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Contextualising psychological distress among regular ecstasy users : the importance of sociodemographic factors and patterns of drug use

George, Jessica, Kinner, Stuart A., Bruno, Raimondo, Degenhardt, Louisa and Dunn, Matthew 2010, Contextualising psychological distress among regular ecstasy users : the importance of sociodemographic factors and patterns of drug use, Drug and alcohol review, vol. 29, no. 3, pp. 243-249, doi: 10.1111/j.1465-3362.2009.00159.x.

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Title Contextualising psychological distress among regular ecstasy users : the importance of sociodemographic factors and patterns of drug use
Author(s) George, Jessica
Kinner, Stuart A.
Bruno, Raimondo
Degenhardt, Louisa
Dunn, MatthewORCID iD for Dunn, Matthew orcid.org/0000-0003-4615-5078
Journal name Drug and alcohol review
Volume number 29
Issue number 3
Start page 243
End page 249
Total pages 7
Publisher Wiley-Blackwell
Place of publication Oxford, England
Publication date 2010
ISSN 0959-5236
1465-3362
Summary 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
Language eng
DOI 10.1111/j.1465-3362.2009.00159.x
Field of Research 119999 Medical and Health Sciences not elsewhere classified
Socio Economic Objective 970111 Expanding Knowledge in the Medical and Health Sciences
HERDC Research category C1.1 Refereed article in a scholarly journal
Copyright notice ©2010, Australasian Professional Society on Alcohol and other Drugs
Persistent URL http://hdl.handle.net/10536/DRO/DU:30040076

Document type: Journal Article
Collections: Faculty of Health
School of Health and Social Development
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