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Contextualizing psychological distress among regular ecstasy users: The importance of sociodemographic factors and patterns of drug use
Citation
George, J and Kinner, S and Bruno, RB and Degenhardt, L and Dunn, M, Contextualizing psychological distress among regular ecstasy users: The importance of sociodemographic factors and patterns of drug use, Drug and Alcohol Review, 29, (3) pp. 243-249. ISSN 0959-5236 (2010) [Refereed Article]
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Copyright Statement
The definitive published version is available online at: http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/
Official URL: http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/
DOI: doi:10.1111/j.1465-3362.2009.00159.x
Abstract
Introduction and Aims: Considerable concern has been raised about associations between ecstasy use and mental health. Studies of ecstasy users typically investigate varying levels of lifetime use of ecstasy, and often fail to account for other drug use and sociodemographic characteristics of participants, which may explain mixed findings. The current study aimed to examine the relationship between patterns of recent (last six months) ecstasy use and psychological distress among current, regular ecstasy users, controlling for sociodemographic risk factors and patterns of other drug use. Design and Methods: Data were collected from regular ecstasy users (n = 752) recruited from each capital city in Australia as part of the Ecstasy and related Drugs Reporting System (EDRS).Psychological distress was assessed using the Kessler Psychological Distress Scale (K10).Data were analysed using multinomial logistic regression. Results: Seven per cent of the sample scored in the 'high' distress category and 55% in the 'medium' distress category. Patterns of ecstasy use were not independently associated with psychological distress. The strongest predictors of distress were female sex, lower education, unemployment,'binge' drug use including ecstasy (use for >48 h without sleep), frequent cannabis use and daily tobacco use. Discussion and Conclusions: Regular ecstasy users have elevated levels of psychological distress compared with the general population; however, ecstasy use per se was not independently related to such distress. Other factors, including sociodemographic characteristics and other drug use patterns, appear to be more important. These findings highlight the importance of targeting patterns of polydrug use in order to reduce drug-related harm among regular ecstasy users. © 2010 Australasian Professional Society on Alcohol and other Drugs.
Item Details
Item Type: | Refereed Article |
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Research Division: | Psychology |
Research Group: | Biological psychology |
Research Field: | Behavioural neuroscience |
Objective Division: | Health |
Objective Group: | Public health (excl. specific population health) |
Objective Field: | Public health (excl. specific population health) not elsewhere classified |
UTAS Author: | Bruno, RB (Associate Professor Raimondo Bruno) |
ID Code: | 66516 |
Year Published: | 2010 |
Web of Science® Times Cited: | 19 |
Deposited By: | Psychology |
Deposited On: | 2011-02-01 |
Last Modified: | 2014-11-27 |
Downloads: | 1 View Download Statistics |
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