Early initiation of alcohol consumption increases the risk of alcohol dependence and adverse health outcomes. Consequently, nations have enacted laws to make alcohol unlawful to be purchased by, sold to, or used in public by children. This study examined the lifetime prevalence of alcohol use among children and their reasons for consuming alcohol. In addition, the study investigated predictors of alcohol consumption and the effects of alcohol use on children. Finally, it examined the effectiveness of measures in place for regulating the sale and use of alcohol by children in the country. A total of 5024 children between the ages of 8 and 17 were sampled across the ten regions of Ghana using a cross-sectional convergent parallel mixed method. Children were interviewed with a semi-structured questionnaire, while focus group discussions were held with children, parents, and key informants. Lifetime prevalence of alcohol consumption was measured by "have you ever taken alcohol?". The study revealed that lifetime alcohol consumption was less prevalent (6.6%) among children. Sex, age, and region of residence were significant predictors of lifetime alcohol use among children. More than half of the children who reported ever taking alcohol were first introduced to drinking by friends, and more than six in ten children claimed having been intoxicated after drinking alcohol. The findings further revealed that efforts to control the sale and consumption of alcohol by children have proven difficult despite the existence of laws, policies, and national regulatory structures. While regulations on alcohol sales and consumption have been difficult to implement in rural areas, they have been successful in urban areas because institutions there ensure rigorous adherence to the regulations. The study encourages national organizations with responsibility for child protection and development to step up their regulation, investigation, and information-sharing efforts to discourage and limit children from purchasing and consuming alcohol.
Gambling disorder is an addictive disorder that has been shown to have a detrimental effect on an individual's health, social, and financial situations. Voluntary self-exclusion is one way for patients to reduce harm in gambling disorder, but breaching one's self-exclusion appears to be common. In January 2019, Sweden launched a nationwide, multioperator self-exclusion instrument called Spelpaus (literally "game break"). Spelpaus is unique to Sweden, and there is limited research on the use of this type of nationwide, multioperator self-exclusion services, also in relation to gambling disorder and mental health. There is a reason to follow the clinical picture of treatment seeking for gambling disorder over time, and this study aims to explore clinical characteristics of patients seeking clinical gambling disorder treatment, including sex distribution and mental health comorbidity, as well as the use of Spelpaus amongst patients with gambling disorder and how frequently users gambled despite ongoing self-exclusion, in relation to sex and psychiatric comorbidities. A retrospective chart study was carried out on patients presenting to a regional gambling disorder treatment unit. Information regarding self-exclusions using Spelpaus, gambling despite self-exclusion, and the method of gambling despite self-exclusion as well as psychiatric comorbidities were extracted from medical records. Females were markedly more likely to report overall psychiatric comorbidities (48% vs. 25% among males, p < 0.001), affective, neurotic/anxiety-related (p < 0.001), and behavioral/emotional (p = 0.028) diagnoses and more likely to have two or more diagnoses excluding gambling disorder (p = 0.001). From 120 patients from whom information regarding self-exclusion was present, 114 (95%) had chosen to self-exclude. From the 114 self-excluders, 67 reported to have gambled despite self-exclusion, with unregistered websites being the most common method. Self-exclusion was not significantly related to sex (p = 0.146) or to psychiatric comorbidities (p = 0.178). In conclusion, psychiatric comorbidity was particularly common in female gambling disorder patients and gambling despite self-exclusion was common. Gambling regulations should be improved to help self-excluders avoid being able to gamble on unlicensed gambling operators. Further research should focus on sex differences and the association with psychiatric comorbidities.
The global pandemic forced young adults and their parents to be together. This situation has equally exposed the weaknesses in the child-parent relationship. This study aimed to investigate the role of social intelligence in the relationship between parenting style and Internet addiction during the global COVID-19 pandemic. Seven hundred and seventy-four were sampled from a public university in southeast Nigeria. They comprised 373 females and 401 males aged 17–28 years, with a mean age of 21.61. The students responded to validated measures of parenting style inventory-II, the Tromsø social intelligence scale, and Young’s Internet addiction test. The moderated multiple regression analysis results indicated that permissive parenting and social intelligence significantly predicted Internet addiction. Social intelligence moderated the relationship between authoritarian parenting style and Internet addiction. The moderation was that Internet addiction is significantly higher for individuals with low social intelligence and authoritarian parenting style than individuals with low social intelligence and higher authoritarian parenting style. Some implications of the findings include engaging parenting styles to encourage more physical interactions and enabling an environment for growth. Also, adopting techniques to increase social intelligence will help students adjust to any parenting style that may influence their psychological well-being.
Background. Internet has penetrated all processes of life and has become an unavoidable part of people’s daily life. This widespread use of the Internet has resulted in significant concerns with regard to problematic Internet behaviours and related conditions. The aim of the study was to find out the prevalence of Internet addiction and its associated factors among undergraduate students in Kathmandu. Materials and Methods. We included all together 344 undergraduate students from different colleges affiliated to Pokhara University for this cross-sectional study. We used self-administered questionnaire consisting of the Internet Addiction Test scale to assess the Internet addiction. We coded the data, entered it in Epi-Data 3.1 and transferred to IBM SPSS 25 for analysis. We applied bivariate and multivariate logistic regression analysis to identify factors associated with Internet addiction, and p value <0.05 was considered as statistically significantt. Results. The prevalence of Internet addiction was found to be 29.90% (95% CI: 25.0–34.9). In the chi-squared test relationship with parents, parental control over the Internet use, perceived feeling of loneliness, and time spent on internet per day were found to be statistically associated (p<0.05) with Internet addiction. Conclusion. This study revealed nearly one-third of the Internet addiction among undergraduate students. Relationship with parents, parental control over the internet use, perceived loneliness feelings, and time spent on internet per day were significantly associated with Internet addiction along other factors. Therefore, it is important to raise awareness among young generation, parents, and teachers towards risk of Internet addiction.
Youth and adolescent psychoactive substance use is a major public health problem worldwide which affects the health of individuals, families, and the community as a whole. This study was aimed at assessing the level of psychoactive substance use and the associated factors among the youths of North Sowa zone, Amhara region, Ethiopia, 2020/21. Community based cross-sectional study design with a multistage sampling technique was used. A total of 632 youths were involved in the study. Linear logistic regression analysis was used for both bivariate and multivariate analysis. The prevalence of life time and current psychoactive substance use was found to be 66.1% and 65%, respectively. Male sex and history of substance use from family members and friends were significantly associated with psychoactive substance use. In this study, the prevalence of life time and current psychoactive substance use was high as compared to other studies conducted in Ethiopia.
INTRODUCTION:Successful interventions for substance use disorders (SUDs), though obtainable, are not effectively utilized due to the high cost of treatment. The adoption of any given therapy is often impeded by insufficient evidence of the effectiveness of such treatment.OBJECTIVE:This study aimed to assess the direct medical cost of treating SUD in two tertiary hospitals in South-West, Nigeria.METHODS:A descriptive, cross-sectional survey of patients managed for SUD at the two psychiatric hospitals was carried out between January and June 2020. The inclusion criteria were patients with SUD above 18 years of age, registered and managed at the two hospitals. Data were collected from selected patients' case notes using a standardized data collection tool and analyzed using descriptive and inferential statistics.RESULTS:The average costs of treatment for alcohol use disorder, drug use disorder, and drug and alcohol use disorder were ₦146,425.38 ± 57,388.84, ₦135,282.09 ± 53,190.39, and ₦143,877.33 ± 68,662.04, respectively. This translates to $384.82, $355.53, and $378.12, respectively. The highest contributors to SUD treatment cost are inpatient admissions and the cost of medicines; inpatient admissions include accommodation, feeding, and laundry.CONCLUSION:Considering that over 60% of the Nigerian population lives below the poverty line, the direct cost of SUD treatment is unaffordable to the patients and the health care system, which is grossly underfunded.
Aims The frequent use of cannabis by certain social strata often induces behavioral changes whose severity deserves to be evaluated. This study aims to describe the profile of some subjects in a situation of cannabis dependence received at the National Laboratory of Narcotics and Toxicology over the period from January 2016 to December 2021. Methodology. The approach of direct interviews with the respondents using a semistructured questionnaire made it possible to collect their sociodemographic characteristics, their experiences, and their reference trajectories. Results A total of 48 patients, all single, with an average age of 18.13 ± 0.48 years, the majority of whom were male (77.08%) and of Beninese nationality (85.42%), were enrolled. They were pupils (58.34%), students (27.08%), and workers (14.58%). With a prevalence of consumption of 89.58%, the first experimentation of cannabis was done by imitation (83.3%), among friends (81.2%), and in schools (64.58%). The reasons for use include the search for thrills (29.20%) and the improvement of sexual energy performance (27.1%). Subjects between 64.58 and 79.17% reported having received complaints about their behavior after regular consumption of at least 3 joints of cannabis. Conclusion The knowledge of the typical profile of subjects in a situation of dependence ensures early detection of problematic uses of cannabis and offers the opportunity to intervene a little earlier in front of this phenomenon.
Risky alcohol drinking is one of the major public health problems and an important health risk factor for premature death and disability worldwide. Identifying the determinants of risky alcohol drinking patterns is crucial for developing and improving intervention on drinking behavior. In Ethiopia, the role of educational attainment and affluence in reducing risky alcohol drinking patterns among men remains unclear. Therefore, this study aimed to assess the association of educational status and affluence with risky alcohol drinking patterns using national representative data in Ethiopia. Secondary data analysis was conducted on 12,688 adult men using data from the 2016 Ethiopia Demographic Health Survey (EDHS). The dependent variable was a risky alcohol drinking pattern which is defined as the consumption of alcohol every day in the last 12 months before the interview. Multivariable logistic regression was employed to assess the association between educational attainment, Ethiopian standard wealth index, and risky alcohol drinking pattern, after adjusting for the potential confounders. The overall magnitude of risky alcohol drinking patterns among men in Ethiopia was 4.5% (95% CI: 3.4–5.9). Of the total men who had ever taken alcohol, 9.7% of men drink almost every day in the last 12 months. The odds of having a risky alcohol drinking pattern were lower among men who completed secondary education (AOR = 0.56 (0.329–0.961)) and men who completed higher education levels (AOR = 0.35 (0.164–0.765)) as compared to men who did not attend any formal education. Adult men in the top two wealth quintiles were twice more likely to have risky alcohol drinking patterns than those in the lowest wealth quintile (AOR = 2.13 (1.254–3.605)). This study showed that from the total adult male population, nearly 5% of Ethiopian men had risky drinking patterns. Individuals with low educational status and greater affluence engaged in high-risk alcohol consumption behavior.
Areca nut is a highly addictive substance with carcinogenic properties and causes many harmful effects to the human body. Alkaloids are the major chemicals found in areca nut, and their mechanism of action has been studied for several years. About 600 million people around the world use areca nut, and its usage is higher in Asian countries. Areca nut chewers get used to the habit mainly due to social influence, stress, or lack of awareness. Some studies have reported a dependence syndrome related to areca nut chewing. Even though there are many ongoing research studies regarding tobacco addiction, less concern has been given to the areca nut addiction. There are only few studies related to areca nut cessation, and even those few cessation programs are mainly designed using tobacco cessation methodology. Sociocultural influence, behavioral factors, and accessibility are the main barriers to cessation. Behavior changing interventions proved to be more effective in areca nut cessation, but recently studies on pharmacological therapies are also emerging.
Background Problematic Internet use is characterized by excessive or poorly controlled preoccupations, urges, or behavior regarding computer use and Internet access which lead to impairment or distress. It has been found that the occurrence rate of problematic Internet use among university students ranges from 0.8% to 47.7%. Despite this, there are multiple challenges that relate to problematic Internet use, which remain underrecognized and largely ignored by stakeholders and are not well known, especially in low-income countries, including Ethiopia. Therefore, this study was conducted aiming to assess the prevalence of problematic Internet use and its associated factors among undergraduate students. Methods Cross-sectional study was employed from May 1st to June 1st, 2019. A multistage sampling technique was used to get a total of 846 undergraduate students. Data were collected by using self-administered structured questionnaires of Young's Internet Addiction Test. The collected data were coded and entered into EpiData 3.1 and analyzed by using SPSS version 22; bivariate and multivariate logistic regression analysis was conducted to identify factors associated with problematic Internet use, and statistical significance was considered at P value <0.05. Results For a total of 846 study participants, the response rate was 761 (90%) and the prevalence of problematic Internet use was 19.4%. Multiple logistic regression model revealed that being male [AOR = 1.69, 95% CI: 1.80, 6.41], depression [AOR = 3.61, 95% CI: 2.40, 5.43], and khat or caffeinated drinks [AOR = 1.86, 95% CI: 1.21, 2.87] were significantly associated with problematic Internet use. Conclusion This study revealed that there was high prevalence of problematic Internet use among Dilla University students and there were various factors associated with increased prevalence of problematic Internet use. Therefore, students need to be educated about the safe, valuable, and healthy practices of Internet use. Furthermore, it is better to counsel on substance use and its consequences to overcome the anticipated increase in problematic Internet use.
Background. Increased mobile phone usage among undergraduate medical students causes a detrimental effect on their health. The main focus of this study is to determine the pattern of mobile phone usage among undergraduate medical students in Hyderabad, India, and the detrimental effect on their health due to excess mobile use. Materials and Methods. A cross-sectional study was conducted among undergraduate medical students from various medical colleges in Hyderabad, India, from September 2020 to January 2021. Data were collected from 626 respondents using a semistructured, pretested questionnaire. Smartphone Addiction Scale-Short Version (SAS-SV) was used to assess the risk of smartphone addiction. Microsoft Excel and SAS were employed to analyze the data. Associations were examined using Fisher’s exact test. Results. 100% of the respondents were using mobiles, with 83.2% spending more than 4 hours on them. Only 22% reported that no mobile use during classes. Half (51.6%) admitted to keeping their mobiles close by while sleeping. 84.3% used social networking apps via their mobiles. Common symptoms arising from prolonged mobile usage included eye strain (67.9%), blurred vision (31.4%), and numbness or tingling in palms (30.9%). 52.70% of the respondents were at high risk of mobile addiction according to SAS-SV. Screen time more than 4 hours was associated with high risk of mobile addiction ( p < 0.0001 ). Significant association was found between high risk of mobile addiction and eye strain ( p < 0.0001 ), blurry vision ( p = 0.0115 ), numbness/tingling in palms ( p < 0.0001 ), and heat/tingling in the auditory area ( p < 0.0001 ). Conclusion. The study shows the alarming rate of risk of smartphone addiction among medical students. Students can be encouraged to assess their mobile addiction status and become aware of the issue. More research may be performed to develop standardized tools for early identification of mobile addiction and appropriate therapies for its rectification.
INTRODUCTION:Underage drinking is associated with poor mental health. Early detection for risky alcohol use is recommended, although less implemented in adolescent care. The objective of this study was to investigate the prevalence of risky alcohol use and psychiatric comorbidity. METHODS:Over a nine-month period, 145 eligible adolescents admitted to the child and adolescent emergency unit in Malmö, Sweden, were offered computerized screening with Alcohol Use Disorder Identification Test-Consumption (AUDIT-C) and Drug Use Disorders Identification Test (DUDIT). RESULTS:Ninety-six patients (73 girls and 23 boys) agreed to participate. The most common diagnoses were affective disorder (41%) and anxiety disorder (27%). Risky alcohol use was found among 33% of the girls and 22% of the boys (p=0.45) and did not differ between diagnostic categories. There was a positive correlation between AUDIT-C and DUDIT scores (p=0.019). Among adolescents with risky alcohol use, 33% of the girls and 60% of the boys also had a risky drug use. Conversely, 47% of the girls and 60% of the boys with risky drug use also had a risky alcohol use. CONCLUSION:In view of the poor prognosis of risky alcohol use in adolescents, alcohol and drug habits should be assessed when adolescents seek psychiatric emergency care.
INTRODUCTION:Tobacco consumption is one of the main causes of mortality in the world. Because of its effect on health, smoking cessation should be prioritized as an important health intervention; however, current interventions have shown low success rates as only 31% of the cases can stop smoking. In this paper, an intervention with high frequency and low intensity transcranial magnetic stimulation (HFLI TMS) was applied to determine if this type of neuromodulation could have an effect in decreasing tobacco addiction.METHODS:Retrospective data from ten ambulatory smoker patients that underwent 24 sessions of HFLI TMS over 8 weeks were retrieved and are here presented.RESULTS:Exhaled CO concentrations were statistically significantly different from baseline at the weeks 3, 5, 6, and 8. After the 24 sessions, all patients stopped smoking; this was confirmed directly by exhaled carbon monoxide and the smoking diary. Three months after intervention, eight out of ten subjects continued without smoking. No severe adverse effects were reported by participants.CONCLUSIONS:Overall, employing HFLI TMS appears to have acceptable result; however, further evidence is needed to determine with more certainty its therapeutic effect and adverse effects for addiction intervention.
Introduction . Imagery-based stress management therapies are effective at reducing alcohol use. To explore the therapeutic mechanism, the current study tested whether brief functional imagery training linked to personal negative affect drinking triggers would attenuate sensitivity to noise stress-induced alcohol seeking behaviour in a laboratory model. Methods . Participants were UK-based hazardous student drinkers ( N = 61, 80.3% women, aged 18–25) who reported drinking to cope with negative affect. Participants in the active intervention group ( n = 31) were briefly trained to respond to personal negative drinking triggers by retrieving an adaptive strategy to mitigate negative affect, whereas participants in the control group ( n = 30) received risk information about binge drinking at university. The relative value of alcohol was then measured by preference to view alcohol versus food pictures in two-alternative choice trials, before (baseline) and during noise stress induction. Results . There was a significant two-way interaction ( p < .04) where the control group increased their alcohol picture choice from baseline to the noise stress test ( p < .001), whereas the active intervention group did not ( p = .33), and the control group chose alcohol more frequently than the active group in the stress test ( p = .03), but not at baseline ( p = .16). Conclusions . These findings indicate that imagery-based mood management can protect against the increase in the relative value of alcohol motivated by acute stress in hazardous negative affect drinkers, suggesting this mechanism could underpin the therapeutic effect of mood management on drinking outcomes.
Introduction . The impact of alcohol use among adolescents is multidisciplinary and affects the adolescent’s academic performance, precipitates with sexually transmitted infections or psychiatric disorders, and disturbs the social domain of adolescents. Therefore, this study aimed to assess the prevalence and associated factors of alcohol use among adolescents aged 15–19 years at the governmental high schools of Aksum Town, Tigray, Ethiopia, in 2019. Methods . A facility-based cross-sectional study was conducted from 1 to 30 January 2019 at Aksum town high school. Alcohol use was assessed by asking the question “have you used at least one of the alcoholic beverages in the last three months for nonmedical purposes?” Study participants were selected using a simple random sampling technique. Data were collected with face-to-face interview and were analyzed using the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences version 22. Bivariate and multivariate logistic regressions were used to see the association between alcohol use and associated factors. Adjusted odds ratio at a p value < 0.05 with a 95% confidence interval was taken to declare the statistical significance of variables. Result . About 633 adolescents aged 15–19 years were addressed with a response rate of 99.7%. Prevalence of alcohol use was found to be 39.7% [95% CI (35.7, 43.6)]. Being male [AOR = 1.80; 95% CI (1.24, 2.60)], fathers’ educational status 1–8 grades [AOR = 2.98; 95% CI (1.60, 5.53)], fathers’ occupation farming [AOR = 4.24; 95% CI (2.038.85)], experienced parental neglect [AOR = 1.75; 95% CI (1.20, 2.55)], strong social support [AOR = 1.79; 95% CI (1.11, 2.87)], and family size of greater than five [AOR = 2.03; 95%CI (1.39, 2.97)] were factors identified to be significantly associated with alcohol use among adolescents aged 15–19 years. Conclusion . In the current study, the prevalence of alcohol use is found to be high when compared to other populations. A strong association has been found between alcohol use and lower paternal educational status and farming as an occupation of parents. There should be a regular awareness creation program for parents with lower education about the devastating effects of alcohol on adolescents.
Background . Although tobacco use is highest in high-income countries, most tobacco-related deaths occur in low- and middle-income countries with the highest number of deaths recorded in East Africa. The aim of this systematic review and meta-analysis is to determine the pooled prevalence and associated factors of current cigarette smoking among Ethiopian university students. Methods . The authors searched databases from PubMed, PsycINFO, Google Scholar, EMBASE, and Web of Sciences. The publications included in the analysis were inclusive, the literature was searched from January 2011 to December 2018. The JBI-MAStARI critical appraisal tool was applied to 13 publications identified by the database search. I 2 statistics were used to indicate heterogeneity. Publication bias was evaluated using the visual funnel plot. A p value < 0.1 was considered as indicative of statistically significant publication bias. A random effect meta-analysis model was computed to estimate the pooled prevalence of cigarette smoking, and the variables associated with cigarette smoking were examined. Results . The meta-analysis of 13 studies showed that the pooled prevalence of current cigarette smoking was found to be 12.55% (95% CI: 10.39–14.72; I 2 = 94.0%) with no publication bias according to Egger’s test (p=0.007) for cigarette smoking by 2.05 (95% CI: 1.52–2.75). Factors associated with cigarette smoking were peer influence 2.79 (95% CI: 1.62–4.82; I 2 = 35.7), khat chewing (95% CI: 2.81–15.26; I 2 = 82.5), and alcohol use 11.16 (95% CI: 7.46–16.71). Conclusion . Our findings indicate a high prevalence of cigarette smoking among Ethiopian university students as compared to the general population. Gender, peer influence, khat chewing, and current alcohol use were significantly associated with cigarette smoking. The authors recommend promoting antismoking campaigns, emphasizing health hazard public service announcements about cigarettes, and integrating health education on smoking in youth-friendly services, especially targeting higher educational institutions.
Background and Aims. Benzodiazepines have been widely used for long periods of time despite their adverse effects. The acute effects on cognition are well established. However, less is known about the long-term effects. This study critically reviewed existing evidence of the association between long-term exposure to benzodiazepines and risk of cognitive decline in adults. Methods. A systematic review with narrative synthesis was conducted. PubMed and PsycINFO databases were searched using combinations of keywords related to “benzodiazepines” and “cognitive function” from database inception to 12 February 2018 to identify prospective longitudinal studies. The records were evaluated for relevance according to the inclusion and exclusion criteria. Results. Fourteen studies involving 2145 long-term benzodiazepine users were included. Meta-analysis was not undertaken because the combined result would not be meaningful as the included studies differed in several key aspects such as frequency and duration of benzodiazepine use, follow-up periods, cognitive domains, cognitive tests, scoring systems, and statistical analysis. The definition of long-term benzodiazepine use was problematic in all the studies. The exposure was determined by measures which were assumed to represent the whole period in-between the follow-ups. Only 3 of the 14 studies provided support for an association between long-term benzodiazepine use and cognitive decline with a small to medium effect size. However, these three studies used different methods to assess the strength of this association. Global cognitive functioning, verbal memory, intelligence, psychomotor speed, and speed of processing were the cognitive domains affected which also varied across these three studies. Conclusions. Little evidence of an association between long-term benzodiazepine use and a higher risk of cognitive decline among the general adult population was found. However, discrepancies among the results and inconsistencies regarding the cognitive domains affected and methodological limitations prevent definite conclusions. Therefore, future research with prospective studies specially designed would be of great value.
The main aim of the study was to assess the level of alcohol abuse and related factors in Kassena-Nankana Municipal of Ghana. The study was conducted using a cross-sectional survey with 397 participants, using AUDIT to assess alcohol use. Data entry and analysis was done using SPSS. Bivariate analysis was done using chi-square and multivariate analysis was done using the multinomial logistics regression model. Lifetime alcohol use among the study participants was 96.0%; out of this, 51.7% were engaged in possibly dependent drinking, 23.4% involved in harmful drinking, and 24.9% involved in moderate drinking. Males were more likely to engage in harmful drinking than moderate (AOR = 2.4, 95% CI: 1.175–4.776). Males again were more likely to engage in dependent drinking than moderate (AOR = 2.7, 95% CI: 1.489–5.068). Christians as compared to traditionalists were less likely engage in dependent drinking than moderate drinking (AOR = 0.03, 95% CI: 0.223–0.940). Those with tertiary education were less likely to engage in dependent drinking than moderate as compare to those without formal education (AOR = 0.2, 95% CI: 0.076–0.670). Also employed civil servants were more likely to engage in dependent drinking than moderate as compared to those without employment (AOR = 4.4, 95% CI: 1.187–16.646). This study revealed a high prevalence of alcohol abuse among the residents of Kassena-Nankana municipality that was predicted by gender, educational level, and religious practice; therefore, there is a need for a public campaign on the harmful effects of alcohol abuse in the municipality.
INTRODUCTION:Globally, alcohol is one of the most prevalent forms of substance use that is particularly high among young age groups. Despite the adverse health and social challenges associated with alcohol use, it is one of the most common risky behaviours among university students. OBJECTIVE:This study aimed to assess the prevalence of alcohol use and associated factors among Dilla University students in Southern Ethiopia. METHODS:An institution-based cross-sectional study was conducted at Dilla University among undergraduate regular students from January to February 2018. A systematic random sampling technique was used to get a total sample of 803 students each year from the department of the university. The collected data were coded, entered into Epi Info version 7.1, and analyzed with SPSS version 20. RESULTS:A total of 803 participants were successfully interviewed with a response rate of 91.7%. Alcohol use prevalence was 41.8% (n = 336) among participants. Being in fourth year (AOR = 2.66, 95% CI: 1.64, 4.31), having friends who use the substance (AOR = 1.53, 95% CI: 1.09, 2.1), being a khat user (AOR = 1.48, 95% CI: 1.05, 2.09), and being a cigarette smoker (AOR = 1.76, 95% CI: 1.09, 2.84) were found to be significantly associated with alcohol use. CONCLUSION:The current study revealed that fourth-year students, having friends who use the substance, being khat user, and being cigarette smoker had higher odds of alcohol use among the students. So the findings suggest that effective campus-based counselling and peer education should be implemented for early prevention, detection, and alleviation of alcohol use among students in the university.
Objective Cannabis use predicts psychosis in longitudinal studies, but it is difficult to infer causation. Some precursor variables predict both, including childhood trauma and adversity. Additionally, some of the desired effects of cannabis use resemble the symptoms of psychosis. It would be preferable to assess psychotomimetic or “unusual” experiences that include psychotic symptoms but without assuming pathology. Finally, it is possible that similar people are prone to psychosis and drawn to cannabis use, perhaps, because they are sensitive or attracted to unusual experiences. Schizotypy provides a trait measure of proneness to unusual experiences. The study aimed to examine cross-sectionally relationships between cannabis use, schizotypy, and unusual experiences whilst controlling for current trauma symptoms. Method A volunteer online sample (n = 129, 64% women, predominantly students) who had used cannabis at least once was recruited. People who reported active effects of past trauma were excluded with a brief primary care posttraumatic stress disorder screen. Participants completed the Oxford-Liverpool Inventory of Feelings and Experience, the Cognitive Failures Questionnaire, and measures of substance use and sociodemographics. Results The majority of respondents recounted unusual experiences after cannabis use, and many of these might have been considered symptoms of psychosis if they had received medical attention. In regression analysis, the only predictor of the unusual experiences scale of O-LIFE was schizotypy (measured by the remaining subscales; 4% of variance). There were no correlations between cannabis use frequency and schizotypy or unusual experiences. Conclusions These findings suggest that, after controlling for schizotypy and excluding people who are actively experiencing the effects of past trauma, frequency of cannabis use does not predict unusual experiences. However, individuals with schizotypal personality traits may have more unusual experiences when using cannabis.
