Conducted annually, the National Survey on Drug Use and Health (NSDUH) provides nationally representative data on the use of tobacco, alcohol, and drugs; substance use disorders; mental health issues; and receipt of substance use and mental health treatment among the civilian, noninstitutionalized population aged 12 or older in the United States. NSDUH estimates allow researchers, clinicians, policymakers, and the general public to better understand and improve the nation’s behavioral health. These reports and detailed tables present national estimates from the 2023 National Survey on Drug Use...

This research evaluated alcohol consumption in the Latin American and Latin Caribbean adult population during COVID-19 confinement, taking into account age and employment status. Non-probabilistic design with convenience sampling, with a sample of 4975 participants. Age, employment status and alcohol consumption were analysed during confinement and retrospectively before the pandemic. The results show that regardless of the country, young people aged 18-29 decreased consumption during confinement; while the largest in- crease was in adults aged 45-54 years. Full-time workers consumed more than...

Family involvement has proven to be a protective factor in childhood and adolescence, acting as a preventive barrier against risky behaviours, such as substance abuse and addiction, among minors and youth. Family- and community-based intervention strategies for environmental prevention have been deemed effective; however, empirical data is scarce. The study aims to provide a conceptualised framework for the FERYA program (Networked and Active Families), a bottom-up environmental prevention program running in Spain since 2012 (known as EPOPS — Empowering Parents Organizations to Prevent...

BACKGROUND: Online learning has the potential to increase accessibility to high quality and cost-effective resources in prevention of risk behaviors. The aim of this pilot study was to assess the experience of university students with the comprehensive online course on prevention.

METHODS: In this pilot study, an online questionnaire was administered to 51 Czech and 31 Ukrainian university students who completed the online Introduction to Evidence-based Prevention (INEP) full semester course between February 2022 and February 2023. Students were asked about their experience with INEP...

INTRODUCTION:

In Spain, the offer of prevention programmes is very varied and structured, but today the challenge remains how to put evidence into practice. European Commission define a best practice as “a relevant policy or intervention implemented in a real-life setting which has been favourably assessed in terms of adequacy (ethics and evidence) and equity as well as effectiveness and efficiency related to process and outcomes”. The aim of the study was to describe the Spanish Project of Best Practice Portal in Drug Demand Reduction and Behavioural Addictions (the BBPPA portal).

METHODS:

INTRODUCTION:

Prevention science and quality standards of drug prevention in the EU and in the world have developed in recent decades. Progress has been made in quality development in Croatia, but the experience of the process of improving the field of drug prevention and the implementation of quality standards in Croatia has not been described in detail in the literature. This case study is an example of adaptation of the European QS and the emergence of other quality assurance components in the field of addiction prevention in the Republic of Croatia. The study describes the Croatian...

BACKGROUND:

Implementing quality measurement is still a challenge in the field of drug treatment and harm reduction. In this case study, we investigate which strategies can be used to enhance the implementation of a policy in which quality indicators are made public.

METHODS:

Building on an evidence-based methodology, this case study shows how an organisation in Flanders – the Flemish Institute for Quality of Care – develops quality indicators along with its strategies to implement the measurement of the indicators.

RESULTS:

The study shows three types of quality indicators in the field...