Issue 4/2023

Shared Research Results and International Collaboration as Significant Aspects of Creation of Preventive Programmes

Dear readers, in this issue of the Addictology journal, we bring you again several types of the studies that declare the constantly developing research potential in solving an issue of the use of addictive substances. These research studies possess not only national, but also international characteristics and from a point of view of the age structure, they are focused on the various age categories and fields of the emergence and development of addictions. The field of prevention is represented in this issue by the study focused on the educational programmes that emphasise the compact and necessary association of the emergence and development issues of addiction with the possibilities of their solution. Although the studies in this issue are not dominated by the comprehensive prevention programmes as the separate thematic fields, the results of each study point to their increasing systemic and process complexity.

The authors of the first study deal with the issue of the use of addictive substances in Afghanistan. In addition to an overview of the substance use issues in this country, the authors also present approaches applying the community tools as well as care for the rural areas in this country.

The geographical aspects in the creation of prevention programmes are very important in the different countries. They can play a significant role in the development of optimal tools valid for the particular locations. To ensure their effectiveness, it is necessary to investigate the various dimensions such as cognitive performance of people. This was the subject of the authors’ investigation in the second research study, created on the basis of primary data obtained from the Predná Hora Specialised Psychiatric Institute. It represents the clinical data that offers the possibility of creating conceptual schemes of prevention programmes and creating their comparative potential within the healthcare facilities.

The negative impact of parental substance use on their children have been studied in many dimensions for many years and in many social fields. Even in this case, an access to more deeply structured data can bring many findings and activate complementary research in this area. Its proof is represented by the protocol study of the authors investigating the neonatal abstinence syndrome and its specifics in the Temporary Foster Care Institution in the Czech Republic. The authors draw an attention to the importance of investigating this issue not only from a point of view of the diagnostic and treatment processes, but also from a point of view of ensuring optimal human resources, necessary for the care of infants with this syndrome. The study results carried out according to this study protocol should facilitate communication between the caregivers and health workers during the entire period of providing this health care.

Another population group – university students – was studied by the authors of the third contribution – research paper. The authors focused on the problem of sports betting and gambling in a group of university students in the Czech Republic. While biological age was not identified as a significant predictor for sports betting as a form of gambling, sex and faculty type were. The study offers the possibility of investigating the determinants of betting among the young population for the other types of sports through offering the instructions for its implementation and comparison of the outcomes.

The fifth research study also examined the university population. The authors focused on the investigation of Psychopathic Deviant Attributes and Psychophysiological Symptoms of students of the Rivers State University Port-Harcourt. The authors applied a gender-differentiated approach that allowed them to find that both sexes are similar in the demonstration of psychopathic deviant features and the psychophysiological symptoms.

The addiction issue at the Spanish universities was presented by the authors as a part of the sixth research study. The authors analysed the university training programmes that are specialised in the addictions in Spain, while also focusing on the graduate and continuing education programmes. The study confirmed the variability of the educational programmes from a point of view of their specific fields as well as the clinical and theoretical approaches applied. The study is an appeal to continue research of this issue and to reveal new opportunities for acquiring knowledge and skills in the field of addiction.

In addition to the availability of the educational programmes in the individual countries, it will be important to look for mechanisms for their evaluation and thus, for the quantification of the benefits aimed at diminishing the addiction rate as well as for reducing the risks of their occurrence.

All the studies confirmed the necessity of a quality database that influences the selection of the appropriate methods and the potential of obtaining research findings. The low level of comparative potential from a point of view of the international research studies is the outcome of insufficient development of the international database that many research studies do not appeal to. The comparative analyses in the declared research topics could bring many interesting findings and support a better sharing of the principles of the so-called good practice and in the development of the quality prevention programmes.

Košice 30 December 2024

Professor Beáta Gavurová, PhD, MBA

Executive Editor of Addictology

beata [dot] gavurova [at] lf1 [dot] cuni [dot] cz