Lindsey Coombes

Alcohol intoxication and mental health among adolescents – a population review of 8983 young people, 13–19 years in North-Trøndelag, Norway: the Young-HUNT Study

BackgroundThe aims of this study were to describe alcohol use among Norwegian teenagers and investigate the associations between mental health problems and alcohol intoxications with focus on age and gender.MethodsPopulation based, cross-sectional survey addressing all adolescents aged 13–19 years, attending secondary or high school in North – Trøndelag County, Norway. 8983 youths (91%) answered the Young-HUNT questionnaire in the 1995–1997 survey. Logistic regression models were used to study associations.Results80% of the respondents reported that they had tried drinking alcohol, and 57% had been intoxicated at least once. The proportion of the students, which had tried alcohol, was equal in both genders and increased with age. Attention problems and conduct problems were strongly associated with frequent alcohol intoxications in both genders. Anxiety and depressive symptoms among girls were also related to high numbers of intoxicationsConclusionGender differences in number of alcohol intoxications were small. There was a close association between both conduct and attention problems and high alcohol consumption in both genders. Girls with symptoms of anxiety and depression reported more frequent alcohol intoxications.

Alcohol Use and Physical Health in Adolescence: A General Population Survey of 8,983 Young People in North-Trøndelag, Norway (The Young-HUNT Study)

Aims To investigate the relationship between adolescents’ alcohol use and physical health. Design A total population, cross-sectional survey of adolescents, aged 13–19 years, attending secondary or high school in Nord-Trøndelag County, Norway. 8,983 youths (91%%) answered the Young-Hunt questionnaire in the 1995–1997 HUNT-survey. Method Self-reported data mainly analyzed by logistic regression models. Findings 80%% of the respondents had tried alcohol, and 29%% reported more than 10 intoxications. Ill health perception was associated with frequent alcohol intoxications. Tension symptoms had the closest relationship to frequency of intoxications in both genders. Girls that frequently used health services had frequent alcohol intoxications. Funding Central Norway Regional Health and the County Council of Nord-Trøndelag. Conclusions There is a close association of physical health complaints and alcohol intoxication frequency in Norwegian teenagers. The studys limitations were noted.

Student nurse appraisal of placement (SNAP): an attempt to provide objective measures of the learning environment based on qualitative and quantitative evaluations.

Many nurse researchers have emphasised the importance of good clinical learning environments for student nurses. However, there is less emphasis on how measures of the learning environment can be communicated clearly and objectively to educationalists and clinical staff. This paper attempts to show how the findings of a self-administered student nurse appraisal of placement (SNAP) form can be presented in both qualitative and quantitative terms. A questionnaire was specially designed to provide objective and valid feedback from students, and the learning environments of three wards were compared.

An Exploratory Pilot Study of the Strengthening Families Programme 10-14 (UK).

The Strengthening Families Programme 10–14 (SFP10–14; UK) is a seven-session DVD-based family skills training programme. While the programme has been extensively evaluated in the United States, no randomized controlled trial (RCT) of the SFP10–14 has been conducted in the United Kingdom. This exploratory Phase II study was an evaluation of a universally delivered prevention programme using a mixed-methods design study blending both quantitative and qualitative data. It aimed to examine intervention versus control differences in young persons substance use, aggressive behaviours and school absence, parenting behaviour and measures of family life. All parents/carers (n = 53) with a young person aged 10–14 years (n = 69) attending three schools in different locations in England were invited to complete self-report questionnaires pre- and post-intervention, and at 3 months after completion of the SFP10–14 (UK). A purposive sample of parents/caregivers (n = 16) and young people (n = 14) provided qualitative feedback from participating families. Participant recruitment to the study was slow and many families were reluctant to be randomly allocated, instead indicating a preference for the SFP10–14 (UK) group. Rather than abandoning the trial, a decision was made to proceed as a quasi-experimental study, that is, without randomization.

Qualitative Evidence in Addictions

This chapter presents an overview of the contribution of qualitative evidence to what is known about the addictions. There is a long history of conducting qualitative research in this field with major contributions to our understanding of issues from the perspectives of users. Additionally, our awareness of how wider social forces (whether historical, social, or economic) shape the everyday realities lived by drug and alcohol users has been increased through qualitative research. However, taken as a whole, knowledge production in the field has been dominated by quantitative approaches and the current trend in addictions policy and practice is that treatment approaches should be evidence-based, underpinned by the objective, unbiased findings of research. Qualitative research has played a major role in questioning such positivist assumptions and how we think about and respond to addictions, but in so doing it has created an epistemological divide. In an attempt to bridge this gap it has been suggested that transdisciplinary research, where qualitative researchers put aside their theoretical and epistemological commitments in order to engage with others, is used. It is argued in the chapter that this can only be a partial solution to the problem and that the integrity of single discipline approaches is important. Each research approach is most suited to certain questions—and it would be erroneous to presume that transdisciplinary work is the only way forward.

Policy and Practice in Mental Health Promotion in England: An Overview

The importance of mental health promotion is increasingly being recognised as a policy issue in the UK, although little is known yet about progress towards implementing mental health promotion approaches within mental health services. This paper presents an overview of the topic, and reports on a survey of local authorities in England to identify examples of good practice in mental health promotion and the extent to which they are underpinned by evidence.