Impact of a 2-Year Multimodal Intervention for Disruptive 6-Year-Olds on Substance Use in Adolescence: Randomised Controlled Trial.
Impact of a 2-year multimodal intervention for disruptive 6-year-olds on substance use in adolescence: randomised controlled trial.
Br J Psychiatry. 2013 Aug 8;
Castellanos-Ryan N, Séguin JR, Vitaro F, Parent S, Tremblay RE
Adolescent substance use is associated with both earlier childhood behavioural problems and serious lifetime addiction problems later in life.To examine whether, and through which mechanisms, targeting risk factors in early childhood prevents substance use across adolescence.Disruptive kindergarten boys (n = 172) living in Montreal were randomly allocated to a preventive intervention and a control condition. The intervention was delivered over 2 years (7-9 years of age) with two main components: (a) social and problem-solving skills training for the boys; and (b) training for parents on effective child-rearing skills.Adolescent substance use, up to 8 years post-intervention, was reduced in those who received the intervention (d = 0.48-0.70). Of most interest, the intervention effects were explained partly by reductions in impulsivity, antisocial behaviour and affiliation with less deviant peers during pre-adolescence (11-13 years).Adolescent substance use may be indirectly prevented by selectively targeting childhood risk factors that disrupt the developmental cascade of adolescent risk factors for substance use. HubMed – addiction
Stereotaxic microinjection of viral vectors expressing cre recombinase to study the role of target genes in cocaine conditioned place preference.
J Vis Exp. 2013;
Schierberl KC, Rajadhyaksha AM
Microinjecting recombinant adenoassociated viral (rAAV) vectors expressing Cre recombinase into distinct mouse brain regions to selectively knockout genes of interest allows for enhanced temporally- and regionally-specific control of gene deletion, compared to existing methods. While conditional deletion can also be achieved by mating mice that express Cre recombinase under the control of specific gene promoters with mice carrying a floxed gene, stereotaxic microinjection allows for targeting of discrete brain areas at experimenter-determined time points of interest. In the context of cocaine conditioned place preference, and other cocaine behavioral paradigms such as self-administration or psychomotor sensitization that can involve withdrawal, extinction and/or reinstatement phases, this technique is particularly useful in exploring the unique contribution of target genes to these distinct phases of behavioral models of cocaine-induced plasticity. Specifically, this technique allows for selective ablation of target genes during discrete phases of a behavior to test their contribution to the behavior across time. Ultimately, this understanding allows for more targeted therapeutics that are best able to address the most potent risk factors that present themselves during each phase of addictive behavior. HubMed – addiction
The Hotel Study: Multimorbidity in a Community Sample Living in Marginal Housing.
Am J Psychiatry. 2013 Aug 9;
Vila-Rodriguez F, Panenka WJ, Lang DJ, Thornton AE, Vertinsky T, Wong H, Barr AM, Procyshyn RM, Sidhu JJ, Smith GN, Buchanan T, Krajden M, Krausz M, Montaner JS, Macewan GW, Honer WG
OBJECTIVE The health of people living in marginal housing is not well characterized, particularly from the perspective of multimorbid illness. The authors investigated this population in a community sample. METHOD A prospective community sample (N=293) of adults living in single-room occupancy hotels was followed for a median of 23.7 months. Assessment included psychiatric and neurological evaluation, multimodal MRI, and viral testing. RESULTS Previous homelessness was described in 66.6% of participants. Fifteen deaths occurred during 552 person-years of follow-up. The standardized mortality ratio was 4.83 (95% CI=2.91-8.01). Substance dependence was ubiquitous (95.2%), with 61.7% injection drug use. Psychosis was the most common mental illness (47.4%). A neurological disorder was present in 45.8% of participants, with definite MRI findings in 28.0%. HIV serology was positive in 18.4% of participants, and hepatitis C virus serology in 70.3%. The median number of multimorbid illnesses (from a list of 12) was three. Burden of multimorbidity was significantly correlated with lower role functioning score. Comorbid addiction or physical illness significantly decreased the likelihood of treatment for psychosis but not the likelihood of treatment for opioid dependence or HIV disease. Participants who died during follow-up appeared to have profiles of multimorbidity similar to those of the overall sample. CONCLUSIONS This marginally housed cohort had greater than expected mortality and high levels of multimorbidity with adverse associations with role function and likelihood of treatment for psychosis. These findings may guide the development of effective health care delivery in the setting of marginal housing. HubMed – addiction