Search results

Cannabis use among young adults is increasing, despite being associated with several negative consequences. Protective behavioral strategies (PBSs) are a potential mechanism of behavior change for reducing substance use, yet PBS use for cannabis is not well understood. The purpose of this paper is to further define and measure the PBS construct for cannabis.

A community sample of cannabis users (n=54) participated in eight focus groups discussing the use of PBSs. Participants completed surveys regarding demographics, cannabis use habits and cannabis problems. The authors also administered an existing measure of cannabis PBS and asked them to generate new or unique protective strategies that they had used or had heard of others using.

Thematic analysis of qualitative focus group data provided information about cannabis users’ reasons for regulating cannabis use (e.g. health or legal problems, interpersonal) as well as strategies to moderate cannabis use or attenuate their risk for experiencing adverse consequences (e.g. distraction, existential/spiritual strategies). Analyses of quantitative survey data revealed that use of PBSs was negatively correlated with cannabis outcomes. Perceived helpfulness of strategies was an important predictor of decreased cannabis use and adverse consequences.

Findings expand the understanding of the definition and measurement of strategies for regulating cannabis use and reducing related risk of experiencing adverse consequences.

This is the first study to examine cannabis-related PBS using both qualitative and quantitative methods, which provide insights into the definition of PBS and for future refinements of PBS measurement.

This study aimed to develop scales to assess perceptions of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) self-protective measures (SPMs) and examine the psychometric properties based on the theory of planned behavior (TPB).

A total of 412 participants from Bangalore, India, randomly volunteered to participate in this research. The questionnaire consisted of items related to the TPB scales and demographic details.

A structural equation model showed a reasonable model fit. In total, 70% of the individuals' behavioral intentions of following COVID-19 SPMs were predicted by perceived benefits, barriers, social norms and social influence. Participants' age impacted on perceived benefits and perceived social influence and individuals' behavioral intentions of following COVID-19 SPMs, with a 13.6% difference in model prediction.

The TPB can be used as a strong psychometric property to assess behavioral determinants of COVID-19 SPMs.

Medical tourism has grown to become a formidable multinational industry to generate revenue. This phenomenon has also increased impact on the healthcare sector as well as strategies development opportunities. The present study emphases on the international tourists' behavioural intention for medical tourism in Malaysia. A research framework is derived from the exceptional component of fear appeal in protection motivation theory (PMT).

Data were collected with a sample of 501 respondents and analysed via structural equation modelling approach. Both measurement model and structural model were assessed to generate the result.

The outcomes have shown a good backing on the use of adapted PMT theoretical model. There is a higher predictive power on health coping than health threats. Coping alternatives can be served as the linkage between the PMT appraisals and behavioural intention.

The study confirmed the effectiveness of using a theoretical framework in predicting international tourists' behavioural intention for medical tourism. It is suggesting that risk adaptive behaviour does offer a valuable proposition in contributing to the reception of medical tourism.

The present study argues the need for greater clarity in understanding the emergent implications for health policy and healthcare delivery for future medical tourism development.

The fundamental theories and current literature do not incorporate the component of fear appeal in explaining decision making. The study findings demonstrate that protection motivation theory has provide another promising theoretical model in explaining international tourists' behaviour intention for medical tourism.

Recent studies have shown that people who attend electronic dance music events and use drug checking services (DCS) are a predominantly white male, highly educated middle-class population. However, there is still a lack of data beyond sociodemographic characteristics that must be addressed. This paper aims to describe the drug use patterns and protective behavior strategies (PBS) used by testers and nontesters at Boom Festival 2018 and analyze the relationship between these behaviors and the decision to use the DCS.

This is an exploratory research based on a cross-sectional design using baseline data collected at the Boom Festival from testers (N = 343) and nontesters (N = 115).

Nontesters presented, in general, slightly higher frequencies of use for most drugs, whereas testers tended to adopt PBS more frequently. Moreover, testers planned their drug use more often than nontesters and set more limits on the amount of drugs they used in one session. Both of these behaviors work as predictors for using the DCS.

Our data suggest that DCS might not be easily accessible to all people who use drugs, reaching almost exclusively highly educated people that already apply several harm reduction strategies. Actions should be taken to promote service accessibility.

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this paper is the first to compare the demographics, drug use and PBS adoption of DCS users with nonusers who attended the same festival.

Heavy episodic drinking in young women has caused concern among many groups including public health professionals. The purpose of this paper is to investigate the experiences of young women’s alcohol consumption so as to facilitate better health education targeting.

This qualitative descriptive study examines the narratives of 16 young women’s experience of a “night out” framed as the Alcohol Consumption Journey.

The young women’s Alcohol Consumption Journey is a ritual perpetuated by the “experienced” and “anticipated” pleasure from social bonding and collective intoxication. The data showed three sequential phases; preloading, going out and recovery, which were repeated regularly. The young women perceived that going out was riskier than preloading or recovery and employed protective strategies to minimise risk and maximise pleasure. Alcohol was consumed collectively to enhance the experience of pleasure and facilitate enjoyment in the atmosphere of the night time economy. Implications for health interventions on collective alcohol consumption and perceived risk are presented.

The concept of socio-pleasure is valuable to explain the perpetuation of the young’s women ritualised Alcohol Consumption Journey. The binary concepts of mundane/celebration, individual/collective and insiders/outsiders are useful to illustrate the balancing of collective intoxication with group protective strategies in navigating the edge between risk and pleasure.

The purpose of this paper is to investigate whether four motives – conformity, enhancement, social and coping – mediate relationships between four personality types – agreeableness, extraversion, neuroticism and openness to experience – and social networking site (SNS) addiction. Impulse control is included as a moderator.

The paper uses a survey to collect data at two points in time from 304 SNS users. Structural equation modeling was used for data analysis.

Empirical results show that conformity, enhancement and coping motives act as mediators between various personality types and SNS addiction. Furthermore, impulse control weakens the effects of two motives – enhancement and social – on SNS addiction.

The research model included only four motives. Future research could investigate other motivational mechanisms and moderators. The research method surveyed university students in the USA; thus, results may not generalize to a different user population. The method also included only one SNS, Facebook.

The paper contributes to the literature by showing that motives of SNS use connect personality to SNS addiction. This study also shows that self-reflective factors like impulse control can reduce the positive effects of motives on SNS addiction.

Young adult’s drinking is about pleasure, a communal practice of socialising together in a friendship group. The purpose of this paper is to investigate the evolving support practices of drinking groups for better targeting of health communications messages.

This qualitative descriptive study examined the narratives of 28 young people’s (age 18-24 years old) experience of a “night out” framed as the Alcohol Consumption Journey.

The Alcohol Consumption Journey ritual consisted of three phases: preloading, going out and recovery. The participants described multiple forms of support practices located at each phase of the Alcohol Consumption Journey for maximising pleasure, minimising risk, encouraging supportive behaviours, enhancing group cohesion and protecting the drinkers from alcohol-related harm. Hence, support practices played a critical part in constituting and consolidating the drinking group. While the support practices appeared to be structured into the Alcohol Consumption Journey, they were activated differently for young men and young women. Support practices were an important driver in perpetuating the Alcohol Consumption Journey.

The paper extends Vander Ven’s concept of “drunk support” to better understand young adults’ evolving support practices in the ritualised Alcohol Consumption Journey.

Children are becoming heavy users of communication and information technologies from an early age. These technologies carry risks to which children may be exposed. In collaboration with the Israel Ministry of Education (IME), the authors launched a week-long safe online awareness program for school children in 257 elementary and middle schools in Israel. Each class independently composed a safe and ethical code of online behavior following two classroom debate sessions. The purpose of this study was to analyze these codes and learn how school children perceive and understand the proper use of the network using thematic analysis.

A total of 8,181 students between the ages of 8 and 14 years in 303 classes from 257 schools participated in the program. These classes composed 303 ethical codes, which were decomposed into 2,201 elements (phrases, sentences, or paragraphs). Using mixed-methods research combining quantitative and qualitative methodologies, the elements of the ethical codes were analyzed, interpreted, and classified to identify the dominant themes and discourses used by the students when addressing issues related to safe online use.

Findings indicate that Israeli students are aware of the dangers and risks of the internet, and these concerns are reflected in their own ethical codes. The students discouraged online self-exposure and encouraged precautions and wariness towards members of out-groups. The themes included sentences which asked for responsible, appropriate, and lawful use, expressed concern about privacy issues, and stated the need for adult involvement. Most of them reflected an “us against them (strangers)” perspective.

The current study presents an innovative “bottom-up” program based on wisdom of the crowd approach, that can be implemented in schools internationally in order to encourage reflexivity and teach children the necessary skills for safe online experiences. In addition, this study analyses the school children’s own views of the dangers of social media and learn about their perspective and understanding of internet use.

College students report high levels of stress, with academic performance serving as a major contributor. The purpose of this study was to examine how drinking to cope with stressors related to student grade point average (i.e., GPA), while testing academic achievement orientations (i.e. mastery or performance) as possible moderators for this relationship.

In total, 325 undergraduate college students from a university in the Mountain West of the USA reported on GPA, daily drinking, coping and academic achievement orientations.

Drinking to cope negatively predicted GPA. Holding a mastery academic achievement orientation was related to higher GPA, whereas a performance academic achievement orientation was related to a more deleterious relationship between drinking to cope and GPA. However, neither orientation (i.e. mastery or performance) moderated the relationship between drinking to cope and GPA.

Regardless of academic achievement orientation, drinking to cope was negatively associated with GPA. The negative relationship between drinking to cope and GPA for those with a performance orientation may suggest that these students drink to cope with academic stressors. Importantly, students who choose to drink alcohol to cope with academic stress may paradoxically experience poorer academic performance. Future research should examine whether teaching a mastery orientation to college students can protect against the deleterious effects of drinking to cope on GPA.

The purpose of this paper is to present the first of two articles about substance abuse as a human disorder that defies resolution, with the primary care physician the intended audience.

The paper is about the phenomenon of relapse as an extension of the formation of the underlying addictive‐oriented thinking. Both relapse and acceptance are about the “why” of substance abuse and not the “what.”

According to the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, the number of US adults who were classified as having substance dependence or abuse in 2008 based on criteria specified in the DSM‐IV was 22.2 million. Subtract on a mutually exclusive basis the 1.2 million who participate in Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) and the 1.7 million persons who are in some configuration of institutional therapy and this leaves 19.3 million persons as a potential pool of need.

Focusing on the primary care physician is no more trivial than the two topics to be discussed.

The potential pool of need in the USA is much larger than the 19.3 million persons on the strength of what is implied by the to‐be‐developed views of relapse and acceptance as the “why” of substance abuse, as a subset of addictive‐oriented thinking.

While the paper is in line with the World Health Organization's position that substance abuse is the most serious health problem globally, the advocated approach to the resolution of addiction is the efficiency of the relationship between the primary care physician and the patient.