The prevalence of alcohol use disorder among older adults is increasing, with this population being particularly vulnerable to alcohol’s detrimental effects. While knowledge of preventative factors is scarce, physical activity has emerged as a potential modifiable protective factor. This study aimed to examine associations between alcohol consumption and physical activity in a large-scale, multi-national prospective study of the older adult population.

Longitudinal data from the SHARE study on physical activity, alcohol consumption, demographic, socioeconomic, and health variables, were analyzed in older adults. Individual-level data were examined using logistic regression models. Both cross-sectional and longitudinal models were calculated to account for potential latency in the association between physical activity and alcohol consumption.

The study included 3133 participants from 13 countries. Higher physical activity levels were significantly associated with higher alcohol consumption in cross-sectional (p = 0.0004) and longitudinal analyses (p = 0.0045) over a median follow-up of 6 years. While the presence of depressive symptoms and higher educational attainment were associated with higher alcohol consumption, female sex and persons with lower perceived health showed lower frequency of alcohol consumption. Additionally, the country of residence also proved to be a relevant factor for alcohol consumption.

Higher levels of physical activity showed an association with higher alcohol consumption in older adults. Future research should investigate whether this association is causal and underpinned by neurobiological, social, or methodological factors.

Impulsivity is a multidimensional trait associated with substance use disorders (SUDs), but the relationship between distinct impulsivity facets and stages of substance use involvement remains unclear.

We used genomic structural equation modeling and genome-wide association studies (N = 79,729–903,147) to examine the latent genetic architecture of nine impulsivity traits and seven substance use (SU) and SUD traits.

We found that the SU and SUD factors were strongly genetically inter-correlated (rG=0.77) but their associations with impulsivity facets differed. Lack of premeditation, negative and positive urgency were equally positively genetically correlated with both the SU (rG=.0.30–0.50) and SUD (rG=0.38–0.46) factors; sensation seeking was more strongly genetically correlated with the SU factor (rG=0.27 versus rG=0.10); delay discounting was more strongly genetically correlated with the SUD factor (rG=0.31 versus rG=0.21); and lack of perseverance was only weakly genetically correlated with the SU factor (rG=0.10). After controlling for the genetic correlation between SU/SUD, we found that lack of premeditation was independently genetically associated with both the SU (β=0.42) and SUD factors (β=0.21); sensation seeking and positive urgency were independently genetically associated with the SU factor (β=0.48, β=0.33, respectively); and negative urgency and delay discounting were independently genetically associated with the SUD factor (β=0.33, β=0.36, respectively).

Our findings show that specific impulsivity facets confer risk for distinct stages of substance use involvement, with potential implications for SUDs prevention and treatment.

Prompt initial contact with a treatment provider is a critical first step in seeking help for a mental or substance use disorders (SUDs). The aim of the current study was to provide estimates of patterns and predictors of delay in making initial treatment contact based on the recently completed Australian National Survey of Mental Health and Wellbeing.

Data came a nationally representative epidemiological survey of n = 15,893 Australians. Measures included DSM-IV lifetime diagnoses of mood (MD), anxiety (AD) and SUDs; age of disorder onset; and age of first treatment contact. Correlates of treatment delay were examined.

SUDs exhibited the lowest lifetime treatment rate (27%), compared to MD (94%) and ADs (85%). Individuals with AD experienced the longest delay in seeking treatment (Mdn = 11 years), followed by those with SUDs (Mdn = 8 years) and MDs (Mdn = 3 years). Females had higher odds of seeking treatment for MD and AD but lower odds for SUDs. Recent birth cohorts showed increased treatment seeking across disorders, and higher education was associated with increased treatment seeking for MD and AD. Age of onset, country of birth and co-occurring disorders had mixed associations with treatment seeking.

The study reveals stark disparities in treatment-seeking behaviour and delays across mental and substance use disorders, with a pronounced underutilization of services for SUDs. Additionally, attention should be directed towards early intervention for individuals with earlier symptom onset, those from earlier cohorts and those with co-occurring SUDs.

Adolescence is a critical period for preventing substance use and mental health concerns, often targeted through separate school-based programs. However, co-occurrence is common and is related to worse outcomes. This study explores prevention effects of leading school-based prevention programs on co-occurring alcohol use and psychological distress.

Data from two Australian cluster randomized trials involving 8576 students in 97 schools were harmonized for analysis. Students received either health education (control) or one of five prevention programs (e.g. Climate Schools, PreVenture) with assessments at baseline and 6, 12, 24, and 30 or 36 months (from ages ~13–16). Multilevel multinomial regressions were used to predict the relative risk ratios (RRs) of students reporting co-occurring early alcohol use and psychological distress, alcohol use only, distress only, or neither (reference) across programs.

The combined Climate Schools: Alcohol and Cannabis and Climate Schools: Mental Health courses (CSC) as well as the PreVenture program reduced the risk of adolescents reporting co-occurring alcohol use and psychological distress (36 months RRCSC = 0.37; RRPreVenture = 0.22). Other evaluated programs (excluding Climate Schools: Mental Health) only appeared effective for reducing the risk of alcohol use that occurred without distress.

Evidence-based programs exist that reduce the risk of early alcohol use with and without co-occurring psychological distress, though preventing psychological distress alone requires further exploration. Prevention programs appear to have different effects depending on whether alcohol use and distress present on their own or together, thus suggesting the need for tailored prevention strategies.

To describe and compare the prevalence of psychosocial and psychiatric disorders among veterans with multiple sclerosis (MS) and a propensity-score-matched group of veterans without MS, and to identify sociodemographic and clinical characteristics associated with comorbid psychosocial and psychiatric problems among veterans with MS.

Data were linked and extracted from the Veterans Affairs (VA) Homeless Operations Management and Evaluation System and the Corporate Data Warehouse. The total sample comprised 27,342 veterans in the VA healthcare system between January 1, 2022, and June 30, 2023, who met eligibility criteria for an MS diagnosis (n=13,671) and 1:1 propensity-score-matched sample of veterans who did not have MS (n=13,671). MS diagnosis, substance use disorder (SUD), mental illness, and homelessness were defined using standard ICD-10 codes. Covariates included sex, age, Charlson Comorbidity Index (CCI), and VA service-connected disability rating.

A higher prevalence of mental illness among veterans with MS (33%) was found compared with those without MS (31%). Multivariable logistic regression models indicated MS was negatively associated with diagnoses of alcohol use disorder, stimulant use disorders, posttraumatic stress disorder, and schizophrenia/schizoaffective disorder but positively associated with diagnoses of cannabis use disorder and major depressive disorder. MS was not significantly related to homelessness. Disparities in psychosocial and psychiatric disorders among veterans with MS are described.

This study provides novel insights regarding rates of homelessness, SUD, and mental illnesses among veterans with MS. Interdisciplinary approaches to identification and management of mental illness, SUD, and homelessness among veterans with MS are critically needed.

The ways in which perceived harm due to substance use affects relationships between psychotic and suicidal experiences are poorly understood. The goal of the current study was to redress this gap by investigating the moderating effects of harm due to substance use on pathways involving positive psychotic symptoms, the perceived cognitive-emotional sequelae of those symptoms, and suicidal ideation.

The design was cross-sectional. Mediation and moderated mediation pathways were tested. The predictor was severity of positive psychotic symptoms. Cognitive interpretative and emotional characteristics of both auditory hallucinations and delusions were mediators. Suicidal ideation was the outcome variable. General symptoms associated with severe mental health problems were statistically controlled for.

There was evidence of an indirect pathway between positive psychotic symptom severity and suicidal ideation via cognitive interpretation and emotional characteristics of both auditory hallucinations and delusions. Harm due to drug use, but not alcohol use, moderated the indirect pathway involving delusions such that it was most prominent when harm due to drug use was at medium-to-high levels. The components of suicidal ideation that were most strongly affected by this moderated indirect pathway were active intent, passive desire, and lack of deterrents.

From both scientific and therapy development perspectives, it is important to understand the complex interplay between, not only the presence of auditory hallucinations and delusions, but the ensuing cognitive and emotional consequences of those experiences which, when combined with harm associated with substance use, in particular drug use, can escalate suicidal thoughts and acts.

People with mental illness are overrepresented throughout the criminal justice system. In Italy, the Judicial Psychiatric Hospitals are now on the edge of their closure in favor of small-scale therapeutic facilities (REMS). Therefore, when patients end their duty for criminal behaviors, their clinical management moves back to the outpatient psychiatric centers. Elevated risks of rule-violating behavior are not equally shared across the spectrum of psychiatric disorders. To broaden the research in this area, we analyzed sociodemographic, clinical, and forensic variables of a group of psychiatric patients with a history of criminal behaviors, attending an outpatient psychiatric service in Milan, focusing on substance use disorder (SUD).

This is a cross-sectional single center study, conducted from 2020. Seventy-six subjects with a history of criminal behaviors aged 18 years or older and attending an outpatient psychiatric service were included. Demographic and clinical variables collected during clinical interviews with patients were retrospectively retrieved from patients’ medical records. Appropriate statistical analyses for categorical and continuous variables were conducted.

Data were available for 76 patients, 51.3% of them had lifetime SUD. Lifetime SUD was significantly more common in patients with long-acting injectable antipsychotics therapy, a history of more than 3 psychiatric hospitalizations, and a history of previous crimes, particularly economic crimes. Additionally, this last potential correlation was confirmed by logistic regression.

Data emerging from this survey provide new information about offenders with lifetime SUD attending an Italian mental health service. Our preliminary results should be confirmed in larger sample sizes.

Individuals who are unable to meet their basic needs are more likely to respond reactively to their immediate social and financial hardships with behaviors that lead to “diseases of despair,” which include suicide, drug overdose, and alcohol-induced liver diseases. We sought to assess the feasibility of a community-to-clinic referral approach for diseases of despair-related behaviors.

Guided by the Model for Adaptation Design and Impact, we adapted existing clinical risk assessments into a six-item screener and integrated it into the PA 211 Southwest helpline’s workflow. The screener was created to identify helpline callers at risk for suicidal ideation/behavior, alcohol abuse, drug use, and those in need of seasonal flu vaccination. The screener was implemented from December 2020 to March 2021. We invited at-risk individuals who accepted a service referral to complete baseline and follow-up surveys to learn about their satisfaction with screening and use of referrals.

2,868 callers were invited to take the screener, with 37% (n = 1047) participation. Among screened callers, 19% (n = 196) were at risk of alcohol abuse, 11% (n = 118) for drug use, 9% (n = 98) for suicidal ideation/behavior, and 54% (n = 568) needed flu vaccination. Of those, 265 callers accepted at least one of the offered referrals. Forty-seven individuals took our surveys, with almost half of them (n = 22) reported engaging with a referral and 90% recommended the helpline for health referrals.

Our findings demonstrate the feasibility of using existing community infrastructure and social service systems to actively screen and link at-risk individuals to needed health referrals in their communities.