ABSTRACT
This study compared the cigarette smoking of substance abusers whose primary substance of abuse was cocaine (cocaine group: n = 18) or alcohol (alcohol group: n = 23). Cigarette smoking and smoking topography was assessed daily (via self-report and single cigarette topography assessments) at baseline and following a switch to a cigarette brand with 30% lower nicotine. The alcohol and cocaine groups did not differ at baseline on cigarettes smoked per day, cigarette nicotine, smoking topography, or the Fagerstrom Tolerance Questionnaire. However, the cocaine group exhibited marked increases in compensatory smoking relative to the alcohol group following the 30% reduction in cigarette nicotine, as evidenced by decreases in the average time interval between each puff, p < .05, increases in the total amount of time spent puffing, p < .05, and increases in estimated total amount of time spent puffing per day, p < .05. These findings provide initial data that cocaine and alcohol abusers may titrate nicotine differently and suggest that cocaine abusers may require additional or modified smoking cessation treatments.
Subject(s)
Alcoholism/epidemiology , Cocaine , Ill-Housed Persons/statistics & numerical data , Smoking/epidemiology , Substance-Related Disorders/epidemiology , Veterans/statistics & numerical data , Adult , Alcoholism/psychology , Alcoholism/rehabilitation , Combined Modality Therapy , Comorbidity , Ill-Housed Persons/psychology , Humans , Male , Middle Aged , Smoking/psychology , Smoking Cessation/psychology , Substance Abuse Treatment Centers , Substance-Related Disorders/psychology , Substance-Related Disorders/rehabilitation , Veterans/psychologyABSTRACT
This paper presents data regarding a residential rehabilitation program that integrates cognitive-behavioral and therapeutic community techniques to treat homelessness and substance abuse. The study cohort was 110 military veterans admitted to a Domiciliary Care for Homeless Veterans program of the Department of Veterans Affairs. The cohort had multiple psychosocial problems at admission, and all had drug/alcohol abstinence as a treatment goal. Structured interviews conducted at 3, 6, 9, and 12 months postdischarge revealed that a substantial proportion had positive outcomes with respect to housing, substance abuse abstinence, employment, and self-rated psychological symptoms. This integrated cognitive-behavioral therapeutic community approach appears to be a viable treatment for this subset of homeless and also may be effective for other populations with similar clinical characteristics.
Subject(s)
Behavior Therapy , Cognitive Behavioral Therapy , Ill-Housed Persons/psychology , Substance-Related Disorders/psychology , Substance-Related Disorders/therapy , Veterans , Adult , Cohort Studies , Female , Follow-Up Studies , Hospitalization , Humans , Male , Middle Aged , Substance-Related Disorders/rehabilitation , Treatment OutcomeABSTRACT
Fifty-one healthy elderly subjects (median age = 65) gave retrospective estimates of nightmare frequency in questionnaires and recorded the occurrence of nightmares in daily logs over a 2-week period. (a) Mean annual nightmare frequency as estimated from logs was only 65% as high among college student controls. (b) Elderly subjects were about 1/5 as likely as college students to report a problem with nightmares. (c) Frequency estimates on the basis of logs were over 10 times higher than retrospective estimates.
