The association between drug use--regular use of crack cocaine or heroin--and problem drinking was examined in a sample of 159 sentenced women at Rikers Island correction facility in New York City. Using logistic regression, this study tested the association between drug use and alcohol use, controlling for psychosocial variables (sexual abuse history, negative and positive coping skills, and depression), familial drug use (number of family members currently abusing drugs, and those currently abusing alcohol), and demographic variables and criminal history. The association between current, regular crack use and problem drinking approached significance in the final model, which adjusted for criminal behavior, demographic, familial abuse, and psychosocial variables. The results of this study point toward childhood sexual abuse, negative coping skills, and familial alcohol abuse as variables related to problem drinking among incarcerated women.

Adult↗

PubMedDate not supplied

Dietary and dining expectations of residents of long-term care facilities.

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Food Services↗

PubMedDate not supplied

Sex trading and psychological distress in a street-based sample of low-income urban men.

This article examines the relationship between sex trading and psychological distress and assesses sexual human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) risk behaviors and HIV seroprevalence in a sample of young men recruited from the streets of Harlem. The authors interviewed 477 men, aged 18 to 29 years, of whom 43 (9.0%) had received money or drugs in exchange for sex in the preceding 30 days and were categorized as sex traders. Psychological distress was measured by using the Brief Symptom Inventory (BSI). Sex traders scored significantly higher than non-sex traders on the General Severity Index and on all nine subscales of the BSI. According to multivariate analysis after adjusting for perceived HIV risk, current regular crack cocaine use and homelessness, sex traders scored 0.173 units higher on the General Severity Index than non-sex traders (p < .001). More of the sex traders tested positive for HIV (41% versus 19%, p < .001). The alarmingly high HIV seroprevalence rate in sex traders in this sample underscores the need to redouble HIV prevention efforts for this population. The high levels of psychological distress and crack cocaine dependence among sex traders may undermine their ability to adopt safer sex behaviors and should be considered in intervention designs.

Adolescent↗