Studies have documented that the perceived self-efficacy of attempts to engage in safer behavior is critical for the prevention of blood-borne diseases, including hepatitis C and HIV. The aim of this study was to examine gender differences in the perceived self-efficacy of safer HIV-related behavior among heroin and amphetamine abusers. Of the eligible participants from Taiwan prisons, 1622 pol...

Background: Chronic drug abuse and sexual dysfunction specifically erectile dysfunction may lead drug abusers to seek over-the-counter or non-prescription medications, out of which Sildenafil citrate, sold as the trade name of Viagra® can be considered as a prime and important treatment. Therefore, the research purpose was to draw a comparison and review the role of methamphetamine abuse and si...

Background: Emotion plays an important role in adapting to life changes and stressful events. Difficulty regulating emotions is one of the problems drug abusers often face. The present study aimed to determine the effectiveness of emotion regulation training on increasing self-efficacy and well-being in drug-dependent individuals. Materials and Methods: The present study had a quasi-experime...

Background: Substance abusers are not able to withdraw drugs eternally despite the abundance of different treatments; therefore, withdrawal programs are not quite successful and notwithstanding all the successes of methadone maintenance therapy, there are some defects found in the manner this treatment is applied. Thus, this study was conducted to explore the experience of drug abusers regardin...

The goal of this study was to extend our previous findings of abnormal prefrontal function in methamphetamine (MA) abusers and controls and to link the imaging data to behavioral, demographic and drug use variables. We used a fast event-related functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) design to examine trial-to-trial reaction time (RT) adjustments in 30 MA abusers and 30 controls. A variant...

Mixed findings have been made with regard to the long-term predictive validity of antisocial personality disorder (ASPD) on criminal behaviour in samples of substance abusers. A longitudinal record-linkage study of a cohort of 1052 drug abusers admitted 1977-1995 was undertaken. Subjects were recruited from a detoxification and short-term rehabilitation unit in Lund, Sweden, and followed throug...

The anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) and lateral prefrontal (LPFC) cortex are brain regions important to executive cognitive functions (ECF). We determined ACC and LPFC function in 23-day abstinent cocaine abusers using positron emission tomography (PET H(2)(15)O) during performance of a modified version of the Stroop Task. Cocaine abusers showed less activation than non-drug-using comparison su...

Route of administration is an important contributor to the adverse health consequences of prescription medication abuse. The current study examines characteristics associated with non-oral routes of administration among a large sample of prescription opioid abusers and explores needle-related human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) risk behaviors as well. In the study, 791 opioid abusers completed a...