title: Reflections of young people who have had a first episode of psychosis: what attracted them to use alcohol and illicit drugs?
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To identify factors that contribute to the initiation of alcohol and street drug use from the perspective of people who were enrolled in early intervention programmes for a first episode of psychosis.
  
  
  METHODS
  Eight focus groups were conducted involving an average of four to six participants per group, with each group consisting of young people who met provincial inclusion criteria for early intervention programmes. Thematic analysis was used to systematically code transcripts from the focus groups for concepts, patterns and themes related to early use of illicit substances.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Participants included 45 young people diagnosed with affective psychosis or non-affective spectrum disorders. Seventy-three percent were male, with a median age of 23 years. In general, substance use was an important topic that emerged across all focus groups. Participants talked about three main factors attracting them to initiate use of substances, most predominantly cannabis: (i) using within a social context; (ii) using as a self-medication strategy; and (iii) using to alter their perceptions.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The need for social relationships, coping strategies and pleasurable experiences appear to be important reasons for initiating substance use. Additional research is needed to identify whether prodromal youth report the same factors that attract them to initiate use in order to develop more effective prevention strategies.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry and Behavioural Neurosciences, McMaster University, Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. archies@mcmaster.ca
authors.forename: Suzanne
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Archie
authors.forename: Katherine M
authors.initials: KM
authors.lastname: Boydell
authors.forename: Elaine
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Stasiulis
authors.forename: Tiziana
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Volpe
authors.forename: Brenda M
authors.initials: BM
authors.lastname: Gladstone
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000428:Alcohol Drinking / Q000523:psychology*; D005260:Female; D017144:Focus Groups; D006801:Humans; D007398:Interpersonal Relations; D008297:Male; D057181:Pleasure; D011618:Psychotic Disorders / Q000150:complications / Q000523:psychology*; D012651:Self Medication / Q000523:psychology; D019966:Substance-Related Disorders / Q000150:complications / Q000523:psychology*; D055815:Young Adult