs ◽  
Drug Market ◽  
Online Questionnaire ◽  
Drugs And Alcohol ◽  
Frequency Of Use ◽  
Financial Consequences ◽  
Sources Of Support

The purpose of our study was to explore the effect of the COVID-19 epidemic on drug use, the drug market and the availability of help and support in Slovenia. Through an online questionnaire, we collected a non-representative sample of 680 people who used drugs before and during the epidemic in 2020. The results showed the use of illicit drugs and alcohol has reduced. A significant increase in the frequency of use has only been detected in marijuana. The most prominent changes in the drug market were the reduced number of drug dealers and lower availability of certain drugs. Accessibility to drug services has been reduced and respondents also had significant financial consequences due to loss of work. Due to decreased availability of sources of support at the time of the epidemic, adjustments to services for drug users are necessary before the end of the COVID-19 pandemic in terms of promoting online interventions and maintaining contact with users when the services are not physically accessible.

scholarly journals Gender differences in characteristics of drug users presenting to a Dublin syringe exchange

1999 ◽  
Vol 16 (4) ◽  
pp. 131-135 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tony Geoghegan ◽  
Mary O'Shea ◽  
Gemma Cox
Keyword(s):  
Health Promotion ◽  
Drug Use ◽  
Drug User ◽  
Sexual Partner ◽  
Drug Users ◽  
Risk Behaviour ◽  
Syringe Exchange ◽  
Intravenous Drug Use ◽  
Female Clients ◽  
Injecting Drug User

AbstractObjectives: This study explores the gender difference in patterns of drug use, risk behaviour, health and well-being among 934 new attenders at a Dublin syringe exchange.Method: Over the period May 1997 to April 1998 data was collected by means of structured interviews with all clients who presented for the first time at Merchant's Quay health promotion unit. All information collected was based on clients' self-reported behaviour.Results: Of the new clients, 24.3% were female and 75.7% were male. The female clients were significantly younger than their male counterparts (p < 0.0001). The women were significantly more likely to report having a sexual partner who was an injecting drug user (OR 9.04, 95% CI, 5.9-13.9) and to be living with an injecting drug user (OR 1.69, 95% CI, 1.2-2.3). They were also significantly more likely to share injecting equipment with their sexual partner (OR = 3.83, 95% CI, 2.7-5.5) and to report recently sharing injecting paraphernalia (OR = 1.79, 95% CI, 1.3-2.5). However, the interval between initiating intravenous drug use and first presenting at the Merchant's Quay health promotion unit was significantly shorter for female clients (p < 0.0001).Conclusions: One of the most important concerns with regard to illicit intravenous drug use is that of needle sharing, and the associated risks of infection with human immunodeficiency virus and hepatitis. This study highlights the greater personal involvement of women with other drug users, and its consequences in terms of healthrelated problems and risk behaviour. There is a need to address this issue, by taking advantage of the fact that women present for treatment at a younger age than their male counterparts and at a much earlier stage in their injecting career.

Implicit associations in eating disorders: An experimental study with the “self-esteem” implicit associations test

2011 ◽  
Vol 26 (S2) ◽  
pp. 719-719 ◽  
Author(s):  
S. Fronza ◽  
E. Galimberti ◽  
E. Fadda ◽  
F. Fanini ◽  
L. Bellodi
Keyword(s):  
Eating Disorders ◽  
Implicit Association Test ◽  
Self Esteem ◽  
Clinical Samples ◽  
Implicit Associations ◽  
Significant Difference ◽  
Self Reports ◽  
Implicit Associations Test ◽  
Implicit And Explicit ◽  
Concept Attribute

IntroductionGreenwald et al. (1998) developed The implicit Association Test (IAT) to measure automatic concept-attribute associations. Several evidences showed that Eating Disorders (EDs) were charactterized by a low explicit self-esteem.ObjectivesThe first aim was the evaluation of implicit self-esteem in a sample of patients with EDs. Second aim was to verify the correlation between implicit and explicit self-esteem, hypothesizing that they could represent two independent constructs.MethodsA IAT modeled to assess self-esteem (Self-esteem IAT) has been administered to 17 Anorexia Nervosa (AN), 14 Bulimia Nervosa (BN), 17 Binge Eating (BED) patients and 32 healthy controls (HC). In IAT, the target categories were represented by the words «SELF / OTHER» and «agreeable / disagreeable». A positive IAT effect suggest a negative implicit self esteem, instead a negative IAT effect suggest a positive implicit self-esteem. Traditional self reports were used to evaluate explicit self-esteem to all participants.ResultsResults showed a significant difference between HC and clinical groups in implicit self-esteem. HC and BED showed positive IAT effect, instead AN and BN shows a negative IAT effect. No correlations between implicit and explicit self-esteem were found.ConclusionResults showed that HC has a much more positively implicit self-esteem compared to clinical samples. An interesting result concerns the absence of any significant correlation between the implicit and explicit self-esteem, that could suggests that the implicit self-esteem is an independent construct respect to the explicit one.

scholarly journals Poly and Tricky Dick: The drug war origins of the term “polydrug use”

2018 ◽  
Vol 35 (6) ◽  
pp. 404-412 ◽  
Author(s):  
Axel Klein
Keyword(s):  
Drug Use ◽  
Drug User ◽  
Social Practice ◽  
Drug Users ◽  
War On Drugs ◽  
Early Years ◽  
Nixon Administration ◽  
Polydrug Use ◽  
Problematic Use ◽  
The Us

Polydrug use is presented as a particular drug-use phenomenon when the combination of substances is and always has been the practice. The origin of the term is found in the early years of the war on drugs under the Nixon administration in the US, when it was used to justify the intensification of repressive measures against drug users and to counter the growing accommodation and normalisation of cannabis. Only by presenting cannabis as the first step towards the use of harder drugs could the repression of this largely innocuous and widely used substance be justified. Drug users were presented as “polydrug users”, which offered an explanation of problematic use as rooted in the drug user, the addict, who would switch substances in accordance with availability and price. Having become established for political reasons, the term has become entrenched because it resonates and vividly describes social practice. Yet it does not add to understanding of social reality but occludes and confuses because it presents “polydrug” as a particular and peculiar pattern of consumption and not as the norm.

scholarly journals Need for support or economic competition? Implicit associations with immigrants during the 2015 migrant crisis

2018 ◽  
Vol 5 (2) ◽  
pp. 205316801876813 ◽  
Author(s):  
David Johann ◽  
Kathrin Thomas
Keyword(s):  
News Media ◽  
Implicit Association Test ◽  
Implicit Associations ◽  
Panel Survey ◽  
Economic Competition ◽  
Policy Makers ◽  
Online Panel ◽  
National Election Study ◽  
Need For Support ◽  
Single Category

How did the Austrian public think about immigrants at the peak of the 2015 migrant crisis? News media and policy makers suggested a cleavage in public opinion along the lines of humanitarian support and economic competition. We empirically disentangle these groups using a Single Category Implicit Association Test (SC-IAT). The data were collected by Project Implicit as a part of an online panel survey initiated by the Austrian National Election Study (AUTNES). The analyses reveal that Austrian citizens predominantly associate immigrants with the need for support. However, implicit associations also seem to vary depending on citizens’ backgrounds and beliefs. The findings further indicate that implicit associations towards immigrants affect citizens’ policy preferences.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document