26. June 2011 by stationmanager.

A new study suggests that girls with attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) are more likely than boys with ADHD to abuse drugs and alcohol.

UPI reports that the Finnish study included 1,545 teens, and found that ADHD symptoms were less common among girls than among boys. Among girls, but not boys, having ADHD symptoms at age 11 or 12 was a significant predictor of alcohol abuse and dependence and illegal drug use at age 14.

By age 17 ½, parents’ reports of teens’ inattentiveness and hyperactivity were significant predictors of frequent alcohol use in both boys and girls, but the findings were more predictive in girls.

The study was presented this week at the symposium of European Society for Child and Adolescent Psychiatry in Helsinki, Finland by researchers at the University of Helsinki and University of Jyväskylä, Finland.

Posted in Recovery Network | 1 Comment »

22. June 2011 by stationmanager.

This week’s 40th anniversary of President Richard Nixon’s 1971 declaration of the “war on drugs” finds two new contrasting reports addressing the nation’s drug policy.

Law Enforcement Against Prohibition (LEAP) has issued a new report questioning the cost, ethics, and effectiveness of arresting and incarcerating Americans for possession of drugs. The group favors regulating sales of all illicit drugs, including marijuana, heroin and cocaine, the Seattle Times reports. According to LEAP, legalizing all drugs would lead to the end of violent drug cartels, avoid needless imprisonment and increase available money for drug prevention and treatment. The group says that since President Nixon declared a “war on drugs,” millions of Americans have been arrested and incarcerated on drug-related offenses, yet the prevalence of drug use has not changed much.

In contrast, the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy’s (ONDCP) latest report highlights the connection between drug use and crimes other than, or in addition to, drug possession or trafficking. It finds that more than half of adult males arrested for crimes that range from misdemeanors to felonies in 10 cities tested positive for at least one drug.

The ONCDP’s 2010 Arrestee Drug Abuse Monitoring Report found that positive drug test results for male arrestees ranged from 52 percent in Washington, DC, to 83 percent in Chicago. The report also found that nine of 10 cities in the report saw a significant drop in adult male arrestees who tested positive for cocaine since 2007.

The number of arrestees who tested positive for marijuana rose in New York City, Sacramento and Charlotte in 2010 compared with the prior year. Four cities—Charlotte, Indianapolis, Portland and Sacramento—saw a significant increase in the percentage of males arrested who tested positive for opiates during the same period.

“These findings illustrate why we must approach our nation’s drug problem as a public health and safety problem,” Gil Kerlikowske, Director of National Drug Control Policy, said in a statement. “Drug addiction is too often the root of crime in our communities. Supporting innovative initiatives that divert non-violent offenders into treatment, instead of jail, and expand treatment access for incarcerated individuals can help break the vicious cycle of drug use and crime, reduce recidivism and make our communities healthier and safer.”

Posted in Recovery Network | 1 Comment »

18. June 2011 by stationmanager.

Schools (or parents) that want to predict how certain students will perform academically would do well to look at their drinking habits, according to new research.A study presented this week found that, next to time spent studying outside the classroom, time spent drinking was the most reliable predictor of a student’s grade point average. Todd Wyatt, a doctoral candidate at George Mason University, looked at how today’s busy college students allocate their time between different activities. The research surveyed about 13,900 incoming freshman at 167 schools, and found that certain activities could reliably predict academic success. He performed the study along with his colleague Bill DeJong and presented it this week at the American College Personnel Association conferenceWyatt found that, after time spent studying, the amount of time a student spent drinking was the strongest predictor of that student’s GPA – even more so than time spent in the classroom. “The more time spent partying with alcohol, there’s a significant decrease in GPA,” said Wyatt. This was true even though various other non-studious activities, like wiling away hours on Facebook, had virtually no effect on grades.The study’s findings hold true even when narrowed to include only elite schools – big-name universities where students are famous for studying hard and partying hard. The researchers replicated the overall population investigation at specific schools where students have an above-average GPAs and also reported above-average alcohol consumption. The result: drinking affects these kids’ grades, too. “These students might not be reaching their full potential as a result of the alcohol consumption,” says Wyatt. “Their grades are high, but they could be even higher.”But the researchers did see some differences when drinking was complemented by other activities. For instance, students who drank but also volunteered or did some other kind of extracurricular activity showed fewer negative consequences like skipping class, blowing off work, or failing assignments than classmates who spent time drinking but didn’t participate in other outside activities.What Wyatt found most surprising about his study was how little social networking affected a student’s grades. “Everyone says being on Facebook plays a predictive role in academic success,” he says. “But social networking didn’t play nearly as predictive a role as studying and drinking.” Another surprise: Even today, when young people seem to conduct much of their social lives online, students reported spending less time per week on social networking sites (4.41 hours) than they did watching TV (5.32 hours), studying (7.25 hours), working (7.61 hours), and attending class (14.21 hours).If studying 7.25 hours a week doesn’t sound like much for a college student, that’s because it’s not. Although studying still ranked third in how students allot their time, it’s been on the decline for years. In the 1960s, college kids studied 24 hours a week, according to an American Enterprise Institute report. By 2005 that number had plummeted to 11 hours. Now it’s slipped to just 7.25 hours. Kids are more socially involved and playing more sports, but perhaps making more time for drinking and drug use, too.Although there was a clear predictive relation between certain activities and grades, there are a variety of other variables that might also be playing a role. For instance, students who spend more time drinking might simply be less serious about their academic careers. The main value of the study lies in using the relationships between study time, alcohol consumption, and academic success to predict student behavior so colleges can develop programs that target specific students in danger of falling behind.For mitigating alcohol use, many schools are already working on this through alcohol awareness programs, community approaches, and online courses. “An online alcohol education mandate for everyone coming into campus has been shown to be an effective product,” says Wyatt, who works in this field. But some schools are now looking at individual approaches as well, targeted toward specific students.While the research doesn’t delve into causation, Wyatt is hoping to examine more factors, like motivation and depression, in the future. “There are a lot of other predictors of success,” he says “but I am confident that these two variables [studying and alcohol] are playing their part in predicting student success.”

Posted in Recovery Network | 1 Comment »

1. June 2011 by stationmanager.

Two new reviews of studies add to evidence that children with attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) may be at increased risk for abusing tobacco, alcohol and possibly other drugs when they are older. The reasons for the link are still unknown, according to Scientific American.

While the new reviews, or meta-analyses, indicate that ADHD in childhood is associated with tobacco and alcohol dependence in adulthood, the results on marijuana and other drugs are more mixed, the magazine reports. One review of studies in Clinical Psychology Review found that children with ADHD have a strong risk of abusing marijuana and cocaine. A review of studies published in the Journal of the American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry also found an increased risk for abuse of marijuana and other drugs, but concluded the results of the studies they reviewed were too mixed to reach a definitive conclusion.

The leaders of both study reviews agree that knowing there is a connection between ADHD and substance abuse means parents and doctors can start being especially vigilant about trying to prevent such abuse, including finding supervised activities outside of school and talking to the children about making good choices.

Posted in Recovery Network | 1 Comment »