Addictive behavior among young people in Ukraine: a pilot study.

The AUDIT-like tests system was created for complex assessment and evaluation of the addictive status of adolescents in a Ukrainian population. The AUDIT-like tests system has been created from the Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test (AUDIT) developed by the World Health Organization. The AUDIT-like tests were minimally modified from the original AUDIT. Attention was brought to similarities between stages of different addictions (TV, computer games, the Internet, etc.) and alcohol addiction. Seventeen AUDIT-like tests were created to detect the different types of chemical and non-chemical addictions.

Prevalence and correlates of insomnia in a polish sample of alcohol-dependent patients.

BACKGROUND: Insomnia is an important symptom in alcohol-dependent patients because it may persist despite abstinence and predispose to relapse to drinking. The goal of the present study was to evaluate the prevalence and clinical correlates of insomnia in a sample of 302 alcohol-dependent patients admitted to treatment programs in Poland. METHODS: Participants were mostly men (73.8%) with a mean (SD) age of 43.5 (9.7) years. Insomnia in the past 1 month was assessed using a total score of 6 or higher on the Athens Insomnia Scale. RESULTS: Insomnia affected 62.9% of patients, and delayed sleep induction was the most common subtype. Insomnia was associated in bivariate analyses with less education, inadequate finances, problem drinking at an earlier age of onset, drinking frequency and quantity, drinking-related consequences, severity of alcohol and nicotine dependence, psychiatric and physical severity, and a childhood history of sexual or physical abuse (p < 0.05). Logistic regression analysis showed that mental and physical health status, severity of alcohol dependence, number of drinking days in the past 3 months, and childhood abuse were independent predictors of insomnia, explaining approximately 30 to 40% of the variance. CONCLUSIONS: More than 60% of alcohol-dependent patients in a Polish sample screened positive for insomnia using a validated scale, a rate similar to those assessed with other scales in other countries. The study also showed that insomnia in alcohol-dependent patients is associated with poor physical health and childhood abuse, similar to the general population. The multifactorial nature of insomnia in alcohol-dependent patients has treatment implications.