Is screening and brief advice for problem drinkers by clergy feasible? A survey of clergy

Routine screening for alcohol abuse in primary care, with brief advice to stop drinking for those screening positive, can detect individuals with alcohol problems and reduce alcohol use and alcohol induced problems in those detected. Not everyone with alcohol problems sees a physician regularly, however, and not all respond to a physician's brief advice. To explore the feasibility of expanding screening for alcohol problems to clergy, we did a mailed survey to 315 clergy at Christian churches in Cleveland, Ohio. Clergy reported a variety of views about alcohol use and abuse, but most agreed that alcoholism is a disease. They indicated counseling a significant number of parishioners, and were receptive to learning brief screening questions to detect alcohol problems. We conclude that many clergy would be interested in a strategy of screening and then giving brief advice or referral to individuals found to have alcohol problems.     

Disseminating science-based prevention: lessons learned from CSAP's CAPTs

A wide variety of prevention approaches that reduce substance use and associated problems have been developed and tested. But successes have been limited in promoting the use of these scientific advances by the policy makers, practitioners, and concerned citizens. The Center for Substance Abuse Prevention's six regional Centers for the Application of Prevention Technologies (CSAP's CAPTs) are a major mechanism by which CSAP brings research to practice. This article synthesizes the issues that the CAPTs have faced, the solutions they have developed, and conclusions concerning the work that still needs to be done to increase the application of science-based approaches to prevention. These discussions highlight the particular importance of addressing issues related to the larger systems in which prevention programs and strategies operate.     

Different pathways explain alcohol-related problems in female and male college students

ABSTRACT

Objectives: Comprehensive models elucidating the intricate associations of depressive symptoms, coping motives, alcohol use, alcohol-related problems (ARPs), and gender among young adults have been scarcely examined. This study investigated relationships among these variables and the effect of gender on these pathways. Methods: College students (N = 163; 49.7% female) completed self-report measures on alcohol consumption, depressive symptoms, coping motives, and ARPs. Results: Structural equation modeling showed that the association between depressive symptoms and ARPs was mediated by coping motives in both females and males. However, frequency of heavy alcohol use mediated the association between depressive symptoms and ARPs in females but not in males. Conclusions: Different models explain the association between depressive symptoms and ARPs in male and female college students. Prevention programs aimed at reducing ARPs should focus on increasing alcohol screening among students with depressive symptoms, teaching coping skills, and emphasizing moderation in alcohol consumption.     

Social policy and transitions to training and work for disabled young people in the United Kingdom: neo-liberalism for better and for worse?

Although New Labour distanced itself from the neo-liberal ‘underclass’ discourses of its predecessors, its approach to disabled young people maintained key aspects of neo-liberalism, particularly an emphasis on individuals’ human capital, aspirations and self-investments as causes of and solutions to disabled young people’s unemployment. This is also apparent in early Coalition government statements. Since the 1990s, policies have focused on providing individually-tailored advice, developing individuals’ skills, and motivating appropriate self-investment. We examine recent evidence that highlights a number of problems with this focus. Notably, it entails a simplistic and individualised notion of ‘barriers’ to employment that cannot account for the complex impacts of disablement and inequality; moves towards open-market models of training and work support create perverse incentives that divert support away from those most in need; employment success is dependent on unpredictable local opportunity structures; and the focus on paid employment undermines other social contributions made by disabled young people.     

Notes on contributors

This article does not have an abstract     

Racial Differences in Attitudes Toward Professional Mental Health Treatment: The Mediating Effect of Stigma

Stigma associated with mental illness continues to be a pervasive barrier to mental health treatment, leading to negative attitudes about treatment and deterring appropriate care seeking. Empirical research suggests that the stigma of mental illness may exert an adverse influence on attitudes toward mental health treatment and service utilization patterns by individuals with a mental illness, particularly African Americans. However, little research has examined the impact of stigma on racial differences in attitudes toward seeking mental health treatment. This study examined the hypothesis that stigma partially mediates the relationship between race and attitudes towards mental health treatment in a community-based sample of 101 African American and White older adults. Multiple regression analyses and classic path analysis was utilized to test the partial mediation model. Controlling for socio-demographic factors, African American older adults were more likely to have negative attitudes toward mental health treatment, and they also reported more public and internalized stigma than their White counterparts. As hypothesized, the relationship between race and attitudes toward mental health treatment was partially mediated by internalized stigma, suggesting that internalized stigma may cause older adults to develop negative attitudes about mental health treatment. The partial mediation model was not significant for public stigma, however. Implications for social work research and practice are discussed.     

Young Adult Outcomes of Juvenile Court–Involved Girls

ABSTRACT

The recent increase in the number of girls involved in the juvenile justice system has resulted in increased academic and public attention. Thus far, this attention has focused on entry into the juvenile justice system rather than longer-term consequences. This research helps fill this gap by examining a sample of 700 maltreated and/or impoverished juvenile court–involved females. Competing risks models were used to control for time from juvenile-court entry to adult outcomes: criminal justice system involvement, use of public mental health or substance use services, and income maintenance use. Results indicate that there are distinct predictors associated with the different outcomes, although learning disability and adolescent parenthood were associated with higher risk of both mental health/substance use services and income maintenance. Individualized services for juvenile court–involved girls are suggested. Prospective, longitudinal research is needed to investigate intrapsychic and behavioral dynamics associated with females' young adult outcomes.     

Matching in Sexual Experience for Married,Cohabitating, and Dating Couples

This study examined heterosexual romantic partners' number of intercourse partners prior to the initiation of their relationship to determine if a significant positive correlation (matching) occurred between partners, and if this matching was associated with their level of love and satisfaction with and commitment to the relationship. One hundred and six couples who were dating, cohabitating, or married participated in this study. Results indicated that, with the exception of cohabitating couples, romantic partners showed a significant level of matching in the prior number of intercourse partners. Further, among the married couples, a higher discrepancy between men's and women's number of previous intercourse partners was related to lower levels of love, satisfaction, and commitment in the relationship.     

Differential gaze behavior towards sexually preferred and non-preferred human figures

The gaze pattern associated with image exploration is a sensitive index of our attention, motivation, and preference. To examine whether an individual's gaze behavior can reflect his or her sexual interest, this study compared gaze patterns of young heterosexual men and women (M?=?19.94 years, SD?=?1.05) while they viewed photographs of plain-clothed male and female figures aged from birth to 60 years old. The analysis revealed a clear gender difference in viewing sexually preferred figure images. Men displayed a distinctive gaze pattern only when viewing 20-year-old female images, with more fixations and longer viewing times dedicated to the upper body and waist-hip regions. Women also directed more attention at the upper body on female images in comparison to male images, but this difference was not age-specific. Analysis of local image salience revealed that observers' eye-scanning strategies could not be accounted for by low-level processes, such as analyzing local image contrast and structure, but were associated with attractiveness judgments. The results suggest that the difference in cognitive processing of sexually preferred and non-preferred figures can be manifested in gaze patterns associated with figure viewing. Thus, eye-tracking holds promise as a potential sensitive measure for sexual preference, particularly in men.