Recent bulletins from the drug and alcohol bank:
TEENAGE PEER INFLUENCE ON DRINKING IS NO ILLUSION
Is the peer influence on which many prevention programmes are based an illusion due to other factors like pupils sharing similar environments or choosing like-minded friends? Not entirely, finds this unusually rigorous US analysis; the chances of a given child drinking rise by 4% for every 10% more of their school year-mates who drink.
WHAT ABOUT EVIDENCE-BASED COMMISSIONING?
Though central to implementing policy and embedding evidence in practice, the process of ensuring that the pattern of services in an area coherently and efficiently meets local needs is itself relatively unevidenced. Such reports as we have from the UK often graphically portray the shortfalls, though there is evidence that things can be done which work.
MOTIVATIONAL INTERVIEWING - THE SWISS ARMY KNIFE OF SUBSTANCE USE COUNSELLING
Popular and with a strong theoretical and evidence base, the great advantage of motivational interviewing is its applicability across the board from risky but as yet non-problematic substance users to established addicts, yet the research yields some surprises and some negatives.
With as many as three quarters of their clients suffering from mental health problems, deciding how to respond is a major and long-standing concern for British drug and alcohol services. Should they or psychiatric services take the lead in caring for the patient, how can they coordinate care with mental health services, should dependence be treated first, or should treatment run in parallel?
EVERYONE’S *NOT* DOING IT MESSAGE OFFERS HOPE FOR PREVENTIVE EDUCATION
Science is littered with shining discoveries which became somewhat tarnished as accumulating data forced a reappraisal. In substance misuse, normative education (contrasting how common pupils think substance use is with the reality) retains some of its shine, but what seemed the great hope for school- and college-based prevention now seems a tactic of limited application and with inconsistent impacts - and, some believe, one way the drinks industry avoids truly effective restrictions.
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