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Aim. To conduct a systematic review of longitudinal studies that examined the association between childhood socioeconomic status (SES) and illegal drug use in later life. Design and Methods. Systematic search with an agreed list of search items was used to identify all longitudinal population-based studies that examined the association between childhood SES and later drug use. These included MEDLINE (1966–2005), EMBASE (1990–2005), CINAHL (1982–2005) and PsychInfo (1806–2005), and specialist databases of the Lindesmith Library, Drugscope and Addiction Abstracts. Foreign-language papers were included. Abstracts were screened independently by two reviewers. If there was disagreement to accept or reject the abstract, then a third reviewer acted as arbiter. Data were extracted by one of the authors. Results. Eleven relevant papers were identified (two birth cohorts and nine papers on school-aged cohorts). There was consistent evidence to support an association between lower childhood SES and later drug use, primarily cannabis use. However, few studies examined cannabis dependence, and studies of more problematic forms of drug use gave contradictory results. Discussion and Conclusions. We found consistent, though weak, evidence to support the assumption that childhood disadvantage is associated with later cannabis use. Further research is needed to clarify this issue and to inform future policies and public health messages. [Daniel JZ, Hickman M, MacLeod J, Wiles N, Lingford-Hughes A, Farrell M, Araya R, Skapinakis P, Haynes J, Lewis G. Is socioeconomic status in early life associated with drug use? A systematic review of the evidence. Drug Alcohol Rev 2009;28:142–153] [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recent research has shown that 10 min of moderate intensity exercise reduce smoking withdrawal symptoms and desire to smoke in acutely abstinent smokers. The aim of the current study was to determine whether the reductions are related to participant expectation of these effects. Forty-five sedentary participants who had smoked ten or more cigarettes per day for at least 3 years reported their expectation of the effects of exercise on smoking withdrawal symptoms. Approximately 1 month later, participants were randomly assigned to one of three groups after 11–15 h of overnight smoking abstinence. Each group read either a positive, negative or neutral statement concerning exercise effects on smoking withdrawal symptoms. They rated their expectation again and then completed 10 min of moderate intensity exercise on a stationary bicycle ergometer. Using standardised scales, participants rated smoking withdrawal symptoms and desire to smoke at 10, 5 and 0 min before exercise, then at 5 and 10 min during exercise and 15 and 20 min post-exercise. Expectation of exercise effects on withdrawal were manipulated in the predicted directions. No significant group main effects were found for any symptom. Significant reductions in symptoms and desire to smoke occurred during and after exercise regardless of participant expectation. Ten minutes of moderate intensity exercise can lead to reductions in desire to smoke and smoking withdrawal symptoms, which are not due to the participant’s expectation of exercise effects. These findings support the use of short periods of exercise as an aid to smoking cessation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aims and design Moderate-intensity exercise has been shown to reduce common smoking withdrawal symptoms and desire to smoke in acutely abstinent smokers. The aim of the present study was to determine if this was caused by distraction. A secondary aim was to determine whether exercise-related changes in affect were related to a reduction in symptoms. Methods Forty ‘sedentary’ participants who had smoked at least 10 or more cigarettes per day for at least 3 years were assigned randomly to one of two groups. They completed either 10 minutes of moderate-intensity exercise on a stationary bicycle ergometer or 10 minutes of a cognitive distraction task (paced visual serial addition task, PVSAT) after 11–15 hours of smoking abstinence. Participants rated smoking withdrawal symptoms and desire to smoke using standard scales at 10, 5 and 0 minutes before the experimental intervention, then at 5 and 10 minutes after the start of the intervention and 5 and 10 minutes after its completion. Findings Significant group × time interactions were observed for ratings of desire to smoke and several withdrawal symptoms (irritability, depression, restlessness, difficulty concentrating and stress). There was a reduction in ratings during and immediately following exercise that was not observed with cognitive distraction. Also it was found the effects were not mediated by changes in affect observed in the exercise condition. Conclusions A brief bout of moderate-intensity exercise can lead to a rapid reduction in desire to smoke and withdrawal discomfort, which is not due to the distracting effect of exercise or the effects of mood. These findings support recommendations to smokers to use exercise as a means of helping cope with the difficulties encountered when they try to stop. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]