Une analyse descriptive des facteurs pré-crime recensés au sein d'un échantillon d'agresseurs sexuels de femmes

Ce mémoire avait pour but de dresser un portrait clair et exhaustif des facteurs pré-crime recensés au sein d’un échantillon de 37 agresseurs sexuels de femmes. Cette démarche est intimement liée à l’étude des processus de passage à l’acte des agresseurs sexuels. Dans le cadre d’un programme de prévention de la récidive, les participants avaient à identifier divers événements de vie qui sont survenus au cours des deux années précédant le (ou les) délit(s) de référence et qui ont eu un fort impact émotionnel sur eux. Au total, 339 événements de vie ont été recensés. À chaque événement de vie correspond une chaîne comportementale, celle-ci étant composée de six volets : 1) les « situations spécifiques » constituant l’événement de vie; 2) les « cognitions » associées à cet événement de vie; 3) les « émotions » engendrées par ces cognitions; 4) les « fantaisies » déclenchées par ces émotions; 5) les « comportements » adoptés suite à ces fantaisies; et 6) les « conséquences » ayant résulté de ces comportements. Les données, initialement de nature qualitative, ont ensuite été opérationnalisées afin qu’elles puissent être analysées quantitativement. Nos résultats ont démontré que les conflits conjugaux et la consommation d’alcool et/ou de drogues représentaient les situations les plus fréquemment rapportées au cours de la phase pré-crime. Les cognitions les plus souvent recensées suite à l’événement de vie initial étaient le pessimisme et l’adoption d’une position de victime. L’hostilité, la dépression et l’anxiété constituaient les émotions les plus fréquemment engendrées par le volet cognitif. Les fantaisies les plus souvent déclenchées par le volet émotionnel étaient l’agression sexuelle et la violence physique (non sexuelle). La consommation d’alcool et/ou de drogues et le fait de ne pas exprimer ses émotions, son point de vue ou ses besoins représentaient les comportements les plus fréquemment adoptés suite aux fantaisies. Enfin, les conséquences les plus souvent recensées étaient l’accumulation de cognitions et/ou d’émotions négatives et la présence de fantaisies sexuelles déviantes.

Predictors and Consequences of Simultaneous Alcohol and Cannabis Use in Adolescents

Background/Aims: The simultaneous use of alcohol and cannabis is common among adolescents, but has been little studied. In this study, we examine predictors and consequences of this behavior in a population-based sample of high school students. Method: Self-reports were obtained from students in Quebec (Canada) followed throughout high school (N=6589). Logistic regressions were used to test the association between individual, family, and peerrelated predictors in grades 7–8 and simultaneous alcohol and cannabis use in grade 10, as well as between simultaneous alcohol and cannabis use in grade 10 and experiencing 3 or more substance-related problems of various types (legal, physical, etc.) in grade 11. Results: Most predictors in grades 7–8 were associated with simultaneous alcohol and cannabis use in grade 10. Only variables reflecting early-onset substance use involvement — alcohol intoxication, cannabis use, and drug use by close friend(s) — remained predictive in a multivariate model. Simultaneous alcohol and cannabis use was associated with increased substance-related problems in grade 11, above and beyond baseline problems and the concurrent use of the two substances in separate episodes in grade 10. Conclusions: Simultaneous alcohol and cannabis use 1) is anticipated by multiple psychosocial risk factors which come together with individual and peer substance use in early high school and 2) is independently predictive of subsequent substance-related problems. Providing adolescents with adequate information regarding the potential harm of simultaneous use may be a useful prevention strategy.

Adolescent Illicit Drug Use and Subsequent Academic and Psychosocial Adjustment : an Examination of Socially-Mediated Pathways

Background: Questions remain regarding the consequences of illicit drug use on adolescent adjustment and the nature of mechanisms that may explain these consequences. In this study, we examined whether early-onset illicit drug use predicts subsequent academic and psychosocial adjustment and whether associations are socially-mediated by decreased school engagement and increased peer deviancy. Method: 4885 adolescents were followed throughout secondary school. We used regressions to determine whether illicit drug use in grade 7 predicted academic achievement, school dropout, depressive symptoms, and conduct problems in grades 10–11, adjusting for potential confounders. We used path analysis to test whether significant associations were mediated by school engagement and peer deviancy in grade 8. Results: Illicit drug use predicted conduct problems and school dropout, but not academic achievement and depressive symptoms. The association between illicit drug use and conduct problems was fully mediated by increased peer deviancy. The association between illicit drug use and school dropout was partially mediated by increased peer deviancy, but remained mostly direct. No indirect association via decreased school engagement was found. Examination of reverse pathways revealed that conduct problems and academic achievement in grade 7 predicted drug use in grades 10–11. These associations were mediated by peer deviancy and school engagement (conduct problems only). Conclusion: Adolescent illicit drug use influences the risk of school dropout and conduct problems in part by contributing to deviant peer affiliation. Reciprocal social mediation characterizes the association between drug use and conduct problems. A reverse mechanism best explains the association with academic achievement.

Factors associated with psychotropic drug use among community-dwelling older persons: A review of empirical studies

Affiliation: Faculté de pharmacie, Université de Montréal

How fast and how often: the pharmacokinetics of drug use are decisive in addiction

How much, how often and how fast a drug reaches the brain determine the behavioural and neuroplastic changes associated with the addiction process. Despite the critical nature of these variables, the drug addiction field often ignores pharmacokinetic issues, which we argue can lead to false conclusions. First, we review the clinical data demonstrating the importance of the speed of drug onset and of intermittent patterns of drug intake in psychostimulant drug addiction. This is followed by a review of the preclinical literature demonstrating that pharmacokinetic variables play a decisive role in determining behavioural and neurobiological outcomes in animal models of addiction. This literature includes recent data highlighting the importance of intermittent, ‘spiking’ brain levels of drug in producing an increase in the motivation to take drug over time. Rapid drug onset and intermittent drug exposure both appear to push the addiction process forward most effectively. This has significant implications for refining animal models of addiction and for better understanding the neuroadaptations that are critical for the disorder.

Drugs, alcohol, and criminal behaviour : a profile of inmates in canadian federal institutions

The scientific literature often mentions that there is a statistical connection between alcohol and drug consumption and criminal behaviour. However, there is little information available which would make it possible to quantify this connection, and specify the impact that drugs and alcohol have on criminal behaviour. Consumption of psychoactive substances has two major effects: intoxication and addiction. These effects are related, respectively, to the psycho-pharmacological and economic-compulsive models of the connection between drugs and crime. The first model associates drug use and intoxication with a decrease in cognitive functions and a lack of self-control, leading to aggressive impulses, violence and lack of inhibitions. The second model refers to the huge costs that are associated with being addicted to certain drugs. A person addicted to these drugs would need to engage in lucrative criminal activities in order to pay for them. This article explores and attempts to further define the links between alcohol, illicit drugs and criminal behaviour, taking into account the types of drugs consumed and the types of criminal behaviour displayed.

Polyconsommation d’alcool et de cannabis et comportements à risque chez les étudiants universitaires canadiens : une analyse situationnelle

La polyconsommation d’alcool et de cannabis est rapportée par un grand nombre de jeunes adultes canadiens (Flight, 2007). Les recherches épidémiologiques suggèrent que le statut de polyconsommateur est associé à certains comportements à risque, dont la consommation excessive d’alcool et la conduite d’un véhicule automobile sous l’influence de l’alcool (Jones et al. 2001; Mohler-Kuo, et al. 2003; Shillington & Clapp, 2006). Les études qui soutiennent le risque accru de comportements à risque pour les polyconsommateurs se focalisent sur l’effet des substances. En rupture avec cette approche, ce mémoire présente une étude situationnelle de la polyconsommation en examinant l’effet du statut de polyconsommateur et, pour ceux-ci l’effet de la consommation simultanée d’alcool et de cannabis, en situant l’action dans son contexte de survenu et en examinant la contribution du contexte. La probabilité d’avoir conduit une voiture sous l’influence de l’alcool et d’avoir consommé excessivement de l’alcool sera examinée auprès d’étudiants universitaires. La contribution respective des substances, des situations et de l’expérience de la vie universitaire sera examinée. La méthodologie employée repose sur la construction de modèles de régression logistique multiniveaux, à la fois chez l’ensemble des buveurs (10 747 occasions, nichées dans 4396 buveurs) et dans le sous-échantillon des polyconsommateurs (2311 occasions de consommation d’alcool, nichées dans 880 polyconsommateurs). Les données sont issues de l’Enquête sur les campus canadiens (2004), menée auprès d’un échantillon représentatif de 6282 étudiants issus de 40 universités. Le statut de polyconsommateur est associé à la consommation excessive d’alcool, mais pas à la conduite d’une voiture suite à la consommation. Cependant, la consommation simultanée d’alcool et de cannabis n’est pas associée à un risque plus élevé de consommer excessivement de l’alcool, et est négativement associée à la conduite d’une voiture après la consommation. Plusieurs caractéristiques situationnelles sont associées aux deux comportements à l’étude et diminuent la force d’association entre ces comportements et le statut de polyconsommateur.

Prospective associations between meth/amphetamine (speed) and MDMA (ecstasy) use and depressive symptoms in secondary school students

Background Research has raised significant concern regarding the affective consequences of synthetic drug use. However, little evidence from well-controlled longitudinal studies exists on these consequences. The aim of this study was to determine whether use of meth/amphetamine (speed) and 63,4- methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA, ecstasy) is independently predictive of subsequent depressive symptoms in adolescents. Methods A sample of 3880 adolescents from secondary schools in disadvantaged areas of Quebec, Canada, were followed over time (2003e2008). Logistic regression was used to test the association between meth/ amphetamine and MDMA use in grade 10 (ages 15e16 years) and elevated depressive symptoms on an abridged Center for Epidemiologic Studies-Depression scale in grade 11, controlling for pre-existing individual and contextual characteristics. Results After adjustment, both MDMA use (OR 1.7, 95% CI 1.1 to 2.6) and meth/amphetamine use (OR 1.6, 95% CI 1.1 to 2.3) in grade 10 significantly increased the odds of elevated depressive symptoms in grade 11. These relationships did not vary by gender or pre-existing depressive symptoms. Increased risk was particularly observed in concurrent usage (OR 1.9, 95% CI 1.2 to 2.9). Conclusions Adolescent use of meth/amphetamine and MDMA (particularly concurrent use) is independently associated with subsequent depressive symptoms. Further enquiry must determine whether these associations reflect drug-induced neurotoxicity and whether adolescence is a period of increased vulnerability to the hazards of synthetic drug exposure.