background : family functioning is considered to have a significant impact on the beginnings and maintenance of substance use. objectives the main purpose of this study was to examine and compare the dimensions of family functioning among addicted and non-addicted individuals. patients and methods in this cross-sectional study, the study sample consisted of 228 individuals, including 118 addict...

Cannabis has emerged as a common substance of abuse and dependence and the peculiarities associated with this widely available and used substance has triggered substantial research in this field. The earlier held concept of rather benign nature of this compound as a substance of abuse and dependence has changed as a result of the ongoing clinical and research findings. Cannabis has been found t...

A structured interview and standardized rating scales were used to assess a sample of 194 outpatients with schizophrenia in a regional Australian mental health service for substance use, abuse, and dependence. Case manager assessments and urine drug screens were also used to determine substance use. Additional measurements included demographic information, history of criminal charges, symptom s...

BACKGROUND Little is known about the transition from substance abuse to substance dependence. OBJECTIVES This study aims to estimate the cumulative probability of developing dependence and to identify predictors of transition to dependence among individuals with lifetime alcohol, cannabis, or cocaine abuse. METHODS Analyses were done for the subsample of individuals with lifetime alcohol ab...

BACKGROUND Despite mounting evidence that use of and dependence on alcohol and cannabis are influenced by heritable factors, the extent to which heritable influences on these phenotypes overlap across the 2 substances has only rarely been explored. In the current study, we quantified cross-substance overlap in sources of variance and estimated the degree to which within-substance associations b...

This article reviews literature on the validity and performance characteristics of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (4th ed.; DSM-IV; American Psychiatric Association, 1994) diagnostic criteria for substance use disorders (SUDs) and recommends changes in these criteria that should be considered for the next edition of the DSM (DSM-V). Substantial data indicate that DSM-...

Abstract Background: Iran (I.R.) is suffering the growing problem of opiate abuse. In evaluation of the treatment plan for opium dependent patients, a valid and reliable instrument is needed to measure patients' severity of dependence. This study aimed to assess the reliability and validity of the Persian version of the "Substance Dependence Severity Scale" (SDSS). Methods: After tr...