1,420 research outputs found
Cutting'aesthetic teeth' : Flannery O'Connor's habit of art
No full textDissertação (mestrado) - Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina, Centro de Comunicação e ExpressãoEste trabalho foi sugerido pela afirmação de Flannery O'Connor que sua "dedicação estética" nasceu através do contato com Art and Scholasticism de Jacques Maritain. O propósito foi chegar a uma interpretação do sentido da frase. Uma investigação detalhada foi feita do conteúdo de Art and Scholasticism, posteriormente contrastada com os resultados de uma pesquisa feita em seus ensaios e suas cartas, o que revelou numerosos ecos de diversos trechos constando no texto de Maritain. Três pontos principais foram escolhidos como critérios na análise do hábito artístico de O'Connor: 1) a prática de arte implica uma luta; 2) a arte somente pode ser percebida pelos sentidos; e 3) a prática de arte exige do artista a dedicação indivisa à obra nascente. O estudo conclui que, para O'Connor, o brotar da dentição estética, através da leitura de Art and Scholasticism, significou que, ao perceber na análise da natureza da arte algo com que podia concordar, ela reconheceu tanto sua própria capacidade de tornar-se uma artista literária, quanto sua vontade de assumir a tarefa de desenvolver em sua pessoa o hábito de arte
Substance use disorders
No full textSubstance use disorders involve alcohol and a range of other legal and illicit drugs, and are characterised by a preoccupation with or craving for the substance, a greater priority to substance use than other goals, and/or a difficulty controlling consumption. Use of the substance may continue despite negative impacts on other activities, roles, relationships, and physical and mental health. Increased physical tolerance to the substance and withdrawal symptoms may also occur.\ud
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Broad impacts on social and cognitive functioning and on physical and mental health emerge with increasing problem severity. Diffuse cognitive impairment may persist for up to 12 months post-detoxification in alcohol dependence. Psychological comorbidity is common, particularly mood and anxiety disorders.\ud
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A quarter of all Australians will have a substance use disorder in their lifetime. One in five will consume alcohol at a level that puts them at risk of harm from an alcohol-related disease or injury over their lifetime. Australians aged 18 to 29 years are at higher risk than other age groups
Massage therapy improves the management of alcohol withdrawal syndrome
No full textObjectives: Massage therapy has promise as an adjunct to standard alcohol detoxification procedures but has not been investigated comprehensively. Design: The study was a randomized controlled trial comparing massage therapy to a "rest" (control) condition in patients undergoing alcohol detoxification. Settings/location: Hospital-based alcohol and drug detoxification clinic. Subjects: Fifty (50) patients with alcohol dependence (41 males, 9 females). Interventions: The massage intervention involved a seated back, shoulder, head, and neck massage. Outcome measures: Alcohol Withdrawal Scale, respiration, pulse rate, and subjective patient evaluation. Results: Those receiving massage generally showed reductions in pulse rate on 3 of the 4 days of treatment compared to the control group. Massage was also more effective in reducing Alcohol Withdrawal Scale scores in the early stages of the detoxification process. Respiration in the massage group was reduced toward the end of the detoxification admission. Conclusions: Massage shows promise as an adjunct to traditional medical detoxification for alcohol
Alcohol expectancy changes over a 12-week cognitive-behavioral therapy program are predictive of treatment success
No full textThis study examines if outcome expectancies (perceived consequences of engaging in certain behavior) and self-efficacy expectancies (confidence in personal capacity to regulate behavior) contribute to treatment outcome for alcohol dependence. Few clinical studies have examined these constructs. The Drinking Expectancy Profile (DEP), a psychometric measure of alcohol expectancy and drinking refusal selfefficacy,was administered to 298 alcohol-dependent patients (207 males) at assessment and on completion of a 12-week cognitive–behavioral therapy alcohol abstinence program. Baseline measures of expectancy and self-efficacy were not strong predictors of outcome. However, for the 164 patients who completed treatment, all alcohol expectancy and self-efficacy factors of the DEP showed change over time. The DEP scores approximated community norms at the end of treatment. Discriminant analysis indicated that change in social pressure drinking refusal self-efficacy, sexual enhancement expectancies, and assertion expectancies successfully discriminated those who successfully completed treatment from those who did not. Future research should examine the basis of expectancies related to social functioning as a possible mechanism of treatment response and a means to enhance treatment outcome. Crown Copyright © Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved
A systematic literature review of alcohol education programmes in middle and high school settings (2000-2014)
No full textPurpose – Social marketing benchmark criteria were used to understand the extent to which single-substance alcohol education programmes targeting adolescents in middle and high school settings sought to change behaviour, utilised theory, included audience research and applied the market segmentation process. The paper aims to discuss these issues. Design/methodology/approach – A systematic literature review retrieved a total of 1,495 identified articles; 565 duplicates were removed. The remaining 930 articles were then screened. Articles detailing formative research or programmes targeting multiple substances, parents, families and/or communities, as well as elementary schools and universities were excluded. A total of 31 articles, encompassing 16 qualifying programmes, were selected for detailed evaluation. Findings – The majority of alcohol education programmes were developed on the basis of theory and achieved short- and medium-term behavioural effects. Importantly, most programmes were universal and did not apply the full market segmentation process. Limited audience research in the form of student involvement in programme design was identified. Research limitations/implications – This systematic literature review focused on single-substance alcohol education programmes targeted at middle and high school student populations, retrieving studies back to the year 2000. Originality/value – The results of this systematic literature review indicate that application of the social marketing benchmark criteria of market segmentation and audience research may represent an avenue for further extending alcohol education programme effectiveness in middle and high school settings
Improvement in measures of psychological distress amongst amphetamine misusers treated with brief cognitive-behavioural therapy (CBT)
No full textThis trial of cognitive-behavioural therapy (CBT) based amphetamine abstinence program (n = 507) focused on refusal self-efficacy, improved coping, improved problem solving and planning for relapse prevention. Measures included the Severity of Dependence Scale (SDS), the General Health Questionnaire-28 (GHQ-28) and Amphetamine Refusal Self-Efficacy. Psychiatric case identification (caseness) across the four GHQ-28 sub-scales was compared with Australian normative data. Almost 90% were amphetamine-dependent (SDS 8.15 +/- 3.17). Pretreatment, all GHQ-28 sub-scale measures were below reported Australian population values. Caseness was substantially higher than Australian normative values {Somatic Symptoms (52.3%), Anxiety (68%), Social Dysfunction (46.5%) and Depression (33.7%). One hundred and sixty-eight subjects (33%) completed and reported program abstinence. Program completers reported improvement across all GHQ-28 sub-scales Somatic Symptoms (p < 0.001), Anxiety (p < 0.001), Social Dysfunction (p < 0.001) and Depression (p < 0.001)}. They also reported improvement in amphetamine refusal self-efficacy (p < 0.001). Improvement remained significant following intention-to-treat analyses, imputing baseline data for subjects that withdrew from the program. The GHQ-28 sub-scales, Amphetamine Refusal Self-Efficacy Questionnaire and the SDS successfully predicted treatment compliance through a discriminant analysis function (
The Role of Alcohol Expectancy and Drinking Refusal Self-Efficacy Beliefs in University Student Drinking
No full textAims: University student alcohol misuse is a considerable problem. Alcohol expectancy research has contributed significantly to our understanding of problem drinking in young adults. Most of this research has investigated positive expectancy alone. The current study utilized two measures of alcohol expectancy, the alcohol expectancy questionnaire (AEQ) and the drinking expectancy profile [consisting of the drinking expectancy questionnaire (DEQ) and the drinking refusal self-efficacy questionnaire] to predict severity of alcohol dependence, frequency of drinking, and the quantity of alcohol consumed per occasion. Methods: Measures of drinking behaviour and alcohol expectancy were completed by 174 undergraduate university students. Results: Positive alcohol expectancy factors accounted for significant variance in all three drinking indices, with the DEQ adding additional variance to AEQ scores on frequency and severity of alcohol dependence indices. Negative expectancy did not add incremental variance to the prediction of drinking behaviour in this sample. Drinking refusal self-efficacy and dependence beliefs added additional variance over positive and negative expectancies in the prediction of all three drinking parameters. Conclusions: Positive expectancy and drinking refusal self-efficacy were strongly related to university student drinking. The incorporation of expectancy as a means of informing prevention approaches in tertiary education shows promise
Heavy nicotine and alcohol use in alcohol dependence is associated with D2 dopamine receptor (DRD2) polymorphism
No full textCigarette smoking in those who are alcohol dependent is associated with higher morbidity and mortality. The A1 allele of the D2 dopamine receptor (DRD2) gene has been independently associated with alcohol and nicotine dependence. Whether this polymorphism is associated with nicotine dependence in those who are also alcohol dependent has not been investigated. Subjects were 84 (61 males; 23 females) Caucasian DSM IV diagnosed nicotine- and alcohol-dependent subjects sampled from consecutive admissions to a hospital alcohol detoxification ward. Data were obtained through standardised measures of nicotine and alcohol consumption and dependence severity. A1+ allelic (A1/A1 or A1/A2 genotype) compared to A1− allelic (A2/A2 genotype only) patients were characterised by higher levels of alcohol and cigarette consumption. A1+ allelic patients reported greater alcohol dependence severity, but not nicotine dependence severity. When the combined nicotine and alcohol dose was examined, A1+ allelic patients consumed significantly more of these drugs than their A1− allelic counterparts
Motivational interventions may have greater sustained impact if they trained imagery-based self-management
No full textMcCambridge & Rollnick [1] argue that increased benefits\ud
from brief motivational interventions (MIs) for alcohol\ud
abuse may be obtained if they addressed patients’ con-\ud
cerns more directly, especially in severe dependence\ud
and primary care. We agree, but take the idea a step\ud
further.\ud
Recent research on comorbidity has illustrated the\ud
power of simultaneously addressing multiple issues in\ud
an integrated manner, especially when these changes\ud
have synergistic effects (as typically occurs with psycho-\ud
sis and substance use [2]). Integrated MI for comorbidity\ud
can even be used productively in a single-session format\ud
[3]. This idea may have wider application. Recent work\ud
in remote Indigenous Australian communities has\ud
highlighted the benefits of a broad-ranging discussion\ud
of key relationships, activities and resources that\ud
confer strength, as well as aspects that worry them or\ud
cause dissatisfaction [4]. If excessive drinking is present,\ud
its impact on other life areas is reviewed, as in standard\ud
MI. However, it is considered alongside other highly\ud
valued goals. While the approach has demonstrated\ud
effects on both alcohol use and mental health [5], its\ud
impact is restricted only by the range of goals that are\ud
selected..
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