Search results

The purpose of this paper is to explore the costs and benefits that young adults perceive to be associated with adopting healthier food, alcohol and physical activity behaviours. Social marketing is used to identify and change behaviours within a segmented audience. The approach uses theoretical insights, and an appreciation of an individual’s environment, and a suite of methods to understand and suggest approaches to change behaviours.

Focus groups were conducted between April and August 2007 with a sample of 54 young adults aged 19-24 years, from the North East of England. Qualitative thematic analysis was undertaken using Nvivo software.

Young adults recognise future health benefits that they could gain from following healthier lifestyle behaviours; however, at their present age, their focus is on benefits such as weight regulation and improving one’s appearance. External competitive forces act against these benefits and result in time and effort costs associated with accepting the proposition of healthier lifestyle behaviours.

This paper adds to limited research which has been conducted at the time of “emerging adulthood”, the period of 18-25 years of age. This is despite this being an opportunistic moment in young adult’s lives to encourage them to adopt healthier lifestyle behaviours. Given these results, health messages may need to be reframed to better account for the benefits and costs that young adults associate with healthier lifestyles.

There is a lack of evidence for effective school-based prevention programmes to reduce alcohol misuse in adolescents. The purpose of this paper is to explore teacher’s views about alcohol education in secondary schools in order to inform the subsequent development of new educational and intervention measures.

Semi-structured interviews were conducted with nine female teachers from a range of schools who had responsibility for designing and delivering personal social, health, and economic education (PSHE).

Three main themes were identified in a thematic analysis of the interview transcripts. The themes demonstrated the importance of PSHE to these teachers, who faced challenges in delivering a comprehensive enough curriculum. Alcohol unit knowledge and responsible drinking were priorities for the teachers. However, given the many pressures faced by young people, alcohol could be viewed as just one challenge amongst many.

Interventions may be seen as too compartmentalised by teachers if they fail to address the wider concerns of adolescents. Intervention developers should consider gaining input from teachers on the content of their programmes prior to running a trial to enhance feasibility and acceptability.

There are few studies that have explored what teachers think about alcohol education in general or about the content of specific interventions prior to their implementation. This study adds their voice to the literature and highlights the importance of considering the views and first hand experiences when developing new alcohol interventions aimed at adolescents.

Adolescence and emerging adulthood are key developmental stages with high risk for trauma exposure and the development of mental and substance-use disorders (SUDs). This study aims to compare the clinical profiles of adolescents (aged 12–17 years) and emerging adults (aged 18–25 years) presenting for treatment of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and SUD.

Data was collected from the baseline assessment of individuals (n = 55) taking part in a randomized controlled trial examining the efficacy of an integrated psychological therapy for co-occurring PTSD and SUDs (PTSD+SUD) in young people.

Both age groups demonstrated complex and severe clinical profiles, including high-frequency trauma exposure, and very poor mental health reflected on measures of PTSD, SUD, suicidality and domains of social, emotional, behavioral and family functioning. There were few differences in clinical characteristics between the two groups.

Similarity between the two groups suggests that the complex problems seen in emerging adults with PTSD + SUD are likely to have had their onset in adolescence or earlier and to have been present for several years by the time individuals present for treatment.

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first study to compare the demographic and clinical profiles of adolescents and emerging adults with PTSD + SUD. These findings yield important implications for practice and policy for this vulnerable group. Evidence-based prevention and early intervention approaches and access to care are critical. Alongside trauma-focused treatment, there is a critical need for integrated, trauma-informed approaches specifically tailored to young people with PTSD + SUD.