Relation of new-type drugs using intention to self-efficacy and perceived stress in secondary vocational school students / 中国心理卫生杂志

Objective:To explore the relation of new-type drug using intention,self-efficacy,and perceived stress in secondary vocational school students.Methods:A total of 2692 secondary vocational school students in Zhaoqing,Guangdong Province were selected.The questionnaire of new-type drugs using intention,General Self-Efficacy Scale (GSES),and Perceived Stress Scale (PSS) were respectively used to assess the secondary vocational school students'new-type drugs using intention,self-efficacy,and perceived stress.Path analysis model was used to analyze the relationship of new-type drugs using intention,self-efficacy,and perceived stress among secondary vocational school students.Results:There were 13.6％ (295/2165) of the secondary vocational school students reported an intention to use new-type drugs.The total scores of GSES and PSS were (2.4 ±0.5) and (18.8 ±5.0),respectively.The results of path analysis showed that,after controlling for age,gender,and residence,the scores of GSES were negatively correlated with the scores of PSS (γ =-0.21,P ＜0.001),and the scores of PSS were positively correlated with the scores of questionnaire of new-type drugs using intention (γ =0.05,P ＜ 0.05).However,the scores of GSES showed no significant direct correlation with the scores of questionnaire of new-type drugs using intention (γ =0.04,P ＞ 0.05).Conclusion:The secondary vocational school students' level of perceived stress are positively correlated with their intention to use new-type drugs.Self-efficacy might moderate the individual's level of perceived stress,thus to show indirect correlation to the secondary vocational school students' intention.

Adolescent Sexual Debut and Initiation into New-Type Drug Use among a Sample of Young Adults.

We examined the association between adolescent sexual debut and age at new-type drug initiation among a sample of young adult new-type drug users. A total of 276 participants were recruited using respondent-driven sampling (RDS) in Shanghai, China. The analyses were restricted to a total of 201 participants aged between 18 and 30 years. The average age at sexual debut and age at first new-type drug use were 18.8 and 20.9 years, respectively. About 94% of participants reported having sexual experience (n=188); of those, 137 (72.9%) had sexual debut before they first used new-type drugs, while 32 (17.0%) initiated both events at the same age. After adjustment for age, income, education, and sexual orientation, adolescent sexual debut was independently associated with younger age at new-type drug initiation. Adolescent sexual debut is associated with early onset of new-type drug use. Our findings underscore the importance of implementing sex-education programs for adolescents in schools in China.

Prevalence and network-characteristics of risky sexual behaviors among clients receiving methadone maintenance treatment at clinics in Taizhou prefecture of Zhejiang province / 中华流行病学杂志

Objective To investigate the risky sexual behaviors,associated factors and characteristics of sexual network among clients receiving methadone maintenance treatment (MMT) at the clinics in Taizhou prefecture of Zhejiang province.Methods A cross-sectional survey was conducted.Data was collected through questionnaire and from the national unified MMT system.Urine was collected to test heroin,methamphetamine,3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA) and ketamine.Blood was collected to test infections on HIV,hepatitis C vims(HCV) and syphilis.Results Totally,362 clients were recruited.Most of the clients were male (88.7％),31--40 year-olds (54.5％),married (61.6％) and having received junior high school education (56.6％).85.1％ of them received urine test with 82(26.6％) positive for heroin,21 (6.8％) positive for methamphetamine,19 (6.2％) positive for MDMA and none for ketamine.77.1％ of them received blood test,and prevalence rates for HIV,HCV and syphilis were 1.1％,36.7％ and 3.6％.19.5％ of the clients who had sex in the past 6 months.Factors as having multiple sexual partners and positive for club drugs were under higher risk.Sexual networking seemed to be loose,linear and acyclic among this population but overlapping with the drug-using network.Conclusion Effective and targeted interventions should be taken among the MMT clients since continuing drug use and HIV/STD related sexual behavior were found common in them,suggesting there was a risk of HIV/STD transmission in this ppulation.

Circumstances of initiation into new-type drug use among adults in Shanghai: are there differences by types of first new-type drug used?

BACKGROUND: This study investigated circumstances of initiating new-type drug use among adult new-type drug users and differences among those who first used methamphetamine, ecstasy and ketamine. METHODS: A total of 276 participants were recruited, using respondent-driven sampling (RDS) from nine seeds recruited through NGOs, social workers and outreach workers in Shanghai, China. RESULTS: Methamphetamine was the most frequently reported first new-type drug used (37.1%), followed by ecstasy (35.6%) and ketamine (20.0%). 38.7% of participants initiated new-type drug use before the age of 21 years. 47.8% knew at initiation that club drugs can be harmful. Most were introduced to new-type drug use by friends, spouses or boy/girlfriends. The three most common reasons for initiation were curiosity, peer influence, and wishing to dull one's emotions. Those first using methamphetamine were more likely to be female, have a monthly individual income less than 3000 Yuan (approx. $476), initiate use at 21 years or older and at private setting than those first using ecstasy and ketamine. CONCLUSIONS: There is an urgent need for drug education efforts in China to raise awareness of the harms of new-type drugs, as well as to increase knowledge about the paradox of new-type drug effects. Drug prevention and intervention programs should be tailore to target populations and their social context.