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Biomedical subjects

Eric F Wagner

Publications and source records attributed to Eric F Wagner.

11 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed2005

Developmental considerations for substance use interventions from middle school through college.

This article summarizes a symposium organized by Dr. Elizabeth D'Amico and presented at the 2004 Annual Meeting of the Research Society on Alcoholism in Vancouver, Canada. The four presentations illustrate the importance of creating substance use interventions that are developmentally appropriate for youth. They represent innovative approaches to working with preteens, teenagers, and young adults. Dr. D'Amico's paper describes her research on the development of a voluntary brief intervention targeting alcohol use among middle school students. Findings indicated that by using school and community input, she was able to obtain a diverse a sample of youth across grades, sex, ethnicity, and substance use status. Dr. Ellickson's paper describes her research on Project ALERT, a school-based prevention program for middle school youth. Her findings indicate that Project ALERT worked for students at all levels of risk (low, moderate, and high) and for all students combined. Dr. Wagner's Teen Intervention Project was a randomized clinical trial to test the efficacy of a standardized Student Assistance Program for treating middle and high school students with alcohol and other drug problems. The study provided a unique opportunity to begin to examine how development may impact response to an alcohol or other drug intervention. Dr. Turrisi's paper examined processes underlying the nature of the effects of a parent intervention on college student drinking tendencies. Findings suggested that the parent intervention seems to have its impact on student drinking by reducing the influence of negative communications and decreasing the susceptibility of influences from closest friends. Dr. Kim Fromme provided concluding remarks.

Adolescent↗
PubMed2004

Evidence for cyclin D3 as a novel target of rapamycin in human T lymphocytes.

The immunosuppressant rapamycin has been shown to inhibit G(1)/S transition of the cell cycle. This inhibition is thought to be mediated by maintenance of the threshold levels of cyclin-dependent kinase (CDK) inhibitor p27(Kip1) (p27) and inhibition of p70 s6 kinase (p70(s6k)). However, recent evidence suggests that cells still remain sensitive to rapamycin in the absence of functional p27 or p70(s6k). Here, we show that rapamycin represses cyclin D3 levels in activated human T lymphocytes with no inhibitory effects on cyclin D2. Furthermore, rapamycin elicits similar cyclin D3 modulatory effects in B lymphocytes. The overall effect of rapamycin on cyclin D3 leads to impaired formation of active complexes with Cdk4 or Cdk6 and subsequent inhibition of cyclin D3/CDK kinase activity. Decrease in cyclin D3 protein levels is due to translational repression and not due to attenuated transcription of the cyclin D3 gene. Importantly, stable overexpression of cyclin D3 (2-2.5 fold) in Jurkat T cell transfectants renders them resistant to lower doses (1-10 ng/ml) of rapamycin. These results point to a critical role of cyclin D3 in rapamycin-mediated immunosuppressive effects in T cells and cell cycle regulation in lymphocytes in general.

Anti-Inflammatory Agents, Non-Steroidal↗
PubMed2004

Abuse experiences in a community sample of young adults: relations with psychiatric disorders, sexual risk behaviors, and sexually transmitted diseases.

This study documents significant associations among lifetime abuse experiences, psychiatric diagnoses, and sexual risk behaviors in a multiethnic community sample of young men and women (N = 1803) in South Florida. Self-report data were collected via structured interviews as part of a longitudinal follow-up of a larger school-based study. Participants were grouped according to extent of lifetime abuse experiences. Cumulative lifetime abuse experiences were associated with increased risk for a broad range of individual lifetime psychiatric disorders, as well as cumulative lifetime psychiatric disorders. Both cumulative abuse experiences and cumulative psychiatric disorders were independently associated with (a) higher levels of sexual risk behaviors and (b) higher risk for lifetime sexually transmitted diseases (STDs). Implications for selective prevention of sexual risk behaviors and STDs among young adults with histories of abuse and psychiatric disorders are discussed.

Adolescent↗
PubMed2004

Implementing school-based substance abuse interventions: methodological dilemmas and recommended solutions.

AIMS: To review current knowledge about the most effective school-based interventions for child and adolescent problems, and to present dilemmas and potential solutions in mounting and evaluating school-based interventions for adolescent alcohol and other drug (AOD) use problems. DESIGN: Two literature reviews were conducted: (1) a broad and encompassing review of English-language articles published from 1990 to the present concerning school-based interventions for child and adolescent problems and (2) an exhaustive review of articles concerning Student Assistance Programs, which are the most popular approach to school-based AOD intervention in the United States. FINDINGS: Ten key components of effective school-based interventions were identified. In addition, six pervasive dilemmas in school-based AOD intervention research were discussed. Examples of potential solutions to these dilemmas were gleaned from an ongoing randomized clinical trial of a Student Assistance Program. CONCLUSIONS: School-based AOD interventions have several potential advantages over more traditional clinic-based AOD interventions. Nonetheless, there are many challenges and dilemmas to conducting and evaluating interventions in school settings. With patience and guidance, these challenges can be addressed successfully.

Adolescent↗
PubMed2004

Culturally sensitive substance abuse intervention for Hispanic and African American adolescents: empirical examples from the Alcohol Treatment Targeting Adolescents in Need (ATTAIN) Project.

AIMS: This study presents preliminary analyses examining the effects of an alcohol and other drug use (AOD) intervention with minority juvenile offenders. Furthermore, the study investigates the impact of cultural factors on baseline AOD use among Hispanic and African American youth, as well as on treatment outcome. DESIGN, SETTING AND PARTICIPANTS: Participants were 213 juvenile offenders referred for treatment (mean age = 15.7 years), 97 of whom have completed treatment to date. The intervention was carried out in clinics placed within the neighborhoods in which the participants resided. Intervention Alcohol Treatment Targeting Adolescents in Need (ATTAIN) is a controlled clinical trial evaluating the effectiveness of a brief motivational, cognitive behavioral intervention, guided self-change (GSC). Participants are assigned randomly to the individual format of guided self-change (I-GSC), the family involved format of guided self-Change (F-GSC), choice of one of these two, or a waiting list control condition. Only participants involved in active intervention are included in the present report. MEASUREMENTS: Data were collected via structured face-to-face interviews. Alcohol and marijuana use measures were collected using the Time-line Follow-back interview (TLFB). FINDINGS: There were significant reductions in alcohol and marijuana use for all ethnic groups from baseline to post-intervention. Cultural factors (discrimination, acculturation, ethnic pride and cultural mistrust) were associated with pre-intervention levels of alcohol and marijuana use. Among Hispanics, pre-intervention level of substance use were higher among foreign-born than US-born youth. Analyses conducted with the US-born Hispanic group showed that ethnic orientation and ethnic pride were associated positively with greater reductions in alcohol use. CONCLUSIONS: The intervention provided through ATTAIN appears to be effective with a multi-ethnic population of juvenile delinquents. Cultural factors, such as ethnic orientation and ethnic mistrust, appear to constitute amenability to treatment factors, with US-born Hispanic youth lower in acculturation responding better to the intervention.

Adolescent↗
PubMed2004

Associations between early-adolescent substance use and subsequent young-adult substance use disorders and psychiatric disorders among a multiethnic male sample in South Florida.

OBJECTIVES: We examined the associations among early-adolescent substance use, subsequent young-adult substance use disorders, and psychiatric disorders among a community sample of males. METHODS: Early-adolescent data were collected in classroom surveys (1990-1993), and young-adult data were collected in face-to-face interviews (1998-2000). RESULTS: We found strong associations between early-adolescent substance use and young-adult substance use disorders and psychiatric disorders. The magnitudes of these associations varied by racial/ethnic group and were strongest among African Americans and foreign-born Hispanics, who reported the lowest early-adolescent substance use. CONCLUSIONS: Early-adolescent substance use is most strongly associated with a later pattern of dysfunction among the racial/ethnic groups that reported the lowest levels of early use. The implications of our findings in the context of primary and secondary prevention are discussed.

Adolescent↗
PubMed2003

Patterns of sexual risk behaviors and psychiatric disorders in a community sample of young adults.

This cross-sectional study documents significant associations between patterns of sexual risk behaviors and psychiatric diagnoses in a multiethnic community sample of young adults (N = 1803) in South Florida. Self-report data regarding sexual behavior and psychiatric symptoms were collected in structured interviews in a follow-up of an earlier school-based study. Cluster analysis was used to group participants with regard to levels of sexual risk behaviors during the past year. Chi-square analysis and ANOVA identified significant associations between cluster membership and (a) lifetime and (b) past year diagnoses for affective disorders, conduct disorder, antisocial personality disorder, alcohol abuse/dependence, marijuana abuse/dependence, and other drug abuse/dependence. In addition, higher levels of sexual risk behaviors were associated with higher levels of cumulative lifetime psychiatric disorders. Implications for selected prevention of sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) and the treatment of psychiatric disorders in young adulthood are discussed.

Adult↗
PubMed2003

Harm reduction: a social work practice model and social justice agenda.

Efforts in the United States to eradicate drug use through supply reduction (that is, the War on Drugs) have increasingly violated the principles of social justice and human rights, both locally and globally. This has created ethical conflicts for social workers in policy making, practice, and research. Harm reduction has been conceptualized as a peace movement and is aligned with the humanistic values around which social work is organized. The authors examine how social workers may reduce the ethical conflicts associated with efforts to address substance abuse by adopting a harm reduction approach to policy, practice, and research. They examine current drug policies, the consequences of the policies, and, in particular, how the policies affect social workers as practitioners, agents of social control, and guardians of social justice.

Drug and Narcotic Control↗
PubMed2003

Conceptualizing alcohol treatment research for Hispanic/Latino adolescents.

This paper briefly reviews the Community-Based Intervention Research Group's ongoing efforts in conceptualizing alcohol treatment research for Hispanic/Latino adolescents. I begin by defining Empirically Supported Therapies (ESTs), Developmentally Sensitive Therapies (DSTs), and Culturally Sensitive Therapies (DSTs). I then argue that these three perspectives need to be integrated for the field to advance. Next, I discuss the complexities inherent in the integration of EST, DST, and CST, and suggest a 'flexible core approach' may be the most feasible and promising approach to integration. Finally, I introduce the concept of 'amenability to treatment' and describe how it may be applied to understanding how race/ethnicity-related variables may influence response to treatment.

Adolescent↗
PubMed2002

Racial/ethnic and gender differences in the incidence and onset age of DSM-IV alcohol use disorder symptoms among adolescents.

OBJECTIVE: Several investigators have questioned the validity of the DSM-IV Alcohol Use Disorders criteria for diagnosing alcohol use problems among teenagers, with specific concerns about their utility across different subgroups. In the current study, we examined whether particular racial/ethnic or gender subgroups varied in the incidence and onset age of Alcohol Use Disorder symptoms. METHOD: Members of a sample composed of 1,045 community-dwelling "drinkers" (59.4% male; 13.8% black, 21.2% foreign-born Hispanic, 30.7% U.S.-born Hispanic and 33.6% non-Hispanic white) were interviewed retrospectively using the Composite International Diagnostic Interview. The first occurrence of each DSM-IV symptom in a participant was examined by race/ethnicity and gender. Discrete-time event history analysis compared onset patterns from ages 14 through 20 years. RESULTS: The cumulative incidence of Alcohol Abuse and Alcohol Dependence diagnoses, as well as one alcohol abuse symptom and four dependence symptoms, varied by race/ethnicity. The incidence of both diagnoses, as well as two alcohol abuse symptoms, varied by gender. Event history analysis revealed no significant subgroup variation in first onset patterns for only three of the eleven symptoms. Racial/ethnic variation, but not gender variation, was significant for three symptoms, and both racial/ethnic variation and gender variation was significant for the remaining five symptoms. CONCLUSIONS: Our findings indicate that most of the DSM-IV Alcohol Use Disorder symptoms, when applied to adolescents, demonstrate significant subgroup variation in incidence and onset age patterns. These results speak to the urgent need for additional research concerning the nosology and diagnosis of alcohol use problems among younger drinkers, especially among specific racial/ethnic and gender subgroups.

Adolescent↗