Category

Poster - Applied

Description

This study investigates and compares causal factors associated with substance use among both students and professionals. This study focuses on a range of biological, environmental, and psychological evidence-based causal factors for substance use and misuse. The goal of this research is to explore how novices and experts conceptualize factors related to substance use. Forty-seven residential undergraduate psychology students from Liberty University participated in evaluating 18 evidence-based causal factors using concept mapping to explain how implicit cognitive processing – rather than just explicit processing – informs substance use risk. Additionally, professionals in psychology, counseling, and social work in the general Lynchburg area will create concept maps using these same causal factors based on their experiences working with clients with substance use disorder. The visual representation collected from each concept map will be used to generate a ranked list of these factors, which will be compared across subjects. We expect that professionals' rankings of these causal factors will align more closely with the literature and that their concept maps will be more complex than students. The findings aim to inform the development of education, clinical, and prevention efforts by better understanding differing understandings of substance use based on individuals' histories or exposure to substance use or formal education.

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Undergraduate

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Apr 18th, 10:00 AM

Analysis of Rankings of Causal Factors of Substance Use

Poster - Applied

This study investigates and compares causal factors associated with substance use among both students and professionals. This study focuses on a range of biological, environmental, and psychological evidence-based causal factors for substance use and misuse. The goal of this research is to explore how novices and experts conceptualize factors related to substance use. Forty-seven residential undergraduate psychology students from Liberty University participated in evaluating 18 evidence-based causal factors using concept mapping to explain how implicit cognitive processing – rather than just explicit processing – informs substance use risk. Additionally, professionals in psychology, counseling, and social work in the general Lynchburg area will create concept maps using these same causal factors based on their experiences working with clients with substance use disorder. The visual representation collected from each concept map will be used to generate a ranked list of these factors, which will be compared across subjects. We expect that professionals' rankings of these causal factors will align more closely with the literature and that their concept maps will be more complex than students. The findings aim to inform the development of education, clinical, and prevention efforts by better understanding differing understandings of substance use based on individuals' histories or exposure to substance use or formal education.

 

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