Digital Commons Network^™

Partner Relationships And Injection Sharing Practices Among Rural Appalachian Women, Michele Staton, Justin C. Strickland, Martha Tillson, Carl Leukefeld, J. Matthew Webster, Carrie B. Oser

Behavioral Science Faculty Publications

Background—The role of relationships in initiating and maintaining women’s risk behaviors has been established. However, understanding factors that may underlie partner relationships and women’s risky drug use, particularly in rural contexts, is limited. This study is the first to examine the association between injecting partners and women’s risky injection practices as a function of relationship power perception.

Methods—Female participants were recruited from three rural jails in the Appalachian region. Women were randomly selected, provided informed consent, and screened for study eligibility criteria. This cross-sectional analysis focuses on women who inject drugs (WWID) during the year before entering jail …

Substance Use Disorders, Violence, Mental Health, And Hiv: Differentiating A Syndemic Factor By Gender And Sexuality, Kiyomi Tsuyuki, Eileen V. Pitpitan, Maria A. Levi-Minzi, Lianne A. Urada, Steven P. Kurtz, Jamila K. Stockman, Hilary L. Surratt

Center for Health Services Research Faculty Publications

This paper measures syndemic substance use disorder, violence, and mental health and compares the syndemic among HIV-infected heterosexual men, heterosexual women, and men who have sex with men (MSM). Data were from a sample of high needs substance-using, HIV-infected people in South Florida between 2010 and 2012 (n = 481). We used confirmatory factor analysis to measure a syndemic latent variable and applied measurement invariance models to identify group differences in the data structure of syndemic co-morbidities among heterosexual men, heterosexual women, and MSM. We found that variables used to measure the syndemic fit each sub-group, supporting that substance use …

A Randomized Trial Of Brief Assessment Interventions For Young Adults Who Use Drugs In The Club Scene, Steven P. Kurtz, Mance E. Buttram, Maria E. Pagano, Hilary L. Surratt

Center for Health Services Research Faculty Publications

Background—Efficacious interventions to reduce drug use and its consequences for club drug using populations are not apparent in the literature. We tested interviewer-(CAPI) and self-administered (ACASI) comprehensive health and social risk assessments as distinct interventions compared to waitlist control.

Methods—750 men and women ages 18-39 with multidrug use and heterosexual behavior were randomized in equal proportions to the three conditions. Instrumentation included well-tested measures of drug use, risky sex, mental distress and substance dependence.

Results—The sample was 56% male; mean age=25. Reported risk behaviors and health consequences did not differ by assessment modality. Adjusted HLM analyses showed …

Serious Mental Illness Among Young Adult Women Who Use Drugs In The Club Scene: Co-Occurring Biopsychosocial Factors, Maayan Lawental, Hilary L. Surratt, Mance E. Buttram, Steven P. Kurtz

Center for Health Services Research Faculty Publications

Young women who regularly attend nightclubs are at risk for numerous health and social consequences, including mental distress, sexual and physical victimization and substance dependence. This paper uses a biopsychosocial framework to examine co-occurring mental health problems, victimization, substance dependence, sexual risk and physical pain among a sample of young women who use drugs (N = 222) in Miami’s club scene. The majority of women were under 24 years old, Hispanic, and identified as heterosexual. Almost all the women reported past 90-day use of alcohol, ecstasy/MDMA, marijuana, cocaine and prescription opioids and benzodiazepines; 32% of women reported being in a …

The Juvenile Justice Behavioral Health Services Cascade: A New Framework For Measuring Unmet Substance Use Treatment Services Needs Among Adolescent Offenders, Steven Belenko, Danica Knight, Gail A. Wasserman, Michael L. Dennis, Tisha Wiley, Faye S. Taxman, Carrie B. Oser, Richard Dembo, Angela A. Robertson, Jessica Sales

Sociology Faculty Publications

Overview—Substance use and substance use disorders are highly prevalent among youth under juvenile justice (JJ) supervision, and related to delinquency, psychopathology, social problems, risky sex and sexually transmitted infections, and health problems. However, numerous gaps exist in the identification of behavioral health (BH) problems and in the subsequent referral, initiation and retention in treatment for youth in community justice settings. This reflects both organizational and systems factors, including coordination between justice and BH agencies.

Methods and Results—This paper presents a new framework, the Juvenile Justice Behavioral Health Services Cascade (“Cascade”), for measuring unmet substance use treatment needs to …