Social cognition and social problem solving abilities in individuals with alcohol use disorder.

PubMed

Schmidt, Tobias; Roser, Patrik; Juckel, Georg; Brüne, Martin; Suchan, Boris; Thoma, Patrizia

2016-11-01

Up to now, little is known about higher order cognitive abilities like social cognition and social problem solving abilities in alcohol-dependent patients. However, impairments in these domains lead to an increased probability for relapse and are thus highly relevant in treatment contexts. This cross-sectional study assessed distinct aspects of social cognition and social problem solving in 31 hospitalized patients with alcohol use disorder (AUD) and 30 matched healthy controls (HC). Three ecologically valid scenario-based tests were used to gauge the ability to infer the mental state of story characters in complicated interpersonal situations, the capacity to select the best problem solving strategy among other less optimal alternatives, and the ability to freely generate appropriate strategies to handle difficult interpersonal conflicts. Standardized tests were used to assess executive function, attention, trait empathy, and memory, and correlations were computed between measures of executive function, attention, trait empathy, and tests of social problem solving. AUD patients generated significantly fewer socially sensitive and practically effective solutions for problematic interpersonal situations than the HC group. Furthermore, patients performed significantly worse when asked to select the best alternative among a list of presented alternatives for scenarios containing sarcastic remarks and had significantly more problems to interpret sarcastic remarks in difficult interpersonal situations. These specific patterns of impairments should be considered in treatment programs addressing impaired social skills in individuals with AUD.

Gender-based Violence and HIV Sexual Risk Behavior: Alcohol Use and Mental Health Problems as Mediators among Women in Drinking Venues, Cape Town

PubMed Central

Pitpitan, Eileen V.; Kalichman, Seth C.; Eaton, Lisa A.; Sikkema, Kathleen J.; Watt, Melissa H.; Skinner, Donald

2012-01-01

Gender-based violence is a key determinant of HIV infection among women in South Africa as elsewhere. However, research has not examined potential mediating processes to explain the link between experiencing abuse and engaging in HIV sexual risk behavior. Previous studies suggest that alcohol use and mental health problems may explain how gender-based violence predicts sexual risk. In a prospective study, we examined whether lifetime history of gender-based violence indirectly affects future sexual risk behavior through alcohol use, depression and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) in a high-risk socio-environmental context. We recruited a cohort of 560 women from alcohol drinking venues in a Cape Town, South African township. Participants completed computerized interviews at baseline and 4 months later. We tested prospective mediating associations between gender-based violence, alcohol use, depression, PTSD, and sexual risk behavior. There was a significant indirect effect of gender-based violence on sexual risk behavior through alcohol use, but not mental health problems. Women who were physically and sexually abused drank more, which in turn predicted more unprotected sex. We did not find a mediated relationship between alcohol use and sexual risk behavior through the experience of recent abuse or mental health problems. Alcohol use explains the link between gender-based violence and sexual risk behavior among women attending drinking venues in Cape Town, South Africa. Efforts to reduce HIV risk in South Africa by addressing gender-based violence must also address alcohol use. PMID:22832324

Gender-based violence and HIV sexual risk behavior: alcohol use and mental health problems as mediators among women in drinking venues, Cape Town.

PubMed

Pitpitan, Eileen V; Kalichman, Seth C; Eaton, Lisa A; Sikkema, Kathleen J; Watt, Melissa H; Skinner, Donald

2012-10-01

Gender-based violence is a key determinant of HIV infection among women in South Africa as elsewhere. However, research has not examined potential mediating processes to explain the link between experiencing abuse and engaging in HIV sexual risk behavior. Previous studies suggest that alcohol use and mental health problems may explain how gender-based violence predicts sexual risk. In a prospective study, we examined whether lifetime history of gender-based violence indirectly affects future sexual risk behavior through alcohol use, depression and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) in a high-risk socio-environmental context. We recruited a cohort of 560 women from alcohol drinking venues in a Cape Town, South African township. Participants completed computerized interviews at baseline and 4 months later. We tested prospective mediating associations between gender-based violence, alcohol use, depression, PTSD, and sexual risk behavior. There was a significant indirect effect of gender-based violence on sexual risk behavior through alcohol use, but not mental health problems. Women who were physically and sexually abused drank more, which in turn predicted more unprotected sex. We did not find a mediated relationship between alcohol use and sexual risk behavior through the experience of recent abuse or mental health problems. Alcohol use explains the link between gender-based violence and sexual risk behavior among women attending drinking venues in Cape Town, South Africa. Efforts to reduce HIV risk in South Africa by addressing gender-based violence must also address alcohol use. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Initial Progress Toward Development of a Voice-Based Computer-Delivered Motivational Intervention for Heavy Drinking College Students: An Experimental Study

PubMed Central

Lechner, William J; MacGlashan, James; Wray, Tyler B; Littman, Michael L

2017-01-01

Background Computer-delivered interventions have been shown to be effective in reducing alcohol consumption in heavy drinking college students. However, these computer-delivered interventions rely on mouse, keyboard, or touchscreen responses for interactions between the users and the computer-delivered intervention. The principles of motivational interviewing suggest that in-person interventions may be effective, in part, because they encourage individuals to think through and speak aloud their motivations for changing a health behavior, which current computer-delivered interventions do not allow. Objective The objective of this study was to take the initial steps toward development of a voice-based computer-delivered intervention that can ask open-ended questions and respond appropriately to users’ verbal responses, more closely mirroring a human-delivered motivational intervention. Methods We developed (1) a voice-based computer-delivered intervention that was run by a human controller and that allowed participants to speak their responses to scripted prompts delivered by speech generation software and (2) a text-based computer-delivered intervention that relied on the mouse, keyboard, and computer screen for all interactions. We randomized 60 heavy drinking college students to interact with the voice-based computer-delivered intervention and 30 to interact with the text-based computer-delivered intervention and compared their ratings of the systems as well as their motivation to change drinking and their drinking behavior at 1-month follow-up. Results Participants reported that the voice-based computer-delivered intervention engaged positively with them in the session and delivered content in a manner consistent with motivational interviewing principles. At 1-month follow-up, participants in the voice-based computer-delivered intervention condition reported significant decreases in quantity, frequency, and problems associated with drinking, and increased perceived importance of changing drinking behaviors. In comparison to the text-based computer-delivered intervention condition, those assigned to voice-based computer-delivered intervention reported significantly fewer alcohol-related problems at the 1-month follow-up (incident rate ratio 0.60, 95% CI 0.44-0.83, P=.002). The conditions did not differ significantly on perceived importance of changing drinking or on measures of drinking quantity and frequency of heavy drinking. Conclusions Results indicate that it is feasible to construct a series of open-ended questions and a bank of responses and follow-up prompts that can be used in a future fully automated voice-based computer-delivered intervention that may mirror more closely human-delivered motivational interventions to reduce drinking. Such efforts will require using advanced speech recognition capabilities and machine-learning approaches to train a program to mirror the decisions made by human controllers in the voice-based computer-delivered intervention used in this study. In addition, future studies should examine enhancements that can increase the perceived warmth and empathy of voice-based computer-delivered intervention, possibly through greater personalization, improvements in the speech generation software, and embodying the computer-delivered intervention in a physical form. PMID:28659259

Stability in the drinking habits of older problem-drinkers recruited from nontreatment settings.

PubMed

Walton, M A; Mudd, S A; Blow, F C; Chermack, S T; Gomberg, E S

2000-03-01

Few prospective studies have examined older problem-drinkers not currently in treatment to determine the stability in alcohol problems over time. Seventy-eight currently drinking, older adults meeting a diagnosis of alcohol abuse or dependence were recruited via advertising to complete a health interview; 48 were reinterviewed approximately 3 years later. Participants were categorized based on alcohol consumption (risk) and alcohol-related diagnostic symptoms (problem) at baseline and follow-up. At follow-up, few older adults (11.4%) were resolved using both risk and problem criteria. Alcohol risk/problem groups were not significantly stable between baseline and follow-up. Health problems was the most common reason for changing drinking habits. Average and maximum consumption at baseline and follow-up were significant markers of follow-up risk group and follow-up alcohol-related consequences, respectively, with maximum consumption being more robust. The course of alcohol problems among older adults fluctuates over time, and heavy drinking appears to be the best indicator of problem continuation.

The Moderating Role of Close Friends in the Relationship Between Conduct Problems and Adolescent Substance Use

PubMed Central

Glaser, Beate; Shelton, Katherine H.; van den Bree, Marianne B.M.

2010-01-01

Purpose Conduct problems and peer effects are among the strongest risk factors for adolescent substance use and problem use. However, it is unclear to what extent the effects of conduct problems and peer behavior interact, and whether adolescents' capacity to refuse the offer of substances may moderate such links. This study was conducted to examine relationships between conduct problems, close friends' substance use, and refusal assertiveness with adolescents' alcohol use problems, tobacco, and marijuana use. Methods We studied a population-based sample of 1,237 individuals from the Cardiff Study of All Wales and North West of England Twins aged 11–18 years. Adolescent and mother-reported information was obtained. Statistical analyses included cross-sectional and prospective logistic regression models and family-based permutations. Results Conduct problems and close friends' substance use were associated with increased adolescents' substance use, whereas refusal assertiveness was associated with lower use of cigarettes, alcohol, and marijuana. Peer substance use moderated the relationship between conduct problems and alcohol use problems, such that conduct problems were only related to increased risk for alcohol use problems in the presence of substance-using friends. This effect was found in both cross-sectional and prospective analyses and confirmed using the permutation approach. Conclusions Reduced opportunities for interaction with alcohol-using peers may lower the risk of alcohol use problems in adolescents with conduct problems. PMID:20547290

Games that ''Work'': Using Computer Games to Teach Alcohol-Affected Children about Fire and Street Safety

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Coles, Claire D.; Strickland, Dorothy C.; Padgett, Lynne; Bellmoff, Lynnae

2007-01-01

Unintentional injuries are a leading cause of death and disability for children. Those with developmental disabilities, including children affected by prenatal alcohol exposure, are at highest risk for injuries. Although teaching safety skills is recommended to prevent injury, cognitive limitations and behavioral problems characteristic of…

[The alcohol problem in former East Germany--suggestions for necessary discussion].

PubMed

Brieler, P; Rühle, R; Jänisch, C

1993-05-01

Based on publications from the GDR about alcohol-problems and respecting experiences of medical and psychological examinations alcoholism, the abuse of alcohol and its effects will be analysed and discussed. The following aspects will have main attention: meaning of alcohol as a drug, consumption of alcohol and its conditions, alcohol and its consequences in traffic, employment, criminal law and leisure time. Finally open questions will be discussed and recommendation for further research work will be explained.

Negative urgency mediates the relationship between childhood maltreatment and problems with alcohol and cannabis in late adolescence

PubMed Central

Wardell, Jeffrey D.; Strang, Nicole M.; Hendershot, Christian S.

2017-01-01

Background Childhood maltreatment is an important risk factor for problems with alcohol and other drugs such as cannabis. Although this link has been well established, the mechanisms in this association require further study. High levels of impulsivity and difficulties with emotion regulation are often associated with childhood maltreatment. Negative urgency – an emotion-based facet of impulsivity – is a strong predictor of substance use problems and may be a particularly relevant facet of impulsivity in the link between childhood maltreatment and alcohol and cannabis outcomes. However, few studies have examined the specific mediational pathway from childhood maltreatment to alcohol and cannabis problems through negative urgency. Objectives We tested the hypothesis that the associations between history of childhood maltreatment and current alcohol and cannabis problems would be mediated by negative urgency, but not other facets of impulsivity. Methods Participants (N=232), who were in late adolescence (mean age=19.75), completed self-report measures of different facets of impulsivity, past childhood maltreatment, and current alcohol and cannabis use and problems. Results In analyses including several facets of impulsivity as simultaneous mediators, negative urgency was the only facet to mediate the associations of childhood maltreatment severity with alcohol and cannabis problems. Conclusions These findings provide support for negative urgency as a unique mediator of the association between childhood maltreatment and both alcohol and cannabis problems, suggesting that future work on mechanisms in this association should focus on mood-based impulsivity. PMID:26774820

Perceived parental alcohol problems, internalizing problems and impaired parent - child relationships among 71 988 young people in Denmark.

PubMed

Pisinger, Veronica S C; Bloomfield, Kim; Tolstrup, Janne S

2016-11-01

To test the hypothesis that young people with perceived parental alcohol problems have poorer parent-child relationships and more emotional symptoms, low self-esteem, loneliness and depression than young people without perceived parental alcohol problems. Cross-sectional analysis using data from the Danish National Youth Study 2014, a web-based national survey. Denmark. A total of 71.988 high school and vocational school students (aged 12-25, nested in 119 schools and 3.186 school classes) recruited throughout 2014. Outcome variables included internalizing problems such as emotional symptoms, depression, self-esteem, loneliness and aspects of the parent-child relationship. The main predictor variable was perceived parental alcohol problems, including the severity of the perceived problems and living with a parent with alcohol problems. Control variables included age, sex, education, ethnicity, parents' separation and economic problems in the family. Boys and girls with perceived parental alcohol problems had statistically significant higher odds of reporting internalizing problems (e.g. frequent emotional symptoms: odds ratio (OR)= 1.58 for boys; 1.49 for girls) and poor parent-child relationships (e.g. lack of parental interest: OR = 1.92 for boys; 2.33 for girls) compared with young people without perceived parental alcohol problems. The associations were not significantly stronger for mother's alcohol problems or if the young person lived with the parent with perceived alcohol problems. Boys and girls in secondary education in Denmark who report perceived parental alcohol problems have significantly higher odds of internalizing problems and poorer parent-child relationships compared with young people without perceived parental alcohol problems. © 2016 Society for the Study of Addiction.

Preventing Alcohol-Related Problems on Campus: Methods for Assessing Student Use of Alcohol and Other Drugs. A Guide for Program Coordinators.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

DeJong, William; Wechsler, Henry

Under the Drug-Free Schools and Campuses Act, institutions of higher education are required to review the effectiveness of their alcohol and drug prevention programs biannually. This guide offers a method for gathering and interpreting student survey data on alcohol-related problems based on the methodology of the College Alcohol Survey developed…

Patterns of Substance Use During Cognitive Enhancement Therapy: An 18-Month Randomized Feasibility Study.

PubMed

Eack, Shaun M; Hogarty, Susan S; Bangalore, Srihari S; Keshavan, Matcheri S; Cornelius, Jack R

2016-01-01

Substance use problems are common among people with schizophrenia, as are significant cognitive impairments. Because of potential shared neurobiological pathways, it is possible that cognitive remediation interventions may be associated with improvements in both substance use and cognition. This study examined the impact of cognitive remediation on alcohol and cannabis use and the cognitive correlates of changes in substance use among outpatients with schizophrenia. Individuals with schizophrenia who were receiving outpatient services at a psychiatric clinic and had moderate or higher addiction severity scores (N = 31) were randomized to 18 months of cognitive enhancement therapy (n = 22) or usual care (n = 9). Cognitive enhancement therapy is a cognitive remediation approach that integrates computer-based training in attention, memory, and problem solving with a group-based social cognition curriculum. Usual care was provided to all participants and consisted of routine psychiatric care. Primary outcomes included days of alcohol and cannabis use, assessed with the Timeline Followback method every six months and modeled using penalized quasi-likelihood growth curves. Participants were on average 38.23 (SD = 13.44) years of age, had been ill for 14.19 (SD = 11.28) years, and were mostly male (n = 22, 71%), and about half were Caucasian (n = 16, 52%). Temporal patterns of substance use days were highly variable and followed nonlinear trajectories. Intent-to-treat analyses indicated that, compared to patients only receiving usual care, those receiving cognitive enhancement therapy were significantly less likely to use alcohol (OR = .22; 95% CI: .05, .90; p = .036), but not cannabis (OR = 1.89; 95% CI: .02, 142.99; p = .774) over time, and they reduced their alcohol use at significantly accelerated rates (OR = 1.02; 95% CI: 1.01, 1.03; p = .003). Changes in cognition were variably associated with substance use outcomes, although improvements in visual learning and reasoning and problem solving were both consistently related to reduced alcohol and cannabis use. Cognitive remediation may be effective for improving some substance use problems in schizophrenia. Visual learning and problem-solving deficits may be particularly important targets of such interventions, given their association with reduced alcohol and cannabis use. This study is registered at clinicaltrials.gov under #NCT01292577.

Alcoholism and the Family. Unit for Child Studies Selected Papers Number 34.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Wilson, G. C.

Alcoholism, and particularly alcoholism in the family, is an unsolved medical and social problem. Addictive drinking results in several social and psychological problems, most of which are caused by a change in brain function. Excessive drinking of alcoholic beverages operates as a stressor and produces alkaloids at the base of the brain that are…

The moderating role of close friends in the relationship between conduct problems and adolescent substance use.

PubMed

Glaser, Beate; Shelton, Katherine H; van den Bree, Marianne B M

2010-07-01

Conduct problems and peer effects are among the strongest risk factors for adolescent substance use and problem use. However, it is unclear to what extent the effects of conduct problems and peer behavior interact, and whether adolescents' capacity to refuse the offer of substances may moderate such links. This study was conducted to examine relationships between conduct problems, close friends' substance use, and refusal assertiveness with adolescents' alcohol use problems, tobacco, and marijuana use. We studied a population-based sample of 1,237 individuals from the Cardiff Study of All Wales and North West of England Twins aged 11-18 years. Adolescent and mother-reported information was obtained. Statistical analyses included cross-sectional and prospective logistic regression models and family-based permutations. Conduct problems and close friends' substance use were associated with increased adolescents' substance use, whereas refusal assertiveness was associated with lower use of cigarettes, alcohol, and marijuana. Peer substance use moderated the relationship between conduct problems and alcohol use problems, such that conduct problems were only related to increased risk for alcohol use problems in the presence of substance-using friends. This effect was found in both cross-sectional and prospective analyses and confirmed using the permutation approach. Reduced opportunities for interaction with alcohol-using peers may lower the risk of alcohol use problems in adolescents with conduct problems. Copyright (c) 2010 Society for Adolescent Health and Medicine. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Initial Progress Toward Development of a Voice-Based Computer-Delivered Motivational Intervention for Heavy Drinking College Students: An Experimental Study.

PubMed

Kahler, Christopher W; Lechner, William J; MacGlashan, James; Wray, Tyler B; Littman, Michael L

2017-06-28

Computer-delivered interventions have been shown to be effective in reducing alcohol consumption in heavy drinking college students. However, these computer-delivered interventions rely on mouse, keyboard, or touchscreen responses for interactions between the users and the computer-delivered intervention. The principles of motivational interviewing suggest that in-person interventions may be effective, in part, because they encourage individuals to think through and speak aloud their motivations for changing a health behavior, which current computer-delivered interventions do not allow. The objective of this study was to take the initial steps toward development of a voice-based computer-delivered intervention that can ask open-ended questions and respond appropriately to users' verbal responses, more closely mirroring a human-delivered motivational intervention. We developed (1) a voice-based computer-delivered intervention that was run by a human controller and that allowed participants to speak their responses to scripted prompts delivered by speech generation software and (2) a text-based computer-delivered intervention that relied on the mouse, keyboard, and computer screen for all interactions. We randomized 60 heavy drinking college students to interact with the voice-based computer-delivered intervention and 30 to interact with the text-based computer-delivered intervention and compared their ratings of the systems as well as their motivation to change drinking and their drinking behavior at 1-month follow-up. Participants reported that the voice-based computer-delivered intervention engaged positively with them in the session and delivered content in a manner consistent with motivational interviewing principles. At 1-month follow-up, participants in the voice-based computer-delivered intervention condition reported significant decreases in quantity, frequency, and problems associated with drinking, and increased perceived importance of changing drinking behaviors. In comparison to the text-based computer-delivered intervention condition, those assigned to voice-based computer-delivered intervention reported significantly fewer alcohol-related problems at the 1-month follow-up (incident rate ratio 0.60, 95% CI 0.44-0.83, P=.002). The conditions did not differ significantly on perceived importance of changing drinking or on measures of drinking quantity and frequency of heavy drinking. Results indicate that it is feasible to construct a series of open-ended questions and a bank of responses and follow-up prompts that can be used in a future fully automated voice-based computer-delivered intervention that may mirror more closely human-delivered motivational interventions to reduce drinking. Such efforts will require using advanced speech recognition capabilities and machine-learning approaches to train a program to mirror the decisions made by human controllers in the voice-based computer-delivered intervention used in this study. In addition, future studies should examine enhancements that can increase the perceived warmth and empathy of voice-based computer-delivered intervention, possibly through greater personalization, improvements in the speech generation software, and embodying the computer-delivered intervention in a physical form. ©Christopher W Kahler, William J Lechner, James MacGlashan, Tyler B Wray, Michael L Littman. Originally published in JMIR Mental Health (http://mental.jmir.org), 28.06.2017.

Alcohol consumption policies and the prevention of alcohol consumption-related problems: needs, duties, and responsibilities.

PubMed

Allamani, Allaman

2012-10-01

Alcohol-related policies and the prevention of alcohol use-related problems, as well as their creation, are accomplished through planned interventions- laws, social and health programs, community-based initiatives-as well as through complex social movements and efforts implemented by the communities. Among both citizens and alcohol use intervention experts, the following three human dimensions are considered: needs, duties, and responsibilities.

Academic and personal problems among Australian university students who drink at hazardous levels: web-based survey.

PubMed

Hallett, J; Howat, P; McManus, A; Meng, R; Maycock, B; Kypri, K

2013-12-01

Australian university students consume large amounts of alcohol. There is little published information about personal and academic problems associated with this behaviour. We sought to estimate the prevalence, and identify variables associated with, alcohol-related problems among undergraduate hazardous drinkers. The control group members (942 undergraduates, 53.3% male, mean age 19.4 years) of an internet-based intervention trial, who scored ≥8 on the Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test, completed two validated questionnaires about their experience of alcohol-related problems in the preceding 4 weeks. Regression models were used to identify associations between individual characteristics and alcohol-related problems. One-quarter of participants had missed a class (25.6%) and/or had been unable to concentrate in class (25.7%), and 45% reported that their drinking had impacted negatively on their learning or grades. The most frequent non-academic problems were hangovers (74.8%), blackouts (44.8%), emotional outbursts (30.5%), vomiting (28.1%), arguments (20.2%) and drink-driving (23.2%). Male gender, lower age, being a smoker, being in the Faculty of Health (versus Humanities) and living in shared housing (versus with parents/guardians) were each associated with alcohol-related problems, whereas year of study had no association. There is a high prevalence of preventable alcohol-related problems among undergraduates drinking at hazardous levels and a need for restriction of the availability and promotion of alcohol as well as intervention for individuals at high risk. SO WHAT?: Universities have a duty of care to large populations of young people drinking at hazardous levels and should make greater efforts to address hazardous alcohol consumption.

Discrimination and alcohol-related problems among college students: a prospective examination of mediating effects.

PubMed

Hatzenbuehler, Mark L; Corbin, William R; Fromme, Kim

2011-06-01

Discrimination is a risk factor for health-risk behaviors, including alcohol abuse. Far less is known about the mechanisms through which discrimination leads to alcohol-related problems, particularly during high-risk developmental periods such as young adulthood. The present study tested a mediation model using prospective data from a large, diverse sample of 1539 college students. This model hypothesized that discrimination would be associated with established cognitive (positive alcohol expectancies) and affective (negative affect and coping motives) risk factors for alcohol-related problems, which would account for the prospective association between discrimination and alcohol problems. Structural equation modeling indicated that discrimination was associated cross-sectionally with negative affect and more coping motives for drinking, but not with greater alcohol expectancies. Coping motives mediated the prospective relationship between discrimination and alcohol-related problems. Additionally, results indicated significant indirect effects from discrimination to alcohol-related problems through negative affect and coping motives. These associations were evident for multiple groups confronting status-based discrimination, including women, racial/ethnic minorities, and lesbian/gay/bisexual individuals. This study identified potential affective mechanisms linking discrimination to alcohol-related problems. Results suggest several avenues for prevention and intervention efforts with individuals from socially disadvantaged groups. Copyright © 2010 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

Polygenic Risk, Personality Dimensions, and Adolescent Alcohol Use Problems: A Longitudinal Study

PubMed Central

Li, James J.; Savage, Jeanne E.; Kendler, Kenneth S.; Hickman, Matthew; Mahedy, Liam; Macleod, John; Kaprio, Jaakko; Rose, Richard J.; Dick, Danielle M.

2017-01-01

Objective: Alcohol use problems are common during adolescence and can predict serious negative outcomes in adulthood, including substance dependence and psychopathology. The current study examines the notion that alcohol use problems are driven by polygenic influences and that genetic influences may indirectly affect alcohol use problems through multiple pathways of risk, including variations in personality. Method: We used a genome-wide approach to examine associations between genetic risk for alcohol use problems, personality dimensions, and adolescent alcohol use problems in two separate longitudinal population-based samples, the Finnish Twin Cohort (FinnTwin12) and the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children (ALSPAC). Participants were 1,035 young adults from FinnTwin12 and 3,160 adolescents from ALSPAC. Polygenic risk scores (PRS) were calculated for ALSPAC using genome-wide association results (on alcohol dependence symptoms as defined by the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fourth Edition) from FinnTwin12. A parallel multiple mediator model was tested to examine whether the association between PRS and alcohol use problems assessed at age 16 could be explained by variations in personality dimensions assessed at age 13, including sensation seeking and negative emotionality. Results: PRS were marginally predictive of age 16 alcohol use problems; this association was partially mediated by sensation seeking. Polygenic variation underlying risk for alcohol use problems may directly influence the effects of sensation seeking, which in turn influence the development of alcohol use problems in later adolescence. Conclusions: These findings contribute to the increasing evidence regarding the salience of sensation seeking during early adolescence as a potential constituent in the risk pathway underlying the development of alcohol use problems. PMID:28499112

Is contaminated unrecorded alcohol a health problem in the European Union? A review of existing and methodological outline for future studies.

PubMed

Lachenmeier, Dirk W; Schoeberl, Kerstin; Kanteres, Fotis; Kuballa, Thomas; Sohnius, Eva-Maria; Rehm, Jürgen

2011-03-01

Some European countries with high levels of unrecorded alcohol consumption have anomalously high rates of death attributable to liver cirrhosis. Hepatotoxic compounds in illegally produced spirits may be partly responsible. Based on a review of the evidence on the chemical composition and potential harm from unrecorded alcohol, the Alcohol Measures for Public Health Research Alliance (AMPHORA) project's methodology for identifying, analysing and toxicologically evaluating such alcohols is provided. A computer-assisted literature review concentrated on unrecorded alcohol. Additionally, we refer to our work in the capacity of governmental alcohol control authority and a number of pilot studies. The risk-oriented identification of substances resulted in the following compounds probably posing a public health risk in unrecorded alcohol: ethanol, methanol, acetaldehyde, higher alcohols, heavy metals, ethyl carbamate, biologically active flavourings (e.g. coumarin) and diethyl phthalate. Suggestions on a sampling strategy for identifying unrecorded alcohol that may be most prone to contamination include using probable distribution points such as local farmers and flea markets for selling surrogate alcohol (including denatured alcohol) to focusing on lower socio-economic status or alcohol-dependent individuals, and selecting home-produced fruit spirits prone to ethyl carbamate contamination. Standardized guidelines for the chemical and toxicological evaluation of unrecorded alcohol that will be used in a European-wide sampling and are applicable globally are provided. These toxicological guidelines may also be used by alcohol control laboratories for recorded alcohol products, and form a scientific foundation for establishing legislative limits. © 2011 The Authors, Addiction © 2011 Society for the Study of Addiction.

NIAAA's rapid response to college drinking problems initiative: reinforcing the use of evidence-based approaches in college alcohol prevention.

PubMed

Dejong, William; Larimer, Mary E; Wood, Mark D; Hartman, Roger

2009-07-01

The National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA) created the Rapid Response to College Drinking Problems initiative so that senior college administrators facing an alcohol-related crisis could get assistance from well-established alcohol researchers and NIAAA staff. Based on a competitive grant process, NIAAA selected five teams of research scientists with expertise in college drinking research. NIAAA then invited college administrators to propose interventions to address a recently experienced alcohol-related problem. Between September 2004 and September 2005, NIAAA selected 15 sites and paired each recipient college with a scientific team. Together, each program development/evaluation team, working closely with NIAAA scientific staff, jointly designed, implemented, and evaluated a Rapid Response project. This supplement reports the results of several Rapid Response projects, plus other findings of interest that emerged from that research. Eight articles present evaluation findings for prevention and treatment interventions, which can be grouped by the individual, group/interpersonal, institutional, and community levels of the social ecological framework. Additional studies provide further insights that can inform prevention and treatment programs designed to reduce alcohol-related problems among college students. This article provides an overview of these findings, placing them in the context of the college drinking intervention literature. College drinking remains a daunting problem on many campuses, but evidence-based strategies-such as those described in this supplement-provide hope that more effective solutions can be found. The Rapid Response initiative has helped solidify the necessary link between research and practice in college alcohol prevention and treatment.

Neural and psychological characteristics of college students with alcoholic parents differ depending on current alcohol use.

PubMed

Brown-Rice, Kathleen A; Scholl, Jamie L; Fercho, Kelene A; Pearson, Kami; Kallsen, Noah A; Davies, Gareth E; Ehli, Erik A; Olson, Seth; Schweinle, Amy; Baugh, Lee A; Forster, Gina L

2018-02-02

A significant proportion of college students are adult children of an alcoholic parent (ACoA), which can confer greater risk of depression, poor self-esteem, alcohol and drug problems, and greater levels of college attrition. However, some ACoA are resilient to these negative outcomes. The goal of this study was to better understand the psychobiological factors that distinguish resilient and vulnerable college-aged ACoAs. To do so, scholastic performance and psychological health were measured in ACoA college students not engaged in hazardous alcohol use (resilient) and those currently engaged in hazardous alcohol use (vulnerable). Neural activity (as measured by functional magnetic resonance imaging) in response to performing working memory and emotion-based tasks were assessed. Furthermore, the frequency of polymorphisms in candidate genes associated with substance use, risk taking and stress reactivity were compared between the two ACoA groups. College ACoAs currently engaged in hazardous alcohol use reported more anxiety, depression and posttraumatic stress symptoms, and increased risky nicotine and marijuana use as compared to ACoAs resistant to problem alcohol use. ACoA college students with current problem alcohol showed greater activity of the middle frontal gyrus and reduced activation of the posterior cingulate in response to visual working memory and emotional processing tasks, which may relate to increased anxiety and problem alcohol and drug behaviors. Furthermore, polymorphisms of cholinergic receptor and the serotonin transporter genes also appear to contribute a role in problem alcohol use in ACoAs. Overall, findings point to several important psychobiological variables that distinguish ACoAs based on their current alcohol use that may be used in the future for early intervention. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

A personality-based description of maturing out of alcohol problems: extension with a five-factor model and robustness to modeling challenges.

PubMed

Littlefield, Andrew K; Sher, Kenneth J; Wood, Phillip K

2010-11-01

To examine the relation of changes in Five-Factor personality traits (i.e., extraversion, agreeableness, conscientiousness, neuroticism, and openness to experience; Costa & McCrae, 1985), drinking motives, and problematic alcohol involvement in a cohort of college students (N=467) at varying risk for alcohol use disorders from ages 21 to 35. Parallel process latent growth models were estimated to determine the extent that prospective changes in personality and alcohol problems covaried as well as the extent to which drinking motives appeared to mediate these relations. Changes in neuroticism and conscientiousness covaried with changes in problematic alcohol involvement. Specifically, increases in conscientiousness and decreases in neuroticism were related to decreases in alcohol from ages 21 to 35, even after accounting for marriage and/or parenthood. Change in coping (but not enhancement) motives specifically mediated the relation between changes in conscientiousness and alcohol problems in addition to the relation between changes in neuroticism and alcohol problems. Personality changes, as assessed by a Five-Factor model of personality, are associated with "maturing out" of alcohol problems. Of equal importance, change in coping motives may be an important mediator of the relation between personality change and the "maturing out" of alcohol problems. Published by Elsevier Ltd.

Alcohol Availability and Intimate Partner Violence Among US Couples

PubMed Central

McKinney, Christy M.; Caetano, Raul; Harris, Theodore Robert; Ebama, Malembe S.

2008-01-01

Objectives We examined the relation between alcohol outlet density (the number of alcohol outlets per capita by zip code) and male-to-female partner violence (MFPV) or female-to-male partner violence (FMPV). We also investigated whether binge drinking or the presence of alcohol-related problems altered the relationship between alcohol outlet density and MFPV or FMPV. Methods We linked individual and couple sociodemographic and behavioral data from a 1995 national population-based sample of 1,597 couples to alcohol outlet data and 1990 US Census sociodemographic information. We used logistic regression for survey data to estimate unadjusted and adjusted odds ratios between alcohol outlet density and MFPV or FMPV along with 95% confidence intervals (CIs) and p-values. We used a design-based Wald test to derive a p-value for multiplicative interaction to assess the role of binge drinking and alcohol-related problems. Results In adjusted analysis, an increase of one alcohol outlet per 10,000 persons was associated with a 1.03-fold increased risk of MFPV (p-value for linear trend = 0.01) and a 1.011-fold increased risk of FMPV (p-value for linear trend = 0.48). An increase of 10 alcohol outlets per 10,000 persons was associated with 34% and 12% increased risk of MFPV and FMPV respectively, though the CI for the association with FMPV was compatible with no increased risk. The relationship between alcohol outlet density and MFPV was stronger among couples reporting alcohol-related problems than those reporting no problems (p-value for multiplicative interaction = 0.01). Conclusions We found that as alcohol outlet density increases so does the risk of MFPV and that this relationship may differ for couples who do and do not report alcohol-related problems. Given that MFPV accounts for the majority of injuries related to intimate partner violence, policy makers may wish to carefully consider the potential benefit of limiting alcohol outlet density to reduce MFPV and its adverse consequences. PMID:18976345

Alcohol availability and intimate partner violence among US couples.

PubMed

McKinney, Christy M; Caetano, Raul; Harris, Theodore Robert; Ebama, Malembe S

2009-01-01

We examined the relation between alcohol outlet density (the number of alcohol outlets per capita by zip code) and male-to-female partner violence (MFPV) or female-to-male partner violence (FMPV). We also investigated whether binge drinking or the presence of alcohol-related problems altered the relationship between alcohol outlet density and MFPV or FMPV. We linked individual and couple sociodemographic and behavioral data from a 1995 national population-based sample of 1,597 couples to alcohol outlet data and 1990 US Census sociodemographic information. We used logistic regression for survey data to estimate unadjusted and adjusted odds ratios between alcohol outlet density and MFPV or FMPV along with 95% confidence intervals (CIs) and p-values. We used a design-based Wald test to derive a p-value for multiplicative interaction to assess the role of binge drinking and alcohol-related problems. In adjusted analysis, an increase of one alcohol outlet per 10,000 persons was associated with a 1.03-fold increased risk of MFPV (p-value for linear trend = 0.01) and a 1.011-fold increased risk of FMPV (p-value for linear trend = 0.48). An increase of 10 alcohol outlets per 10,000 persons was associated with 34% and 12% increased risk of MFPV and FMPV respectively, though the CI for the association with FMPV was compatible with no increased risk. The relationship between alcohol outlet density and MFPV was stronger among couples reporting alcohol-related problems than those reporting no problems (p-value for multiplicative interaction = 0.01). We found that as alcohol outlet density increases so does the risk of MFPV and that this relationship may differ for couples who do and do not report alcohol-related problems. Given that MFPV accounts for the majority of injuries related to intimate partner violence, policy makers may wish to carefully consider the potential benefit of limiting alcohol outlet density to reduce MFPV and its adverse consequences.

Computer-Delivered Interventions to Reduce College Student Drinking: A Meta-Analysis

PubMed Central

Carey, Kate B.; Scott-Sheldon, Lori A. J.; Elliott, Jennifer C.; Bolles, Jamie R.; Carey, Michael P.

2009-01-01

Aims This meta-analysis evaluates the efficacy and moderators of computer-delivered interventions (CDIs) to reduce alcohol use among college students. Methods We included 35 manuscripts with 43 separate interventions, and calculated both between-group and within-group effect sizes for alcohol consumption and alcohol-related problems. Effects sizes were calculated for short-term (≤ 5 weeks) and longer-term (≥ 6 weeks) intervals. All studies were coded for study descriptors, participant characteristics, and intervention components. Results The effects of CDIs depended on the nature of the comparison condition: CDIs reduced quantity and frequency measures relative to assessment-only controls, but rarely differed from comparison conditions that included alcohol content. Small-to-medium within-group effect sizes can be expected for CDIs at short- and longer-term follow-ups; these changes are less than or equivalent to the within-group effect sizes observed for more intensive interventions. Conclusions CDIs reduce the quantity and frequency of drinking among college students. CDIs are generally equivalent to alternative alcohol-related comparison interventions. PMID:19744139

A pedigree-based proxy measure of genetic predisposition of drinking and alcohol use among female sex workers in China: a cross-sectional study.

PubMed

Zhang, Chen; Li, Xiaoming; Liu, Yu; Qiao, Shan; Su, Shaobing; Zhang, Liying; Zhou, Yuejiao

2017-02-01

Scientific evidence has suggested that genetic factors accounted for more than half of the vulnerability of developing alcohol use problems. However, collecting genetic data poses a significant challenge for most population-based behavioral studies. The aim of this study was to assess the utilities of a pedigree-based proxy measure of genetic predisposition of drinking (GPD) and its effect on alcohol use behaviors as well as its interactions with personal and environmental factors. In the current study, cross-sectional data were collected from 700 female sex workers (FSW) in Guangxi, China. Participants provided information on a pedigree-based proxy measure of GPD and their alcohol use behaviors. Chi-square and independent t-test was applied for examining the bivariate associations between GPD and alcohol use behaviors; multivariate and ordinal regression models were used to examine the effect of GPD on alcohol use. This study found that women with a higher composite score of GPD tended to have a higher risk of alcohol use problem compared to their counterparts (p < .05). GPD was a significant predictor of alcohol use problems (p < .05), especially among women who had mental health issues or lack of health cares. The pedigree-based measure provided a useful proxy of GPD among participants. Both FSW's mental health and health care access interact with GPD and affect their drinking patterns. By understanding the genetic basis of alcohol use, we can develop scalable and efficacious interventions that will take into consideration the individual risk profile and environmental influences.

Clinician Suspicion of an Alcohol Problem: An Observational Study From the AAFP National Research Network

PubMed Central

Vinson, Daniel C.; Turner, Barbara J.; MSED; Manning, Brian K.; Galliher, James M.

2013-01-01

PURPOSE In clinical practice, detection of alcohol problems often relies on clinician suspicion instead of using a screening instrument. We assessed the sensitivity, specificity, and predictive values of clinician suspicion compared with screening-detected alcohol problems in patients. METHODS We undertook a cross-sectional study of 94 primary care clinicians’ office visits. Brief questionnaires were completed separately after a visit by both clinicians and eligible patients. The patient’s anonymous exit questionnaire screened for hazardous drinking based on the Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test-Consumption (AUDIT-C) and for harmful drinking (alcohol abuse or dependence) based on 2 questions from the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders. After the visit, clinicians responded to the question, “Does this patient have problems with alcohol?” with answer options including “yes, hazardous drinking” and “yes, alcohol abuse or dependence.” Analyses assessed the associations between patients’ responses to screening questions and clinician’s suspicions. RESULTS Of 2,518 patients with an office visit, 2,173 were eligible, and 1,699 (78%) completed the exit questionnaire. One hundred seventy-one (10.1%) patients had a positive screening test for hazardous drinking (an AUDIT-C score of 5 or greater) and 64 (3.8%) for harmful drinking. Clinicians suspected alcohol problems in 81 patients (hazardous drinking in 37, harmful drinking in 40, and both in 4). The sensitivity of clinician suspicion of either hazardous or harmful drinking was 27% and the specificity was 98%. Positive and negative predictive values were 62% and 92%, respectively. CONCLUSION Clinician suspicion of alcohol problems had poor sensitivity but high specificity for identifying patients who had a positive screening test for alcohol problems. These data support the routine use of a screening tool to supplement clinicians’ suspicions, which already provide reasonable positive predictive value. PMID:23319506

Testing a level of response to alcohol-based model of heavy drinking and alcohol problems in 1,905 17-year-olds.

PubMed

Schuckit, Marc A; Smith, Tom L; Heron, Jon; Hickman, Matthew; Macleod, John; Lewis, Glyn; Davis, John M; Hibbeln, Joseph R; Brown, Sandra; Zuccolo, Luisa; Miller, Laura L; Davey-Smith, George

2011-10-01

The low level of response (LR) to alcohol is one of several genetically influenced characteristics that increase the risk for heavy drinking and alcohol problems. Efforts to understand how LR operates through additional life influences have been carried out primarily in modest-sized U.S.-based samples with limited statistical power, raising questions about generalizability and about the importance of components with smaller effects. This study evaluates a full LR-based model of risk in a large sample of adolescents from the United Kingdom. Cross-sectional structural equation models were used for the approximate first half of the age 17 subjects assessed by the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children, generating data on 1,905 adolescents (mean age 17.8 years, 44.2% boys). LR was measured with the Self-Rating of the Effects of Alcohol Questionnaire, outcomes were based on drinking quantities and problems, and standardized questionnaires were used to evaluate peer substance use, alcohol expectancies, and using alcohol to cope with stress. In this young and large U.K. sample, a low LR related to more adverse alcohol outcomes both directly and through partial mediation by all 3 additional key variables (peer substance use, expectancies, and coping). The models were similar in boys and girls. These results confirm key elements of the hypothesized LR-based model in a large U.K. sample, supporting some generalizability beyond U.S. groups. They also indicate that with enough statistical power, multiple elements contribute to how LR relates to alcohol outcomes and reinforce the applicability of the model to both genders. Copyright © 2011 by the Research Society on Alcoholism.

The Efficacy of a Web-Based Screening and Brief Intervention for Reducing Alcohol Consumption Among Japanese Problem Drinkers: Protocol for a Single-Blind Randomized Controlled Trial.

PubMed

Hamamura, Toshitaka; Suganuma, Shinichiro; Takano, Ayumi; Matsumoto, Toshihiko; Shimoyama, Haruhiko

2018-05-30

The literature shows that computer-delivered interventions with personalized normative feedback can reduce problem drinking for up to 6 months in the West. Meanwhile, no studies have been conducted to examine the effects of such interventions among Japanese problem drinkers. Possible moderators associated with effectiveness of the intervention need to be also explored. The purpose of this study is to conduct a trial and examine the efficacy of a brief intervention with personal normative feedback and psychoeducation on several measures of alcohol consumption among Japanese problem drinkers. Additionally, this study will examine whether the level of alcohol use disorder and beliefs about the physical and psychological outcomes of drinking moderate the effect of the intervention on outcome measures. This study will conduct a single-blind, 2-armed randomized controlled trial. Japanese adults with an Alcohol Use Disorder Identification Test score of 8 or higher will be enrolled in the trial. Participants allocated to the intervention group will receive the intervention immediately after the baseline measurements, and participants allocated to the waitlist group will receive the intervention at the end of the trial. Outcome measures include drinking quantity, drinking frequency, and alcohol-related consequences. Follow-up assessment will take place at 1 month, 2 months, and 6 months following the baseline measurement. The authors will not know the group allocation during trial. The authors will plan to collect a sample of 600 participants. Mixed-effect analyses of variance will be used to examine the main effects of condition, the main effects of time, and the interaction effects between condition and time on outcome variables. Enrollment for the trial began on January 6, 2018 and data are expected to be available by August 2018. This study will contribute to the literature by demonstrating the efficacy of Web-based screenings and brief interventions among Japanese problem drinkers and indicating several possible moderators between the intervention and outcomes. This type of Web-based brief intervention has the possibility of being implemented in Japanese schools and workplaces as a prevention tool. UMIN Clinical Trials Registry R000034388; https://upload.umin.ac.jp/cgi-open-bin/ctr_e/ctr_view.cgi? recptno=R000034388 (Archived by WebCite at http://www.webcitation.org/6xmOoTfTI). RR1-10.2196/10650. ©Toshitaka Hamamura, Shinichiro Suganuma, Ayumi Takano, Toshihiko Matsumoto, Haruhiko Shimoyama. Originally published in JMIR Research Protocols (http://www.researchprotocols.org), 30.05.2018.

The development of a web-based brief alcohol intervention in reducing heavy drinking among college students: an Intervention Mapping approach.

PubMed

Voogt, Carmen V; Poelen, Evelien A P; Kleinjan, Marloes; Lemmers, Lex A C J; Engels, Rutger C M E

2014-12-01

In the Netherlands, young adults' drinking practices have become an issue of public concern since their drinking levels are high. Heavy drinking can place young adults at an increased risk for developing short- and long-term health-related problems. Current national alcohol prevention programmes focus mainly on adolescents and their parents and paying less systematic attention to young adults. The present study describes the theory and evidence-based development of a web-based brief alcohol intervention entitled What Do You Drink (WDYD). We applied the Intervention Mapping (IM) protocol to combine theory and evidence in the development and implementation of WDYD. The WDYD intervention aims to detect and reduce heavy drinking of young adults who are willing to decrease their alcohol consumption, preferably below the Dutch guidelines of low-risk drinking. According to the IM protocol, the development of WDYD resulted in a structured intervention. Reducing heavy drinking to low-risk drinking was proposed as the behavioural outcome. Motivational interviewing principles and parts of the I-Change Model were used as methods in the development of WDYD, whereas computer tailoring was selected as main strategy. An effect and a process evaluation of the intervention will be conducted. IM was found to be a practical instrument for developing the WDYD intervention tailored to a specific target population in the area of alcohol prevention. © The Author (2013). Published by Oxford University Press. All rights reserved. For Permissions, please email: journals.permissions@oup.com.

Alcohol use and negative consequences among active duty military personnel.

PubMed

Mattiko, Mark J; Olmsted, Kristine L Rae; Brown, Janice M; Bray, Robert M

2011-06-01

An examination of alcohol use patterns in the active duty military to determine the relations of drinking levels and self-reported negative outcomes. A population-based cross-sectional study design using two-stage complex sampling methodology. Paper and pencil surveys were administered anonymously in groups at 64 U.S. military installations worldwide. Randomly selected active duty members (28,546) at major military installations representing the total active force, with the exception of recruits, cadets, and incarcerated personnel. Personnel were classified into five drinking levels ranging from abstainer to heavy drinker based on quantity and frequency of alcohol intake. Negative outcomes were measured as self-reported serious consequences of alcohol use and alcohol-related productivity loss. Risk for other alcohol related problems was assessed by the Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test (AUDIT). Alcohol negative outcomes showed a curvilinear dose-response relationship with drinking levels. Higher levels of drinking were associated with higher rates of alcohol problems, but problem rates were notably higher for heavy drinkers. Heavy alcohol users showed nearly three times the rate of self-reported serious consequences and over twice the rate of self-reported productivity loss than moderate/heavy drinkers. Heavy drinkers also had the highest risk for alcohol problems on the AUDIT. One fifth of military personnel were heavy drinkers and were most likely aged 18 to 35. Prevention and clinical interventions should include a major focus on heavy drinkers. Commanders and peers should be trained in recognizing signs of heavy alcohol use and in approaching heavy alcohol users in a way that will foster positive attitudes as opposed to defensiveness and stigma. Published by Elsevier Ltd.

A Comparison of Computer-Assisted and Self-Management Programs for Reducing Alcohol Use among Students in First Year Experience Courses

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Lane, David J.; Lindemann, Dana F.; Schmidt, James A.

2012-01-01

The National Institute of Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism has called for the use of evidence-based approaches to address high-risk drinking prevalent on many college campuses. In line with this recommendation, the present study evaluated the efficacy of two evidence-based approaches to reducing alcohol use. One hundred and three college students in…

Early family-based intervention in the path to alcohol problems: rationale and relationship between treatment process characteristics and child and parenting outcomes.

PubMed

Nye, C L; Zucker, R A; Fitzgerald, H E

1999-03-01

Risk for subsequent development of alcohol problems is not uniform across the population of alcoholic families, but varies with parental comorbidity and family history. Recent studies have also identified disruptive child behavior problems in the preschool years as predictive of alcoholism in adulthood. Given the quality of risk structure in highest risk families, prevention programming is more appropriately family based rather than individual. A family-based intervention program for the prevention of conduct problems among preschool-age sons of alcoholic fathers was implemented to change this potential mediating risk structure. A population-based recruitment strategy enrolled 52 alcoholic families in a 10-month intervention involving parent training and marital problem solving. The study examined the interplay between parent treatment investment and parent and therapist expectations and satisfaction in predicting change in child behavior and authoritative parenting style during the program, and for 6 months afterward among the 29 families whose sustained involvement allowed these effects to be evaluated. Parent expectations at pretreatment influenced their early investment in the program, which in turn predicted child and parenting outcomes. Parent and therapist satisfaction ratings during treatment were associated with one another and with expectations that the program would continue to promote changes in their child. Parent investment was a particularly salient influence on outcome, as higher investment throughout the program was associated with improvement in child behavior and authoritative parenting at termination. Findings indicate that treatment process characteristics mediate the influence of baseline parent functioning on treatment success and that treatment changes themselves predict later child outcomes.

The effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of lay counsellor-delivered psychological treatments for harmful and dependent drinking and moderate to severe depression in primary care in India: PREMIUM study protocol for randomized controlled trials.

PubMed

Patel, Vikram; Weobong, Benedict; Nadkarni, Abhijit; Weiss, Helen A; Anand, Arpita; Naik, Smita; Bhat, Bhargav; Pereira, Jesina; Araya, Ricardo; Dimidjian, Sona; Hollon, Steven D; King, Michael; McCambridge, Jim; McDaid, David; Murthy, Pratima; Velleman, Richard; Fairburn, Christopher G; Kirkwood, Betty

2014-04-02

The leading mental health causes of the global burden of disease are depression in women and alcohol use disorders in men. A major hurdle to the implementation of evidence-based psychological treatments in primary care in developing countries is the non-availability of skilled human resources. The aim of these trials is to evaluate the effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of two psychological treatments developed for the treatment of depression and alcohol use disorders in primary care in India. This study protocol is for parallel group, randomized controlled trials (Healthy Activity Program for moderate to severe depression, Counselling for Alcohol Problems for harmful and dependent drinking) in eight primary health centres in Goa, India. Adult primary care attendees will be screened with the Patient Health Questionnaire for depression and, in men only, the Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test for drinking problems. Screen-positive attendees will be invited to participate; men who screen positive for both disorders will be invited to participate in the Counselling for Alcohol Problems trial. Those who consent will be allocated in a 1:1 ratio to receive either the respective psychological treatment plus enhanced usual care or enhanced usual care only using a computer generated allocation sequence, stratified by primary health centre and, for depression, by sex. The enhanced usual care comprises providing primary health centre doctors with contextualized World Health Organization guidelines and screening results. Psychological treatments will be delivered by lay counsellors, over a maximum period of three months. Primary outcomes are severity of disorder and remission rates at three months post-enrolment and, for the Counselling for Alcohol Problems trial, drinking and the impact of drinking on daily lives. Secondary outcomes include severity of disorder and remission rates at 12 months, disability scores, suicidal behaviour and economic impact, and cost-effectiveness at three and 12 months. 500 participants with depression and 400 participants with harmful drinking will be recruited. Primary analyses will be intention-to-treat. These trials may offer a new approach for the treatment of moderate-severe depression and drinking problems in primary care that is potentially scalable as it relies on delivery by a single pool of lay counsellors. Both trials are registered with the International Society for the Registration of Clinical Trials (Healthy Activity Programme registration number ISRCTN95149997; Counselling for Alcohol Problems registration number ISRCTN76465238).

The effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of lay counsellor-delivered psychological treatments for harmful and dependent drinking and moderate to severe depression in primary care in India: PREMIUM study protocol for randomized controlled trials

PubMed Central

2014-01-01

Background The leading mental health causes of the global burden of disease are depression in women and alcohol use disorders in men. A major hurdle to the implementation of evidence-based psychological treatments in primary care in developing countries is the non-availability of skilled human resources. The aim of these trials is to evaluate the effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of two psychological treatments developed for the treatment of depression and alcohol use disorders in primary care in India. Methods/design This study protocol is for parallel group, randomized controlled trials (Healthy Activity Program for moderate to severe depression, Counselling for Alcohol Problems for harmful and dependent drinking) in eight primary health centres in Goa, India. Adult primary care attendees will be screened with the Patient Health Questionnaire for depression and, in men only, the Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test for drinking problems. Screen-positive attendees will be invited to participate; men who screen positive for both disorders will be invited to participate in the Counselling for Alcohol Problems trial. Those who consent will be allocated in a 1:1 ratio to receive either the respective psychological treatment plus enhanced usual care or enhanced usual care only using a computer generated allocation sequence, stratified by primary health centre and, for depression, by sex. The enhanced usual care comprises providing primary health centre doctors with contextualized World Health Organization guidelines and screening results. Psychological treatments will be delivered by lay counsellors, over a maximum period of three months. Primary outcomes are severity of disorder and remission rates at three months post-enrolment and, for the Counselling for Alcohol Problems trial, drinking and the impact of drinking on daily lives. Secondary outcomes include severity of disorder and remission rates at 12 months, disability scores, suicidal behaviour and economic impact, and cost-effectiveness at three and 12 months. 500 participants with depression and 400 participants with harmful drinking will be recruited. Primary analyses will be intention-to-treat. Discussion These trials may offer a new approach for the treatment of moderate-severe depression and drinking problems in primary care that is potentially scalable as it relies on delivery by a single pool of lay counsellors. Trial registration Both trials are registered with the International Society for the Registration of Clinical Trials (Healthy Activity Programme registration number ISRCTN95149997; Counselling for Alcohol Problems registration number ISRCTN76465238). PMID:24690184

Childhood Risk Factors for Early-Onset Drinking*

PubMed Central

Donovan, John E.; Molina, Brooke S. G.

2011-01-01

Objective: There is relatively little research on the childhood antecedent predictors of early-onset alcohol use. This study examined an array of psychosocial variables assessed at age 10 and reflecting Problem Behavior Theory as potential antecedent risk factors for the initiation of alcohol use at age 14 or younger. Method: A sample of 452 children (238 girls) ages 8 or 10 and their families was drawn from Allegheny County, PA, using targeted-age directory sampling and random-digit dialing procedures. Children and parents were interviewed using computer-assisted interviews. Logistic regression analyses were used to examine the age-10 univariate and multivariate predictors of the initiation of alcohol use by age 14 or younger. Results: Twenty-five percent of the sample reported having more than a sip or a taste of alcohol in their life by age 14. Sex, race, and age cohort did not relate to early drinking status. Children with two parents were less likely to initiate drinking early. Early initiation of drinking related significantly to an array of antecedent risk factors (personality, social environment, and behavioral) assessed at age 10 that reflect psychosocial proneness for problem behavior. In the multivariate model, the variables most predictive of early-onset drinking were having a single parent, sipping or tasting alcohol by age 10, having parents who also started drinking at an early age, and parental drinking frequency. Conclusions: Initiation of alcohol use by age 14 reflects childhood psychosocial proneness to engage in problem behavior as measured by Problem Behavior Theory and having a family environment conducive to alcohol use. PMID:21906502

Sex differences in the interacting roles of impulsivity and positive alcohol expectancy in problem drinking: A structural brain imaging study.

PubMed

Ide, Jaime S; Zhornitsky, Simon; Hu, Sien; Zhang, Sheng; Krystal, John H; Li, Chiang-Shan R

2017-01-01

Alcohol expectancy and impulsivity are implicated in alcohol misuse. However, how these two risk factors interact to determine problem drinking and whether men and women differ in these risk processes remain unclear. In 158 social drinkers (86 women) assessed for Alcohol Use Disorder Identification Test (AUDIT), positive alcohol expectancy, and Barratt impulsivity, we examined sex differences in these risk processes. Further, with structural brain imaging, we examined the neural bases underlying the relationship between these risk factors and problem drinking. The results of general linear modeling showed that alcohol expectancy best predicted problem drinking in women, whereas in men as well as in the combined group alcohol expectancy and impulsivity interacted to best predict problem drinking. Alcohol expectancy was associated with decreased gray matter volume (GMV) of the right posterior insula in women and the interaction of alcohol expectancy and impulsivity was associated with decreased GMV of the left thalamus in women and men combined and in men alone, albeit less significantly. These risk factors mediated the correlation between GMV and problem drinking. Conversely, models where GMV resulted from problem drinking were not supported. These new findings reveal distinct psychological factors that dispose men and women to problem drinking. Although mediation analyses did not determine a causal link, GMV reduction in the insula and thalamus may represent neural phenotype of these risk processes rather than the consequence of alcohol consumption in non-dependent social drinkers. The results add to the alcohol imaging literature which has largely focused on dependent individuals and help elucidate alterations in brain structures that may contribute to the transition from social to habitual drinking.

Screening and Brief Intervention for Alcohol Problems in a University Student Health Clinic

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ehrlich, Peter F.; Haque, Arshaud; Swisher-McClure, Sam; Helmkamp, James

2006-01-01

The purposes of this study were (1) to determine whether a university student health center (SHC) is a feasible location to introduce a campus-based screening and brief intervention (SBI) program for alcohol and (2) to determine whether the patients seen in the SHC differ in terms of the prevalence and severity of alcohol-related problems compared…

San Mateo County's Server Information Program (S.I.P.): A Community-Based Alcohol Server Training Program.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

de Miranda, John

The field of alcohol server awareness and training has grown dramatically in the past several years and the idea of training servers to reduce alcohol problems has become a central fixture in the current alcohol policy debate. The San Mateo County, California Server Information Program (SIP) is a community-based prevention strategy designed to…

Problem Drinking, Alcohol-Related Violence, and Homelessness among Youth Living in the Slums of Kampala, Uganda.

PubMed

Swahn, Monica H; Culbreth, Rachel; Tumwesigye, Nazarius Mbona; Topalli, Volkan; Wright, Eric; Kasirye, Rogers

2018-05-24

This paper examines problem drinking, alcohol-related violence, and homelessness among youth living in the slums of Kampala—an understudied population at high-risk for both alcohol use and violence. This study is based on a cross-sectional survey conducted in 2014 with youth living in the slums and streets of Kampala, Uganda ( n = 1134), who were attending Uganda Youth Development Link drop-in centers. The analyses for this paper were restricted to youth who reported current alcohol consumption ( n = 346). Problem drinking patterns were assessed among youth involved in alcohol-related violence. Mediation analyses were conducted to examine the impact of homelessness on alcohol-related violence through different measures of problem drinking. Nearly 46% of youth who consumed alcohol were involved in alcohol-related violence. Problem drinkers were more likely to report getting in an accident (χ² = 6.8, df = 1, p = 0.009), having serious problems with parents (χ² = 21.1, df = 1, p < 0.0001) and friends (χ² = 18.2, df = 1, p < 0.0001), being a victim of robbery (χ² = 8.8, df = 1, p = 0.003), and going to a hospital (χ² = 15.6, df = 1, p < 0.0001). For the mediation analyses, statistically significant models were observed for frequent drinking, heavy drinking, and drunkenness. Interventions should focus on delaying and reducing alcohol use in this high-risk population.

Alcohol use and selected health conditions of 1991 Gulf War veterans: survey results, 2003-2005.

PubMed

Coughlin, Steven S; Kang, Han K; Mahan, Clare M

2011-05-01

A sizable literature has analyzed the frequency of alcohol consumption and patterns of drinking among veterans. However, few studies have examined patterns of alcohol use in veterans of the first Gulf War or factors associated with problem drinking in this population. We examined the frequency and patterns of alcohol use in male and female veterans who served in the 1991 Gulf War or during the same era and the relationships between alcohol use and selected health conditions. We analyzed data from a follow-up survey of health information among population-based samples of 15,000 Gulf War and 15,000 Gulf Era veterans. Data had been collected from 9,970 respondents during 2003 through 2005 via a structured questionnaire or telephone survey. Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), major depressive disorder (MDD), unexplained multisymptom illness (MSI), and chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS)-like illness were more frequent among veterans with problem drinking than those without problem drinking. Approximately 28% of Gulf War veterans with problem drinking had PTSD compared with 13% of Gulf War veterans without problem drinking. In multivariate analysis, problem drinking was positively associated with PTSD, MDD, unexplained MSI, and CFS-like illness after adjustment for age, sex, race/ethnicity, branch of service, rank, and Gulf status. Veterans who were problem drinkers were 2.7 times as likely to have PTSD as veterans who were not problem drinkers. These findings indicate that access to evidence-based treatment programs and systems of care should be provided for veterans who abuse alcohol and who have PTSD and other war-related health conditions and illnesses.

Targeted intervention: Computational approaches to elucidate and predict relapse in alcoholism.

PubMed

Heinz, Andreas; Deserno, Lorenz; Zimmermann, Ulrich S; Smolka, Michael N; Beck, Anne; Schlagenhauf, Florian

2017-05-01

Alcohol use disorder (AUD) and addiction in general is characterized by failures of choice resulting in repeated drug intake despite severe negative consequences. Behavioral change is hard to accomplish and relapse after detoxification is common and can be promoted by consumption of small amounts of alcohol as well as exposure to alcohol-associated cues or stress. While those environmental factors contributing to relapse have long been identified, the underlying psychological and neurobiological mechanism on which those factors act are to date incompletely understood. Based on the reinforcing effects of drugs of abuse, animal experiments showed that drug, cue and stress exposure affect Pavlovian and instrumental learning processes, which can increase salience of drug cues and promote habitual drug intake. In humans, computational approaches can help to quantify changes in key learning mechanisms during the development and maintenance of alcohol dependence, e.g. by using sequential decision making in combination with computational modeling to elucidate individual differences in model-free versus more complex, model-based learning strategies and their neurobiological correlates such as prediction error signaling in fronto-striatal circuits. Computational models can also help to explain how alcohol-associated cues trigger relapse: mechanisms such as Pavlovian-to-Instrumental Transfer can quantify to which degree Pavlovian conditioned stimuli can facilitate approach behavior including alcohol seeking and intake. By using generative models of behavioral and neural data, computational approaches can help to quantify individual differences in psychophysiological mechanisms that underlie the development and maintenance of AUD and thus promote targeted intervention. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Seventy-five years of policy on alcohol problems: an American perspective.

PubMed

Roman, Paul M

2014-01-01

This article traces the evolution of alcohol-related social policy over the past 75 years. The literature was reviewed and is critically discussed. The social history of alcohol policies over the last 75 years began with the scientific approach to alcohol in the 1930s and later shifted to a central interest in the disease of alcoholism. Beginning with the National Council on Alcoholism Education, advocates struggled to "mainstream" treatment for this disease into the health care system. Major steps included decriminalization of public intoxication, emphasis of the social respectability of persons with alcohol problems, development of a treatment system that was accompanied by health insurance coverage, and work-based programs to identify and attract employed patients with health insurance coverage. These structures were considerably altered by the War on Drugs, managed care, and the merger of drug and alcohol treatment. The Affordable Care Act, however, has the potential for achieving the mainstreaming goals for alcohol problems originally conceived in the early 1940s. Responsible involvement of the alcoholic beverage industry could greatly enhance current activities but is not likely to occur. Stigma persists in part because of associations with prevention and treatment of illegal drug use problems. The Affordable Care Act offers opportunities and challenges to the specialty of treating alcohol use disorders.

Nicotine Dependence and Alcohol Problems from Adolescence to Young Adulthood.

PubMed

Dierker, Lisa; Selya, Arielle; Rose, Jennifer; Hedeker, Donald; Mermelstein, Robin

Despite the highly replicated relationship between symptoms associated with both alcohol and nicotine, little is known about this association across time and exposure to both drinking and smoking. In the present study, we evaluate if problems associated with alcohol use are related to emerging nicotine dependence symptoms and whether this relationship varies from adolescence to young adulthood, after accounting for both alcohol and nicotine exposure. The sample was drawn from the Social and Emotional Contexts of Adolescent Smoking Patterns Study which measured smoking, nicotine dependence, alcohol use and alcohol related problems over 6 assessment waves spanning 6 years. Analyses were based on repeated assessment of 864 participants reporting some smoking and drinking 30 days prior to individual assessment waves. Mixed-effects regression models were estimated to examine potential time, smoking and/or alcohol varying effects in the association between alcohol problems and nicotine dependence. Inter-individual differences in mean levels of alcohol problems and within subject changes in alcohol problems from adolescence to young adulthood were each significantly associated with nicotine dependence symptoms over and above levels of smoking and drinking behaviour. This association was consistent across both time and increasing levels of smoking and drinking. Alcohol related problems are a consistent risk factor for nicotine dependence over and above measures of drinking and smoking and this association can be demonstrated from the earliest experiences with smoking in adolescents, through the establishment of more regular smoking patterns across the transition to young adulthood. These findings add to accumulating evidence suggesting that smoking and drinking may be related through a mechanism that cannot be wholly accounted for by exposure to either substance.

Psychoactive substances use and associated factors among Axum university students, Axum Town, North Ethiopia

PubMed Central

2013-01-01

Background The use of substances such as alcohol, khat leaves and tobacco have long been recognized as one of the leading causes of human suffering and become one of the rising major public health and socio-economic problems worldwide. Even though substances use occurs in all segments of all societies, it is more spreading in an alarming rate among the young generation. This study aimed to establish the prevalence and associated factors of substances use among undergraduate students in Axum University. Methods Institution based quantitative cross sectional study design was conducted among Axum University students in April 2012. A sample of 764 students was selected by using multi- stage sampling technique. Data were collected using pre- tested self- administered questionnaires. The data were cleaned, coded, entered into EPI-INFO version 3.5.1 and transferred and analysed using SPSS computer soft ware package version 20. Results The lifetime prevalence of khat chewing, alcohol drinking and cigarette smoking among the study participants were 28.7%, 34.5% and 9.5% respectively. Similarly, the current prevalence of khat chewing, alcohol drinking and cigarette smoking were 27.9%, 32.8% and 9.3% respectively. The commonest reasons for khat, alcohol and cigarette using were to keep alert while reading 40.6%, for relaxation 65.5% and to relief stress 37.7% respectively. Having peer friends who chew khat was strongly and positively associated with khat use [AOR: 10.18, 95%CI: (5.59, 18.54)].Family members and peer friends alcohol use were strongly associated with alcohol drinking [AOR: 2.61, 95%CI: (1.56, 4.34) and [AOR: 14, 95%CI: (8.09, 24.24)] respectively. Ever alcohol use was strongly associated with cigarette smoking [AOR: 6.54, 95%CI: (2.66, 16.05)]. Conclusion This study revealed that psychoactive substances use became an urgent problem among undergraduate university students. Universities need to monitor and teach their students with special focus on fresh man students, about the health risks and socioeconomic problems associated with psychoactive substances use. PMID:23895376

The Path to Alcohol Problems through Conduct Problems: A Family-Based Approach to Very Early Intervention with Risk.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Maguin, Eugene; And Others

1994-01-01

Examined the effectiveness of an intervention program to prevent conduct problems among the preschool sons of 104 alcoholic fathers. The 10-month intervention combined parent training and marital counseling and had significant positive effects on the children's negative, prosocial, and affective behavior at program termination. Only the prosocial…

Association of Environmental Indicators with Teen Alcohol Use and Problem Behavior: Teens’ Observations vs. Objectively-Measured Indicators

PubMed Central

Byrnes, Hilary F.; Miller, Brenda A.; Morrison, Christopher N.; Wiebe, Douglas J.; Woychik, Marcie; Wiehe, Sarah E.

2017-01-01

Most prior studies use objectively measured data (e.g., census-based indicators) to assess contextual risks. However, teens’ observations might be more important for their risk behavior. Objectives: 1) determine relationships between observed and objective indicators of contextual risks 2) determine relations of observed and objective indicators with teen alcohol use and problem behavior. Teens aged 14–16 (N=170) carried GPS-enabled smartphones for one month, with locations documented. Ecological momentary assessment (EMA) measured teens’ observations via texts regarding risk behaviors and environmental observations. Objective indicators of alcohol outlets and disorganization were spatially joined to EMAs based on teens’ location at the time of the texts. Observed and objective disorganization, and objective indicators of alcohol outlets were related to alcohol use. Observed disorganization was related to problem behavior, while objective indicators were unrelated. Findings suggest the importance of considering teens’ observations of contextual risk for understanding influences on risk behavior and suggest future directions for research and prevention strategies. PMID:28061392

Behavioral Economic Indicators of Drinking Problem Severity and Initial Outcomes Among Problem Drinkers Attempting Natural Recovery: A Cross-sectional Naturalistic Study

PubMed Central

Tucker, Jalie A.; Cheong, JeeWon; Chandler, Susan D.; Lambert, Brice H.; Kwok, Heather; Pietrzak, Brittney

2016-01-01

Background and aims Research using different behavioral economic (BE) and time perspective (TP) measures suggests that substance misusers show greater sensitivity to shorter term contingencies than normal controls, but multiple measures have seldom been investigated together. This study evaluated the extent to which multiple BE and TP measures were associated with drinking problem severity, distinguished initial outcomes of natural recovery attempts, and shared common variance. Hypotheses were (1) greater problem severity would be associated with greater impulsivity and demand for alcohol and shorter TPs; and (2) low-risk drinking would be associated with greater sensitivity to longer term contingencies compared with abstinence. Design Cross-sectional naturalistic field study. Setting Southern United States. Participants Problem drinkers, recently resolved without treatment (N = 191 [76.4% male], M age = 50.1 years) recruited using media advertisements. Measurements Drinking practices, dependence levels, and alcohol-related problems prior to stopping problem drinking were assessed during structured field interviews. Measures included the Zimbardo Time Perspective Inventory; BE analogue choice tasks (Delay Discounting [DD], Melioration-Maximization [MM], Alcohol Purchase Task [APT]); and the Alcohol-Savings Discretionary Expenditure (ASDE) index, derived from real spending on alcohol and voluntary savings during the year before problem cessation. Findings Measures of demand based on real (ASDE) and hypothetical (APT) spending on alcohol were associated with problem severity (ps < .05), but DD, MM, and TP measures were not. More balanced pre-resolution spending on alcohol versus saving for the future distinguished low-risk drinking from abstinent resolutions (ASDE OR = 5.59; p < .001). BE measures did not share common variance. Conclusions Two behavioural assessment tools that measure spending on alcohol, the Alcohol Purchase Task and the Alcohol-Savings Discretionary Expenditure index, appear to be reliable in assessing the severity of drinking problems. The ASDE index also may aid choices between low-risk and abstinent drinking goals. PMID:27318078

Reducing Alcohol Use During Pregnancy Via Health Counseling by Midwives and Internet-Based Computer-Tailored Feedback: A Cluster Randomized Trial

PubMed Central

Hoving, Ciska; Eijmael, Kim; Candel, Math JJM; van Dalen, Wim; De Vries, Hein

2014-01-01

Background Effective interventions are needed to reduce neurobehavioral impairments in children due to maternal alcohol use during pregnancy. Currently, health-counseling interventions have shown inconsistent results to reduce prenatal alcohol use. Thus, more research using health counseling is needed to gain more knowledge about the effectiveness of this type of intervention on reducing alcohol use during pregnancy. An alternative and promising strategy is computer tailoring. However, to date, no study has shown the effectiveness of this intervention mode. Objective The aim was to test the effectiveness of health counseling and computer tailoring on stopping and reducing maternal alcohol use during pregnancy in a Dutch sample of pregnant women using alcohol. Methods A total of 60 Dutch midwifery practices, randomly assigned to 1 of 3 conditions, recruited 135 health counseling, 116 computer tailoring, and 142 usual care respondents from February to September 2011. Health-counseling respondents received counseling from their midwife according to a health-counseling protocol, which consisted of 7 steps addressed in 3 feedback sessions. Computer-tailoring respondents received usual care from their midwife and 3 computer-tailored feedback letters via the Internet. Usual care respondents received routine alcohol care from their midwife. After 3 and 6 months, we assessed the effect of the interventions on alcohol use. Results Multilevel multiple logistic regression analyses showed that computer-tailoring respondents stopped using alcohol more often compared to usual care respondents 6 months after baseline (53/68, 78% vs 51/93, 55%; P=.04). Multilevel multiple linear regression analyses showed that computer-tailoring respondents (mean 0.35, SD 0.31 units per week) with average (P=.007) or lower (P<.001) alcohol use before pregnancy or with average (P=.03) or lower (P=.002) social support more strongly reduced their alcohol use 6 months after baseline compared to usual care respondents (mean 0.48, SD 0.54 units per week). Six months after baseline, 72% (62/86) of the health-counseling respondents had stopped using alcohol. This 17% difference with the usual care group was not significant. Conclusions This is the first study showing that computer tailoring can be effective to reduce alcohol use during pregnancy; health counseling did not effectively reduce alcohol use. Future researchers developing a health-counseling intervention to reduce alcohol use during pregnancy are recommended to invest more in recruitment of pregnant women and implementation by health care providers. Because pregnant women are reluctant to disclose their alcohol use to health professionals and computer tailoring preserves a person’s anonymity, this effective computer-tailoring intervention is recommended as an attractive intervention for pregnant women using alcohol. Trial Registration Dutch Trial Register NTR 2058; http://www.trialregister.nl/trialreg/admin/rctview.asp?TC=2058 (Archived by WebCite at http://www.webcitation.org/6NpT1oHol) PMID:25486675

An assessment of the demographic and clinical correlates of the dimensions of alcohol use behaviour.

PubMed

Smith, Gillian W; Shevlin, Mark; Murphy, Jamie; Houston, James E

2010-01-01

To identify population-based clinical and demographic correlates of alcohol use dimensions. Using data from a population-based sample of Great Britain (n = 7849), structural equation modelling (SEM) was used to identify associations between demographic and clinical variables and two competing dimensional models of the Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test (AUDIT). A two-factor SEM fit best. In this model, Factor 1, alcohol consumption, was associated with male sex, younger age, lower educational attainment, generalized anxiety disorder (GAD) and suicide attempts. Factor 2, alcohol-related problems, was associated with the demographic variables (to a lesser extent) and to a wider range of clinical variables, including depressive episode, GAD, mixed anxiety and depressive disorder, obsessive compulsive disorder, phobia, suicidal thoughts and suicide attempts. The one-factor SEM was associated with demographic and all assessed clinical correlates; however, this model did not fit the data well. Two main conclusions justify the two-factor approach to alcohol use classification. First, the model fit was considerably superior and, second, the dimensions of alcohol consumption and alcohol-related problems vary considerably in their associations with measures of demographic and clinical risk. A one-factor representation of alcohol use, for instance, would fail to recognize that measures of affective/anxiety disorders are more consistently related to alcohol-related problems than to alcohol consumption. It is suggested therefore that to fully understand the complexity of alcohol use behaviour and its associated risk, future research should acknowledge the basic underlying dimensional structure of the construct.

Assessment of alcohol problems using AUDIT in a prison setting: more than an 'aye or no' question.

PubMed

MacAskill, Susan; Parkes, Tessa; Brooks, Oona; Graham, Lesley; McAuley, Andrew; Brown, Abraham

2011-11-14

Alcohol problems are a major UK and international public health issue. The prevalence of alcohol problems is markedly higher among prisoners than the general population. However, studies suggest alcohol problems among prisoners are under-detected, under-recorded and under-treated. Identifying offenders with alcohol problems is fundamental to providing high quality healthcare. This paper reports use of the AUDIT screening tool to assess alcohol problems among prisoners. Universal screening was undertaken over ten weeks with all entrants to one male Scottish prison using the AUDIT standardised screening tool and supplementary contextual questions. The questionnaire was administered by trained prison officers during routine admission procedures. Overall 259 anonymised completed questionnaires were analysed. AUDIT scores showed a high prevalence of alcohol problems with 73% of prisoner scores indicating an alcohol use disorder (8+), including 36% having scores indicating 'possible dependence' (20-40). AUDIT scores indicating 'possible dependence' were most apparent among 18-24 and 40-64 year-olds (40% and 56% respectively). However, individual questions showed important differences, with younger drinkers less likely to demonstrate habitual and addictive behaviours than the older age group. Disparity between high levels of harmful/hazardous/dependent drinking and low levels of 'treatment' emerged (only 27% of prisoners with scores indicating 'possible dependence' reported being 'in treatment'). Self-reported associations between drinking alcohol and the index crime were identified among two-fifths of respondents, rising to half of those reporting violent crimes. To our knowledge, this is the first study to identify differing behaviours and needs among prisoners with high AUDIT score ranges, through additional analysis of individual questions. The study has identified high prevalence of alcohol use, varied problem behaviours, and links across drinking, crime and recidivism, supporting the argument for more extensive provision of alcohol-focused interventions in prisons. These should be carefully targeted based on initial screening and assessment, responsive, and include care pathways linking prisoners to community services. Finally, findings confirm the value and feasibility of routine use of the AUDIT screening tool in prison settings, to considerably enhance practice in the detection and understanding of alcohol problems, improving on current more limited questioning (e.g. 'yes or no' questions).

Childhood attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder symptoms and the development of adolescent alcohol problems: A prospective, population-based study of Swedish twins.

PubMed

Quinn, Patrick D; Pettersson, Erik; Lundström, Sebastian; Anckarsäter, Henrik; Långström, Niklas; Gumpert, Clara Hellner; Larsson, Henrik; Lichtenstein, Paul; D'Onofrio, Brian M

2016-10-01

Children with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) are at increased risk of problematic alcohol and other substance use in adolescence. This study used data from an ongoing, prospective, population-based twin study of Swedish children and adolescents to evaluate the extent to which the association between ADHD symptoms and alcohol problems reflects a unique source of genetic or environmental risk related to ADHD versus a broader predisposition to youth externalizing behavior. We used all available data from same-sex monozygotic (MZ) and dizygotic (DZ) twins on ADHD symptoms in childhood (age 9/12; N = 15,549) and alcohol problems in late adolescence (age 18; N = 2,564). Consistent with prior longitudinal studies, the phenotypic association between hyperactive/impulsive ADHD symptoms and alcohol problems was small in magnitude, whereas the association for inattentive symptoms was even weaker. Additive genetic influences explained 99.8% of the association between hyperactive/impulsive symptoms and alcohol problems. Furthermore, we found that the genetic risk specifically associated with hyperactive/impulsive symptoms was attenuated when estimated in the context of externalizing behavior liability during childhood, of which ADHD symptoms were specific expressions. In sensitivity analyses exploring hyperactivity in mid-adolescence, we found a similar pattern of genetic associations. These results are consistent with previous findings of genetically driven overlap in the etiology of ADHD and problematic alcohol use. At least some of this co-occurrence may result from a general predisposition to externalizing behaviors in youth. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

The Promises and Pitfalls of Digital Technology in Its Application to Alcohol Treatment

PubMed Central

Muench, Frederick

2014-01-01

Individuals seeking to change their alcohol use form a heterogeneous group with varied treatment goals—including moderation and abstinence—that therefore requires flexible treatment options. The availability of alcohol in the United States, and the pervasive social pressure to drink, warrant treatments that support individuals outside the treatment environment and that foster coping and self-regulation in the face of these demands. Emerging digital technologies show promise for helping both to hone therapies to clients’ individual needs and to support clients in settings beyond the clinic. In the broader health care arena, digital health technologies (DHTs) are transforming how health professionals assess, prevent, and treat both physical and mental health problems. DHTs include assessments and interventions delivered via computer, Internet, mobile phone, and wireless or wearable device technologies. The emerging literature examining within-treatment and mobile DHTs highlights an opportunity to create personalized alcohol treatments for every person seeking care. Despite the promises DHTs may hold, however, there still are many potential risks to using them and a number of challenges regarding how to integrate them into treatment successfully. This article will review the current and potential advantages of DHTs in alcohol treatment and the technological, personal, organizational, and systemic limitations of integrating various technology-based assessment and intervention programs into care. PMID:26259008

Unemployment Is a Risk Factor for Hospitalization Due to Alcohol Problems: A Longitudinal Study Based on the Stockholm Public Health Cohort (SPHC).

PubMed

Backhans, Mona Christina; Balliu, Natalja; Lundin, Andreas; Hemmingsson, Tomas

2016-11-01

This study examined the associations between unemployment and alcohol-related hospitalization or mortality and to what extent these associations may be confounded by alcohol consumption and alcohol problems before unemployment. The study was based on the Stockholm Public Health Cohort (SPHC), a population-based stratified random sample with a baseline questionnaire in 2002/2003 and record linkages up to year 2011. The final sample in the study consists of 15,841 people aged 18-60 years. Unemployment was defined as any registration at the public employment services during 2003-2005. The outcome was alcohol-related hospitalization and alcohol-related mortality during 2006-2011. Confounders were age, sex, and education, and we further adjusted for baseline alcohol consumption and alcohol-related hospitalization before the study period. Cox proportional hazard models were fit, and associations were expressed as hazard ratios (HRs). In the fully adjusted model, unemployment was associated with an increased risk of alcohol-related hospitalization or mortality, with a more than threefold hazard (HR = 3.38, 95% CI [1.81, 6.31]) compared with no unemployment during the exposure period. There was a moderate attenuating effect of prior alcohol consumption and alcohol-related hospitalization. Any unemployment in 2003-2005 was highly related to having experienced an alcohol-related diagnosis during the 6-year follow-up, even after controlling for risky use of alcohol and prior hospitalization.

Meta-Analysis of the Association of Alcohol-Related Social Media Use with Alcohol Consumption and Alcohol-Related Problems in Adolescents and Young Adults.

PubMed

Curtis, Brenda L; Lookatch, Samantha J; Ramo, Danielle E; McKay, James R; Feinn, Richard S; Kranzler, Henry R

2018-06-01

Despite the pervasive use of social media by young adults, there is comparatively little known about whether, and how, engagement in social media influences this group's drinking patterns and risk of alcohol-related problems. We examined the relations between young adults' alcohol-related social media engagement (defined as the posting, liking, commenting, and viewing of alcohol-related social media content) and their drinking behavior and problems. We conducted a systematic review and meta-analysis of studies evaluating the association of alcohol consumption and alcohol-related problems with alcohol-related social media engagement. Summary baseline variables regarding the social media platform used (e.g., Facebook and Twitter), social media measures assessed (e.g., number of alcohol photographs posted), alcohol measures (e.g., Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test and Timeline Follow back Interview), and the number of time points at which data were collected were extracted from each published study. We used the Q statistic to examine heterogeneity in the correlations between alcohol-related social media engagement and both drinking behavior and alcohol-related problems. Because there was significant heterogeneity, we used a random-effects model to evaluate the difference from zero of the weighted aggregate correlations. We used metaregression with study characteristics as moderators to test for moderators of the observed heterogeneity. Following screening, 19 articles met inclusion criteria for the meta-analysis. The primary findings indicated a statistically significant relationship and moderate effect sizes between alcohol-related social media engagement and both alcohol consumption (r = 0.36, 95% CI: 0.29 to 0.44, p < 0.001) and alcohol-related problems (r = 0.37, 95% CI: 0.21 to 0.51, p < 0.001). There was significant heterogeneity among studies. Two significant predictors of heterogeneity were (i) whether there was joint measurement of alcohol-related social media engagement and drinking behavior or these were measured on different occasions and (ii) whether measurements were taken by self-report or observation of social media engagement. We found moderate-sized effects across the 19 studies: Greater alcohol-related social media engagement was correlated with both greater self-reported drinking and alcohol-related problems. Further research to determine the causal direction of these associations could provide opportunities for social media-based interventions with young drinkers aimed at reducing alcohol consumption and alcohol-related adverse consequences. Copyright © 2018 by the Research Society on Alcoholism.

Effect of Alcohol on Diesel Engine Combustion Operating with Biodiesel-Diesel Blend at Idling Conditions

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mahmudul, H. M.; Hagos, Ftwi. Y.; A, M. Mukhtar N.; Mamat, Rizalman; Abdullah, A. Adam

2018-03-01

Biodiesel is a promising alternative fuel to run the automotive engine. However, its blends have not been properly investigated during idling as it is the main problem to run the vehicles in a big city. The purpose of this study is to evaluate the impact of alcohol additives such as butanol and ethanol on combustion parameters under idling conditions when a single cylinder diesel engine operates with diesel, diesel-biodiesel blends, and diesel biodiesel-alcohol blends. The engine combustion parameters such as peak pressure, heat release rate and ignition delay were computed. This investigation has revealed that alcohol blends with diesel and biodiesel, BU20 blend yield higher maximum peak cylinder pressure than diesel. B5 blend was found with the lowest energy release among all. B20 was slightly lower than diesel. BU20 blend was seen with the highest peak energy release where E20 blend was found advance than diesel. Among all, the blends alcohol component revealed shorter ignition delay. B5 and B20 blends were influenced by biodiesel interference and the burning fraction were found slightly slower than conventional diesel where BU20 and E20 blends was found slightly faster than diesel So, based on the result, it can be said that among the alcohol blends butanol and ethanol can be promising alternative at idling conditions and can be used without any engine modifications.

[Determination of blood alcohol among aviation personnel: proposed operative protocol].

PubMed

Lopez, A; Cardoni, F; Bova, M; Simonazzi, S; Romolo, F S; Ricciardi Tenore, G

2003-01-01

The problems of the use/abuse of alcohol need a special attention by the Public Authorities, based on the scientific evidences related to the subject. We would like to define in the present paper the procedures for alcohol testing (and drug testing) in the sailors, following the international aviation authorities (ICAO, JAR-OPS-1, FAA) recommendations. A Working Group was established to study both the scientific and the legal aspects of the problems related to alcohol testing in Italy. Experts from the Università "La Sapienza" and from Alitalia studied the alcohol testing issues abroad to set out criteria, guidelines and procedures for random testing in Italy.

Unhealthy drinking in the Belgian elderly population: prevalence and associated characteristics.

PubMed

Hoeck, Sarah; Van Hal, Guido

2013-12-01

Knowledge about alcohol consumption patterns and alcohol problems among the Belgian elderly population is scarce. The aims of this study were to explore alcohol consumption patterns and alcohol problems among the Belgian elderly population aged ≥ 65 years living at home, and to determine their association with socio-demographic characteristics, health status and socio-economic status. In this cross-sectional study based on a representative sample of 4825 non-institutionalized Belgian elderly people (≥ 65 years) in the Belgian Health Interview Surveys 2001 and 2004, alcohol consumption patterns and alcohol problems were estimated according to age, gender, survey year, living situation, frequency of social contacts, smoking status, and socio-economic status. In all, 50.4% of the sample were non- or occasional drinkers, 29.1% were moderate drinkers, 10.4% at-risk drinkers, 4.6% heavy drinkers and 5.5% problematic drinkers. In total, 20.5% of the Belgian elderly population drank in excess of the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism guidelines, and 4.7% had an alcohol problem according to the CAGE. In addition, 81.3% of the elderly people who consume alcohol used prescribed medications in the past 2 weeks. After adjustment for risk factors we found that, compared with moderate drinking, unhealthy drinking was significantly associated with age, gender, frequency of social contacts, health status and socio-economic status. Belgian health policy should be aware of the high level of at-risk drinkers in the elderly population and the underdetection and misdiagnosis of alcohol problems in this age group. An increased attention in public health initiatives among the Belgian elderly population is needed.

Factors associated with disordered gambling in Finland

PubMed Central

2013-01-01

Background The purpose of this study was to compare the socio-demographic characteristics of non-problem gamblers, problem gamblers and pathological gamblers, to investigate the association between gambling related factors and perceived health and well-being among the three subgroups of gamblers, and to analyse simultaneously socio-demographic characteristics, gambling related factors and perceived health and well-being and the severity of disordered gambling (problem gamblers and pathological gamblers). Methods The data were collected through a nationwide telephone survey in 2011. Participants were selected through a random population sample of 15-74-year-old Finns. From that sample, persons with any past-year gambling involvement (N = 3451) were selected for a subsample for the descriptive and inferential analysis in the present paper. Gambling was assessed using the South Oaks Gambling Screen. Statistical significance was determined by chi-squared tests. The odds ratio and effect size were computed by using multivariate-adjusted multinomial logistic regression analysis. Results The most significant socio-demographic characteristics (male gender, young age, education ≤12 years), gambling related factors (slot machine gambling, internet gambling) and perceived health and well-being (feeling lonely, smoking daily, risky alcohol consumption, mental health problems) explained 22.9 per cent of the variation in the severity of disordered gambling. Conclusion Male gender and loneliness were found to be associated with problem gambling in particular, along with smoking and risky alcohol consumption. Mental health problems and risky alcohol consumption were associated with pathological gambling. These identified associations between disordered gambling, mental health problems and risky alcohol consumption should be taken into consideration when implementing screenings of disordered gambling. PMID:23816162

Changing the Focus of College Alcohol Prevention Programs

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Jung, John R.

2003-01-01

Two influential formulations concerning college alcohol problems emphasize seemingly conflicting views about the magnitude of college alcohol abuse. One view insists that binge drinking is pervasive and shows no sign of decline. The other is based on the result from the College Alcohol Survey (CAS) which showed that just under half (44%) of…

Racial/Ethnic Disparities in Alcohol-related Problems: Differences by Gender and Level of Heavy Drinking

PubMed Central

Witbrodt, Jane; Mulia, Nina; Zemore, Sarah E.; Kerr, William C.

2014-01-01

Objective While prior studies have reported racial/ethnic disparities in alcohol-related problems at a given level of heavy drinking, particularly lower levels, it is unclear whether these occur in both genders and are an artifact of racial/ethnic differences in drink alcohol content. Such information is important to understanding disparities and developing specific, targeted interventions. This study addresses these questions and examines disparities in specific types of alcohol problems across racial-gender groups. Method Using 2005 and 2010 National Alcohol Survey data (N=7,249 current drinkers), gender-stratified regression analyses were conducted to assess black-white and Hispanic-white disparities in alcohol dependence and negative drinking consequences at equivalent levels of heavy drinking. Heavy drinking was measured using a gender-specific, composite drinking-patterns variable derived through factor analysis. Analyses were replicated using adjusted-alcohol consumption variables that account for group differences in drink alcohol content based on race/ethnicity, gender, age and alcoholic beverage. Results Compared to white men, black and Hispanic men had higher rates of injuries/accidents/health and social consequences, and marginally greater work/legal consequences (p< .10). Hispanic women had marginally higher rates of social consequences. In main effects models controlling for demographics, light drinking and heavy drinking, only black women and men had greater odds of alcohol-related problems relative to whites. Interaction models indicated that compared to whites, black women had greater odds of dependence at all levels of heavy drinking, while both black and Hispanic men had elevated risk of alcohol problems only at lower levels of heavy drinking. Drink alcohol content adjustments did not significantly alter findings for either gender. Conclusions This study highlights the gender-specific nature of racial/ethnic disparities. Interventions focused on reducing heavy drinking might not address disparities in alcohol-related problems that exist at low levels of heavy drinking. Future research should consider the potential role of environmental and genetic factors in these disparities. PMID:24730475

Workplace responsibility, stress, alcohol availability and norms as predictors of alcohol consumption-related problems among employed workers.

PubMed

Hodgins, David C; Williams, Robert; Munro, Gordon

2009-01-01

The objectives of this study were to determine the prevalence of alcohol use and problems among employed individuals in Alberta, Canada (N = 1,890), and to conduct a multivariate examination of predictors of alcohol consumption-related problems. General alcohol problems were identified by 10%, although very few workers described any specific work-related alcohol problems (1%). Structural equation modeling revealed that, as hypothesized, workplace alcohol availability predicted general alcohol problems. Job responsibility and workplace norms also predicted alcohol problems but only for men. Perceived work stress did not predict alcohol problems. Results support the development of interventions that focus on re-shaping alcohol use norms.

Evidence-based alcohol policy in the Americas: strengths, weaknesses, and future challenges.

PubMed

Babor, Thomas F; Caetano, Raul

2005-01-01

The objectives of this article are to describe the evidence base for alcohol policy in the Americas, to evaluate the extent to which national policies are likely to have an impact on public health, and to identify areas where alcohol policies could be improved. The paper begins with a brief review of epidemiological surveys of the prevalence of alcohol problems in the Americas. This is followed by an analysis of 32 prevention strategies and interventions in terms of the evidence for their effectiveness, amount of research support, cost to implement, and other feasibility issues. Overall, the strategies and interventions with the greatest amount of empirical support are low blood alcohol concentration levels for driving while intoxicated, controls on alcohol availability, age limits on alcohol purchases, and relatively high alcohol prices. The implications of the evidence are next discussed in relation to alcohol policy initiatives in the Americas, based on an analysis of the extent to which strategies and interventions currently used in 25 countries of the Americas are likely to have a public health impact on alcohol-related problems. The countries that have adopted the policies with the highest expected impact overall are Colombia, Costa Rica, Venezuela, and El Salvador. Nevertheless, the analysis indicates that almost all the countries of the Americas could improve the likelihood of preventing alcohol-related problems. Policy efforts in the developing countries of Latin America should focus on improving countermeasures against driving while intoxicated, measures that alter the drinking context, and limits on physical availability. For the developed, high-income countries of North America the goal should be to prevent deterioration of current drinking patterns and to reduce the overall volume of drinking. Given the low to moderate cost of many of the policies reviewed in this article, it now seems possible for communities and nations to substantially reduce the alcohol-related burden of illness in the Americas.

Disparities in alcohol-related problems among white, black, and Hispanic Americans.

PubMed

Mulia, Nina; Ye, Yu; Greenfield, Thomas K; Zemore, Sarah E

2009-04-01

This study assesses racial/ethnic disparities in negative social consequences of drinking and alcohol dependence symptoms among white, black, and Hispanic Americans. We examine whether and how disparities relate to heavy alcohol consumption and pattern, and the extent to which social disadvantage (poverty, unfair treatment, and racial/ethnic stigma) accounts for observed disparities. We analyzed data from the 2005 U.S. National Alcohol Survey, a nationally representative telephone-based survey of adults ages 18 and older (N = 6,919). Given large racial/ethnic differences in abstinence rates, core analyses were restricted to current drinkers (N = 4,080). Logistic regression was used to assess disparities in alcohol-related problems at 3 levels of heavy drinking, measured using a composite variable incorporating frequency of heavy episodic drinking, frequency of drunkenness, and maximum amount consumed in a single day. A mediational approach was used to assess the role of social disadvantage. African American and Hispanic drinkers were significantly more likely than white drinkers to report social consequences of drinking and alcohol dependence symptoms. Even after adjusting for differences in heavy drinking and demographic characteristics, disparities in problems remained. The racial/ethnic gap in alcohol problems was greatest among those reporting little or no heavy drinking, and gradually diminished to nonsignificance at the highest level of heavy drinking. Social disadvantage, particularly in the form of racial/ethnic stigma, appeared to contribute to racial/ethnic differences in problems. These findings suggest that to eliminate racial/ethnic disparities in alcohol-related problems, public health efforts must do more than reduce heavy drinking. Future research should address the possibility of drink size underestimation, identify the particular types of problems that disproportionately affect racial/ethnic minorities, and investigate social and cultural determinants of such problems.

Binge Drinking and Alcohol-Related Problems among U.S-Born Asian Americans

PubMed Central

Iwamoto, Derek; Takamatsu, Stephanie; Castellanos, Jeanett

2012-01-01

Binge drinking (five drinks or more in a 2-hour sitting for men, or four or more drinks in a 2-hour sitting for women) and alcohol-related problems are a growing problem among Asian American young adults. The current study examines the socio-cultural (i.e., generational status and ethnic identity) determinants of binge drinking and alcohol-related problems across U.S.-born, young adult, Asian American ethnic groups. Data were collected from 1,575 Asian American undergraduates from a public university in Southern California. Chinese Americans consisted of the largest Asian ethnicity in the study followed by Vietnamese, Filipino, Korean, South Asian, Japanese, Multi-Asian, and “other Asian American”. Participants completed a web-based assessment of binge drinking, alcohol-related problems, ethnic identity, descriptive norms (i.e., perceived peer drinking norms) and demographic information. An analysis of variance was used to determine potential gender and ethnic differences in binge drinking and alcohol-related problems. Negative binomial regression was selected to examine the relationship between the predictors and outcomes in our model. There were no gender differences between Asian American men and women in regards to binge drinking, however men reported more alcohol-related problems. Japanese Americans reported the highest number of binge drinking episodes and alcohol-related problems, followed by Filipino, and Multi-Asian Americans (e.g., Chinese and Korean). Living off-campus, higher scores in descriptive norms, Greek status, and belonging to the ethnic groups Japanese, Filipino, Multi-Asian, Korean, and South Asian increased the risk of engaging in binge drinking. Quantity of alcohol consumed, Greek status, gender, Filipino, South Asian “Other” Asian, and lower ethnic identity scores were related to alcohol-related problems. Using one of the largest samples collected to date on socio-cultural determinants and drinking among U.S.-born Asian American young adults, the findings highlight the significant variability in drinking patterns between Asian American ethnic groups. PMID:22686146

Binge drinking and alcohol-related problems among U.S.-born Asian Americans.

PubMed

Iwamoto, Derek; Takamatsu, Stephanie; Castellanos, Jeanett

2012-07-01

Binge drinking (five drinks or more in a 2-h sitting for men or four or more drinks in a 2-h sitting for women) and alcohol-related problems are a growing problem among Asian American young adults. The current study examines the sociocultural (i.e., generational status and ethnic identity) determinants of binge drinking and alcohol-related problems across U.S.-born, young-adult, Asian American ethnic groups. Data were collected from 1,575 Asian American undergraduates from a public university in Southern California. Chinese Americans consisted of the largest Asian ethnicity in the study, followed by Vietnamese, Filipino, Korean, South Asian, Japanese, Multi-Asian, and "other Asian American." Participants completed a web-based assessment of binge drinking, alcohol-related problems, ethnic identity, descriptive norms (i.e., perceived peer drinking norms), and demographic information. An analysis of variance was used to determine potential gender and ethnic differences in binge drinking and alcohol-related problems. Negative binomial regression was selected to examine the relationship between the predictors and outcomes in our model. There were no gender differences between Asian American men and women in regards to binge drinking; however, men reported more alcohol-related problems. Japanese Americans reported the highest number of binge-drinking episodes and alcohol-related problems, followed by Filipino and Multi-Asian Americans (e.g., Chinese and Korean). Living off-campus; higher scores in descriptive norms; Greek status; and belonging to the ethnic groups Japanese, Filipino, Multi-Asian, Korean, and South Asian increased the risk of engaging in binge drinking. Quantity of alcohol consumed, Greek status, gender, Filipino, South Asian, other Asian, and lower ethnic identity scores were related to alcohol-related problems. Using one of the largest samples collected to date on sociocultural determinants and drinking among U.S.-born Asian American young adults, the findings highlight the significant variability in drinking patterns among Asian American ethnic groups.

Association of environmental indicators with teen alcohol use and problem behavior: Teens' observations vs. objectively-measured indicators.

PubMed

Byrnes, Hilary F; Miller, Brenda A; Morrison, Christopher N; Wiebe, Douglas J; Woychik, Marcie; Wiehe, Sarah E

2017-01-01

Most prior studies use objectively measured data (e.g., census-based indicators) to assess contextual risks. However, teens' observations might be more important for their risk behavior. 1) determine relationships between observed and objective indicators of contextual risks 2) determine relations of observed and objective indicators with teen alcohol use and problem behavior. Teens aged 14-16 (N=170) carried GPS-enabled smartphones for one month, with locations documented. Ecological momentary assessment (EMA) measured teens' observations via texts regarding risk behaviors and environmental observations. Objective indicators of alcohol outlets and disorganization were spatially joined to EMAs based on teens' location at the time of the texts. Observed and objective disorganization, and objective indicators of alcohol outlets were related to alcohol use. Observed disorganization was related to problem behavior, while objective indicators were unrelated. Findings suggest the importance of considering teens' observations of contextual risk for understanding influences on risk behavior and suggest future directions for research and prevention strategies. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Parental Divorce, Maternal-Paternal Alcohol Problems, and Adult Offspring Lifetime Alcohol Dependence.

PubMed

Thompson, Ronald G; Alonzo, Dana; Hasin, Deborah S

2013-01-01

This study examined the influences of parental divorce and maternal-paternal histories of alcohol problems on adult offspring lifetime alcohol dependence using data from the 2001-2002 National Epidemiological Survey on Alcohol and Related Conditions (NESARC). Parental divorce and maternal-paternal alcohol problems interacted to differentially influence the likelihood of offspring lifetime alcohol dependence. Experiencing parental divorce and either maternal or paternal alcohol problems doubled the likelihood of alcohol dependence. Divorce and history of alcohol problems for both parents tripled the likelihood. Offspring of parental divorce may be more vulnerable to developing alcohol dependence, particularly when one or both parents have alcohol problems.

Parental Divorce, Maternal-Paternal Alcohol Problems, and Adult Offspring Lifetime Alcohol Dependence

PubMed Central

THOMPSON, RONALD G.; ALONZO, DANA; HASIN, DEBORAH S.

2014-01-01

This study examined the influences of parental divorce and maternal-paternal histories of alcohol problems on adult offspring lifetime alcohol dependence using data from the 2001–2002 National Epidemiological Survey on Alcohol and Related Conditions (NESARC). Parental divorce and maternal-paternal alcohol problems interacted to differentially influence the likelihood of offspring lifetime alcohol dependence. Experiencing parental divorce and either maternal or paternal alcohol problems doubled the likelihood of alcohol dependence. Divorce and history of alcohol problems for both parents tripled the likelihood. Offspring of parental divorce may be more vulnerable to developing alcohol dependence, particularly when one or both parents have alcohol problems. PMID:24678271

What do Internet-based alcohol treatment websites offer?

PubMed

Toll, Benjamin A; Sobell, Linda C; D'Arienzo, Justin; Sobell, Mark B; Eickleberry-Goldsmith, Lori; Toll, Heather J

2003-12-01

The Internet was searched for websites that advertised or provided treatment or help for alcohol problems. Websites were evaluated for the types of treatment offered and whether the treatment had an empirical basis. While a wide range of treatments were advertised, very few websites offered online services. In addition, very few sites provided or advertised alcohol treatment programs that were empirically based. Recommendations for future Internet-based health care and treatment are offered.

Assessment of alcohol problems using AUDIT in a prison setting: more than an 'aye or no' question

PubMed Central

2011-01-01

Background Alcohol problems are a major UK and international public health issue. The prevalence of alcohol problems is markedly higher among prisoners than the general population. However, studies suggest alcohol problems among prisoners are under-detected, under-recorded and under-treated. Identifying offenders with alcohol problems is fundamental to providing high quality healthcare. This paper reports use of the AUDIT screening tool to assess alcohol problems among prisoners. Methods Universal screening was undertaken over ten weeks with all entrants to one male Scottish prison using the AUDIT standardised screening tool and supplementary contextual questions. The questionnaire was administered by trained prison officers during routine admission procedures. Overall 259 anonymised completed questionnaires were analysed. Results AUDIT scores showed a high prevalence of alcohol problems with 73% of prisoner scores indicating an alcohol use disorder (8+), including 36% having scores indicating 'possible dependence' (20-40). AUDIT scores indicating 'possible dependence' were most apparent among 18-24 and 40-64 year-olds (40% and 56% respectively). However, individual questions showed important differences, with younger drinkers less likely to demonstrate habitual and addictive behaviours than the older age group. Disparity between high levels of harmful/hazardous/dependent drinking and low levels of 'treatment' emerged (only 27% of prisoners with scores indicating 'possible dependence' reported being 'in treatment'). Self-reported associations between drinking alcohol and the index crime were identified among two-fifths of respondents, rising to half of those reporting violent crimes. Conclusions To our knowledge, this is the first study to identify differing behaviours and needs among prisoners with high AUDIT score ranges, through additional analysis of individual questions. The study has identified high prevalence of alcohol use, varied problem behaviours, and links across drinking, crime and recidivism, supporting the argument for more extensive provision of alcohol-focused interventions in prisons. These should be carefully targeted based on initial screening and assessment, responsive, and include care pathways linking prisoners to community services. Finally, findings confirm the value and feasibility of routine use of the AUDIT screening tool in prison settings, to considerably enhance practice in the detection and understanding of alcohol problems, improving on current more limited questioning (e.g. 'yes or no' questions). PMID:22082009

The interpretability of family history reports of alcoholism in general community samples: Findings in a Midwestern US twin birth cohort

PubMed Central

Waldron, Mary; Madden, Pamela A. F.; Nelson, Elliot C.; Knopik, Valerie S.; Glowinski, Anne L.; Grant, Julia D.; Lynskey, Michael T.; Jacob, Theodore; Sher, Kenneth J.; Bucholz, Kathleen K.; Heath, Andrew C.

2011-01-01

Background Although there is a long tradition in alcoholism research of using family history ratings, the interpretability of family history reports of alcoholism from general community samples has yet to be established. Methods Telephone interview data obtained from a large cohort of female like-sex twins (N = 3787, median age 22) and their biological parents (N = 2928, assessed at twins’ median age 15) were analyzed to determine agreement between parent self-report, parent ratings of coparent, and twin narrow (alcohol problems) versus broad (problem or excessive drinking) ratings of each parent. Results In European ancestry (EA) families, high tetrachoric correlations were observed between twin and cotwin ratings of parental alcohol problems, between twin and parent ratings of coparent alcohol problems using symptom-based and single-item assessments, as well as moderately high correlations between twin and both mother and father self-reports. In African American (AA) families, inter-rater agreement was substantially lower than for EA families, with no cases where father ratings of maternal alcohol problems agreed with either twin ratings or mother self-report; and both cotwin agreement and mother-twin agreement were reduced. Differences between EA and AA families were not explained by differences in years of cohabitation with father or mother’s education; however, underreporting of problems by AA parents may have contributed. Conclusions Results support the use of family history ratings of parental alcoholism in general community surveys for European ancestry families, but suggest that family history assessment in African American families requires improved methods. PMID:22235921

Decision-Making, Cognitive Distortions and Alcohol Use in Adolescent Problem and Non-problem Gamblers: An Experimental Study.

PubMed

Ciccarelli, Maria; Griffiths, Mark D; Nigro, Giovanna; Cosenza, Marina

2016-12-01

In the psychological literature, many studies have investigated the neuropsychological and behavioral changes that occur developmentally during adolescence. These studies have consistently observed a deficit in the decision-making ability of children and adolescents. This deficit has been ascribed to incomplete brain development. The same deficit has also been observed in adult problem and pathological gamblers. However, to date, no study has examined decision-making in adolescents with and without gambling problems. Furthermore, no study has ever examined associations between problem gambling, decision-making, cognitive distortions and alcohol use in youth. To address these issues, 104 male adolescents participated in this study. They were equally divided in two groups, problem gamblers and non-problem gamblers, based on South Oaks Gambling Screen Revised for Adolescents scores. All participants performed the Iowa gambling task and completed the Gambling Related Cognitions Scale and the alcohol use disorders identification test. Adolescent problem gamblers displayed impaired decision-making, reported high cognitive distortions, and had more problematic alcohol use compared to non-problem gamblers. Strong correlations between problem gambling, alcohol use, and cognitive distortions were observed. Decision-making correlated with interpretative bias. This study demonstrated that adolescent problem gamblers appear to have the same psychological profile as adult problem gamblers and that gambling involvement can negatively impact on decision-making ability that, in adolescence, is still developing. The correlations between interpretative bias and decision-making suggested that the beliefs in the ability to influence gambling outcomes may facilitate decision-making impairment.

Typology of Couples Entering Alcohol Behavioral Couple Therapy: An Empirical Approach and Test of Predictive Validity on Treatment Response

PubMed Central

Ladd, Benjamin O.; McCrady, Barbara S.

2016-01-01

The current study aimed to examine whether classification of couples in which one partner has an alcohol problem is similar to that reported in the general couples literature. Typologies of couples seeking Alcohol Behavioral Couple Therapy (ABCT) were developed via hierarchical cluster analysis using behavioral codes of couple interactions during their first ABCT session. Four couples types based on in-session behavior were established reliably, labeled Avoider, Validator, Hostile, and Ambivalent-Detached. These couple types resembled couples types found in previous research. Couple type was associated with baseline relationship satisfaction, but not alcohol use. Results suggest heterogeneity in couples with alcohol problems presenting to treatment; further study is needed to investigate the function of alcohol within these different types. PMID:25808432

Heavy Drinking in University Students With and Without Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder: Contributions of Drinking Motives and Protective Behavioral Strategies

PubMed Central

Howard, Andrea L; Pritchard, Tyler R

2017-01-01

This study examined rates of heavy drinking and alcohol problems in relation to drinking motives and protective behavioral strategies in university students with a documented current diagnosis of attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD; n = 31) compared with students with no history of ADHD (n = 146). Participants completed a Web-based questionnaire, and logistic regression models tested interactions between ADHD/comparison group membership and motives and protective strategies. Group differences in rates of heavy drinking and alcohol problems were not statistically significant, but medium-sized risk ratios showed that students without ADHD reported heavy drinking at a rate 1.44 times higher than students with ADHD and met screening criteria for problematic alcohol use at a rate of 1.54 times higher than students with ADHD. Other key findings were, first, that drinking to enhance positive affect (e.g., drinking because it is exciting), but not to cope with negative affect (e.g., drinking to forget your worries), predicted both heavy drinking and alcohol problems. Second, only protective behavioral strategies that emphasize alcohol avoidance predicted both heavy drinking and alcohol problems. Contrary to expectations, we found no ADHD-related moderation of effects of motives or protective strategies on our alcohol outcomes. Results of this study are limited by the small sample of students with ADHD but highlight tentative similarities and differences in effects of motives and strategies on drinking behaviors and alcohol problems reported by students with and without ADHD. PMID:28814878

Culture as an explanation for substance-related problems: a cross-national study among French and Dutch adolescents.

PubMed

Knibbe, Ronald Arnold; Joosten, Jan; Choquet, Marie; Derickx, Mieke; Morin, Delphine; Monshouwer, Karin

2007-02-01

Our main goal was to establish whether French and Dutch adolescents differ in rates of substance-related adverse events (e.g. fights, robbery), problems with peers or socializing agents even when controlling for pattern of substance use. For problems with peers and socializing agents due to alcohol we hypothesized that, because of stronger informal control of drinking in France, French adolescents are more likely to report problems with peers and socializing agents. For adverse events due to alcohol no difference was expected after controlling for consumption patterns. For drug-related problems, the hypothesis was that, due to the more restrictive drug policy in France, French adolescents are more likely to report problems with peers, socializing agents and adverse events. Comparable surveys based on samples of adolescent schoolchildren in France (n=9646) and the Netherlands (n=4291) were used. Data were analysed using multilevel logistic regression in which school, age and gender, indicators of substance use and country were used as predictors of substance-related problems. The outcomes show that French adolescents are more likely to report problems with peers and socializing agents due to alcohol even when consumption pattern is controlled for. For adverse events due to alcohol no difference was found between French and Dutch adolescents. For drug-related problems the expected differences were found; i.e. French adolescents are more likely to report problems with peers, socializing agents and adverse events even when controlling for pattern of drug use. It is concluded that there are culturally embedded differences in the rates of some types of problems due to alcohol or drug use. With respect to alcohol use, these differences are most likely due to culturally embedded differences in the informal social control of alcohol use. The differences in rates of drug-related problems are interpreted in the context of national differences in drug policy.

Alcohol Use and Related Problems Among College Students and Their Noncollege Peers: The Competing Roles of Personality and Peer Influence*

PubMed Central

Quinn, Patrick D.; Fromme, Kim

2011-01-01

Objective: Although alcohol use and related problems are highly prevalent in emerging adulthood overall, college students drink somewhat more than do their peers who do not attend college. The personal or social influences underlying this difference, however, are not yet well understood. The present study examined whether personality traits (i.e., self-regulation and sensation seeking) and peer influence (i.e., descriptive drinking norms) contributed to student status differences. Method: At approximately age 22, 4-year college students (n = 331) and noncollege emerging adults (n = 502) completed web-based surveys, including measures of alcohol use, alcohol-related problems, personality, and social norms. Results: College students drank only slightly more heavily. This small difference, however, reflected personality suppression. College students were lower in trait-based risk for drinking, and accounting for traits revealed a stronger positive association between attending college and drinking more heavily. Although noncollege emerging adults reported greater descriptive drinking norms for social group members, norms appeared to more strongly influence alcohol use among college students. Finally, despite drinking less, noncollege individuals experienced more alcohol-related problems. Conclusions: The association between attending college and drinking heavily may be larger than previously estimated, and it may be masked by biased selection into college as a function of both self-regulation and sensation seeking. Differing patterns of alcohol use, its predictors, and its consequences emerged for the college and noncollege samples, suggesting that differing intervention strategies may best meet the needs of each population. PMID:21683044

Dynamics of an SAITS alcoholism model on unweighted and weighted networks

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Huo, Hai-Feng; Cui, Fang-Fang; Xiang, Hong

2018-04-01

A novel SAITS alcoholism model on networks is introduced, in which alcoholics are divided into light problem alcoholics and heavy problem alcoholics. Susceptible individuals can enter into the compartment of heavy problem alcoholics directly by contacting with light problem alcoholics or heavy problem alcoholics and the heavy problem alcoholics who receive treatment can relapse into the compartment of heavy problem alcoholics are also considered. First, the dynamics of our model on unweighted networks, including the basic reproduction number, existence and stability of equilibria are studied. Second, the models with fixed weighted and adaptive weighted networks are introduced and investigated. At last, some simulations are presented to illustrate and extend our results. Our results show that it is very important to treat alcoholics to quit the drinking.

The Hispanic Americans Baseline Alcohol Survey (HABLAS): is the "prevention paradox" applicable to alcohol problems across Hispanic national groups?

PubMed

Caetano, Raul; Mills, Britain A

2011-07-01

The "prevention paradox," a notion that most alcohol-related problems are generated by nonheavy drinkers, has significant relevance to public health policy and prevention efforts. The extent of the paradox has driven debate over the type of balance that should be struck between alcohol policies targeting a select group of high-risk drinkers versus more global approaches that target the population at-large. This paper examines the notion that most alcohol problems among 4 Hispanic national groups in the United States are attributable to moderate drinkers. A general population survey employing a multistage cluster sample design, with face-to-face interviews in respondents' homes was conducted in 5 metropolitan areas of the United States. Study participants included a total of 2,773 current drinkers 18 years and older. Alcohol consumed in the past year (bottom 90% vs. top 10%), binge drinking (binge vs. no binge), and a 4-way grouping defined by volume and binge criteria were used. Alcohol-related harms included 14 social and dependence problems. Drinkers at the bottom 90% of the distribution are responsible for 56 to 73% of all social problems, and for 55 to 73% of all dependence-related problems reported, depending on Hispanic national group. Binge drinkers are responsible for the majority of the social problems (53 to 75%) and dependence-related problems (59 to 73%), also depending on Hispanic national group. Binge drinkers at the bottom 90% of the distribution are responsible for a larger proportion of all social and dependence-related problems reported than those at the top 10% of the volume distribution. Cuban Americans are an exception. The prevention paradox holds when using volume-based risk groupings and disappears when using a binge-drinking risk grouping. Binge drinkers who drink moderately on an average account for more harms than those who drink heavily across all groups, with exception of Cuban Americans. Copyright © 2011 by the Research Society on Alcoholism.

Comparative assessment of computational methods for the determination of solvation free energies in alcohol-based molecules.

PubMed

Martins, Silvia A; Sousa, Sergio F

2013-06-05

The determination of differences in solvation free energies between related drug molecules remains an important challenge in computational drug optimization, when fast and accurate calculation of differences in binding free energy are required. In this study, we have evaluated the performance of five commonly used polarized continuum model (PCM) methodologies in the determination of solvation free energies for 53 typical alcohol and alkane small molecules. In addition, the performance of these PCM methods, of a thermodynamic integration (TI) protocol and of the Poisson-Boltzmann (PB) and generalized Born (GB) methods, were tested in the determination of solvation free energies changes for 28 common alkane-alcohol transformations, by the substitution of an hydrogen atom for a hydroxyl substituent. The results show that the solvation model D (SMD) performs better among the PCM-based approaches in estimating solvation free energies for alcohol molecules, and solvation free energy changes for alkane-alcohol transformations, with an average error below 1 kcal/mol for both quantities. However, for the determination of solvation free energy changes on alkane-alcohol transformation, PB and TI yielded better results. TI was particularly accurate in the treatment of hydroxyl groups additions to aromatic rings (0.53 kcal/mol), a common transformation when optimizing drug-binding in computer-aided drug design. Copyright © 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Substance Use Prevention Project.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Simmons, Judy

This report outlines the Hillsborough County, Florida, Head Start Program's project to field test with young children and their families curricula that were designed to prevent alcohol and other drug problems. A national search conducted by means of computers, individual contacts, and other methods yielded information on 22 substance abuse…

Brief Intervention for Truant Youth Sexual Risk Behavior and Alcohol Use: A Parallel Process Growth Model Analysis

PubMed Central

Dembo, Richard; Briones-Robinson, Rhissa; Ungaro, Rocio; Barrett, Kimberly; Gulledge, Laura; Winters, Ken C.; Belenko, Steven; Karas, Lora M.; Wareham, Jennifer

2011-01-01

Truant youths represent a challenging, yet very promising group of at-risk youth to study. In addition to problems in school, they frequently experience troubled family situations, emotional/ psychological problems, involvement in substance use, and delinquency. Given the problems often experienced by truant youth, it is likely they are engaging in alcohol use and sexual risk behavior at a higher rate, than the general youth population. Identification of these youths’ problems and early placement into effective intervention services would benefit them, their families, and society. The current study presents interim findings from an ongoing, NIDA-funded experimental, Brief Intervention (BI) study involving truant youths and their parent/guardians. Baseline, 3-month, 6-month, and 12-month follow up data were analyzed to determine whether alcohol use and sexual risk behaviors were longitudinally related, examine the effects of the intervention on longitudinal alcohol use and sexual risk behaviors, identify latent subgroups of youths in the data for alcohol use and sexual risk behaviors, and determine whether the intervention influenced these subgroups. Results indicated alcohol use and sexual risk were longitudinally related. Subgroups of youth were also identified based on alcohol use and sexual risk behavior levels and trends. Further, limited treatment effects were observed for alcohol use. Implications of the results for future research and service delivery are considered. PMID:25242878

Alcohol policy and harm reduction in Australia.

PubMed

Loxley, Wendy; Gray, Dennis; Wilkinson, Celia; Chikritzhs, Tanya; Midford, Richard; Moore, David

2005-11-01

With consultations having been held across Australia this year as part of the process of developing a new National Alcohol Strategy, it seemed timely to invite my colleagues from the National Drug Research Institute who are experts in the alcohol field to write this Harm Reduction Digest. The authors have canvassed a range of alcohol policy options and discussed their effectiveness in reducing harm for what is arguably Australia's number one drug problem. Australia's response to alcohol and other drug problems has, historically, been based on 'harm minimization--incorporating supply reduction, demand reduction and harm reduction'. At this time where the policy options for alcohol are being set for the next 5 years in a climate of 'small government', removing restrictions of 'fair competition' in business and a belief in the free market, what does the research have to say about recommended policies and strategies to reduce alcohol-related harm?

Typology of alcohol users based on longitudinal patterns of drinking.

PubMed

Harrington, Magdalena; Velicer, Wayne F; Ramsey, Susan

2014-03-01

Worldwide, alcohol is the most commonly used psychoactive substance. However, heterogeneity among alcohol users has been widely recognized. This paper presents a typology of alcohol users based on an implementation of idiographic methodology to examine longitudinal daily and cyclic (weekly) patterns of alcohol use at the individual level. A secondary data analysis was performed on the pre-intervention data from a large randomized control trial. A time series analysis was performed at the individual level, and a dynamic cluster analysis was employed to identify homogenous longitudinal patterns of drinking behavior at the group level. The analysis employed 180 daily observations of alcohol use in a sample of 177 alcohol users. The first order autocorrelations ranged from -.76 to .72, and seventh order autocorrelations ranged from -.27 to .79. Eight distinct profiles of alcohol users were identified, each characterized by a unique configuration of first and seventh autoregressive terms and longitudinal trajectories of alcohol use. External validity of the profiles confirmed the theoretical relevance of different patterns of alcohol use. Significant differences among the eight subtypes were found on gender, marital status, frequency of drug use, lifetime alcohol dependence, family history of alcohol use and the Short Index of Problems. Our findings demonstrate that individuals can have very different temporal patterns of drinking behavior. The daily and cyclic patterns of alcohol use may be important for designing tailored interventions for problem drinkers. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Typology of Alcohol Users Based on Longitudinal Patterns of Drinking

PubMed Central

Harrington, Magdalena; Velicer, Wayne F.; Ramsey, Susan

2014-01-01

Objective Worldwide, alcohol is the most commonly used psychoactive substance. However, heterogeneity among alcohol users has been widely recognized. This paper presents a typology of alcohol users based on an implementation of idiographic methodology to examine longitudinal daily and cyclic (weekly) patterns of alcohol use at the individual level. Method A secondary data analysis was performed on the pre-intervention data from a large randomized control trial. A time series analysis was performed at the individual level, and a dynamic cluster analysis was employed to identify homogenous longitudinal patterns of drinking behavior at the group level. The analysis employed 180 daily observations of alcohol use in a sample of 177 alcohol users. Results The first order autocorrelations ranged from −.76 to .72, and seventh order autocorrelations ranged from −.27 to .79. Eight distinct profiles of alcohol users were identified, each characterized by a unique configuration of first and seventh autoregressive terms and longitudinal trajectories of alcohol use. External validity of the profiles confirmed the theoretical relevance of different patterns of alcohol use. Significant differences among the eight subtypes were found on gender, marital status, frequency of drug use, lifetime alcohol dependence, family history of alcohol use and the Short Index of Problems. Conclusions Our findings demonstrate that individuals can have very different temporal patterns of drinking behavior. The daily and cyclic patterns of alcohol use may be important for designing tailored interventions for problem drinkers. PMID:24333036

Alcohol-related problems and intimate partner violence among white, black, and Hispanic couples in the U.S.

PubMed

Cunradi, C B; Caetano, R; Clark, C L; Schafer, J

1999-09-01

This study analyzes gender and ethnic/racial differences in the prevalence of alcohol-related problems among white, black and Hispanic couples in the United States, and assesses their contribution to the risk of intimate partner violence (IPV). Our study population consisted of 1440 white, black, and Hispanic couples obtained through a multistage area household probability sample from the 1995 National Alcohol Survey. Alcohol-related problems (i.e., drinking consequences and alcohol dependence symptoms in the last 12 months) were assessed among respondents and their partners. Male-to-female and female-to-male partner violence (MFPV, FMPV) were measured separately using the Conflict Tactics Scale. Alcohol-related problems were more prevalent among men than women. Our bivariate analysis demonstrated a significant positive association between male alcohol-related problems and IPV across racial/ethnic groups, and a similar association between female alcohol-related problems and IPV for white and black couples. In the multivariate logistic regression analyses, however, many of these associations were attenuated. After controlling for sociodemographic and psychosocial covariates, male alcohol-related problems were no longer significantly associated with an increased risk of MFPV among white or Hispanic couples. Female alcohol-related problems predicted FMPV, but not MFPV, among white couples. Among black couples, however, male and female alcohol-related problems remained strong predictors of intimate partner violence. Alcohol-related problems are important predictors of intimate partner violence, and the exact association between problems and violence seems to be ethnic-specific. Alcohol-related problems, rather than level of alcohol consumption, may be the more relevant factor to consider in the alcohol-partner violence association. Future research is needed to explore the temporal relationships between the development of alcohol-related problems and the occurrence of partner violence.

The public's view of the competence, dangerousness, and need for legal coercion of persons with mental health problems.

PubMed Central

Pescosolido, B A; Monahan, J; Link, B G; Stueve, A; Kikuzawa, S

1999-01-01

OBJECTIVES: The authors examined Americans' opinions about financial and treatment competence of people with mental health problems, potential for harm to self or others, and the use of legal means to force treatment. METHODS: The 1996 General Social Survey provided interview data with a nationally representative sample (n = 1444). Respondents were given a vignette based on diagnostic criteria for schizophrenia, major depression, alcohol dependence, or drug dependence, or a "control" case. RESULTS: The specific nature of the problem was the most important factor shaping public reaction. Respondents viewed those with "troubles," alcohol dependence, or depression as able to make treatment decisions. Most reported that persons with alcohol or drug problems or schizophrenia cannot manage money and are likely to be violent toward others. Respondents indicated a willingness to coerce individuals into treatment. Respondent and other case characteristics rarely affected opinions. CONCLUSIONS: Americans report greater concern with individuals who have drug or alcohol problems than with persons who have other mental health problems. Evaluations of dangerousness and coercion indicate a continuing need for public education. PMID:10474550

What makes emergency department patients reduce their alcohol consumption?--a computer-based intervention study in Sweden.

PubMed

Trinks, Anna; Festin, Karin; Bendtsen, Preben; Nilsen, Per

2013-01-01

This study investigates the effectiveness of a computerized emergency department intervention for alcohol consumption and identifies explanation factors associated with reduced alcohol consumption from risk to non-risk drinking. Patients aged 18-69 years registered at the ED triage answered alcohol-related questions on a touch-screen computer. Follow-up data were collected by means of a postal questionnaire that was mailed to the patients 6 months after their ED visit. There were four independent explanations for reduced alcohol consumption: being motivated to reduce alcohol consumption at baseline, influenced by just visiting the emergency department, considering the alcohol-related feedback information and impact from a health care provider. 339 patients could be followed up and of these were 97 categorized as risk drinkers at baseline and 45 became non-risk drinker 6 month later. Being motivated to reduce alcohol consumption at baseline, influenced by just visiting the emergency department, considering the alcohol-related feedback information and impact from a health care provider were predictors for change from risk to non-risk drinking 6 months later. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Religious beliefs and alcohol control policies: a Brazilian nationwide study.

PubMed

Lucchetti, Giancarlo; Koenig, Harold G; Pinsky, Ilana; Laranjeira, Ronaldo; Vallada, Homero

2014-01-01

The connection between lower alcohol use and religiousness has been extensively examined. Nevertheless, few studies have assessed how religion and religiousness influence public policies. The present study seeks to understand the influence of religious beliefs on attitudes toward alcohol use. A door-to-door, nationwide, multistage population-based survey was carried out. Self-reported religiousness, religious attendance, and attitudes toward use of alcohol policies (such as approval of public health interventions, attitudes about drinking and driving, and attitudes toward other alcohol problems and their harmful effects) were examined. Multiple logistic regression was used to control for confounders and to assess explanatory variables. The sample was composed of 3,007 participants; 57.3% were female and mean age was 35.7 years. Religiousness was generally associated with more negative attitudes toward alcohol, such as limiting hours of sale (p , 0.01), not having alcohol available in corner shops (p , 0.01), prohibiting alcohol advertisements on TV (p , 0.01), raising the legal drinking age (p , 0.01), and raising taxes on alcohol (p , 0.05). Higher religious attendance was associated with less alcohol problems (OR: 0.61, 95%CI 0.40-0.91, p = 0.017), and self-reported religiousness was associated with less harmful effects of drinking (OR: 0.61, 95%CI 0.43-0.88, p = 0.009). Those with high levels of religiousness support more restrictive alcohol policies. These findings corroborate previous studies showing that religious people consume less alcohol and have fewer alcohol-related problems.

Insight into alcohol-related problems and its associations with severity of alcohol consumption, mental health status, race, and level of acculturation in southern Taiwanese indigenous people with alcoholism.

PubMed

Yen, Cheng-Fang; Hsiao, Ray C; Ries, Richard; Liu, Shu-Chun; Huang, Chi-Fen; Chang, Yu-Ping; Yu, Ming-Lung

2008-01-01

While not well known in the West, Taiwan has a substantial indigenous population, and this population has rapidly developed alcohol problems. This study examined the level of insight into alcohol-related problems and its associations with the severity of alcohol consumption, mental health status, race, and the level of acculturation among indigenous populations with alcohol problems in southern Taiwan. A total of 332 indigenes, whose total Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test (AUDIT) score was equal to 8 or higher, were interviewed. The associations between the level of insight into alcohol-related problems and the severity of alcohol drinking on the AUDIT, mental health status on the Chinese Health Questionnaire-12 (>or= 4 vs. < 4), race (Bunun vs. non-Bunun), and the level of acculturation on the Taiwan Aboriginal Acculturation Scale were examined using logistic regression models. The results of this study found that 72.6% of the participants had poor insight into alcohol-related problems and no participant had good insight. Participants who had more severe alcohol drinking or poor mental health were more likely to have a higher level of insight into alcohol-related problems. Participants who were non-Bunun were also more likely to have a higher level of insight into alcohol-related problems, but the level of acculturation was not associated with the level of insight into alcohol-related problems. These findings suggest that most alcoholic indigenes in southern Taiwan have poor insight into their own alcohol-related problems. Cultural specific interventions targeting and improving the indigenes' insight into alcohol-related problems are needed.

Faculty Member's Handbook. Strategies for Preventing Alcohol and Other Drug Problems. The College Series.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

CSR, Inc., Washington, DC.

This handbook for higher education faculty is designed to inform them of the nature and extent of alcohol and other drug abuse on the nation's campuses and to enlist their involvement in responding to these problems. Based on the premise that each individual can make a difference, the faculty member is encouraged to help shape the campus…

Community mobilization and the framing of alcohol-related problems.

PubMed

Herd, Denise

2010-03-01

The goal of this study was to describe how activists engaged in campaigns to change alcohol policies in inner city areas framed alcohol problems, and whether or not their frameworks reflected major models used in the field, such as the alcoholism as a disease model, an alcohol problems perspective, or a public health approach to alcohol problems. The findings showed that activists' models shared some aspects with dominant approaches which tend to focus on individuals and to a lesser extent on regulating alcohol marketing and sales. However, activists' models differed in significant ways by focusing on community level problems with alcohol; on problems with social norms regarding alcohol use; and on the relationship of alcohol use to illicit drugs.

Students’ Experiences with Web-Based Alcohol Prevention: A Qualitative Evaluation of AlcoholEdu

PubMed Central

Nygaard, Peter; Paschall, Mallie J.

2015-01-01

Aim To provide more in-depth information about students’ experiences with AlcoholEdu and in particular to assess if students perceive that the course gives them tools to better control their drinking-related behavior. Methods Focus group interviews with freshmen at three California universities. Findings 1) The course provides so much information that everyone can find some of it relevant; 2) participants prefer information presented in ways they can identify with; 3) participants report problems with surveys in the program pointing to redundancy and length; and 4) participants did not expect the course to impact their behavior relating to alcohol. Conclusion AlcoholEdu provides valuable information for freshmen in college about how to avoid problems with alcohol. However, the course could have much more impact if closer to college reality. PMID:23185835

Typology of Couples Entering Alcohol Behavioral Couple Therapy: An Empirical Approach and Test of Predictive Validity on Treatment Response.

PubMed

Ladd, Benjamin O; McCrady, Barbara S

2016-01-01

This study aimed to examine whether classification of couples in which one partner has an alcohol problem is similar to that reported in the general couples literature. Typologies of couples seeking alcohol behavioral couple therapy (ABCT) were developed via hierarchical cluster analysis using behavioral codes of couple interactions during their first ABCT session. Four couples types based on in-session behavior were established reliably, labeled avoider, validator, hostile, and ambivalent-detached. These couple types resembled couples types found in previous research. Couple type was associated with baseline relationship satisfaction, but not alcohol use. Results suggest heterogeneity in couples with alcohol problems presenting to treatment; further study is needed to investigate the function of alcohol within these different types. © 2015 American Association for Marriage and Family Therapy.

Use of theory in computer-based interventions to reduce alcohol use among adolescents and young adults: a systematic review.

PubMed

Tebb, Kathleen P; Erenrich, Rebecca K; Jasik, Carolyn Bradner; Berna, Mark S; Lester, James C; Ozer, Elizabeth M

2016-06-17

Alcohol use and binge drinking among adolescents and young adults remain frequent causes of preventable injuries, disease, and death, and there has been growing attention to computer-based modes of intervention delivery to prevent/reduce alcohol use. Research suggests that health interventions grounded in established theory are more effective than those with no theoretical basis. The goal of this study was to conduct a literature review of computer-based interventions (CBIs) designed to address alcohol use among adolescents and young adults (aged 12-21 years) and examine the extent to which CBIs use theories of behavior change in their development and evaluations. This study also provides an update on extant CBIs addressing alcohol use among youth and their effectiveness. Between November and December of 2014, a literature review of CBIs aimed at preventing or reducing alcohol in PsychINFO, PubMed, and Google Scholar was conducted. The use of theory in each CBI was examined using a modified version of the classification system developed by Painter et al. (Ann Behav Med 35:358-362, 2008). The search yielded 600 unique articles, 500 were excluded because they did not meet the inclusion criteria. The 100 remaining articles were retained for analyses. Many articles were written about a single intervention; thus, the search revealed a total of 42 unique CBIs. In examining the use of theory, 22 CBIs (52 %) explicitly named one or more theoretical frameworks. Primary theories mentioned were social cognitive theory, transtheoretical model, theory of planned behavior and reasoned action, and health belief model. Less than half (48 %), did not use theory, but mentioned either use of a theoretical construct (such as self-efficacy) or an intervention technique (e.g., manipulating social norms). Only a few articles provided detailed information about how the theory was applied to the CBI; the vast majority included little to no information. Given the importance of theory in guiding interventions, greater emphasis on the selection and application of theory is needed. The classification system used in this review offers a guiding framework for reporting how theory based principles can be applied to computer based interventions.

Military sexual trauma, combat exposure, and negative urgency as independent predictors of PTSD and subsequent alcohol problems among OEF/OIF veterans.

PubMed

Hahn, Austin M; Tirabassi, Christine K; Simons, Raluca M; Simons, Jeffrey S

2015-11-01

This study tested a path model of relationships between military sexual trauma (MST), combat exposure, negative urgency, posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms, and alcohol use and related problems. The sample consisted of 86 Operation Enduring Freedom/Operation Iraqi Freedom (OEF/OIF) veterans who reported drinking at least one alcoholic beverage per week. PTSD mediated the relationships between MST and alcohol-related problems, negative urgency and alcohol-related problems, and combat exposure and alcohol-related problems. In addition, negative urgency had a direct effect on alcohol problems. These results indicate that MST, combat exposure, and negative urgency independently predict PTSD symptoms and PTSD symptoms mediate their relationship with alcohol-related problems. Findings support previous literature on the effect of combat exposure and negative urgency on PTSD and subsequent alcohol-related problems. The current study also contributes to the limited research regarding the relationship between MST, PSTD, and alcohol use and related problems. Clinical interventions aimed at reducing emotional dysregulation and posttraumatic stress symptomology may subsequently improve alcohol-related outcomes. (c) 2015 APA, all rights reserved).

Military Sexual Trauma, Combat Exposure, and Negative Urgency as Independent Predictors of PTSD and Subsequent Alcohol Problems among OEF/OIF Veterans

PubMed Central

Tirabassi, Christine K.; Simons, Raluca M.; Simons, Jeffrey S.

2015-01-01

This study tested a path model of relationships between military sexual trauma (MST), combat exposure, negative urgency, posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms, and alcohol use and related problems. The sample consisted of 86 OEF/OIF veterans who reported drinking at least one alcoholic beverage per week. PTSD mediated the relationships between MST and alcohol-related problems, negative urgency and alcohol-related problems, as well as combat exposure and alcohol-related problems. In addition, negative urgency had a direct effect on alcohol problems. These results indicate that MST, combat exposure, and negative urgency independently predict PTSD symptoms and PTSD symptoms mediate their relationship with alcohol-related problems. Findings support previous literature on the effect of combat exposure and negative urgency on PTSD and subsequent alcohol-related problems. The current study also contributes to the limited research regarding the relationship between MST, PSTD, and alcohol use and related problems. Clinical interventions aimed at reducing emotional dysregulation and posttraumatic stress symptomology may subsequently improve alcohol related outcomes. PMID:26524279

Polygenic scores predict alcohol problems in an independent sample and show moderation by the environment.

PubMed

Salvatore, Jessica E; Aliev, Fazil; Edwards, Alexis C; Evans, David M; Macleod, John; Hickman, Matthew; Lewis, Glyn; Kendler, Kenneth S; Loukola, Anu; Korhonen, Tellervo; Latvala, Antti; Rose, Richard J; Kaprio, Jaakko; Dick, Danielle M

2014-04-10

Alcohol problems represent a classic example of a complex behavioral outcome that is likely influenced by many genes of small effect. A polygenic approach, which examines aggregate measured genetic effects, can have predictive power in cases where individual genes or genetic variants do not. In the current study, we first tested whether polygenic risk for alcohol problems-derived from genome-wide association estimates of an alcohol problems factor score from the age 18 assessment of the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children (ALSPAC; n = 4304 individuals of European descent; 57% female)-predicted alcohol problems earlier in development (age 14) in an independent sample (FinnTwin12; n = 1162; 53% female). We then tested whether environmental factors (parental knowledge and peer deviance) moderated polygenic risk to predict alcohol problems in the FinnTwin12 sample. We found evidence for both polygenic association and for additive polygene-environment interaction. Higher polygenic scores predicted a greater number of alcohol problems (range of Pearson partial correlations 0.07-0.08, all p-values ≤ 0.01). Moreover, genetic influences were significantly more pronounced under conditions of low parental knowledge or high peer deviance (unstandardized regression coefficients (b), p-values (p), and percent of variance (R2) accounted for by interaction terms: b = 1.54, p = 0.02, R2 = 0.33%; b = 0.94, p = 0.04, R2 = 0.30%, respectively). Supplementary set-based analyses indicated that the individual top single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) contributing to the polygenic scores were not individually enriched for gene-environment interaction. Although the magnitude of the observed effects are small, this study illustrates the usefulness of polygenic approaches for understanding the pathways by which measured genetic predispositions come together with environmental factors to predict complex behavioral outcomes.

Pregaming and Emotion Regulation's Relationship to Alcohol Problems in College Students: A Cross-Sectional Study.

PubMed

Norberg, Melissa M; Ham, Lindsay S; Olivier, Jake; Zamboanga, Byron L; Melkonian, Alexander; Fugitt, Jessica L

2016-07-02

Pregaming is a high-risk drinking behavior associated with increased alcohol consumption and alcohol-related problems. Quantity of alcohol consumed does not fully explain the level of problems associated with pregaming; yet, limited research has examined factors that may interact with pregaming behavior to contribute to the experience of alcohol-related problems. The current study examined whether use of two emotion regulation strategies influence pregaming's contribution to alcohol-related problems. Undergraduates (N = 1857) aged 18-25 years attending 19 different colleges completed an online survey in 2008-2009. Linear mixed models were used to test whether emotion regulation strategies moderate the association between pregaming status (pregamers vs. non/infrequent pregamers) and alcohol-related problems, when controlling for alcohol consumption, demographic covariates, and site as a random effect. Greater use of cognitive reappraisal was associated with decreased alcohol problems. Expressive suppression interacted with pregaming status. There was no relationship between pregaming status and alcohol problems for students who rarely used expression suppression; however, the relationship between pregaming status and alcohol problems was statistically significant for students who occasionally to frequently used expression suppression. Findings suggest that the relationship between pregaming and alcohol-related problems is complex. Accordingly, future studies should utilize event-level methodology to understand how emotion regulation strategies influence alcohol-related problems. Further, clinicians should tailor alcohol treatments to help students increase their use of cognitive reappraisal and decrease their use of suppression.

Adopting a Brief, Web-Based Feedback Approach to Counter High School Drinking: Considerations for Professional School Counselors

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Doumas, Diana M.; Esp, Susan; Turrisi, Rob; Schottelkorb, April

2015-01-01

Adolescent drinking represents a significant problem in the United States. Although high school juniors and seniors are particularly vulnerable to the negative consequences associated with alcohol use, evidence-based interventions for this age group are limited. The purpose of this article is to introduce a Web-based alcohol intervention with…

AUDIT and AUDIT-C as screening instruments for alcohol problem use in adolescents.

PubMed

Liskola, Joni; Haravuori, Henna; Lindberg, Nina; Niemelä, Solja; Karlsson, Linnea; Kiviruusu, Olli; Marttunen, Mauri

2018-07-01

The Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test (AUDIT) is commonly used in adults to screen for harmful alcohol consumption but few studies exist on its use among adolescents. Our aim was to validate the AUDIT and its derivative consumption questionnaire (AUDIT-C) as screening instruments for the detection of problem use of alcohol in adolescents. 621 adolescents (age-range, 12-19 years) were drawn from clinical and population samples who completed the AUDIT questionnaire. Psychiatric diagnoses were assessed using K-SADS-PL. A rating based on the K-SADS-PL was used to assess alcohol use habits, alcohol use disorders, screening and symptom criteria questions. Screening performance of the AUDIT and AUDIT-C sum scores and Receiver Operating Characteristic (ROC) curves were calculated. The diagnostic odds ratios (dOR) were calculated to express the overall discrimination between cut-offs. Comparisons of ROC between the AUDIT and AUDIT-C pairs indicated a slightly better test performance by AUDIT for the whole sample and in a proportion of the subsamples. Optimal cut-off value for the AUDIT was ≥5 (sensitivity 0.931, specificity 0.772, dOR 45.22; 95% CI: 24.72-83.57) for detecting alcohol problem use. The corresponding optimal cut-off value for the AUDIT-C was ≥3 in detecting alcohol problem use (sensitivity 0.952, specificity 0.663, dOR 39.31; 95% CI: 19.46-78.97). Agreement between the AUDIT and AUDIT-C using these cut-off scores was high at 91.9%. Our results for the cut-off scores for the early detection of alcohol problem use in adolescents are ≥5 for AUDIT, and ≥3 for AUDIT-C. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

The primary prevention of alcohol problems: a critical review of the research literature.

PubMed

Moskowitz, J M

1989-01-01

The research evaluating the effects of programs and policies in reducing the incidence of alcohol problems is critically reviewed. Four types of preventive interventions are examined including: (1) policies affecting the physical, economic and social availability of alcohol (e.g., minimum legal drinking age, price and advertising of alcohol), (2) formal social controls on alcohol-related behavior (e.g., drinking-driving laws), (3) primary prevention programs (e.g., school-based alcohol education), and (4) environmental safety measures (e.g., automobile airbags). The research generally supports the efficacy of three alcohol-specific policies: raising the minimum legal drinking age to 21, increasing alcohol taxes and increasing the enforcement of drinking-driving laws. Also, research suggests that various environmental safety measures reduce the incidence of alcohol-related trauma. In contrast, little evidence currently exists to support the efficacy of primary prevention programs. However, a systems perspective of prevention suggests that prevention programs may become more efficacious after widespread adoption of prevention policies that lead to shifts in social norms regarding use of beverage alcohol.

Alcohol use patterns, problems and policies in Malaysia.

PubMed

Jernigan, D H; Indran, S K

1997-12-01

The roots of Malaysia's drinking patterns lie in the introduction of most forms of alcohol by Europeans. Although Malaysia today has relatively low per capita alcohol consumption, available studies and interviews with alcohol industry officials point to a small segment of the population that drinks heavily and causes and experiences substantial alcohol related-problems. Indians are over-represented in this sub-population, but studies also reveal substantial drinking problems among Chinese and Malays. Government officials categorize alcohol as an Indian problem. The government devotes little resources to monitoring drinking patterns, use or problems; or to preventing, treating or educating the public about alcohol-related problems. Alcohol-producing transnational corporations own shares of all of Malaysia's major alcohol producers. In the face of high alcohol taxes and a ban on broadcast advertising of alcoholic beverages, these companies market alcohol aggressively, making health claims, targeting heavy drinkers and encouraging heavy drinking, employing indirect advertising, and using women in seductive poses and occupations to attract the mostly male drinking population. Monitoring of the country's alcohol problems is greatly needed in order to establish alcohol consumption more clearly as a national health and safety issue, while stronger controls and greater corporate responsibility are required to control alcohol marketing.

Blind Deconvolution for Distributed Parameter Systems with Unbounded Input and Output and Determining Blood Alcohol Concentration from Transdermal Biosensor Data.

PubMed

Rosen, I G; Luczak, Susan E; Weiss, Jordan

2014-03-15

We develop a blind deconvolution scheme for input-output systems described by distributed parameter systems with boundary input and output. An abstract functional analytic theory based on results for the linear quadratic control of infinite dimensional systems with unbounded input and output operators is presented. The blind deconvolution problem is then reformulated as a series of constrained linear and nonlinear optimization problems involving infinite dimensional dynamical systems. A finite dimensional approximation and convergence theory is developed. The theory is applied to the problem of estimating blood or breath alcohol concentration (respectively, BAC or BrAC) from biosensor-measured transdermal alcohol concentration (TAC) in the field. A distributed parameter model with boundary input and output is proposed for the transdermal transport of ethanol from the blood through the skin to the sensor. The problem of estimating BAC or BrAC from the TAC data is formulated as a blind deconvolution problem. A scheme to identify distinct drinking episodes in TAC data based on a Hodrick Prescott filter is discussed. Numerical results involving actual patient data are presented.

The price of a drink: levels of consumption and price paid per unit of alcohol by Edinburgh's ill drinkers with a comparison to wider alcohol sales in Scotland

PubMed Central

Black, Heather; Gill, Jan; Chick, Jonathan

2011-01-01

Aim To compare alcohol purchasing and consumption by ill drinkers in Edinburgh with wider alcohol sales in Scotland. Design Cross-sectional. Setting Two hospitals in Edinburgh in 2008/09. Participants A total of 377 patients with serious alcohol problems; two-thirds were in-patients with medical, surgical or psychiatric problems due to alcohol; one-third were out-patients. Measurements Last week's or typical weekly consumption of alcohol: type, brand, units (1 UK unit 8 g ethanol), purchase place and price. Findings Patients consumed mean 197.7 UK units/week. The mean price paid per unit was £0.43 (lowest £0.09/unit) (£1 = 1.6 US$ or 1.2€), which is below the mean unit price, £0.71 paid in Scotland in 2008. Of units consumed, 70.3% were sold at or below £0.40/unit (mid-range of price models proposed for minimum pricing legislation by the Scottish Government), and 83% at or below £0.50/unit proposed by the Chief Medical Officer of England. The lower the price paid per unit, the more units a patient consumed. A continuous increase in unit price from lower to higher social status, ranked according to the Scottish Index of Multiple Deprivation (based on postcode), was not seen; patients residing in postcodes in the mid-quintile paid the highest price per unit. Cheapness was quoted commonly as a reason for beverage choice; ciders, especially ‘white’ cider, and vodka were, at off-sales, cheapest per unit. Stealing alcohol or drinking alcohol substitutes was only very rarely reported. Conclusions Because patients with serious alcohol problems tend to purchase very cheap alcohol, elimination of the cheapest sales by minimum price or other legislation might reduce their consumption. It is unknown whether proposed price legislation in Scotland will encourage patients with serious alcohol problems to start stealing alcohol or drinking substitutes or will reduce the recruitment of new drinkers with serious alcohol problems and produce predicted longer-term gains in health and social wellbeing. PMID:21134019

Implications of Posttraumatic Stress Among Military-Affiliated and Civilian Students

PubMed Central

Barry, Adam E.; Whiteman, Shawn D.; MacDermid Wadsworth, Shelley M.

2012-01-01

Objectives Determine whether posttraumatic stress symptoms (PTS) are associated with problem drinking and alcohol-related consequences, as well as academic correlates among military-affiliated and civilian students. Participants Final sample (n = 248) included 78 combat exposed student service members/veterans, 53 non-combat exposed student service members/veterans, 38 ROTC students, and 79 civilian students. Method Self-report data was collected spring 2011 via a web-based survey measuring PTS, problem drinking, alcohol-related consequences, GPA, educational self-efficacy, academic amotivation and persistence. Results Military students exposed to combat-related trauma reported significantly greater PTS symptoms than other military and civilian groups. PTS symptoms were associated with problem drinking and alcohol-related consequences for all groups, yet unrelated to academic correlates among those exposed to combat-related trauma. Conclusions This study adds to the scant literature base exploring the unique characteristics of student service members/veterans in higher education. PMID:23157198

Implications of posttraumatic stress among military-affiliated and civilian students.

PubMed

Barry, Adam E; Whiteman, Shawn D; MacDermid Wadsworth, Shelley M

2012-01-01

To determine whether posttraumatic stress (PTS) symptoms are associated with problem drinking and alcohol-related consequences, as well as academic correlates among military-affiliated and civilian students. The final sample (n = 248) included 78 combat-exposed student service members/veterans, 53 non-combat-exposed student service members/ veterans, 38 ROTC (Reserve Officers' Training Corps) students, and 79 civilian students. Self-report data were collected spring 2011 via a Web-based survey measuring PTS, problem drinking, alcohol-related consequences, grade point average, educational self-efficacy, academic amotivation, and persistence. Military students exposed to combat-related trauma reported significantly greater PTS symptoms than other military and civilian groups. PTS symptoms were associated with problem drinking and alcohol-related consequences for all groups, yet unrelated to academic correlates among those exposed to combat-related trauma. This study adds to the scant literature base exploring the unique characteristics of student service members/veterans in higher education.

Response inhibition toward alcohol-related cues using an alcohol go/no-go task in problem and non-problem drinkers.

PubMed

Kreusch, Fanny; Vilenne, Aurélie; Quertemont, Etienne

2013-10-01

Previous results suggested that alcohol abusers and alcohol dependent patients show cognitive biases in the treatment of alcohol-related cues, especially approach and inhibition deficit biases. Response inhibition was often tested using the go/no-go task in which the participants had to respond as quickly as possible to a class of stimuli (go stimuli) while refraining from responding to another class of stimuli (no-go stimuli). Previous studies assessing specific response inhibition deficits in the process of alcohol-related cues obtained conflicting results. The aims of the present study were to clarify response inhibition for alcohol cues in problem and non-problem drinkers, male and female and to test the effect of alcohol brand logos. Thirty-six non-problem drinker and thirty-five problem drinker undergraduate students completed a modified alcohol go/no-go task using alcohol and neutral object pictures, with or without brand logos, as stimuli. An additional control experiment was carried out to check whether participants' awareness that the study tested their response to alcohol might have biased the results. All participants, whether problem or non-problem drinkers, showed significantly shorter mean reaction times when alcohol pictures are used as go stimuli and significantly higher percentages of commission errors (false alarms) when alcohol pictures are used as no-go stimuli. Identical effects were obtained in the control experiment when participants were unaware that the study focused on alcohol. Shorter reaction times to alcohol-related cues were observed in problem drinkers relative to non-problem drinkers but only in the experimental condition with no brand logos on alcohol pictures. The addition of alcohol brand logos further reduced reaction times in light drinkers, thereby masking group differences. There was a tendency for female problem drinkers to show higher rates of false alarms for alcohol no-go stimuli, although this effect was only very close to statistical significance. All participants exhibited a cognitive bias in the treatment of alcohol cues that might be related to the positive emotional value of such alcohol-related cues. Stronger cognitive biases in the treatment of alcohol cues were observed in problem drinkers, although differences between problem and non-problem drinkers were relatively small-scale and required specific experimental parameters to be uncovered. In particular, the presence of alcohol brand logos on visual alcohol cues was an important experimental parameter that significantly affected behavioral responses to such stimuli. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Alcohol and other drug problems in Australia: the urgent need for nurse education.

PubMed

de Crespigny, C

1996-07-01

The economic, social and health costs associated with alcohol and other drug use, including medicines, impact on the Australian community profoundly. Many Australians use alcohol and other drugs (AODs) on a regular basis and a significant number experience problems at some time. There are about 25,000 drug-related deaths annually, the majority of which are related to alcohol and tobacco use. Many young people die or are injured as a direct result of alcohol intoxication, accidental overdose and related problems, and significant numbers of elderly people are hospitalised, permanently incapacitated or suffer avoidable trauma through adverse drug reactions and side-effects of medications. It is estimated that at least 25 per cent of acute hospital beds hold patients with alcohol-related problems directly associated with the medical diagnosis, and there are comparable numbers of people needing social and other forms of assistance at some time. Despite the preventative nature of many AOD problems and the call for harm reduction, timely intervention and support for the thousands of Australians attending hospitals, community health and mental health services, nurses are yet to effectively assist the community in preventing and responding to the range of AOD problems. Nursing policy, guidelines and clinical expertise are required to assist the community in addressing this issue. Undergraduate, postgraduate and continuing education have a vital role to play in providing the profession with the knowledge, skills and research base to meet this challenge.

The Hispanic Americans Baseline Alcohol Survey (HABLAS): Is the “prevention paradox” applicable to alcohol problems across Hispanic national groups?

PubMed Central

Caetano, Raul; Mills, Britain A.

2011-01-01

Background The “prevention paradox”, a notion that most alcohol-related problems are generated by non-heavy drinkers, has significant relevance to public health policy and prevention efforts. The extent of the paradox has driven debate over the type of balance that should be struck between alcohol policies targeting a select group of high-risk drinkers versus more global approaches that target the population at-large. This paper examines the notion that most alcohol problems among four Hispanic national groups in the U.S. are attributable to moderate drinkers. Methods A general population survey employing a multistage cluster sample design, with face-to-face interviews in respondents' homes was conducted in five metropolitan areas of the U.S. Study participants included a total of 2,773 current drinkers 18 years and older. Alcohol consumed in the past year (bottom 90% vs. top 10%), binge drinking (binge vs. no binge), and a four-way grouping defined by volume and binge criteria were used. Alcohol-related harms included 14 social and dependence problems. Results Drinkers at the bottom 90% of the distribution are responsible for 56% to 73% of all social problems, and for 55% to 73% of all dependence-related problems reported, depending on Hispanic national group. Binge drinkers are responsible for the majority of the social problems (53% to 75%) and dependence-related problems (59% to 73%), also depending on Hispanic national group. Binge drinkers at the bottom 90% of the distribution are responsible for a larger proportion of all social and dependence-related problems reported than those at the top 10% of the volume distribution. Cuban Americans are an exception. Conclusion The prevention paradox holds when using volume-based risk groupings and disappears when using a binge-drinking risk grouping. Binge drinkers who drink moderately on an average account for more harms than those who drink heavily across all groups, with exception of Cuban Americans. PMID:21410485

Alcohol Demand, Future Orientation, and Craving Mediate the Relation Between Depressive and Stress Symptoms and Alcohol Problems.

PubMed

Soltis, Kathryn E; McDevitt-Murphy, Meghan E; Murphy, James G

2017-06-01

Elevated depression and stress have been linked to greater levels of alcohol problems among young adults even after taking into account drinking level. This study attempts to elucidate variables that might mediate the relation between symptoms of depression and stress and alcohol problems, including alcohol demand, future time orientation, and craving. Participants were 393 undergraduates (60.8% female, 78.9% White/Caucasian) who reported at least 2 binge-drinking episodes (4/5+ drinks for women/men, respectively) in the previous month. Participants completed self-report measures of stress and depression, alcohol demand, future time orientation, craving, and alcohol problems. In separate mediation models that accounted for gender, race, and weekly alcohol consumption, future orientation and craving significantly mediated the relation between depressive symptoms and alcohol problems. Alcohol demand, future orientation, and craving significantly mediated the relation between stress symptoms and alcohol problems. Heavy-drinking young adults who experience stress or depression are likely to experience alcohol problems, and this is due in part to elevations in craving and alcohol demand, and less sensitivity to future outcomes. Interventions targeting alcohol misuse in young adults with elevated levels of depression and stress should attempt to increase future orientation and decrease craving and alcohol reward value. Copyright © 2017 by the Research Society on Alcoholism.

Missed opportunity for alcohol problem prevention among army active duty service members postdeployment.

PubMed

Larson, Mary Jo; Mohr, Beth A; Adams, Rachel Sayko; Wooten, Nikki R; Williams, Thomas V

2014-08-01

We identified to what extent the Department of Defense postdeployment health surveillance program identifies at-risk drinking, alone or in conjunction with psychological comorbidities, and refers service members who screen positive for additional assessment or care. We completed a cross-sectional analysis of 333 803 US Army active duty members returning from Iraq or Afghanistan deployments in fiscal years 2008 to 2011 with a postdeployment health assessment. Alcohol measures included 2 based on self-report quantity-frequency items-at-risk drinking (positive Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test alcohol consumption questions [AUDIT-C] screen) and severe alcohol problems (AUDIT-C score of 8 or higher)-and another based on the interviewing provider's assessment. Nearly 29% of US Army active duty members screened positive for at-risk drinking, and 5.6% had an AUDIT-C score of 8 or higher. Interviewing providers identified potential alcohol problems among only 61.8% of those screening positive for at-risk drinking and only 74.9% of those with AUDIT-C scores of 8 or higher. They referred for a follow-up visit to primary care or another setting only 29.2% of at-risk drinkers and only 35.9% of those with AUDIT-C scores of 8 or higher. This study identified missed opportunities for early intervention for at-risk drinking. Future research should evaluate the effect of early intervention on long-term outcomes.

Genetic and environmental influences on externalizing behavior and alcohol problems in adolescence: A female twin study

PubMed Central

Knopik, Valerie S.; Heath, Andrew C.; Bucholz, Kathleen K.; Madden, Pamela A.F.; Waldron, Mary

2009-01-01

Genetic and environmental contributions to the observed correlations among DSM-IV ADHD problems [inattentive (INATT) and hyperactive/impulsive (HYP/IMP) behaviors], conduct problems (CDP) and alcohol problems (AlcProb) were examined by fitting multivariate structural equation models to data from the Missouri Adolescent Female Twin Study [N=2892 twins (831 monozygotic pairs, 615 dizygotic pairs)]. Based on results of preliminary regression models, we modified the structural model to jointly estimate (i) the regression of each phenotype on significant familial/prenatal predictors, and (ii) genetic and environmental contributions to the residual variance and covariance. Results suggested that (i) parental risk factors, such as parental alcohol dependence and regular smoking, increase risk for externalizing behavior; (ii) prenatal exposures predicted increased symptomatology for HYP/IMP (smoking during pregnancy), INATT and CDP (prenatal alcohol exposure); (iii) after adjusting for measured familial/prenatal risk factors, genetic influences were significant for HYP/IMP, INATT, and CDP; however, similar to earlier reports, genetic effects on alcohol dependence symptoms were negligible; and (iv) in adolescence, correlated liabilities for conduct and alcohol problems are found in environmental factors common to both phenotypes, while covariation among impulsivity, inattention, and conduct problems is primarily due to genetic influences common to these three behaviors. Thus, while a variety of adolescent problem behaviors are significantly correlated, the structure of that association may differ as a function of phenotype (e.g., comorbid HYP/IMP and CDP vs. comorbid CDP and AlcProb), a finding that could inform different approaches to treatment and prevention. PMID:19341765

Dimensions of disinhibited personality and their relation with alcohol use and problems

PubMed Central

Gunn, Rachel L.; Finn, Peter R.; Endres, Michael J.; Gerst, Kyle R.; Spinola, Suzanne

2013-01-01

Although alcohol use disorders (AUDs) have been associated with different aspects of disinhibited personality and antisociality, less is known about the specific relationships among different domains of disinhibited personality, antisociality, alcohol use, and alcohol problems. The current study was designed to address three goals, (i) to provide evidence of a three-factor model of disinhibited personality (comprised of impulsivity [IMP], risk taking/ low harm avoidance [RTHA], excitement seeking [ES]), (ii) to test hypotheses regarding the association between each dimension and alcohol use and problems, and (iii) to test the hypothesis that antisociality (social deviance proneness [SDP]) accounts for the direct association between IMP and alcohol problems, while ES is directly related to alcohol use. Measures of disinhibited personality IMP, RTHA, ES and SDP and alcohol use and problems were assessed in a sample of young adults (N=474), which included a high proportion of individuals with AUDs. Confirmatory factor analyses supported a three-factor model of disinhibited personality reflecting IMP, RTHA, and ES. A structural equation model (SEM) showed that IMP was specifically associated with alcohol problems, while ES was specifically associated with alcohol use. In a second SEM, SDP accounted for the majority of the variance in alcohol problems associated with IMP. The results suggest aspects of IMP associated with SDP represent a direct vulnerability to alcohol problems. In addition, the results suggest that ES reflects a specific vulnerability to excessive alcohol use, which is then associated with alcohol problems, while RTHA is not specifically associated with alcohol use or problems when controlling for IMP and ES. PMID:23588138

Latino Immigrants' Biological Parents' Histories of Substance Use Problems in Their Country of Origin Predict Their Pre- and Post-Immigration Alcohol Use Problems.

PubMed

Blackson, Timothy C; De La Rosa, Mario; Sanchez, Mariana; Li, Tan

2015-01-01

No studies to date have assessed whether recent young adult (aged 18-34) Latino immigrants' biological parents' histories of substance use problems (BPHSUP) in their country of origin predict their alcohol use problems at pre- and post-immigration to the United States (US). BPHSUP in their country of origin were assessed via interviews conducted by bilingual Latino researchers with recent Latino immigrants primarily from Cuba and Central and South America recruited through respondent-driven sampling at the time of their immigration to southeastern US. Three waves of data were collected to document Latino immigrants' severity of alcohol use problems at pre-immigration and 2 annual post-immigration follow-up assessments. BPHSUP+/- status was used as a predictor of Latinos' (N = 452; 45.8% female, 54.2% male) Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test (AUDIT) scores at pre- and post-immigration with age, education, and income as covariates as wells as odds ratios for AUDIT classifications of hazardous use, harmful use, and dependence. BPHSUP+ status predicted Latino immigrants' higher AUDIT scores pre- and post-immigration by gender (P < .01) compared with Latino immigrants of BPHSUP- status, controlling for age, education, and income. BPHSUP+ status predicted odds ratios of 3.45 and 2.91 for AUDIT alcohol dependence classification for men and women, respectively. This study documents that BPHSUP+/- status in their country of origin predict their young adult Latino offspring's severity of alcohol use problems pre- and post-immigration. These results may inform (1) community-based health care providers to screen recent young adult Latino immigrants for their BPHSUP+/- status and severity of alcohol use problems to redirect trajectories away from alcohol use disorders toward more normative post-immigration outcomes through culturally relevant prevention services and (2) future research advantages of differential susceptibility theory. Implications for future research and the need for replication studies in other geographic regions of the US are discussed.

A pilot study of a computer-assisted cell-phone interview (CACI) methodology to survey respondents in households without telephones about alcohol use.

PubMed

Wilkins, Chris; Casswell, Sally; Barnes, Helen Moewaka; Pledger, Megan

2003-06-01

An intrinsic drawback with the use of a computer-assisted telephone interview (CATI) survey methodology is that people who live in households without a connected landline telephone are excluded from the survey sample. This paper presents a pilot of the feasibility of a computer-assisted cell-phone interview (CACI) methodology designed to survey people living in households without a telephone about alcohol use and be compatible with a larger telephone based alcohol sample. The CACI method was found to be an efficient and cost competitive method to reach non-telephone households. Telephone ownership was found to make a difference to the typical occasion amount of alcohol consumed, with respondents from households without telephones drinking significantly more than those with telephones even when consumption levels were controlled for socio-economic status. Although high levels of telephone ownership in the general population mean these differences may not have any impact on population alcohol measures they may be important in sub-populations where telephone ownership is lower.

Attention problems among children with a positive family history of alcohol abuse or dependence and controls. Prevalence and course for the period from preteen to early teen years.

PubMed

Barnow, Sven; Schuckit, Marc; Smith, Tom; Spitzer, Carsten; Freyberger, Harald-J

2007-01-01

This longitudinal study investigated the scope and course of attention problems over a period of time from preteen (ages 7-12 years) to early teen years (ages 13-17 years). We compared symptoms in subjects with and without a family history (FH) of alcohol abuse or dependence from among families without evidence of antisocial personality disorder. Evaluations of attention problems for the offspring were based on the Child Behavior Checklist and a validated semistructured interview carried out with the mother. The findings indicate no higher risk for attention problems and attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD)-like symptoms in the children of families with an alcohol use disorder. Regarding the course of problems, the ADHD symptom count tended to decrease over time, especially for children without a FH of alcohol abuse or dependence. Further research will be needed to determine whether results can be replicated with families from different social strata and including subjects with the antisocial personality disorder.

An investigator-blinded, randomized study to compare the efficacy of combined CBT for alcohol use disorders and social anxiety disorder versus CBT focused on alcohol alone in adults with comorbid disorders: the Combined Alcohol Social Phobia (CASP) trial protocol

PubMed Central

2013-01-01

Background Alcohol use disorders and social anxiety disorder are common and disabling conditions that frequently co-exist. Although there are efficacious treatments for each disorder, only two randomized controlled trials of interventions for these combined problems have been published. We developed a new integrated treatment for comorbid Social Anxiety Disorder and Alcohol Use Disorder based on established Motivational Interviewing (MI) and Cognitive Behaviour Therapy (CBT) interventions for the separate disorders. Compared to established MI/CBT for alcohol use disorders this new intervention is hypothesised to lead to greater reductions in symptoms of social anxiety and alcohol use disorder and to produce greater improvements in quality of life. Higher levels of alcohol dependence will result in relatively poorer outcomes for the new integrated treatment. Methods/design A randomised controlled trial comparing 9 sessions of individual integrated treatment for alcohol and social phobia with 9 sessions of treatment for alcohol use problems alone is proposed. Randomisation will be stratified for stable antidepressant use. Post treatment clinical assessments of alcohol consumption and diagnostic status at 3 and 6 month follow-up will be blind to allocation. Discussion The proposed trial addresses a serious gap in treatment evidence and could potentially define the appropriate treatment for a large proportion of adults affected by these problems. Trial registration Australian New Zealand Clinical Trials Registry: ACTRN12608000228381. PMID:23895258

An investigator-blinded, randomized study to compare the efficacy of combined CBT for alcohol use disorders and social anxiety disorder versus CBT focused on alcohol alone in adults with comorbid disorders: the Combined Alcohol Social Phobia (CASP) trial protocol.

PubMed

Baillie, Andrew J; Sannibale, Claudia; Stapinski, Lexine A; Teesson, Maree; Rapee, Ronald M; Haber, Paul S

2013-07-30

Alcohol use disorders and social anxiety disorder are common and disabling conditions that frequently co-exist. Although there are efficacious treatments for each disorder, only two randomized controlled trials of interventions for these combined problems have been published. We developed a new integrated treatment for comorbid Social Anxiety Disorder and Alcohol Use Disorder based on established Motivational Interviewing (MI) and Cognitive Behaviour Therapy (CBT) interventions for the separate disorders. Compared to established MI/CBT for alcohol use disorders this new intervention is hypothesised to lead to greater reductions in symptoms of social anxiety and alcohol use disorder and to produce greater improvements in quality of life. Higher levels of alcohol dependence will result in relatively poorer outcomes for the new integrated treatment. A randomised controlled trial comparing 9 sessions of individual integrated treatment for alcohol and social phobia with 9 sessions of treatment for alcohol use problems alone is proposed. Randomisation will be stratified for stable antidepressant use. Post treatment clinical assessments of alcohol consumption and diagnostic status at 3 and 6 month follow-up will be blind to allocation. The proposed trial addresses a serious gap in treatment evidence and could potentially define the appropriate treatment for a large proportion of adults affected by these problems. Australian New Zealand Clinical Trials Registry: ACTRN12608000228381.

Prevalence of alcohol-related problems among the Slavs and Arabs in Belarus: a university survey.

PubMed

Welcome, Menizibeya O; Razvodovsky, Yury E; Pereverzev, Vladimir A

2011-05-01

Alcohol abuse is a major problem among students in Belarus. Alcohol-related problems might vary among students of different cultural backgrounds. To examine the different patterns in alcohol use and related problems among students of different cultural groups--the Slavs and Arabs, in major Belarusian universities. 1465 university students (1345 Slavs and 120 Arabs) from three major universities in Minsk, Belarus, were administered the Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test, the Cut, Annoyed, Guilty and Eye questionnaire, and the Michigan Alcohol Screening Test, including other alcohol-related questions. Overall, 91.08% (n = 1225) Slavs and 60.83% (n = 73) Arabs were alcohol users. A total of 16.28% (n = 219) Slavs and 32.50% (n = 39) Arabs were identified as problem drinkers. Different patterns of alcohol use and related problems were characterized for the Slavs and Arabs. The level of alcohol-related problems was higher among the Arabs, compared to the Slavs. Significant differences in the pattern of alcohol use and related problems exist among the students of various cultural groups--the Slavs and Arabs in Minsk, Belarus. This is the first empirical study to investigate the prevalence of alcohol use and related problems among the Arab and Slav students in Belarus.

Attitudes and Descriptive Norms of Alcohol-Related Problems as Predictors of Alcohol Use among College Students

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Sheppard, Meg E.; Usdan, Stuart L.; Higginbotham, John C.; Cremeens-Matthews, Jennifer L.

2016-01-01

Background: The purpose of this study is to identify predictors of alcohol use based on personal values and several constructs from the Integrated Behavioral Model (i.e., attitudes, injunctive norms and descriptive norms) among undergraduate college students. Methods: A cross sectional study design was used with a convenience sample of college…

Internet Therapy versus Internet Self-Help versus No Treatment for Problematic Alcohol Use: A Randomized Controlled Trial

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Blankers, Matthijs; Koeter, Maarten W. J.; Schippers, Gerard M.

2011-01-01

Objective: Problematic alcohol use is the third leading contributor to the global burden of disease, partly because the majority of problem drinkers are not receiving treatment. Internet-based alcohol interventions attract an otherwise untreated population, but their effectiveness has not yet been established. The current study examined the…

Does price matter? The effect of decreased price on spirits consumption in Switzerland.

PubMed

Kuo, Meichun; Heeb, Jean-Luc; Gmel, Gerhard; Rehm, Jürgen

2003-04-01

On July 1st, 1999, the spirits market in Switzerland was reformed based on the World Trade Organization (WTO) agreement. The tax reform, in addition to increased competition, has resulted in a 30-50% decrease in price for foreign spirits (liquor). The purpose of the present study is to examine whether decreased prices due to the tax reform and the liberalized spirits market in Switzerland have had an effect on spirits consumption, and whether the effect differs by demographic and other correlates. The present study uses data from a longitudinal study on changes in alcohol consumption in Switzerland's resident population. The baseline survey was conducted 3 months before the tax reform and the follow-up was conducted 28 months after the tax reform. A randomly selected sample of 4007 residents aged 15 years or older participated in the baseline survey and 73% in the follow-up survey. The data were obtained by computer-assisted telephone interview, including detailed questions on alcohol consumption, drinking habits, problem drinking, purchase of spirits and socio-demographic characteristics. Consumption of spirits increased after the price of spirits decreased. The increase in spirits consumption was consistent across subgroups, with the exception of the group aged 60 or older. Moreover, the increase in spirits consumption persisted even after adjustment for significant correlates of spirits consumption. Apart from age, there was no evidence that the increase in spirits consumption differed between subgroups as defined by sex, region, working status, education, smoking, drinking frequency, or average number of drinks. The findings demonstrate that younger people are more affected by price than older persons. This study demonstrated that price should be considered an effective policy to reduce alcohol misuse and alcohol-related problems, especially among the younger population.

Intervention against excessive alcohol consumption in primary health care: a survey of GPs' attitudes and practices in England 10 years on.

PubMed

Wilson, Graeme B; Lock, Catherine A; Heather, Nick; Cassidy, Paul; Christie, Marilyn M; Kaner, Eileen F S

2011-01-01

To ascertain the views of general practitioners (GPs) regarding the prevention and management of alcohol-related problems in practice, together with perceived barriers and incentives for this work; to compare our findings with a comparable survey conducted 10 years earlier. In total, 282 (73%) of 419 GPs surveyed in East Midlands, UK, completed a postal questionnaire, measuring practices and attitudes, including the Shortened Alcohol and Alcohol Problems Perception Questionnaire (SAAPPQ). GPs reported lower levels of post-graduate education or training on alcohol-related issues (<4 h for the majority) than in 1999 but not significantly so (P = 0.031). In the last year, GPs had most commonly requested more than 12 blood tests and managed 1-6 patients for alcohol. Reports of these preventive practices were significantly increased from 1999 (P < 0.001). Most felt that problem or dependent drinkers' alcohol issues could be legitimately (88%, 87%) and adequately (78%, 69%) addressed by GPs. However, they had low levels of motivation (42%, 35%), task-related self-esteem (53%, 49%) and job satisfaction (15%, 12%) for this. Busyness (63%) and lack of training (57%) or contractual incentives (48%) were key barriers. Endorsement for government policies on alcohol was very low. Among GPs, there still appears to be a gap between actual practice and potential for preventive work relating to alcohol problems; they report little specific training and a lack of support. Translational work on understanding the evidence-base supporting screening and brief intervention could incentivize intervention against excessive drinking and embedding it into everyday primary care practice.

Association of Physical Activity with Alcohol Abuse and Dependence in a Nationally-Representative U.S. Sample.

PubMed

Damian, April Joy; Mendelson, Tamar

2017-11-10

Alcohol use is a pervasive and costly public health problem in the United States. Relapse rates from alcohol use disorders are high. Although exercise has been proposed as a strategy to prevent relapse, lifestyle modification is the least studied aspect of relapse prevention programs, especially among racial/ethnic minority populations. The current study assessed whether being physically active was associated with remission from alcohol abuse or dependence among Black (African American and Afro Caribbean) adults in the U.S. We utilized data on Black adult participants (n = 4,828) from the nationally representative National Survey of American Life (NSAL) conducted in 2001-2003. Logistic regression models were estimated to assess the odds of being in 12-month remission or currently meeting DSM-IV criteria for alcohol abuse or dependence based on level of physical activity, adjusting for socio-demographic and neighborhood characteristics. People who endorsed being physically active had higher odds of being in 12-month remission from alcohol use problems (OR: 1.67, 95% CI: 1.28, 2.17) than people who were physically inactive, adjusting for individual- and neighborhood-level characteristics. People who were physically active did not differ significantly from those who were inactive with respect to odds of currently meeting DSM-IV criteria for alcohol abuse or dependence. Conclusions/Importance: Physical activity was positively associated with being in 12-month remission from alcohol use problems. Longitudinal studies are needed to establish temporal ordering and to explore exercise as a potential relapse prevention strategy for alcohol use problems.

Alcohol Demand, Future Orientation, and Craving Mediate the Relation Between Depressive and Stress Symptoms and Alcohol Problems

PubMed Central

Soltis, Kathryn E.; McDevitt-Murphy, Meghan; Murphy, James G.

2017-01-01

Background Elevated depression and stress have been linked to greater levels of alcohol problems among young adults even after taking into account drinking level. The current study attempts to elucidate variables that might mediate the relation between symptoms of depression and stress and alcohol problems, including alcohol demand, future time orientation, and craving. Methods Participants were 393 undergraduates (60.8% female, 78.9% White/Caucasian) who reported at least 2 binge drinking episodes (4/5+ drinks for women/men, respectively) in the previous month. Participants completed self-report measures of stress and depression, alcohol demand, future time orientation, craving, and alcohol problems. Results In separate mediation models that accounted for gender, race, and weekly alcohol consumption, future orientation and craving significantly mediated the relation between depressive symptoms and alcohol problems. Alcohol demand, future orientation, and craving significantly mediated the relation between stress symptoms and alcohol problems. Conclusions Heavy drinking young adults who experience stress or depression are likely to experience alcohol problems and this is due in part to elevations in craving and alcohol demand, and less sensitivity to future outcomes. Interventions targeting alcohol misuse in young adults with elevated levels of depression and stress should attempt to increase future orientation and decrease craving and alcohol reward value. PMID:28401985

Predicting Successful Treatment Outcome of Web-Based Self-help for Problem Drinkers: Secondary Analysis From a Randomized Controlled Trial

PubMed Central

Kramer, Jeannet; Keuken, Max; Smit, Filip; Schippers, Gerard; Cuijpers, Pim

2008-01-01

Background Web-based self-help interventions for problem drinking are coming of age. They have shown promising results in terms of cost-effectiveness, and they offer opportunities to reach out on a broad scale to problem drinkers. The question now is whether certain groups of problem drinkers benefit more from such Web-based interventions than others. Objective We sought to identify baseline, client-related predictors of the effectiveness of Drinking Less, a 24/7, free-access, interactive, Web-based self-help intervention without therapist guidance for problem drinkers who want to reduce their alcohol consumption. The intervention is based on cognitive-behavioral and self-control principles. Methods We conducted secondary analysis of data from a pragmatic randomized trial with follow-up at 6 and 12 months. Participants (N = 261) were adult problem drinkers in the Dutch general population with a weekly alcohol consumption above 210 g of ethanol for men or 140 g for women, or consumption of at least 60 g (men) or 40 g (women) one or more days a week over the past 3 months. Six baseline participant characteristics were designated as putative predictors of treatment response: (1) gender, (2) education, (3) Internet use competence (sociodemographics), (4) mean weekly alcohol consumption, (5) prior professional help for alcohol problems (level of problem drinking), and (6) participants’ expectancies of Web-based interventions for problem drinking. Intention-to-treat (ITT) analyses, using last-observation-carried-forward (LOCF) data, and regression imputation (RI) were performed to deal with loss to follow-up. Statistical tests for interaction terms were conducted and linear regression analysis was performed to investigate whether the participants’ characteristics as measured at baseline predicted positive treatment responses at 6- and 12-month follow-ups. Results At 6 months, prior help for alcohol problems predicted a small, marginally significant positive treatment outcome in the RI model only (beta = .18, P = .05, R2 = .11). At 12 months, females displayed modest predictive power in both imputation models (LOCF: beta = .22, P = .045, R2 = .02; regression: beta = .27, P = .01, R2 = .03). Those with higher levels of education exhibited modest predictive power in the LOCF model only (beta = .33, P = .01, R2 = .03). Conclusions Although female and more highly educated users appeared slightly more likely to derive benefit from the Drinking Less intervention, none of the baseline characteristics we studied persuasively predicted a favorable treatment outcome. The Web-based intervention therefore seems well suited for a heterogeneous group of problem drinkers and could hence be offered as a first-step treatment in a stepped-care approach directed at problem drinkers in the general population. Trial Registration International Standard Randomized Controlled Trial Number (ISRCTN): 47285230; http://www.controlled-trials.com/isrctn47285230 (Archived by WebCite at http://www.webcitation.org/5cSR2sMkp). PMID:19033150

Predicting successful treatment outcome of web-based self-help for problem drinkers: secondary analysis from a randomized controlled trial.

PubMed

Riper, Heleen; Kramer, Jeannet; Keuken, Max; Smit, Filip; Schippers, Gerard; Cuijpers, Pim

2008-11-22

Web-based self-help interventions for problem drinking are coming of age. They have shown promising results in terms of cost-effectiveness, and they offer opportunities to reach out on a broad scale to problem drinkers. The question now is whether certain groups of problem drinkers benefit more from such Web-based interventions than others. We sought to identify baseline, client-related predictors of the effectiveness of Drinking Less, a 24/7, free-access, interactive, Web-based self-help intervention without therapist guidance for problem drinkers who want to reduce their alcohol consumption. The intervention is based on cognitive-behavioral and self-control principles. We conducted secondary analysis of data from a pragmatic randomized trial with follow-up at 6 and 12 months. Participants (N = 261) were adult problem drinkers in the Dutch general population with a weekly alcohol consumption above 210 g of ethanol for men or 140 g for women, or consumption of at least 60 g (men) or 40 g (women) one or more days a week over the past 3 months. Six baseline participant characteristics were designated as putative predictors of treatment response: (1) gender, (2) education, (3) Internet use competence (sociodemographics), (4) mean weekly alcohol consumption, (5) prior professional help for alcohol problems (level of problem drinking), and (6) participants' expectancies of Web-based interventions for problem drinking. Intention-to-treat (ITT) analyses, using last-observation-carried-forward (LOCF) data, and regression imputation (RI) were performed to deal with loss to follow-up. Statistical tests for interaction terms were conducted and linear regression analysis was performed to investigate whether the participants' characteristics as measured at baseline predicted positive treatment responses at 6- and 12-month follow-ups. At 6 months, prior help for alcohol problems predicted a small, marginally significant positive treatment outcome in the RI model only (beta = .18, P = .05, R(2) = .11). At 12 months, females displayed modest predictive power in both imputation models (LOCF: beta = .22, P = .045, R(2) = .02; regression: beta = .27, P = .01, R(2) = .03). Those with higher levels of education exhibited modest predictive power in the LOCF model only (beta = .33, P = .01, R(2) = .03). Although female and more highly educated users appeared slightly more likely to derive benefit from the Drinking Less intervention, none of the baseline characteristics we studied persuasively predicted a favorable treatment outcome. The Web-based intervention therefore seems well suited for a heterogeneous group of problem drinkers and could hence be offered as a first-step treatment in a stepped-care approach directed at problem drinkers in the general population. International Standard Randomized Controlled Trial Number (ISRCTN): 47285230; http://www.controlled-trials.com/isrctn47285230 (Archived by WebCite at http://www.webcitation.org/5cSR2sMkp).

Representations of minimum unit pricing for alcohol in UK newspapers: a case study of a public health policy debate.

PubMed

Patterson, Chris; Katikireddi, Srinivasa Vittal; Wood, Karen; Hilton, Shona

2015-03-01

Mass media influence public acceptability, and hence feasibility, of public health interventions. This study investigates newsprint constructions of the alcohol problem and minimum unit pricing (MUP). Quantitative content analysis of 901 articles about MUP published in 10 UK and Scottish newspapers between 2005 and 2012. MUP was a high-profile issue, particularly in Scottish publications. Reporting increased steadily between 2008 and 2012, matching the growing status of the debate. The alcohol problem was widely acknowledged, often associated with youths, and portrayed as driven by cheap alcohol, supermarkets and drinking culture. Over-consumption was presented as a threat to health and social order. Appraisals of MUP were neutral, with supportiveness increasing slightly over time. Arguments focused on health impacts more frequently than more emotive perspectives or business interests. Health charities and the NHS were cited slightly more frequently than alcohol industry representatives. Emphases on efficacy, evidence and experts are positive signs for evidence-based policymaking. The high profile of MUP, along with growing support within articles, could reflect growing appetite for action on the alcohol problem. Representations of the problem as structurally driven might engender support for legislative solutions, although cultural explanations remain common. © The Author 2014. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of Faculty of Public Health.

Representations of minimum unit pricing for alcohol in UK newspapers: a case study of a public health policy debate

PubMed Central

Patterson, Chris; Katikireddi, Srinivasa Vittal; Wood, Karen; Hilton, Shona

2015-01-01

Background Mass media influence public acceptability, and hence feasibility, of public health interventions. This study investigates newsprint constructions of the alcohol problem and minimum unit pricing (MUP). Methods Quantitative content analysis of 901 articles about MUP published in 10 UK and Scottish newspapers between 2005 and 2012. Results MUP was a high-profile issue, particularly in Scottish publications. Reporting increased steadily between 2008 and 2012, matching the growing status of the debate. The alcohol problem was widely acknowledged, often associated with youths, and portrayed as driven by cheap alcohol, supermarkets and drinking culture. Over-consumption was presented as a threat to health and social order. Appraisals of MUP were neutral, with supportiveness increasing slightly over time. Arguments focused on health impacts more frequently than more emotive perspectives or business interests. Health charities and the NHS were cited slightly more frequently than alcohol industry representatives. Conclusion Emphases on efficacy, evidence and experts are positive signs for evidence-based policymaking. The high profile of MUP, along with growing support within articles, could reflect growing appetite for action on the alcohol problem. Representations of the problem as structurally driven might engender support for legislative solutions, although cultural explanations remain common. PMID:25312002

Low and Increasing Trajectories of Perpetration of Physical Dating Violence: 7-Year Associations with Suicidal Ideation, Weapons, and Substance Use.

PubMed

Orpinas, Pamela; Nahapetyan, Lusine; Truszczynski, Natalia

2017-05-01

Understanding the interrelation among problem behaviors and their change over time is fundamental for prevention research. The Healthy Teens Longitudinal Study followed a cohort of adolescents from Grades 6-12. Prior research identified two distinct trajectories of perpetration of physical dating violence: Low and Increasing. The purpose of this study was to examine whether adolescents in these two trajectories differed longitudinally on other problem behaviors: (1) suicidal ideation and attempts, (2) weapon-carrying and threats with a weapon, and (3) substance use, particularly alcohol and marijuana. The sample consisted of 588 randomly-selected students (52% males; 49% White, 36% Black, 12% Latino). Students completed a self-reported, computer-based survey each spring from Grades 6-12. To examine significant differences by perpetration of physical dating violence trajectory, we used Chi-square test and generalized estimating equations modeling. Across most grades, significantly more students in Increasing than in the Low trajectory reported suicidal ideation and attempts, carried a weapon, and threatened someone with a weapon. Adolescents in the Increasing trajectory also had higher trajectories of alcohol use, being drunk, and marijuana use than those in the Low trajectory. All differences were already significant in Grade 6. The difference in the rate of change between groups was not significant. This longitudinal study highlights that problem behaviors-physical dating violence, suicidal ideation and attempts, weapon carrying and threats, marijuana and alcohol use-cluster together as early as sixth grade and the clustering persists over time. The combination of these behaviors poses a great public health concern and highlight the need for early interventions.

The workplace and alcohol problem prevention.

PubMed

Roman, Paul M; Blum, Terry C

2002-01-01

Workplace programs to prevent and reduce alcohol-related problems among employees have considerable potential. For example, because employees spend a lot of time at work, coworkers and supervisors may have the opportunity to notice a developing alcohol problem. In addition, employers can use their influence to motivate employees to get help for an alcohol problem. Many employers offer employee assistance programs (EAPs) as well as educational programs to reduce employees' alcohol problems. However, several risk factors for alcohol problems exist in the workplace domain. Further research is needed to develop strategies to reduce these risk factors.

Normative Beliefs, Expectancies, and Alcohol-Related Problems among College Students; Implications for Theory and Practice.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Fearnow-Kenny, Melodie D.; Wyrick, David L.; Hansen, William B.; Dyreg, Doug; Beau, Dan B.

2001-01-01

Investigation (1) examined interrelations among normative beliefs, alcohol expectancies, and alcohol-related problems, and (2) investigated whether alcohol-related expectancies mediate associations between normative beliefs and alcohol-related problems. Analyses revealed that alcohol expectancies mediate the relationship between normative beliefs…

Childhood or adolescent parental divorce/separation, parental history of alcohol problems, and offspring lifetime alcohol dependence.

PubMed

Thompson, Ronald G; Lizardi, Dana; Keyes, Katherine M; Hasin, Deborah S

2008-12-01

This study examined whether the experiences of childhood or adolescent parental divorce/separation and parental alcohol problems affected the likelihood of offspring DSM-IV lifetime alcohol dependence, controlling for parental history of drug, depression, and antisocial behavior problems. Data were drawn from the 2001-2002 National Epidemiological Survey on Alcohol and Related Conditions (NESARC), a nationally representative United States survey of 43,093 civilian non-institutionalized participants aged 18 and older, interviewed in person. Logistic regression models were used to calculate the main and interaction effects of childhood or adolescent parental divorce/separation and parental history of alcohol problems on offspring lifetime alcohol dependence, after adjusting for parental history of drug, depression, and antisocial behavior problems. Childhood or adolescent parental divorce/separation and parental history of alcohol problems were significantly related to offspring lifetime alcohol dependence, after adjusting for parental history of drug, depression, and antisocial behavior problems. Experiencing parental divorce/separation during childhood, even in the absence of parental history of alcohol problems, remained a significant predictor of lifetime alcohol dependence. Experiencing both childhood or adolescent parental divorce/separation and parental alcohol problems had a significantly stronger impact on the risk for DSM-IV alcohol dependence than the risk incurred by either parental risk factor alone. Further research is needed to better identify the factors that increase the risk for lifetime alcohol dependence among those who experience childhood or adolescent parental divorce/separation.

Childhood or Adolescent Parental Divorce/Separation, Parental History of Alcohol Problems, and Offspring Lifetime Alcohol Dependence

PubMed Central

Thompson, Ronald G.; Lizardi, Dana; Keyes, Katherine M.; Hasin, Deborah S.

2013-01-01

Background This study examined whether the experiences of childhood or adolescent parental divorce/separation and parental alcohol problems affected the likelihood of offspring DSM-IV lifetime alcohol dependence, controlling for parental history of drug, depression, and antisocial behavior problems. Method Data were drawn from the 2001–2002 National Epidemiological Survey on Alcohol and Related Conditions (NESARC), a nationally representative United States survey of 43,093 civilian non-institutionalized participants aged 18 and older, interviewed in person. Logistic regression models were used to calculate the main and interaction effects of childhood or adolescent parental divorce/separation and parental history of alcohol problems on offspring lifetime alcohol dependence, after adjusting for parental history of drug, depression, and antisocial behavior problems. Results Childhood or adolescent parental divorce/separation and parental history of alcohol problems were significantly related to offspring lifetime alcohol dependence, after adjusting for parental history of drug, depression, and antisocial behavior problems. Experiencing parental divorce/separation during childhood, even in the absence of parental history of alcohol problems, remained a significant predictor of lifetime alcohol dependence. Experiencing both childhood or adolescent parental divorce/separation and parental alcohol problems had a significantly stronger impact on the risk for DSM-IV alcohol dependence than the risk incurred by either parental risk factor alone. Conclusions Further research is needed to better identify the factors that increase the risk for lifetime alcohol dependence among those who experience childhood or adolescent parental divorce/separation. PMID:18757141

Drunk decisions: Alcohol shifts choice from habitual towards goal-directed control in adolescent intermediate-risk drinkers.

PubMed

Obst, Elisabeth; Schad, Daniel J; Huys, Quentin Jm; Sebold, Miriam; Nebe, Stephan; Sommer, Christian; Smolka, Michael N; Zimmermann, Ulrich S

2018-05-01

Studies in humans and animals suggest a shift from goal-directed to habitual decision-making in addiction. We therefore tested whether acute alcohol administration reduces goal-directed and promotes habitual decision-making, and whether these effects are moderated by self-reported drinking problems. Fifty-three socially drinking males completed the two-step task in a randomised crossover design while receiving an intravenous infusion of ethanol (blood alcohol level=80 mg%), or placebo. To minimise potential bias by long-standing heavy drinking and subsequent neuropsychological impairment, we tested 18- to 19-year-old adolescents. Alcohol administration consistently reduced habitual, model-free decisions, while its effects on goal-directed, model-based behaviour varied as a function of drinking problems measured with the Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test. While adolescents with low risk for drinking problems (scoring <8) exhibited an alcohol-induced numerical reduction in goal-directed choices, intermediate-risk drinkers showed a shift away from habitual towards goal-directed decision-making, such that alcohol possibly even improved their performance. We assume that alcohol disrupted basic cognitive functions underlying habitual and goal-directed decisions in low-risk drinkers, thereby enhancing hasty choices. Further, we speculate that intermediate-risk drinkers benefited from alcohol as a negative reinforcer that reduced unpleasant emotional states, possibly displaying a novel risk factor for drinking in adolescence.

Anxiety sensitivity, coping motives, emotion dysregulation, and alcohol-related outcomes in college women: a moderated-mediation model.

PubMed

Chandley, Rachel B; Luebbe, Aaron M; Messman-Moore, Terri L; Ward, Rose Marie

2014-01-01

The present study examined the relation of anxiety sensitivity to alcohol-related outcomes via coping drinking motives in college women. Further, the impact of emotion dysregulation on the mediational path between anxiety sensitivity and alcohol-related outcomes was investigated. A sample of 223 female undergraduate drinkers from a midwestern university completed self-report surveys assessing alcohol consumption, alcohol-related problems, anxiety sensitivity, coping drinking motives, and emotion dysregulation. Anxiety sensitivity was indirectly related to both alcohol-related problems and alcohol use via coping motives. The indirect effect of anxiety sensitivity on alcohol-related problems (but not alcohol use) was qualified by the level of emotion dysregulation. As individuals reported more emotion dysregulation, the strength of the relation between coping drinking motives and alcohol-related problems increased. Results replicate and extend the link between anxiety sensitivity and alcohol outcomes via the mechanism of negative reinforcement, and they further support the importance of emotion dysregulation in explaining alcohol-related problems among college women. Implications for treatment and prevention of alcohol-related problems in college women are discussed.

Broad social motives, alcohol use, and related problems: Mechanisms of risk from high school through college.

PubMed

Corbin, William R; Iwamoto, Derek K; Fromme, Kim

2011-03-01

Broad social motives (not specific to alcohol use) have been established as an important predictor of alcohol use and problems among college students, but we have little understanding of the mechanisms through which such motives operate. Thus, the current study examined broad social motives prior to college entry as a predictor of college drinking/problems and sought to identify potential mechanisms through which they are associated with increased risk. Participants comprised a sample of 2245 incoming college students (59.9% women) transitioning from high school through the college years. The first web-based survey was completed during the summer prior to matriculation with participants reporting on their behavior during the spring of high school senior year. Additional surveys were administered each academic semester through the fall of the fourth year. High school social motives were examined as a predictor of changes in alcohol use/problems from high school through the senior year, with changes in descriptive norms, personal drinking values, and alcohol expectancies from high school to sophomore year examined as possible mediators of these relations. Descriptive norms, personal drinking values, and alcohol expectancies were robust mediators of broad social motives for both alcohol use and problems. Although there were a few differences by race/ethnicity in the alcohol use model, the mechanisms through which broad social motives operated were largely invariant across groups. These findings shed light on important mechanisms that can be targeted in prevention programs, particularly those that target groups who are likely to be high in broad social motives (e.g., fraternity/sorority members). Copyright © 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Alcohol Interventions Among Underage Drinkers in the ED: A Randomized Controlled Trial.

PubMed

Cunningham, Rebecca M; Chermack, Stephen T; Ehrlich, Peter F; Carter, Patrick M; Booth, Brenda M; Blow, Frederic C; Barry, Kristen L; Walton, Maureen A

2015-10-01

This study examined the efficacy of emergency department (ED)-based brief interventions (BIs), delivered by a computer or therapist, with and without a post-ED session, on alcohol consumption and consequences over 12 months. Patients (ages 14-20 years) screening positive for risky drinking were randomized to: BI (n = 277), therapist BI (n = 278), or control (n = 281). After the 3-month follow-up, participants were randomized to receive a post-ED BI session or control. Incorporating motivational interviewing, the BIs addressed alcohol consumption and consequences, including driving under the influence (DUI), and alcohol-related injury, as well as other concomitant drug use. The computer BI was an offline, Facebook-styled program. Among 4389 patients screened, 1054 patients reported risky drinking and 836 were enrolled in the randomized controlled trial. Regression models examined the main effects of the intervention conditions (versus control) and the interaction effects (ED condition × post-ED condition) on primary outcomes. The therapist and computer BIs significantly reduced consumption at 3 months, consequences at 3 and 12 months, and prescription drug use at 12 months; the computer BI reduced the frequency of DUI at 12 months; and the therapist BI reduced the frequency of alcohol-related injury at 12 months. The post-ED session reduced alcohol consequences at 6 months, benefiting those who had not received a BI in the ED. A single-session BI, delivered by a computer or therapist in the ED, shows promise for underage drinkers. Findings for the fully automated stand-alone computer BI are particularly appealing given the ease of future implementation. Copyright © 2015 by the American Academy of Pediatrics.

Physical health problems among patients seeking treatment for alcohol use disorders: a study in six European cities.

PubMed

Gossop, Michael; Neto, Domingos; Radovanovic, Mirjana; Batra, Anil; Toteva, Sonya; Musalek, Michael; Skutle, Arvid; Goos, Cees

2007-06-01

The present study investigates physical health problems among patients with alcohol use disorders at alcohol treatment agencies in six European cities. The sample comprised 315 patients with a primary alcohol use disorder. Data were collected at admission to treatment using a structured research protocol, and ratings were made by a medically qualified physician subsequent to a physical examination of the patient. Physical health problems were extremely common: 79% of the sample had at least one problem, and 59% had two or more problems. Health problems were often serious, and 60% had at least one health problem that required treatment. The most common problems were gastrointestinal and liver disorders, but about a quarter of the sample had cardiovascular or neurological problems. Frequency of drinking, duration of alcohol use disorder, and severity of alcohol dependence were associated with increased physical morbidity. Current smoking status and age were also associated with poorer physical health. Older drinkers had more physical health problems although they were less severely alcohol dependent than their younger counterparts. The high prevalence of physical health problems among problem drinkers provides opportunities of screening for alcohol use disorders not only in specialist alcohol treatment services but also in other health-care settings. It is recommended that alcohol treatment agencies should provide a full routine health screen of patients at admission to treatment with provision or referral to appropriate treatment.

Influence of gender and race/ethnicity on perceived barriers to help-seeking for alcohol or drug problems.

PubMed

Verissimo, Angie Denisse Otiniano; Grella, Christine E

2017-04-01

This study examines reasons why people do not seek help for alcohol or drug problems by gender and race/ethnicity using data from the National Epidemiologic Survey on Alcohol and Related Conditions (NESARC), a nationally representative survey. Multivariate models were fit for 3 barriers to seeking help (structural, attitudinal, and readiness for change) for either alcohol or drug problems, controlling for socio-demographic characteristics and problem severity. Predicted probabilities were generated to evaluate gender differences by racial/ethnic subgroups. Over three quarters of the samples endorsed attitudinal barriers related to either alcohol or drug use. Generally, women were less likely to endorse attitudinal barriers for alcohol problems. African Americans and Latina/os were less likely than Whites to endorse attitudinal barriers for alcohol problems, Latina/os were less likely than Whites to endorse readiness for change barriers for alcohol and drug problems, however, African Americans were more likely to endorse structural barriers for alcohol problems. Comparisons within racial/ethnic subgroups by gender revealed more complex findings, although across all racial/ethnic groups women endorsed attitudinal barriers for alcohol problems more than men. Study findings suggest the need to tailor interventions to increase access to help for alcohol and drug problems that take into consideration both attitudinal and structural barriers and how these vary across groups. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Influence of Gender and Race/Ethnicity on Perceived Barriers to Help-Seeking for Alcohol or Drug Problems

PubMed Central

Verissimo, Angie Denisse Otiniano

2017-01-01

This study examines reasons why people do not seek help for alcohol or drug problems by gender and race/ethnicity using data from the National Epidemiologic Survey on Alcohol and Related Conditions (NESARC), a nationally representative survey. Multivariate models were fit for 3 barriers to seeking help (structural, attitudinal, and readiness for change) for either alcohol or drug problems, controlling for socio-demographic characteristics and problem severity. Predicted probabilities were generated to evaluate gender differences by racial/ethnic subgroups. Over three quarters of the samples endorsed attitudinal barriers related to either alcohol or drug use. Generally, women were less likely to endorse attitudinal barriers for alcohol problems. African Americans and Latina/os were less likely than Whites to endorse attitudinal barriers for alcohol problems, Latina/os were less likely than Whites to endorse readiness for change barriers for alcohol and drug problems, however, African Americans were more likely to endorse structural barriers for alcohol problems. Comparisons within racial/ethnic subgroups by gender revealed more complex findings, although across all racial/ethnic groups women endorsed attitudinal barriers for alcohol problems more than men. Study findings suggest the need to tailor interventions to increase access to help for alcohol and drug problems that take into consideration both attitudinal and structural barriers and how these vary across groups. PMID:28237055

The Role of Specific Alcohol-Related Problems in Predicting Depressive Experiences in a Cross-Sectional National Household Survey.

PubMed

McBride, Orla; Cheng, Hui G; Slade, Tim; Lynskey, Michael T

2016-11-01

This study examines the type of alcohol-related problems that commonly occur before the onset of depressive experiences to shed light on the mechanisms underlying the alcohol-depression comorbidity relationship. Data were from the 1992 USA National Longitudinal Alcohol Epidemiologic Survey. Analytical sample comprised of drinkers with a prior to past year (PPY) history of alcohol-related problems with or without any experiences of depressed mood in the past year (PY). The prevalence of PPY alcohol-related problems was examined, as well as the ability of specific alcohol problems to predict PY experiences of depressed mood. The type of depressed mood experienced by drinkers with PPY history of alcohol-related problems was compared to those without. All but one alcohol-related problem PPY was more frequently endorsed among drinkers with PY experiences of depressed mood. Controlling for confounders, five alcohol-related problems experienced PPY were significantly predictive of depressed mood PY: tolerance, drinking longer than intended, inability to perform important social and occupational roles/obligations, as well as drinking in physically hazardous situations. Drinkers with alcohol-related problems PPY more frequently experienced difficulties with concentration, energy, and thoughts of death, than those without. Alcohol-related problems are likely associated with depressive experiences through a complex network, whereby experiences of physical dependence and negative consequences increase the likelihood of negative affect. Novel study designs are necessary to fully understand the complex mechanisms underlying this comorbidity. © The Author 2016. Medical Council on Alcohol and Oxford University Press. All rights reserved.

A Web-Based Computer-Tailored Alcohol Prevention Program for Adolescents: Cost-Effectiveness and Intersectoral Costs and Benefits.

PubMed

Drost, Ruben M W A; Paulus, Aggie T G; Jander, Astrid F; Mercken, Liesbeth; de Vries, Hein; Ruwaard, Dirk; Evers, Silvia M A A

2016-04-21

Preventing excessive alcohol use among adolescents is important not only to foster individual and public health, but also to reduce alcohol-related costs inside and outside the health care sector. Computer tailoring can be both effective and cost-effective for working with many lifestyle behaviors, yet the available information on the cost-effectiveness of computer tailoring for reducing alcohol use by adolescents is limited as is information on the costs and benefits pertaining to sectors outside the health care sector, also known as intersectoral costs and benefits (ICBs). The aim was to assess the cost-effectiveness of a Web-based computer-tailored intervention for reducing alcohol use and binge drinking by adolescents from a health care perspective (excluding ICBs) and from a societal perspective (including ICBs). Data used were from the Alcoholic Alert study, a cluster randomized controlled trial with randomization at the level of schools into two conditions. Participants either played a game with tailored feedback on alcohol awareness after the baseline assessment (intervention condition) or received care as usual (CAU), meaning that they had the opportunity to play the game subsequent to the final measurement (waiting list control condition). Data were recorded at baseline (T0=January/February 2014) and after 4 months (T1=May/June 2014) and were used to calculate incremental cost-effectiveness ratios (ICERs), both from a health care perspective and a societal perspective. Stochastic uncertainty in the data was dealt with by using nonparametric bootstraps (5000 simulated replications). Additional sensitivity analyses were conducted based on excluding cost outliers. Subgroup cost-effectiveness analyses were conducted based on several background variables, including gender, age, educational level, religion, and ethnicity. From both the health care perspective and the societal perspective for both outcome measures, the intervention was more costly and more effective in comparison with CAU. ICERs differed for both perspectives, namely €40 and €79 from the health care perspective to €62 and €144 for the societal perspective per incremental reduction of one glass of alcohol per week and one binge drinking occasion per 30 days, respectively. Subgroup analyses showed, from both perspectives and for both outcome measures, that the intervention was cost-effective for older adolescents (aged 17-19 years) and those at a lower educational level and, from a health care perspective, the male and nonreligious adolescent subgroups. Computer-tailored feedback could be a cost-effective way to target alcohol use and binge drinking among adolescents. Including ICBs in the economic evaluation had an impact on the cost-effectiveness results of the analysis. It could be worthwhile to aim the intervention specifically at specific subgroups. Nederlands Trial Register: NTR4048; http://www.trialregister.nl/trialreg/admin/rctview.asp?TC=4048 (Archived by Webcite at http://www.webcitation.org/6c7omN8wG).

A Web-Based Computer-Tailored Alcohol Prevention Program for Adolescents: Cost-Effectiveness and Intersectoral Costs and Benefits

PubMed Central

2016-01-01

Background Preventing excessive alcohol use among adolescents is important not only to foster individual and public health, but also to reduce alcohol-related costs inside and outside the health care sector. Computer tailoring can be both effective and cost-effective for working with many lifestyle behaviors, yet the available information on the cost-effectiveness of computer tailoring for reducing alcohol use by adolescents is limited as is information on the costs and benefits pertaining to sectors outside the health care sector, also known as intersectoral costs and benefits (ICBs). Objective The aim was to assess the cost-effectiveness of a Web-based computer-tailored intervention for reducing alcohol use and binge drinking by adolescents from a health care perspective (excluding ICBs) and from a societal perspective (including ICBs). Methods Data used were from the Alcoholic Alert study, a cluster randomized controlled trial with randomization at the level of schools into two conditions. Participants either played a game with tailored feedback on alcohol awareness after the baseline assessment (intervention condition) or received care as usual (CAU), meaning that they had the opportunity to play the game subsequent to the final measurement (waiting list control condition). Data were recorded at baseline (T0=January/February 2014) and after 4 months (T1=May/June 2014) and were used to calculate incremental cost-effectiveness ratios (ICERs), both from a health care perspective and a societal perspective. Stochastic uncertainty in the data was dealt with by using nonparametric bootstraps (5000 simulated replications). Additional sensitivity analyses were conducted based on excluding cost outliers. Subgroup cost-effectiveness analyses were conducted based on several background variables, including gender, age, educational level, religion, and ethnicity. Results From both the health care perspective and the societal perspective for both outcome measures, the intervention was more costly and more effective in comparison with CAU. ICERs differed for both perspectives, namely €40 and €79 from the health care perspective to €62 and €144 for the societal perspective per incremental reduction of one glass of alcohol per week and one binge drinking occasion per 30 days, respectively. Subgroup analyses showed, from both perspectives and for both outcome measures, that the intervention was cost-effective for older adolescents (aged 17-19 years) and those at a lower educational level and, from a health care perspective, the male and nonreligious adolescent subgroups. Conclusions Computer-tailored feedback could be a cost-effective way to target alcohol use and binge drinking among adolescents. Including ICBs in the economic evaluation had an impact on the cost-effectiveness results of the analysis. It could be worthwhile to aim the intervention specifically at specific subgroups. Trial Registration Nederlands Trial Register: NTR4048; http://www.trialregister.nl/trialreg/admin/rctview.asp?TC=4048 (Archived by Webcite at http://www.webcitation.org/6c7omN8wG) PMID:27103154

Alcohol, Binge Drinking and Associated Mental Health Problems in Young Urban Chileans

PubMed Central

Mason-Jones, Amanda J.; Cabieses, Báltica

2015-01-01

Objective To explore the link between alcohol use, binge drinking and mental health problems in a representative sample of adolescent and young adult Chileans. Methods Age and sex-adjusted Odds Ratios (OR) for four mental wellbeing measures were estimated with separate conditional logistic regression models for adolescents aged 15-20 years, and young adults aged 21-25 years, using population-based estimates of alcohol use prevalence rates from the Chilean National Health Survey 2010. Results Sixty five per cent of adolescents and 85% of young adults reported drinking alcohol in the last year and of those 83% per cent of adolescents and 86% of young adults reported binge drinking in the previous month. Adolescents who reported binging alcohol were also more likely, compared to young adults, to report being always or almost always depressed (OR 12.97 [95% CI, 1.86-19.54]) or to feel very anxious in the last month (OR 9.37 [1.77-19.54]). Adolescent females were more likely to report poor life satisfaction in the previous year than adolescent males (OR 8.50 [1.61-15.78]), feel always or almost always depressed (OR 3.41 [1.25-9.58]). Being female was also associated with a self-reported diagnosis of depression for both age groups (adolescents, OR 4.74 [1.49-15.08] and young adults, OR 4.08 [1.65-10.05]). Conclusion Young people in Chile self-report a high prevalence of alcohol use, binge drinking and associated mental health problems. The harms associated with alcohol consumption need to be highlighted through evidence-based prevention programs. Health and education systems need to be strengthened to screen and support young people. Focussing on policy initiatives to limit beverage companies targeting alcohol to young people will also be needed. PMID:25830508

49 CFR 40.271 - How are alcohol testing problems corrected?

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-10-01

... 49 Transportation 1 2011-10-01 2011-10-01 false How are alcohol testing problems corrected? 40.271... WORKPLACE DRUG AND ALCOHOL TESTING PROGRAMS Problems in Alcohol Testing § 40.271 How are alcohol testing... alcohol test for each employee. (1) If, during or shortly after the testing process, you become aware of...

The Efficacy of Coerced Treatment for Offenders: An Evaluation of Two Residential Forensic Drug and Alcohol Treatment Programs.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Baird, Francis X.; Frankel, Arthur J.

2001-01-01

Reviews the history of community-based treatment for offenders with drug and alcohol addiction. Describes the treatment regimen in two residential programs for offenders with drug and alcohol problems, including a description of the components of the residential treatment model utilized in these two programs. Findings support the efficacy of…

Assessment of Alcohol and Other Drug Use Behaviors in Health Professions Students

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Baldwin, Jeffrey N.; Scott, David M.; Agrawal, Sangeeta; Bartek, Jean K.; Davis-Hall, R. Ellen; Reardon, Thomas P.; DeSimone, Edward M., II

2006-01-01

Alcohol and other drug (AOD) use behaviors of health professions students (HPS) were assessed by surveying both university-based HPS and other nursing programs in a Midwestern state in 1999. Response was 2,646 (56.4%) of surveyed students. Family history of alcohol-related and drug-related problems were reported by 39.8% and 13.9%, respectively,…

Take One for the Team? Influence of Team and Individual Sport Participation on High School Athlete Substance Use Patterns

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kulesza, Magdalena; Grossbard, Joel R.; Kilmer, Jason; Copeland, Amy L.; Larimer, Mary E.

2014-01-01

The current Web-based survey investigated the association between team or individual sport participation (or both) and self-reported alcohol and tobacco use among high school athletes (N = 1,275) transitioning to college. Peak blood alcohol concentration, weekly drinking, and alcohol-related problems were significantly lower among athletes in…

Bar patronage and motivational predictors of drinking in the San Francisco Bay Area: Gender and sexual identity differences

PubMed Central

Trocki, Karen; Drabble, Laurie

2009-01-01

Prior research has found differences in heavier drinking by both gender and sexual orientation. Heavier drinking and alcohol-related problems appear to be higher in sexual minority populations, particularly among women. It has been suggested that differences may be explained in part by socializing in bars and other public drinking venues. This paper explores bar patronage, alcohol consumption, alcohol-related problems, and reasons for going to bars in relation to both gender and sexual orientation based on two different samples: respondents from a random digit dial (RDD) probability study of 1,043 households in Northern California and 569 individuals who were surveyed exiting from 25 different bars in the same three counties that constituted the RDD sample. Bar patrons, in most instances, regardless of gender or sexual identity were at much higher risk of excessive consumption and related problems and consequences. On several key variables, women from the bar patron sample exceeded the problem rates of men in the general population. Bisexual women and men were elevated on a majority of the alcohol measures relative to heterosexuals. Measures of heavier drinking and alcohol-related problems were also elevated among lesbians compared to heterosexual women. Lesbian and gay respondents were less likely to endorse various motives as being important to their bar patronage. Finally, two of the bar motive variables, sensation seeking and mood change motives, were particularly predictive of heavier drinking and alcohol-related problems. Social motives did not predict problems. The findings suggest that bar patrons constitute a population of individuals who require special attention in prevention and intervention that should be tailored to their interests while taking into consideration their unique motivational needs. PMID:19248392

Educational differences in continuing or restarting drinking in early and late pregnancy: role of psychological and physical problems.

PubMed

Pfinder, Manuela; Kunst, Anton E; Feldmann, Reinhold; van Eijsden, Manon; Vrijkotte, Tanja G M

2014-01-01

Many women continue drinking alcohol during pregnancy. This study aimed to describe educational differences in continued drinking in early and late pregnancy and to examine the contribution of psychological and physical factors to the explanation of educational differences. We examined 4,885 women enrolled in the Amsterdam Born Children and their Development study. Information on alcohol intake during pregnancy was based on self-reports at the 16th week of gestation and at 3 months postpartum. Only women who reported alcohol intake before pregnancy were included. Explanatory factors were alcohol intake before pregnancy, psychological problems, and physical problems. The risk of continued drinking in early pregnancy was increased in higher educated women (odds ratio [OR] = 1.41, 95% CI [1.25, 1.60]); in addition, in late pregnancy, higher educated women had an increased risk of restarting (OR = 1.67, 95% CI [1.37, 2.04]) and continuing drinking (OR = 1.77, 95% CI [1.36, 2.30]). The intensity of alcohol intake before pregnancy and all physical and psychological problems together explained 17.1% and 8.8% of the educational differences in continued drinking in early pregnancy, respectively. Higher educated women are more likely to continue drinking during pregnancy. The intensity of alcohol intake before pregnancy and physical and psychological problems contributed to the explanation of continued drinking. However, other factors may play a greater role, such as cultural factors and social norms.

College Students' Drinking and Posting About Alcohol: Forwarding a Model of Motivations, Behaviors, and Consequences.

PubMed

Thompson, Charee M; Romo, Lynsey K

2016-06-01

College drinking continues to remain a public health problem that has been exacerbated by alcohol-related posts on social networking sites (SNSs). Although existing research has linked alcohol consumption, alcohol posts, and adverse consequences to one another, comprehensive explanations for these associations have been largely unexplored. Thus, we reasoned that students' personal motivations (i.e., espousing an alcohol identity, needing entertainment, and adhering to social norms) influence their behaviors (i.e., alcohol consumption and alcohol-related posting on SNSs), which can lead to alcohol problems. Using structural equation modeling, we analyzed data from 364 undergraduate students and found general support for our model. In particular, espousing an alcohol identity predicted alcohol consumption and alcohol-related SNS posting, needing entertainment predicted alcohol consumption but not alcohol-related SNS posting, and adhering to social norms predicted alcohol-related SNS posting but not alcohol consumption. In turn, alcohol consumption and alcohol-related SNS posting predicted alcohol problems. It is surprising that alcohol-related SNS posting was a stronger predictor of alcohol problems than alcohol consumption. We discuss the findings within their applied applications for college student health.

Adolescent computer use and alcohol use: what are the role of quantity and content of computer use?

PubMed

Epstein, Jennifer A

2011-05-01

The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between computer use and alcohol use among adolescents. In particular, the goal of the research was to determine the role of lifetime drinking and past month drinking on quantity as measured by amount of time on the computer (for school work and excluding school work) and on content as measured by the frequency of a variety of activities on the internet (e.g., e-mail, searching for information, social networking, listen to/download music). Participants (aged 13-17 years and residing in the United States) were recruited via the internet to complete an anonymous survey online using a popular survey tool (N=270). Their average age was 16 and the sample was predominantly female (63% girls). A series of analyses was conducted with the computer use measures as dependent variables (hours on the computer per week for school work and excluding school work; various internet activities including e-mail, searching for information, social networking, listen to/download music) controlling for gender, age, academic performance and age of first computer use. Based on the results, past month drinkers used the computer more hours per week excluding school work than those who did not. As expected, there were no differences in hours based on alcohol use for computer use for school work. Drinking also had relationships with more frequent social networking and listening to/downloading music. These findings suggest that both quantity and content of computer use were related to adolescent drinking. Copyright © 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Drinking to cope mediates the relationship between depression and alcohol risk: Different pathways for college and non-college young adults.

PubMed

Kenney, Shannon R; Anderson, Bradley J; Stein, Michael D

2018-05-01

It is well-established that drinking to cope with negative affective states mediates the relationship between depressed mood and alcohol risk outcomes among college students. Whether non-college emerging adults exhibit a similar pathway remains unknown. In the current study, we compared the mediating role of coping motives in the relationship between depressive symptoms and drinking risk outcomes (heavy episodic drinking and alcohol problems) in college and non-college emerging adult subgroups. Participants were three hundred forty-one community-recruited 18-25year olds reporting past month alcohol use. We used a structural equation modeling (SEM) for our primary mediation analysis and bias-corrected bootstrap resampling for testing the statistical significance of mediation. Participants averaged 20.8 (±1.97) years of age, 49% were female, 67.7% were White, 34.6% were college students, and 65.4% were non-college emerging adults. College and non-college emerging adults reported similar levels of drinking, alcohol problems, and drinking to cope with negative affect, and drinking to cope was associated with alcohol-related problems in both samples. However, while drinking to cope mediated the relationship between depressed mood and alcohol problems among students, it did not mediate the pathway among non-college emerging adults. These findings caution against extending college-based findings to non-college populations and underscore the need to better understand the role of coping motives and other intervening factors in pathways linking depressed mood and alcohol-related risk in non-college emerging adults. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Missed Opportunity for Alcohol Problem Prevention Among Army Active Duty Service Members Postdeployment

PubMed Central

Mohr, Beth A.; Adams, Rachel Sayko; Wooten, Nikki R.; Williams, Thomas V.

2014-01-01

Objectives. We identified to what extent the Department of Defense postdeployment health surveillance program identifies at-risk drinking, alone or in conjunction with psychological comorbidities, and refers service members who screen positive for additional assessment or care. Methods. We completed a cross-sectional analysis of 333 803 US Army active duty members returning from Iraq or Afghanistan deployments in fiscal years 2008 to 2011 with a postdeployment health assessment. Alcohol measures included 2 based on self-report quantity-frequency items—at-risk drinking (positive Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test alcohol consumption questions [AUDIT-C] screen) and severe alcohol problems (AUDIT-C score of 8 or higher)—and another based on the interviewing provider’s assessment. Results. Nearly 29% of US Army active duty members screened positive for at-risk drinking, and 5.6% had an AUDIT-C score of 8 or higher. Interviewing providers identified potential alcohol problems among only 61.8% of those screening positive for at-risk drinking and only 74.9% of those with AUDIT-C scores of 8 or higher. They referred for a follow-up visit to primary care or another setting only 29.2% of at-risk drinkers and only 35.9% of those with AUDIT-C scores of 8 or higher. Conclusions. This study identified missed opportunities for early intervention for at-risk drinking. Future research should evaluate the effect of early intervention on long-term outcomes. PMID:24922163

Alcohol-Related Problems in High-Risk Groups. EURO Reports and Studies 109. Report on a WHO Study.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Plant, Martin, Ed.

Alcohol consumption has risen dramatically in many countries since the Second World War. Accompanying this rise has been a rise in alcohol-related problems, including liver cirrhosis mortality, alcohol dependence, and alcohol-related crimes and accidents. Alcohol misuse presents huge health, social, and legal problems throughout most of Europe and…

The Sacramento Neighborhood Alcohol Prevention Project: Outcomes From a Community Prevention Trial*

PubMed Central

Treno, Andrew J.; Gruenewald, Paul J.; Lee, Juliet P.; Remer, Lillian G.

2014-01-01

Objective This article reports the results of the Sacramento Neighborhood Alcohol Prevention Project (SNAPP). SNAPP set as its goal the reduction of alcohol access, drinking, and related problems in two low-income, predominantly ethnic minority neighborhoods, focusing on individuals between the ages 15 and 29, an age group identified with high rates of alcohol-involved problems. Method Two neighborhoods in Sacramento were selected to be the intervention sites because they were economically and ethnically diverse and had high rates of crime and other drinking-related problems. The quasi-experimental design of the study took a “phased” approach to program implementation and statistical examination of outcome data. Outcome-related data were collected in the intervention sites as well as in the Sacramento community at large. Five project interventions included a mobilization component to support the overall project, a community awareness component, a responsible beverage-service component, an underage-access law enforcement component, and an intoxicated-patron law enforcement component. Archival data were collected to measure and evaluate study outcomes and to provide background and demographic information for the study. Results Overall, we found significant (p < .05) reductions in assaults as reported by police, aggregate emergency medical services (EMS) outcomes, EMS assaults, and EMS motor vehicle accidents. Conclusions Results from the Sacramento Neighborhood Alcohol Prevention Project demonstrate the effectiveness of neighborhood-based interventions in the reduction of alcohol-related problems such as assaults, motor vehicle crashes, and sale of alcohol to minors. PMID:17286338

Support vector machine and fuzzy C-mean clustering-based comparative evaluation of changes in motor cortex electroencephalogram under chronic alcoholism.

PubMed

Kumar, Surendra; Ghosh, Subhojit; Tetarway, Suhash; Sinha, Rakesh Kumar

2015-07-01

In this study, the magnitude and spatial distribution of frequency spectrum in the resting electroencephalogram (EEG) were examined to address the problem of detecting alcoholism in the cerebral motor cortex. The EEG signals were recorded from chronic alcoholic conditions (n = 20) and the control group (n = 20). Data were taken from motor cortex region and divided into five sub-bands (delta, theta, alpha, beta-1 and beta-2). Three methodologies were adopted for feature extraction: (1) absolute power, (2) relative power and (3) peak power frequency. The dimension of the extracted features is reduced by linear discrimination analysis and classified by support vector machine (SVM) and fuzzy C-mean clustering. The maximum classification accuracy (88 %) with SVM clustering was achieved with the EEG spectral features with absolute power frequency on F4 channel. Among the bands, relatively higher classification accuracy was found over theta band and beta-2 band in most of the channels when computed with the EEG features of relative power. Electrodes wise CZ, C3 and P4 were having more alteration. Considering the good classification accuracy obtained by SVM with relative band power features in most of the EEG channels of motor cortex, it can be suggested that the noninvasive automated online diagnostic system for the chronic alcoholic condition can be developed with the help of EEG signals.

Alcohol studies and science: trapped in the velvet cage of medical research? An editorial.

PubMed

Roman, Paul M

2014-01-01

This article offers the author's assessment of the progress in research on alcohol related to alcohol misuse and alcohol use disorders. The historical background of alcohol-problem research is reviewed in the context of defining problems for study and the pattern by which research is funded. Progress in terms of cumulative research has been affected by the lack of central authority and the National Institutes of Health structure within which almost all funding for alcohol research in the United States has occurred. Problems are traced to the particular history and nature of alcohol-problem research, the continuing prominence of moral elements, and particular features of the treatment of alcohol use disorders. Although the scope of activity and production of publications in alcohol research has expanded greatly during the past 75 years, there is a potential shortfall in the cumulative research that has led to solutions to major problems associated with alcohol.

Housing Retention in Single-Site Housing First for Chronically Homeless Individuals With Severe Alcohol Problems

PubMed Central

Malone, Daniel K.; Clifasefi, Seema L.

2013-01-01

Objectives. We studied housing retention and its predictors in the single-site Housing First model. Methods. Participants (n = 111) were chronically homeless people with severe alcohol problems who lived in a single-site Housing First program and participated in a larger nonrandomized controlled trial (2005–2008) conducted in Seattle, Washington. At baseline, participants responded to self-report questionnaires assessing demographic, illness burden, alcohol and other drug use, and psychiatric variables. Housing status was recorded over 2 years. Results. Participants were interested in housing, although a sizable minority did not believe they would be able to maintain abstinence-based housing. Only 23% of participants returned to homelessness during the 2-year follow-up. Commonly cited risk factors—alcohol and other drug use, illness burden, psychiatric symptoms, and homelessness history—did not predict resumed homelessness. Active drinkers were more likely to stay in this housing project than nondrinkers. Conclusions. We found that single-site Housing First programming fills a gap in housing options for chronically homeless people with severe alcohol problems. PMID:24148063

Daily Stressors as Antecedents, Correlates, and Consequences of Alcohol and Drug Use and Cravings in Community-Based Offenders

PubMed Central

Neupert, Shevaun D.; Desmarais, Sarah L.; Gray, Julie S.; Cohn, Amy M.; Doherty, Stephen; Knight, Kevin

2017-01-01

Justice-involved individuals with alcohol and drug use problems reoffend at higher rates than their non-using counterparts, with alcohol and drug use serving as an important vector to recidivism. At the daily level, exposure to stressors may exacerbate problematic alcohol and drug use; at the individual-level, prior treatment experiences may mitigate substance use as individuals adapt to and learn new coping mechanisms. We conducted a daily diary study using Interactive Voice Response (IVR) technology over 14 consecutive days with 117 men on probation or parole participating in a community-based treatment program (n = 860 calls) and referred to medication-assisted treatment. Participants reported daily stressors, craving for alcohol and illegal drugs, and use of alcohol and illegal drugs one time each day. Results of multilevel models showed significant day-to-day fluctuation in alcohol and drug craving and use. In concurrent models, increases in daily stressors were associated with increases in cravings and use of illegal drugs. Prior treatment experience modified many of these relationships, and additional lagged models revealed that those with less treatment experience reported an increase in next-day alcohol craving when they experienced increases in stressors on the previous day compared to those with more treatment experience. Collectively, these findings highlight the importance of tailoring treatment as a function of individual differences, including prior treatment experiences, and targeting daily stressors and subsequent cravings among justice-involved adults with alcohol and drug use problems. PMID:28383933

Alcohol-related driving in China: Countermeasure implications of research conducted in two cities.

PubMed

Jia, Keqin; Fleiter, Judy; King, Mark; Sheehan, Mary; Ma, Wenjun; Lei, Jing; Zhang, Jianzhen

2016-10-01

Drunk driving (blood alcohol concentration (BAC) 80mg/100ml) was upgraded to become a criminal offence under China's Criminal Law in May 2011. While this had a major road safety benefit, there was still a high level of alcohol related crashes and fatalities. This paper develops recommendations based on a programme of research undertaken in 2012 that examined the perceptions of general motor vehicle drivers, convicted drunk driving offenders and traffic police about drinking and driving and law enforcement in the cities of Guangzhou and Yinchuan. Alcohol misuse problems were also explored using the Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test (AUDIT). This paper integrates the findings to examine existing problems in alcohol management, law enforcement, education and rehabilitation and provides recommendations for addressing alcohol-related driving in China. A multi-study cross-sectional research programme was conducted in two Chinese cities involving general drivers, drunk driving offenders and traffic police. In total, 16 traffic police officers were interviewed and 105 traffic police officers were surveyed. In addition, 207 drunk driving offenders in detention facilities and 802 general motor vehicle drivers were surveyed. Traffic police resources including human resources and facilities such as breathalysers were reported as insufficient in both cities. There were problems reported in the process of law enforcement, and shortcomings in police knowledge of factors involved in drink/drunk driving and in the practice of conducting breath alcohol testing (BAT). Knowledge about legal BAC levels and how to keep under the legal limit was very low among general motor vehicle drivers and drunk driving offenders. Proportions with alcohol misuse problems in the two driver groups were high, especially among offenders. Recommendations to manage alcohol-related driving are proposed for the three groups of traffic police, general motor vehicle drivers and drunk driving offenders. In particular, traffic police resources need to be improved and further education provided to police on the general deterrence potential of BAT. There should be enhanced community education and publicity to improve knowledge of drink driving regulations and how to avoid breaking the law. Alcohol misuse problems should be addressed, particularly for drunk driving offenders. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

The importance of a positive family history of alcoholism, parental rejection and emotional warmth, behavioral problems and peer substance use for alcohol problems in teenagers: a path analysis.

PubMed

Barnow, Sven; Schuckit, Marc A; Lucht, Michael; John, Ulrich; Freyberger, Harald J

2002-05-01

The purpose of this study was to test a hypothetical model of alcohol problems in German adolescents. Among 180 offspring, family history of alcoholism, parenting styles, behavioral and emotional problems, peer-group characteristics, feelings of self-esteem, behavioral problems and psychiatric comorbidity of the parents were examined. Data were generated from the Study of Health in Pomerania (SHIP), in which families were randomly selected if 12-18 year old biological offspring were members of the household; a smaller group of subjects was selected from local outpatient treatment centers. Members of 133 families, including 180 (50.6% male) offspring who were appropriate for the current analyses, received personal semistructured diagnostic interviews and several self-rating questionnaires. Analyses compared offspring with alcohol problems (AP; n = 40) and with no alcohol problems (NAP; n = 140), and used structural equation modeling to test a hypothetical model. The comparisons revealed that the AP group had significantly more behavioral problems (e.g., aggression/delinquency), more perceived parental rejection and less emotional warmth, a higher amount of alcohol consumption, were more likely to associate with substance-using peers and more often received a diagnosis of conduct disorder or antisocial personality disorder. Whereas the family history of alcoholism did not differ significantly between groups, parents of offspring with an alcohol use disorder had significantly more additional diagnoses on DSM-IV Axis I. The evaluation of the model supported the importance of aggression/delinquency and association with substance-using peers for alcohol problems in people. An additional diagnosis in the parents was directly and indirectly (through aggression/delinquency) related to alcohol problems of the adolescents. The data indicate that alcohol problems in the offspring are associated with several domains of influence in their environment. Prospective studies measuring both biological and environmental factors using sufficient sample sizes will be needed for optimal understanding of the development of alcohol problems in youth.

Development and preliminary validation of a behavioral task of negative reinforcement underlying risk taking and its relation to problem alcohol use in college freshmen

PubMed Central

MacPherson, Laura; Calvin, Nicholas T.; Richards, Jessica M.; Guller, Leila; Mayes, Linda C.; Crowley, Michael J.; Daughters, Stacey B.; Lejuez, C.W.

2011-01-01

Background A long line of theoretical and empirical evidence implicates negative reinforcement as a process underlying the etiology and maintenance of risky alcohol use behaviors from adolescence through emerging adulthood. However, the bulk of this literature has relied on self-report measures and there is a notable absence of behavioral modes of assessments of negative reinforcement-based alcohol-related risk-taking. To address this clear gap in the literature, the current study presents the first published data on the reliability and validity of the Maryland Resource for the Behavioral Utilization of the Reinforcement of Negative Stimuli (MRBURNS), which is a modified version of the positive reinforcement-based Balloon Analogue Risk Task (BART). Methods Participants included a convenience sample of 116 college freshmen ever regular drinkers (aged 18–19) who completed both behavioral tasks; self-report measures of negative reinforcement/avoidance constructs and of positive reinforcement/appetitive constructs to examine convergent validity and discriminant validity, respectively; and self-report measures of alcohol use, problems, and motives to examine criterion validity. Results The MRBURNS evidenced sound experimental properties and reliability across task trials. In support of convergent validity, risk taking on the MRBURNS correlated significantly with negative urgency, difficulties in emotion regulation and depressive and anxiety-related symptoms. In support of discriminant validity, performance on the MRBURNS was unrelated to risk taking on the BART, sensation seeking, and trait impulsivity. Finally, pertaining to criterion validity, risk taking on the MRBURNS was related to alcohol-related problems but not heavy episodic alcohol use. Notably, risk taking on the MRBURNS was associated with negative reinforcement-based but not with positive reinforcement-based drinking motives. Conclusions Data from this initial investigation suggest the utility of the MRBURNS as a behavioral measure of negative-reinforcement based risk-taking that can provide a useful compliment to existing self-report measures to improve our understanding of the relationship between avoidant reinforcement processes and risky alcohol use. PMID:22309846

Alcohol Expectancies Mediate and Moderate the Associations between Big Five Personality Traits and Adolescent Alcohol Consumption and Alcohol-Related Problems.

PubMed

Ibáñez, Manuel I; Camacho, Laura; Mezquita, Laura; Villa, Helena; Moya-Higueras, Jorge; Ortet, Generós

2015-01-01

Personality and expectancies are relevant psychological factors for the development of adolescent alcohol use and misuse. The present study examined their direct, mediated and moderated effects on different drinking behaviors in adolescence. Personality domains of the five-factor model, positive and negative alcohol expectancies (AEs), alcohol use during the week and the weekend, and alcohol-related problems were assessed in a sample of 361 adolescents. Different personality dimensions were directly associated with specific alcohol outcomes: Extraversion, low Conscientiousness and low Openness were associated with weekend alcohol use; low Agreeableness was related to weekday use; whereas low Agreeableness, low Conscientiousness and Extraversion were associated with alcohol-related problems. In addition, positive AEs mediated the relationship between Extraversion and alcohol use, whereas both positive and negative expectancies mediated the association between Neuroticism and alcohol consumption and alcohol-related problems. Finally, both types of expectancies interacted with Extraversion to predict alcohol problems. Our results highlight the importance of examining the complex interplay of comprehensive personality models and AEs to gain a better understanding of the development of different alcohol use and misuse patterns in adolescence.

Personal and parental problem drinking: effects on problem-solving performance and self-appraisal.

PubMed

Slavkin, S L; Heimberg, R G; Winning, C D; McCaffrey, R J

1992-01-01

This study examined the problem-solving performances and self-appraisals of problem-solving ability of college-age subjects with and without parental history of problem drinking. Contrary to our predictions, children of problem drinkers (COPDs) were rated as somewhat more effective in their problem-solving skills than non-COPDs, undermining prevailing assumptions about offspring from alcoholic households. While this difference was not large and was qualified by other variables, subjects' own alcohol abuse did exert a detrimental effect on problem-solving performance, regardless of parental history of problem drinking. However, a different pattern was evident for problem-solving self-appraisals. Alcohol-abusing non-COPDs saw themselves as effective problem-solvers while alcohol-abusing COPDs appraised themselves as poor problem-solvers. In addition, the self-appraisals of alcohol-abusing COPDs were consistent with objective ratings of solution effectiveness (i.e., they were both negative) while alcohol-abusing non-COPDs were overly positive in their appraisals, opposing the judgments of trained raters. This finding suggests that the relationship between personal alcohol abuse and self-appraised problem-solving abilities may differ as a function of parental history of problem drinking. Limitations on the generalizability of findings are addressed.

Gender, intoxication and the developing brain: Problematisations of drinking among young adults in Australian alcohol policy.

PubMed

Manton, Elizabeth; Moore, David

2016-05-01

In this article, we draw on recent scholarly work in the poststructuralist analysis of policy to consider how policy itself functions as a key site in the constitution of alcohol 'problems', and the political implications of these problematisations. We do this by examining Australian alcohol policy as it relates to young adults (18-24 years old). Our critical analysis focuses on three national alcohol policies (1990, 2001 and 2006) and two Victorian state alcohol policies (2008 and 2013), which together span a 25-year period. We argue that Australian alcohol policies have conspicuously ignored young adult men, despite their ongoing over-representation in the statistical 'evidence base' on alcohol-related harm, while increasingly problematising alcohol consumption amongst other population subgroups. We also identify the development of a new problem representation in Australian alcohol policy, that of 'intoxication' as the leading cause of alcohol-related harm and rising hospital admissions, and argue that changes in the classification and diagnosis of intoxication may have contributed to its prioritisation and problematisation in alcohol policy at the expense of other forms of harm. Finally, we draw attention to how preliminary and inconclusive research on the purported association between binge drinking and brain development in those under 25 years old has been mobilised prematurely to support calls to increase the legal purchasing age from 18 to 21 years. Our critical analysis of the treatment of these three issues - gender, intoxication, and brain development - is intended to highlight the ways in which policy functions as a key site in the constitution of alcohol 'problems'. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Preventing Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders: An Evidence-Based Prevention Program for Adolescent and Adult Hispanic Females in the South Texas Border Region

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Russell, Todd T.; Craddock, Christopher S.; Kodatt, Stephanie A.; Ramirez, Dora Maria

2017-01-01

Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders (FASD) present serious problems for the twenty-first century. These disorders describe a variety of neurological and behavioral deficits that result from exposure of an unborn child to alcohol during pregnancy. While thousands of children are diagnosed with FASD annually, FASD is completely preventable if women…

Physical and social availability of alcohol for young enlisted naval personnel in and around home port

PubMed Central

Moore, Roland S; Ames, Genevieve M; Cunradi, Carol B

2007-01-01

Background Heavy alcohol consumption rates are higher in the young adult military enlisted population than among civilians of the same age. The literature on alcohol availability, both generally and specifically with respect to work-related drinking, establishes clear links between ease of access, alcohol consumption rates and alcohol-related problems. Methods In this paper, a qualitative analysis of 50 semi-structured interviews with U.S. Navy personnel was combined with quantitative findings from a mail survey of 713 young enlisted men and women in order to shed light on alcohol availability and its correlates in the home port environments of young adult enlisted personnel. The interviews were analyzed by two anthropologists seeking recurring themes or topics related to alcohol availability. These qualitative data were contextualized by descriptive statistics of the survey responses regarding ease of obtaining alcohol on and around naval bases, and from friends in and out of the Navy. Results Findings associated with social and physical availability of alcohol include low prices in Navy Exchange base stores, frequent barracks parties, drink promotions in bars surrounding bases, and multiple opportunities for underage drinking despite age limits on alcohol purchases and official efforts to deglamorize alcohol use in the Navy. Both qualitative and qualitative findings suggest that respondents found alcohol and opportunities to drink overwhelmingly available in both on-base and off-base settings, and from friends both in and out of the Navy. Conclusion There is qualitative and quantitative evidence for extensive physical and social availability of alcohol in and around bases for young adults in the military. Policy implications include raising the presently tax-free alcohol prices in base stores and enforcing existing policies regarding underage drinking, particularly the provision of alcohol by people of legal drinking age, and by bars in and around bases. Cooperative preventive efforts with surrounding communities also offer promising ways for bases to reduce alcohol availability for young adult servicemembers. PMID:17603908

Physical and social availability of alcohol for young enlisted naval personnel in and around home port.

PubMed

Moore, Roland S; Ames, Genevieve M; Cunradi, Carol B

2007-06-30

Heavy alcohol consumption rates are higher in the young adult military enlisted population than among civilians of the same age. The literature on alcohol availability, both generally and specifically with respect to work-related drinking, establishes clear links between ease of access, alcohol consumption rates and alcohol-related problems. In this paper, a qualitative analysis of 50 semi-structured interviews with U.S. Navy personnel was combined with quantitative findings from a mail survey of 713 young enlisted men and women in order to shed light on alcohol availability and its correlates in the home port environments of young adult enlisted personnel. The interviews were analyzed by two anthropologists seeking recurring themes or topics related to alcohol availability. These qualitative data were contextualized by descriptive statistics of the survey responses regarding ease of obtaining alcohol on and around naval bases, and from friends in and out of the Navy. Findings associated with social and physical availability of alcohol include low prices in Navy Exchange base stores, frequent barracks parties, drink promotions in bars surrounding bases, and multiple opportunities for underage drinking despite age limits on alcohol purchases and official efforts to deglamorize alcohol use in the Navy. Both qualitative and qualitative findings suggest that respondents found alcohol and opportunities to drink overwhelmingly available in both on-base and off-base settings, and from friends both in and out of the Navy. There is qualitative and quantitative evidence for extensive physical and social availability of alcohol in and around bases for young adults in the military. Policy implications include raising the presently tax-free alcohol prices in base stores and enforcing existing policies regarding underage drinking, particularly the provision of alcohol by people of legal drinking age, and by bars in and around bases. Cooperative preventive efforts with surrounding communities also offer promising ways for bases to reduce alcohol availability for young adult servicemembers.

Effects of AlcoholEdu for College on Alcohol-Related Problems Among Freshmen: A Randomized Multicampus Trial*

PubMed Central

Paschall, Mallie J.; Antin, Tamar; Ringwalt, Christopher L.; Saltz, Robert F.

2011-01-01

Objective: AlcoholEdu for College is a 2- to 3-hour online course for incoming college freshmen. This study was the first multicampus trial to examine effects of AlcoholEdu for College on alcohol-related problems among freshmen. Method: Thirty universi participated in the study. Fifteen were randomly assigned to receive AlcoholEdu, and the other 15 were assigned to the control condition. AlcoholEdu was implemented by intervention schools during the summer and/or fall semester. Cross-sectional surveys of freshmen were conducted at each university beginning before the intervention in spring 2008/2009; post-intervention surveys were administered in fall 2008/2009 and spring 2009/2010. The surveys included questions about the past-30-day frequency of 28 alcohol-related problems, from which we created indices for the total number of problems and problems in seven domains: physiological, academic, social, driving under the influence/riding with drinking drivers, aggression, sexual risk taking, and victimization. Multilevel Poisson regression analyses were conducted to examine intent-to-treat and dosage effects of AlcoholEdu for College on these outcomes. Results: Multilevel intent-to-treat analyses indicated significant reductions in the risk for past-30-day alcohol problems in general and problems in the physiological, social, and victimization domains during the fall semester immediately after completion of the course. However, these effects did not persist in the spring semester. Additional analyses suggested stronger AlcoholEdu effects on these outcomes at colleges with higher rates of student course completion. No AlcoholEdu effects were observed for alcohol-related problems in the other four domains. Conclusions: AlcoholEdu for College appears to have beneficial short-term effects on victimization and the most common types of alcohol-related problems among freshmen. Universities may benefit the most by mandating AlcoholEdu for College for all incoming freshmen and by implementing this online course along with environmental prevention strategies. PMID:21683046

Computer-aided diagnosis of alcoholism-related EEG signals.

PubMed

Acharya, U Rajendra; S, Vidya; Bhat, Shreya; Adeli, Hojjat; Adeli, Amir

2014-12-01

Alcoholism is a severe disorder that affects the functionality of neurons in the central nervous system (CNS) and alters the behavior of the affected person. Electroencephalogram (EEG) signals can be used as a diagnostic tool in the evaluation of subjects with alcoholism. The neurophysiological interpretation of EEG signals in persons with alcoholism (PWA) is based on observation and interpretation of the frequency and power in their EEGs compared to EEG signals from persons without alcoholism. This paper presents a review of the known features of EEGs obtained from PWA and proposes that the impact of alcoholism on the brain can be determined by computer-aided analysis of EEGs through extracting the minute variations in the EEG signals that can differentiate the EEGs of PWA from those of nonaffected persons. The authors advance the idea of automated computer-aided diagnosis (CAD) of alcoholism by employing the EEG signals. This is achieved through judicious combination of signal processing techniques such as wavelet, nonlinear dynamics, and chaos theory and pattern recognition and classification techniques. A CAD system is cost-effective and efficient and can be used as a decision support system by physicians in the diagnosis and treatment of alcoholism especially those who do not specialize in alcoholism or neurophysiology. It can also be of great value to rehabilitation centers to assess PWA over time and to monitor the impact of treatment aimed at minimizing or reversing the effects of the disease on the brain. A CAD system can be used to determine the extent of alcoholism-related changes in EEG signals (low, medium, high) and the effectiveness of therapeutic plans. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

A computer-assisted motivational social network intervention to reduce alcohol, drug and HIV risk behaviors among Housing First residents.

PubMed

Kennedy, David P; Hunter, Sarah B; Chan Osilla, Karen; Maksabedian, Ervant; Golinelli, Daniela; Tucker, Joan S

2016-03-15

Individuals transitioning from homelessness to housing face challenges to reducing alcohol, drug and HIV risk behaviors. To aid in this transition, this study developed and will test a computer-assisted intervention that delivers personalized social network feedback by an intervention facilitator trained in motivational interviewing (MI). The intervention goal is to enhance motivation to reduce high risk alcohol and other drug (AOD) use and reduce HIV risk behaviors. In this Stage 1b pilot trial, 60 individuals that are transitioning from homelessness to housing will be randomly assigned to the intervention or control condition. The intervention condition consists of four biweekly social network sessions conducted using MI. AOD use and HIV risk behaviors will be monitored prior to and immediately following the intervention and compared to control participants' behaviors to explore whether the intervention was associated with any systematic changes in AOD use or HIV risk behaviors. Social network health interventions are an innovative approach for reducing future AOD use and HIV risk problems, but little is known about their feasibility, acceptability, and efficacy. The current study develops and pilot-tests a computer-assisted intervention that incorporates social network visualizations and MI techniques to reduce high risk AOD use and HIV behaviors among the formerly homeless. CLINICALTRIALS. NCT02140359.

Integrating Case Topics in Medical School Curriculum to Enhance Multiple Skill Learning: Using Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders as an Exemplary Case

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Paley, Blair; O'Connor, Mary J.; Baillie, Susan J.; Guiton, Gretchen; Stuber, Margaret L.

2009-01-01

Objectives: This article describes the use of fetal alcohol spectrum disorders (FASDs) as a theme to connect the learning of basic neurosciences with clinical applications across the age span within a systems-based, integrated curricular structure that emphasizes problem-based learning. Methods: In collaboration with the Centers for Disease…

Function in job seekers with mental illness and drug and alcohol problems who access community based disability employment services.

PubMed

Matthews, Lynda R; Harris, Lynne M; Jaworski, Alison; Alam, Ashraful; Bozdag, Gokcen

2013-03-01

This study identified functioning, health, and social needs in jobseekers with mental disorders independently assessed as having capacity to work and referred to disability employment services. Differences in function between jobseekers with mental illness alone and with additional drug and alcohol problems were examined with view to identifying interventions for vocational rehabilitation. A convenience sample of 116 jobseekers completed BASIS-32, CANSAS, AUDIT, DAST-10 and 6 items from the EXIT interview and were divided into two groups: mental illness only, and additional drug and alcohol issues (AUDIT total score >8 and/or DAST total score >3). Analysis of variance was used to determine group differences. Jobseekers reported low-moderate problems with function. Over 40% of the sample reported unresolved psychological distress, physical health needs, and social/daytime activity needs. Thirty-five jobseekers (30%) had additional drug and alcohol problems and reported significantly greater difficulty with impulsive/addictive behavior and poorer memory and executive function than the mental illness only group. No significant differences were identified in past work functioning. Screening all job seekers for psychological, physical, and social needs to identify suitable treatment and rehabilitation strategies and providing interventions that improve emotional regulation and executive function for job seekers with additional drug and alcohol problems may improve employability of job seekers accessing disability employment services.

[Trans-Cultural Prevention of Alcohol-Related Disorders in Elderly Immigrants].

PubMed

Bermejo, I; Frank, F

2015-09-01

In migrants alcohol-related problems increase with increasing age. This group, in particular, is hardly reached by alcohol-specific care offers. Thus our project aimed at the identification of target group-specific barriers to health-care use by means of a cross-sectional study (n=435). Based on these results a trans-cultural concept for alcohol prevention among elderly migrants was developed and evaluated in a cluster-randomised controlled trial (n=176). © Georg Thieme Verlag KG Stuttgart · New York.

Insecure Attachment Styles, Relationship-Drinking Contexts, and Marital Alcohol Problems: Testing the Mediating Role of Relationship-Specific Drinking-to-Cope Motives

PubMed Central

Levitt, Ash; Leonard, Kenneth E.

2015-01-01

Research and theory suggest that romantic couple members are motivated to drink to cope with interpersonal distress. Additionally, this behavior and its consequences appear to be differentially associated with insecure attachment styles. However, no research has directly examined drinking to cope that is specific to relationship problems, or with relationship-specific drinking outcomes. Based on alcohol motivation and attachment theories, the current study examines relationship-specific drinking-to-cope processes over the early years of marriage. Specifically, it was hypothesized that drinking to cope with a relationship problem would mediate the associations between insecure attachment styles (i.e., anxious and avoidant) and frequencies of drinking with and apart from one’s partner and marital alcohol problems in married couples. Multilevel models were tested via the Actor-Partner Interdependence Model using reports of both members of 470 couples over the first 9 years of marriage. As expected, relationship-specific drinking-to-cope motives mediated the effects of actor anxious attachment on drinking apart from one’s partner and on marital alcohol problems, but, unexpectedly, not on drinking with the partner. No mediated effects were found for attachment avoidance. Results suggest that anxious (but not avoidant) individuals are motivated to use alcohol to cope specifically with relationship problems in certain contexts, which may exacerbate relationship difficulties associated with attachment anxiety. Implications for theory and future research on relationship-motivated drinking are discussed. PMID:25799439

Older adults' health and late-life drinking patterns: a 20-year perspective.

PubMed

Moos, Rudolf H; Brennan, Penny L; Schutte, Kathleen K; Moos, Bernice S

2010-01-01

This study focused on the associations between older adults' health-related problems and their late-life alcohol consumption and drinking problems. A sample of 719 late-middle-aged community residents (55-65 years old at baseline) participated in a survey of health and alcohol consumption and this survey was followed 10 years and 20 years later. Health-related problems increased and alcohol consumption and drinking problems declined over the 20-year interval. Medical conditions, depressive symptoms, medication use, and acute health events were associated with a higher likelihood of abstinence; acute health events were also associated with less alcohol consumption. In contrast, reliance on alcohol to reduce pain was linked to more alcohol consumption. Moreover, an individual's overall health burden and reliance on alcohol to reduce pain were associated with more drinking problems. Reliance on alcohol to reduce pain potentiated the association between health burden, alcohol consumption and drinking problems. Older adults who have more health problems and rely on alcohol to manage pain are at elevated risk for drinking problems. Health care providers should target high-risk older adults, such as those who drink to reduce pain, for screening and brief interventions to help them identify new ways to cope with pain and curtail their drinking.

Coping with jealousy: the association between maladaptive aspects of jealousy and drinking problems is mediated by drinking to cope.

PubMed

Dibello, Angelo M; Neighbors, Clayton; Rodriguez, Lindsey M; Lindgren, Kristen

2014-01-01

Previous research has shown that both alcohol use and jealousy are related to negative relationship outcomes. Little work, however, has examined direct associations between alcohol use and jealousy. The current study was aimed to build upon existing research examining alcohol use and jealousy. More specifically, findings from current jealousy literature indicate that jealousy is a multifaceted construct with both maladaptive and adaptive aspects. The current study examined the association between maladaptive and adaptive feelings of jealousy and alcohol-related problems in the context of drinking to cope. Given the relationship between coping motives and alcohol-related problems, our primary interest was in predicting alcohol-related problems, but alcohol consumption was also investigated. Undergraduate students at a large Northwestern university (N=657) in the US participated in the study. They completed measures of jealousy, drinking to cope, alcohol use, and alcohol-related problems. Analyses examined associations between jealousy subscales, alcohol use, drinking to cope, and drinking problems. Results indicated that drinking to cope mediated the association between some, but not all, aspects of jealousy and problems with alcohol use. In particular, the more negative or maladaptive aspects of jealousy were related to drinking to cope and drinking problems, while the more adaptive aspects were not, suggesting a more complex view of jealousy than previously understood. © 2013. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Coping with Jealousy: The Association between Maladaptive Aspects of Jealousy and Drinking Problems are Mediated by Drinking to Cope

PubMed Central

DiBello, Angelo M.; Neighbors, Clayton; Rodriguez, Lindsey M.; Lindgren, Kristen

2013-01-01

Previous research has shown that both alcohol use and jealousy are related to negative relationship outcomes. Little work, however, has examined direct associations between alcohol use and jealousy. The current study aimed to build upon existing research examining alcohol use and jealousy. More specifically, findings from current jealousy literature indicate that jealousy is a multifaceted construct with both maladaptive and adaptive aspects. The current study examined the association between maladaptive and adaptive feelings of jealousy and alcohol-related problems in the context of drinking to cope. Given the relationship between coping motives and alcohol-related problems, our primary interest was in predicting alcohol-related problems, but alcohol consumption was also investigated. Undergraduate students at a large Northwestern university (N = 657) in the US participated in the study. They completed measures of jealousy, drinking to cope, alcohol use, and alcohol-related problems. Analyses examined associations between jealousy subscales, alcohol use, drinking to cope, and drinking problems. Results indicated that drinking to cope mediated the association between some, but not all, aspects of jealousy and problems with alcohol use. In particular, the more negative or maladaptive aspects of jealousy were related to drinking to cope and drinking problems, while the more adaptive aspects were not, suggesting a more complex view of jealousy than previously understood. PMID:24138965

Latino Immigrants’ Biological Parents’ Histories Of Substance Use Problems In Their Country Of Origin Predict Their Pre- And Post-Immigration Alcohol Use Problems

PubMed Central

Blackson, Timothy C.; De La Rosa, Mario; Sanchez, Mariana; Li, Tan

2014-01-01

Background No studies to date have assessed whether recent young adult (ages 18–34) Latino immigrants’ biological parents’ histories of substance use problems (BPHSUP) in their country of origin predict their alcohol use problems at pre- and post-immigration to the United States (U.S.). Methods BPHSUP in their country of origin was assessed via interviews conducted by bilingual Latino researchers with recent Latino immigrants primarily from Cuba, Central and South America recruited through respondent driven sampling at the time of their immigration to southeastern U.S. Three-waves of data were collected to document Latino immigrants’ severity of alcohol use problems at pre-immigration and two annual post-immigration follow-up assessments. BPHSUP +/− status was used as a predictor of Latinos’ (N=452; 45.8% female, 54.2% male) Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test (AUDIT) scores at pre- and post-immigration with age, education and income as covariates as wells as odds ratios for AUDIT classifications of hazardous use, harmful use and dependence. Results BPHSUP+ status predicted Latino immigrants’ higher AUDIT scores pre- and post-immigration by gender (p<.01) compared to Latino immigrants of BPHSUP− status controlling for age, education and income. BPHSUP+ status predicted odds ratios of 3.45 and 2.91 for alcohol dependence AUDIT classification for men and women respectively (T3). Conclusions This study documents that BPHSUP +/− status in their country of origin predict their young adult Latino offspring’s severity of alcohol use problems pre-and post-immigration. These results may inform (1) community-based health care providers to screen recent young adult Latino immigrants for their BPHSUP+/− status and severity of alcohol use problems to redirect trajectories away from alcohol use disorders toward more normative post-immigration outcomes through culturally relevant prevention services and (2) future research advantages of differential susceptibility theory. Implications for future research and the need for replication studies in other geographic regions of the U.S. are discussed. PMID:24960302

Web-based alcohol screening and brief intervention for university students: a randomized trial.

PubMed

Kypri, Kypros; Vater, Tina; Bowe, Steven J; Saunders, John B; Cunningham, John A; Horton, Nicholas J; McCambridge, Jim

2014-03-26

Unhealthy alcohol use is a leading contributor to the global burden of disease, particularly among young people. Systematic reviews suggest efficacy of web-based alcohol screening and brief intervention and call for effectiveness trials in settings where it could be sustainably delivered. To evaluate a national web-based alcohol screening and brief intervention program. A multisite, double-blind, parallel-group, individually randomized trial was conducted at 7 New Zealand universities. In April and May of 2010, invitations containing hyperlinks to the Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test-Consumption (AUDIT-C) screening test were e-mailed to 14,991 students aged 17 to 24 years. Participants who screened positive (AUDIT-C score ≥4) were randomized to undergo screening alone or to 10 minutes of assessment and feedback (including comparisons with medical guidelines and peer norms) on alcohol expenditure, peak blood alcohol concentration, alcohol dependence, and access to help and information. A fully automated 5-month follow-up assessment was conducted that measured 6 primary outcomes: consumption per typical occasion, drinking frequency, volume of alcohol consumed, an academic problems score, and whether participants exceeded medical guidelines for acute harm (binge drinking) and chronic harm (heavy drinking). A Bonferroni-corrected significance threshold of .0083 was used to account for the 6 comparisons and a sensitivity analysis was used to assess possible attrition bias. Of 5135 students screened, 3422 scored 4 or greater and were randomized, and 83% were followed up. There was a significant effect on 1 of the 6 prespecified outcomes. Relative to control participants, those who received intervention consumed less alcohol per typical drinking occasion (median 4 drinks [interquartile range {IQR}, 2-8] vs 5 drinks [IQR 2-8]; rate ratio [RR], 0.93 [99.17% CI, 0.86-1.00]; P = .005) but not less often (RR, 0.95 [99.17% CI, 0.88-1.03]; P = .08) or less overall (RR, 0.95 [99.17% CI, 0.81-1.10]; P = .33). Academic problem scores were not lower (RR, 0.91 [99.17% CI, 0.76-1.08]; P = .14) and effects on the risks of binge drinking (odds ratio [OR], 0.84 [99.17% CI, 0.67-1.05]; P = .04) and heavy drinking (OR, 0.77 [99.17% CI, 0.56-1.05]; P = .03) were not significantly significant. In a sensitivity analysis accounting for attrition, the effect on alcohol per typical drinking occasion was no longer statistically significant. A national web-based alcohol screening and brief intervention program produced no significant reductions in the frequency or overall volume of drinking or academic problems. There remains a possibility of a small reduction in the amount of alcohol consumed per typical drinking occasion. anzctr.org.au Identifier: ACTRN12610000279022.

Games that "work": using computer games to teach alcohol-affected children about fire and street safety.

PubMed

Coles, Claire D; Strickland, Dorothy C; Padgett, Lynne; Bellmoff, Lynnae

2007-01-01

Unintentional injuries are a leading cause of death and disability for children. Those with developmental disabilities, including children affected by prenatal alcohol exposure, are at highest risk for injuries. Although teaching safety skills is recommended to prevent injury, cognitive limitations and behavioral problems characteristic of children with fetal alcohol spectrum disorder make teaching these skills challenging for parents and teachers. In the current study, 32 children, ages 4-10, diagnosed with fetal alcohol syndrome (FAS) and partial FAS, learned fire and street safety through computer games that employed "virtual worlds" to teach recommended safety skills. Children were pretested on verbal knowledge of four safety elements for both fire and street safety conditions and then randomly assigned to one condition. After playing the game until mastery, children were retested verbally and asked to "generalize" their newly acquired skills in a behavioral context. They were retested after 1 week follow-up. Children showed significantly better knowledge of the game to which they were exposed, immediately and at follow-up, and the majority (72%) was able to generalize all four steps within a behavioral setting. Results suggested that this is a highly effective method for teaching safety skills to high-risk children who have learning difficulties.

Childhood Maltreatment, Emotional Lability, and Alcohol Problems in Young Adults At-Risk for ADHD: Testing Moderation and Moderated Moderation.

PubMed

Bunford, Nóra; Wymbs, Brian T; Dawson, Anne E; Shorey, Ryan C

2017-01-01

Childhood maltreatment and alcohol problems are common among young adults with attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). However, little is known about the degree to which maltreatment and alcohol problems are associated; potential pertinent mediating or moderating mechanisms, such as emotional lability; and whether this association varies by sex. We examined, in a sample of adults at risk for ADHD (N = 122, 37% male), the association between childhood maltreatment and alcohol problems, whether emotional lability mediated or moderated this association, and whether either role of emotional lability differed between men and women. Emotional lability moderated the association between emotional neglect and alcohol problems; maltreatment increased risk for alcohol problems for those scoring high tovery high on emotional lability, but not for those with very low-moderate levels. The association between emotional abuse and alcohol problems depended both on emotional lability and sex; emotional abuse decreased the risk for alcohol problems among men very low/low on emotional lability, but not for men who were moderate to very high on emotional lability, or for women. These findings have implications for the way in which targeting maltreatment and emotional lability may be incorporated into prevention and intervention programs to prevent alcohol problems among men and women at risk for ADHD.

When Habits Are Dangerous: Alcohol Expectancies and Habitual Decision Making Predict Relapse in Alcohol Dependence.

PubMed

Sebold, Miriam; Nebe, Stephan; Garbusow, Maria; Guggenmos, Matthias; Schad, Daniel J; Beck, Anne; Kuitunen-Paul, Soeren; Sommer, Christian; Frank, Robin; Neu, Peter; Zimmermann, Ulrich S; Rapp, Michael A; Smolka, Michael N; Huys, Quentin J M; Schlagenhauf, Florian; Heinz, Andreas

2017-12-01

Addiction is supposedly characterized by a shift from goal-directed to habitual decision making, thus facilitating automatic drug intake. The two-step task allows distinguishing between these mechanisms by computationally modeling goal-directed and habitual behavior as model-based and model-free control. In addicted patients, decision making may also strongly depend upon drug-associated expectations. Therefore, we investigated model-based versus model-free decision making and its neural correlates as well as alcohol expectancies in alcohol-dependent patients and healthy controls and assessed treatment outcome in patients. Ninety detoxified, medication-free, alcohol-dependent patients and 96 age- and gender-matched control subjects underwent functional magnetic resonance imaging during the two-step task. Alcohol expectancies were measured with the Alcohol Expectancy Questionnaire. Over a follow-up period of 48 weeks, 37 patients remained abstinent and 53 patients relapsed as indicated by the Alcohol Timeline Followback method. Patients who relapsed displayed reduced medial prefrontal cortex activation during model-based decision making. Furthermore, high alcohol expectancies were associated with low model-based control in relapsers, while the opposite was observed in abstainers and healthy control subjects. However, reduced model-based control per se was not associated with subsequent relapse. These findings suggest that poor treatment outcome in alcohol dependence does not simply result from a shift from model-based to model-free control but is instead dependent on the interaction between high drug expectancies and low model-based decision making. Reduced model-based medial prefrontal cortex signatures in those who relapse point to a neural correlate of relapse risk. These observations suggest that therapeutic interventions should target subjective alcohol expectancies. Copyright © 2017 Society of Biological Psychiatry. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Differential Associations of UPPS-P Impulsivity Traits With Alcohol Problems.

PubMed

McCarty, Kayleigh N; Morris, David H; Hatz, Laura E; McCarthy, Denis M

2017-07-01

The UPPS-P model posits that impulsivity comprises five factors: positive urgency, negative urgency, lack of planning, lack of perseverance, and sensation seeking. Negative and positive urgency are the traits most consistently associated with alcohol problems. However, previous work has examined alcohol problems either individually or in the aggregate, rather than examining multiple problem domains simultaneously. Recent work has also questioned the utility of distinguishing between positive and negative urgency, as this distinction did not meaningfully differ in predicting domains of psychopathology. The aims of this study were to address these issues by (a) testing unique associations of UPPS-P with specific domains of alcohol problems and (b) determining the utility of distinguishing between positive and negative urgency as risk factors for specific alcohol problems. Associations between UPPS-P traits and alcohol problem domains were examined in two cross-sectional data sets using negative binomial regression models. In both samples, negative urgency was associated with social/interpersonal, self-perception, risky behaviors, and blackout drinking problems. Positive urgency was associated with academic/occupational and physiological dependence problems. Both urgency traits were associated with impaired control and self-care problems. Associations for other UPPS-P traits did not replicate across samples. Results indicate that negative and positive urgency have differential associations with alcohol problem domains. Results also suggest a distinction between the type of alcohol problems associated with these traits-negative urgency was associated with problems experienced during a drinking episode, whereas positive urgency was associated with alcohol problems that result from longer-term drinking trends.

A Multi-Method Examination of Negative Behaviors during Couples Interactions and Problem Drinking Trajectories

PubMed Central

Fairbairn, Catharine E.; Cranford, James A.

2016-01-01

Models of alcohol use disorder (AUD) are increasingly conceptualizing social and relationship factors as being critical to the understanding of problem drinking. Close relationships involving conflict have been a particular research focus, and partners’ expressions of negative emotion are theorized to impact drinking among those with AUD. While it has long been presumed that behaviors during couples interactions influence drinking—and this assumption has informed many modern treatments for AUD—this hypothesis has not been directly tested. We bring multiple methods to bear on this question, combining laboratory based behavioral-observation with a longitudinal design. Forty-eight individuals with AUD (probands), together with their partners, completed a laboratory-based conflict interaction. Their behavior was coded with the Rapid Marital Interaction Coding System. Longitudinal follow-ups of drinking behaviors were completed at 6 and 12 months. Results showed that, above and beyond the proband’s own behaviors, partner negative behaviors moderated probands’ drinking trajectories, with drinkers whose partners displayed higher levels of hostility at baseline reporting slower declines in frequency of a) drinking, b) heavy episodic drinking, and c) alcohol problems over time and higher levels of drinking, heavy episodic drinking, and alcohol problems at follow-up. Results emphasize the importance of considering close relationships in the study of AUD and further indicate the utility of combining multiple methods in alcohol research. PMID:27362489

Childhood socioeconomic status and longitudinal patterns of alcohol problems: Variation across etiological pathways in genetic risk.

PubMed

Barr, Peter B; Silberg, Judy; Dick, Danielle M; Maes, Hermine H

2018-05-14

Childhood socioeconomic status (SES) is an important aspect of early life environment associated with later life health/health behaviors, including alcohol misuse. However, alcohol misuse is modestly heritable and involves differing etiological pathways. Externalizing disorders show significant genetic overlap with substance use, suggesting an impulsivity pathway to alcohol misuse. Alcohol misuse also overlaps with internalizing disorders, suggesting alcohol is used to cope. These differing pathways could lead to different patterns over time and/or differential susceptibility to environmental conditions, such as childhood SES. We examine whether: 1) genetic risk for externalizing and internalizing disorders influence trajectories of alcohol problems across adolescence to adulthood, 2) childhood SES alters genetic risk these disorders on trajectories of alcohol problems, and 3) these patterns are consistent across sex. We find modest evidence of gene-environment interaction. Higher childhood SES increases the risk of alcohol problems in late adolescence/early adulthood, while lower childhood SES increases the risk of alcohol problems in later adulthood, but only among males at greater genetic risk of externalizing disorders. Females from lower SES families with higher genetic risk of internalizing or externalizing disorders have greater risk of developing alcohol problems. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Determination of Diethyl Phthalate and Polyhexamethylene Guanidine in Surrogate Alcohol from Russia

PubMed Central

Monakhova, Yulia B.; Kuballa, Thomas; Leitz, Jenny; Lachenmeier, Dirk W.

2011-01-01

Analytical methods based on spectroscopic techniques were developed and validated for the determination of diethyl phthalate (DEP) and polyhexamethylene guanidine (PHMG), which may occur in unrecorded alcohol. Analysis for PHMG was based on UV-VIS spectrophotometry after derivatization with Eosin Y and 1H NMR spectroscopy of the DMSO extract. Analysis of DEP was performed with direct UV-VIS and 1H NMR methods. Multivariate curve resolution and spectra computation methods were used to confirm the presence of PHMG and DEP in the investigated beverages. Of 22 analysed alcohol samples, two contained DEP or PHMG. 1H NMR analysis also revealed the presence of signals of hawthorn extract in three medicinal alcohols used as surrogate alcohol. The simple and cheap UV-VIS methods can be used for rapid screening of surrogate alcohol samples for impurities, while 1H NMR is recommended for specific confirmatory analysis if required. PMID:21647285

Determination of diethyl phthalate and polyhexamethylene guanidine in surrogate alcohol from Russia.

PubMed

Monakhova, Yulia B; Kuballa, Thomas; Leitz, Jenny; Lachenmeier, Dirk W

2011-01-01

Analytical methods based on spectroscopic techniques were developed and validated for the determination of diethyl phthalate (DEP) and polyhexamethylene guanidine (PHMG), which may occur in unrecorded alcohol. Analysis for PHMG was based on UV-VIS spectrophotometry after derivatization with Eosin Y and (1)H NMR spectroscopy of the DMSO extract. Analysis of DEP was performed with direct UV-VIS and (1)H NMR methods. Multivariate curve resolution and spectra computation methods were used to confirm the presence of PHMG and DEP in the investigated beverages. Of 22 analysed alcohol samples, two contained DEP or PHMG. (1)H NMR analysis also revealed the presence of signals of hawthorn extract in three medicinal alcohols used as surrogate alcohol. The simple and cheap UV-VIS methods can be used for rapid screening of surrogate alcohol samples for impurities, while (1)H NMR is recommended for specific confirmatory analysis if required.

A Developmental Perspective on Alcohol and Youths 16 to 20 Years of Age

PubMed Central

Brown, Sandra A.; McGue, Matthew; Maggs, Jennifer; Schulenberg, John; Hingson, Ralph; Swartzwelder, Scott; Martin, Christopher; Chung, Tammy; Tapert, Susan F.; Sher, Kenneth; Winters, Ken C.; Lowman, Cherry; Murphy, Stacia

2009-01-01

Late adolescence (ie, 16-20 years of age) is a period characterized by escalation of drinking and alcohol use problems for many and by the onset of an alcohol use disorder for some. This heightened period of vulnerability is a joint consequence of the continuity of risk from earlier developmental stages and the unique neurologic, cognitive, and social changes that occur in late adolescence. We review the normative neurologic, cognitive, and social changes that typically occur in late adolescence, and we discuss the evidence for the impact of these transitions on individual drinking trajectories. We also describe evidence linking alcohol abuse in late adolescence with neurologic damage and social impairments, and we discuss whether these are the bases for the association of adolescent drinking with increased risks of mental health, substance abuse, and social problems in adulthood. Finally, we discuss both the challenges and successes in the treatment and prevention of adolescent drinking problems. PMID:18381495

Mediators of the relationship between religiousness/spirituality and alcohol problems in an adult community sample.

PubMed

Drerup, Michelle L; Johnson, Thomas J; Bindl, Stephen

2011-12-01

Johnson et al. (2008b) reported that, in a college student sample, the effect of religiousness on alcohol use was mediated by negative beliefs about alcohol, social influences, and spiritual well-being, and that these variables in turn impacted alcohol use and problems both directly and indirectly via motives for drinking. This study attempted to replicate those findings in a sample of community dwelling adults (N=211). The effect of Religious/Spiritual Involvement was mediated by Negative Beliefs about Alcohol, Social Modeling, and Spiritual-Well-Being. However, Social Modeling had stronger relationships with motives for drinking and alcohol consumption than the other two mediators. The effect of Religious Struggle on Alcohol Problems was mediated by Spiritual Well-Being and coping motives for drinking. Results provide further support for the motivational model of alcohol use and suggest plausible mechanisms by which religiousness could causally impact alcohol use and problems. Religious struggle may be a clinically significant correlate of alcohol problems. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Unplanned Drinking and Alcohol-Related Problems: A Preliminary Test of the Model of Unplanned Drinking Behavior

PubMed Central

Pearson, Matthew R.; Henson, James M.

2013-01-01

Much research links impulsivity with alcohol use and problems. In two studies, unplanned (or impulsive) drinking is assessed directly to determine whether it has direct effects on alcohol use and alcohol-related problems. In study 1, we examined whether unplanned drinking serves as a proximal mediator of the effects of impulsivity-like traits on alcohol-related outcomes. With a sample of 211 college student drinkers, we found that the Unplanned Drinking Scale was significantly related to alcohol use, and perhaps more importantly, had a direct effect on alcohol-related problems even after controlling for frequency and quantity of alcohol use. Further, unplanned drinking partially mediated the effects of negative urgency on alcohol-related problems. In study 2, we examined whether unplanned drinking accounts for unique variance in alcohol-related outcomes when controlling for use of protective behavioral strategies. With a sample of 170 college students, we replicated the findings of Study 1 in that the Unplanned Drinking Scale had a significant direct effect on alcohol-related problems even after controlling for alcohol use; further, this effect was maintained when controlling for use of protective behavioral strategies. Limitations include the modest sample sizes and the cross-sectional design. Future directions for testing the Model of Unplanned Drinking Behavior are proposed. PMID:23276312

Alcohol Problems Prevention/Intervention Programs: Guidelines for College Campuses. Revised.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Harding, Frances M.; Connor, Leslie S.

This manual is designed to respond to the growing interest among colleges in technical assistance for dealing with alcohol-related problems. Part One provides an overview of the dimensions of alcohol related problems and delves into the causes and prevention of alcohol problems. It outlines the Public Health Model approach to dealing with alcohol…

Moderate alcohol drinking in pregnancy increases risk for children's persistent conduct problems: causal effects in a Mendelian randomisation study.

PubMed

Murray, Joseph; Burgess, Stephen; Zuccolo, Luisa; Hickman, Matthew; Gray, Ron; Lewis, Sarah J

2016-05-01

Heavy alcohol use during pregnancy can cause considerable developmental problems for children, but effects of light-moderate drinking are uncertain. This study examined possible effects of moderate drinking in pregnancy on children's conduct problems using a Mendelian randomisation design to improve causal inference. A prospective cohort study (ALSPAC) followed children from their mother's pregnancy to age 13 years. Analyses were based on 3,544 children whose mothers self-reported either not drinking alcohol during pregnancy or drinking up to six units per week without binge drinking. Children's conduct problem trajectories were classified as low risk, childhood-limited, adolescence-onset or early-onset-persistent, using six repeated measures of the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire between ages 4-13 years. Variants of alcohol-metabolising genes in children were used to create an instrumental variable for Mendelian randomisation analysis. Children's genotype scores were associated with early-onset-persistent conduct problems (OR = 1.29, 95% CI = 1.04-1.60, p = .020) if mothers drank moderately in pregnancy, but not if mothers abstained from drinking (OR = 0.94, CI = 0.72-1.25, p = .688). Children's genotype scores did not predict childhood-limited or adolescence-onset conduct problems. This quasi-experimental study suggests that moderate alcohol drinking in pregnancy contributes to increased risk for children's early-onset-persistent conduct problems, but not childhood-limited or adolescence-onset conduct problems. © 2015 The Authors. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of Association for Child and Adolescent Mental Health.

Metalworking and machining fluids

DOEpatents

Erdemir, Ali; Sykora, Frank; Dorbeck, Mark

2010-10-12

Improved boron-based metal working and machining fluids. Boric acid and boron-based additives that, when mixed with certain carrier fluids, such as water, cellulose and/or cellulose derivatives, polyhydric alcohol, polyalkylene glycol, polyvinyl alcohol, starch, dextrin, in solid and/or solvated forms result in improved metalworking and machining of metallic work pieces. Fluids manufactured with boric acid or boron-based additives effectively reduce friction, prevent galling and severe wear problems on cutting and forming tools.

Associations between depression, distress tolerance, delay discounting, and alcohol-related problems in European American and African American college students.

PubMed

Dennhardt, Ashley A; Murphy, James G

2011-12-01

Although levels of heavy drinking and alcohol-related problems are high in college students, there is significant variability in the number and type of problems experienced, even among students who drink heavily. African American students drink less and experience fewer alcohol-related problems than European American students, but are still at risk, and little research has investigated the potentially unique patterns and predictors of problems among these students. Depression, distress tolerance, and delay discounting have been implicated in adult substance abuse and may be important predictors of alcohol problem severity among college students. We examined the relationship between these variables and alcohol-related problems among African American and European American students (N = 206; 53% female; 68% European American; 28% African American) who reported recent heavy drinking. In regression models that controlled for drinking level, depression, distress tolerance, and delay discounting were associated with alcohol problems among African American students, but only depression was associated with alcohol problems among European American students. These results suggest that negative affect is a key risk factor for alcohol problems among college student drinkers. For African American students, the inability to tolerate negative emotions and to organize their behavior around future outcomes may also be especially relevant risk factors.

Maternal Risk Factors for Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders in a Province in Italy*

PubMed Central

Ceccanti, Mauro; Fiorentino, Daniela; Coriale, Giovanna; Kalberg, Wendy O.; Buckley, David; Hoyme, H. Eugene; Gossage, J. Phillip; Robinson, Luther K.; Manning, Melanie; Romeo, Marina; Hasken, Julie M.; Tabachnick, Barbara; Blankenship, Jason

2016-01-01

Background Maternal risk factors for fetal alcohol spectrum disorders (FASD) in Italy and Mediterranean cultures need clarification, as there are few studies and most are plagued by inaccurate reporting of antenatal alcohol use. Methods Maternal interviews (n=905) were carried out in a population-based study of the prevalence and characteristics of FASD in the Lazio region of Italy which provided data for multivariate case control comparisons and multiple correlation models. Results Case control findings from interviews seven years post-partum indicate that mothers of children with FASD are significantly more likely than randomly-selected controls or community mothers to: be shorter; have higher body mass indexes (BMI); be married to a man with legal problems; report more drinking three months pre-pregnancy; engage in more current drinking and drinking alone; and have alcohol problems in her family. Logistic regression analysis of multiple candidate predictors of a FASD diagnosis indicates that alcohol problems in the child’s family is the most significant risk factor, making a diagnosis within the continuum of FASD 9 times more likely (95% C.I. = 1.6 to 50.7). Sequential multiple regression analysis of the child’s neuropsychological performance also identifies alcohol problems in the child’s family as the only significant maternal risk variable (p<.001) when controlling for other potential risk factors. Conclusions Underreporting of prenatal alcohol use has been demonstrated among Italian and other Mediterranean antenatal samples, and it was suspected in this sample. Nevertheless, several significant maternal risk factors for FASD have been identified. PMID:25456331

Maternal risk factors for fetal alcohol spectrum disorders in a province in Italy.

PubMed

Ceccanti, Mauro; Fiorentino, Daniela; Coriale, Giovanna; Kalberg, Wendy O; Buckley, David; Hoyme, H Eugene; Gossage, J Phillip; Robinson, Luther K; Manning, Melanie; Romeo, Marina; Hasken, Julie M; Tabachnick, Barbara; Blankenship, Jason; May, Philip A

2014-12-01

Maternal risk factors for fetal alcohol spectrum disorders (FASD) in Italy and Mediterranean cultures need clarification, as there are few studies and most are plagued by inaccurate reporting of antenatal alcohol use. Maternal interviews (n = 905) were carried out in a population-based study of the prevalence and characteristics of FASD in the Lazio region of Italy which provided data for multivariate case control comparisons and multiple correlation models. Case control findings from interviews seven years post-partum indicate that mothers of children with FASD are significantly more likely than randomly-selected controls or community mothers to: be shorter; have higher body mass indexes (BMI); be married to a man with legal problems; report more drinking three months pre-pregnancy; engage in more current drinking and drinking alone; and have alcohol problems in her family. Logistic regression analysis of multiple candidate predictors of a FASD diagnosis indicates that alcohol problems in the child's family is the most significant risk factor, making a diagnosis within the continuum of FASD 9 times more likely (95%C.I. = 1.6 to 50.7). Sequential multiple regression analysis of the child's neuropsychological performance also identifies alcohol problems in the child's family as the only significant maternal risk variable (p < .001) when controlling for other potential risk factors. Underreporting of prenatal alcohol use has been demonstrated among Italian and other Mediterranean antenatal samples, and it was suspected in this sample. Nevertheless, several significant maternal risk factors for FASD have been identified. Copyright © 2014. Published by Elsevier Ireland Ltd.

Effects of lifetime tobacco, alcohol and drug use on psychological and behavioral problems among 10th grade students in Istanbul.

PubMed

Evren, Cuneyt; Evren, Bilge; Bozkurt, Muge; Ciftci-Demirci, Arzu

2015-11-01

The aim of this study was to determine the effects of life-time tobacco, alcohol, and substance use on psychological and behavioral variables among 10th grade students in Istanbul/Turkey. This study employed a cross-sectional online self-report survey conducted in 45 schools from the 15 districts in Istanbul. The questionnaire featured a section about use of substances, including tobacco, alcohol, and drugs. The depression, anxiety, anger, assertiveness, sensation seeking and impulsiveness subscales of the Psychological Screening Test for Adolescents (PSTA) were used. The analyses were conducted based on 4957 subjects. Logistic regression analyses were conducted with each school with the related and behavioral variables as the dependent variables. Gender, tobacco, alcohol, and drug use being the independent variables. All four independent variables predicted the dependent variables. Lifetime tobacco and drug use had significant effects on all the subscale score, whereas lifetime alcohol use had significant effects on all the subscale scores other than lack of assertiveness, and male gender was a significant covariant for all the subscale scores. Drug use showed the highest effect on dependent variables. Interaction was found between effects of tobacco and alcohol on anxiety, whereas interactions were found between effects of tobacco and drugs on lack of assertiveness and impulsiveness. The findings suggested that male students with lifetime tobacco, alcohol or drug use have particularly high risk of psychological and behavioral problems. The unique effects of substance clusters on these problems may be useful in developing secondary preventive practices for substance use and abuse problems in Istanbul.

Perceived racism and alcohol consequences among African American and Caucasian college students.

PubMed

Grekin, Emily R

2012-12-01

Few studies have assessed relationships between perceived racism, racism-related stress, and alcohol problems. The current study examined these relationships within the context of tension reduction models of alcohol consumption. Participants were 94 African American and 189 Caucasian college freshmen who completed an online survey assessing perceived racism, alcohol consequences, alcohol consumption, negative affect, and deviant behavior. Hierarchical multiple regressions indicated that racism-related stress predicted alcohol consequences for both African American and Caucasian college students, even after controlling for alcohol consumption, negative affect, and behavioral deviance. The frequency of racist events predicted alcohol consequences for Caucasian but not African American students. These findings highlight the need to address racism and racism-related stress in college-based alcohol prevention and intervention efforts. 2013 APA, all rights reserved

Towards a global alcohol policy: alcohol, public health and the role of WHO.

PubMed Central

Jernigan, D. H.; Monteiro, M.; Room, R.; Saxena, S.

2000-01-01

In 1983 the World Health Assembly declared alcohol-related problems to be among the world's major health concerns. Since then, alcohol consumption has risen in developing countries, where it takes a heavy toll. Alcohol-related problems are at epidemic levels in the successor states of the Soviet Union and are responsible for 3.5% of disability-adjusted life years (DALYs) lost globally. Substantial evidence exists of the relationship between the levels and patterns of alcohol consumption on the one hand and the incidence of alcohol-related problems on the other. Over the past 20 years, research has demonstrated the effectiveness of public policies involving, for example, taxation and restrictions on alcohol availability, in reducing alcohol-related problems. In the wake of rapid economic globalization, many of these policies at national and subnational levels have been eroded, often with the support of international financial and development organizations. Development agencies and international trade agreements have treated alcohol as a normal commodity, overlooking the adverse consequences of its consumption on productivity and health. WHO is in a strong position to take the lead in developing a global alcohol policy aimed at reducing alcohol-related problems, providing scientific and statistical support, capacity-building, disseminating effective strategies and collaborating with other international organizations. Such leadership can play a significant part in diminishing the health and social problems associated with alcohol use. PMID:10885168

Online alcohol interventions: a systematic review.

PubMed

White, Angela; Kavanagh, David; Stallman, Helen; Klein, Britt; Kay-Lambkin, Frances; Proudfoot, Judy; Drennan, Judy; Connor, Jason; Baker, Amanda; Hines, Emily; Young, Ross

2010-12-19

There has been a significant increase in the availability of online programs for alcohol problems. A systematic review of the research evidence underpinning these programs is timely. Our objective was to review the efficacy of online interventions for alcohol misuse. Systematic searches of Medline, PsycINFO, Web of Science, and Scopus were conducted for English abstracts (excluding dissertations) published from 1998 onward. Search terms were: (1) Internet, Web*; (2) online, computer*; (3) alcohol*; and (4) E\\effect*, trial*, random* (where * denotes a wildcard). Forward and backward searches from identified papers were also conducted. Articles were included if (1) the primary intervention was delivered and accessed via the Internet, (2) the intervention focused on moderating or stopping alcohol consumption, and (3) the study was a randomized controlled trial of an alcohol-related screen, assessment, or intervention. The literature search initially yielded 31 randomized controlled trials (RCTs), 17 of which met inclusion criteria. Of these 17 studies, 12 (70.6%) were conducted with university students, and 11 (64.7%) specifically focused on at-risk, heavy, or binge drinkers. Sample sizes ranged from 40 to 3216 (median 261), with 12 (70.6%) studies predominantly involving brief personalized feedback interventions. Using published data, effect sizes could be extracted from 8 of the 17 studies. In relation to alcohol units per week or month and based on 5 RCTs where a measure of alcohol units per week or month could be extracted, differential effect sizes to posttreatment ranged from 0.02 to 0.81 (mean 0.42, median 0.54). Pre-post effect sizes for brief personalized feedback interventions ranged from 0.02 to 0.81, and in 2 multi-session modularized interventions, a pre-post effect size of 0.56 was obtained in both. Pre-post differential effect sizes for peak blood alcohol concentrations (BAC) ranged from 0.22 to 0.88, with a mean effect size of 0.66. The available evidence suggests that users can benefit from online alcohol interventions and that this approach could be particularly useful for groups less likely to access traditional alcohol-related services, such as women, young people, and at-risk users. However, caution should be exercised given the limited number of studies allowing extraction of effect sizes, the heterogeneity of outcome measures and follow-up periods, and the large proportion of student-based studies. More extensive RCTs in community samples are required to better understand the efficacy of specific online alcohol approaches, program dosage, the additive effect of telephone or face-to-face interventions, and effective strategies for their dissemination and marketing.

Online Alcohol Interventions: A Systematic Review

PubMed Central

Kavanagh, David; Stallman, Helen; Klein, Britt; Kay-Lambkin, Frances; Proudfoot, Judy; Drennan, Judy; Connor, Jason; Baker, Amanda; Hines, Emily; Young, Ross

2010-01-01

Background There has been a significant increase in the availability of online programs for alcohol problems. A systematic review of the research evidence underpinning these programs is timely. Objectives Our objective was to review the efficacy of online interventions for alcohol misuse. Systematic searches of Medline, PsycINFO, Web of Science, and Scopus were conducted for English abstracts (excluding dissertations) published from 1998 onward. Search terms were: (1) Internet, Web*; (2) online, computer*; (3) alcohol*; and (4) E\\effect*, trial*, random* (where * denotes a wildcard). Forward and backward searches from identified papers were also conducted. Articles were included if (1) the primary intervention was delivered and accessed via the Internet, (2) the intervention focused on moderating or stopping alcohol consumption, and (3) the study was a randomized controlled trial of an alcohol-related screen, assessment, or intervention. Results The literature search initially yielded 31 randomized controlled trials (RCTs), 17 of which met inclusion criteria. Of these 17 studies, 12 (70.6%) were conducted with university students, and 11 (64.7%) specifically focused on at-risk, heavy, or binge drinkers. Sample sizes ranged from 40 to 3216 (median 261), with 12 (70.6%) studies predominantly involving brief personalized feedback interventions. Using published data, effect sizes could be extracted from 8 of the 17 studies. In relation to alcohol units per week or month and based on 5 RCTs where a measure of alcohol units per week or month could be extracted, differential effect sizes to posttreatment ranged from 0.02 to 0.81 (mean 0.42, median 0.54). Pre-post effect sizes for brief personalized feedback interventions ranged from 0.02 to 0.81, and in 2 multi-session modularized interventions, a pre-post effect size of 0.56 was obtained in both. Pre-post differential effect sizes for peak blood alcohol concentrations (BAC) ranged from 0.22 to 0.88, with a mean effect size of 0.66. Conclusions The available evidence suggests that users can benefit from online alcohol interventions and that this approach could be particularly useful for groups less likely to access traditional alcohol-related services, such as women, young people, and at-risk users. However, caution should be exercised given the limited number of studies allowing extraction of effect sizes, the heterogeneity of outcome measures and follow-up periods, and the large proportion of student-based studies. More extensive RCTs in community samples are required to better understand the efficacy of specific online alcohol approaches, program dosage, the additive effect of telephone or face-to-face interventions, and effective strategies for their dissemination and marketing. PMID:21169175

Alcohol cold starting - A theoretical study

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Browning, L. H.

1983-01-01

Two theoretical computer models have been developed to study cold starting problems with alcohol fuels. The first model, a droplet fall-out and sling-out model, shows that droplets must be smaller than 50 microns to enter the cylinder under cranking conditions without being slung-out in the intake manifold. The second model, which examines the fate of droplets during the compression process, shows that the heat of compression can be used to vaporize small droplets (less than 50 microns) producing flammable mixtures below freezing ambient temperatures. While droplet size has the greater effect on startability, a very high compression ratio can also aid cold starting.

Caffeinated Alcohol Consumption Profiles and Associations with Use Severity and Outcome Expectancies

PubMed Central

Lau-Barraco, Cathy; Milletich, Robert J.; Linden, Ashley N.

2014-01-01

Growing evidence suggests that the consumption of caffeinated alcoholic beverages (CAB) may be riskier than alcohol alone. Efforts to identify patterns of CAB use and the correlates of such drinking patterns could further our conceptualization of and intervention for this health issue. Consequently, the current study aimed to (1) identify distinct classes of CAB users, (2) examine differences between classes on measures of alcohol and caffeine problems, and (3) compare distinct classes of CAB users on caffeine and alcohol outcome expectancies. Participants were 583 (31% men) undergraduate students from a psychology research pool. Latent profile analysis models were derived using four indicators: CAB use quantity, CAB use frequency, alcohol use quantity, and alcohol use frequency. Finding revealed four classes of drinkers: High Alcohol/High CAB (6.00%), High Alcohol/Moderate CAB (5.15%), High Alcohol/Low CAB (22.99%), and Low Alcohol/Low CAB (65.87%). The Low Alcohol/Low CAB class reported the lowest relative levels of caffeine dependence symptoms, caffeine withdrawal, alcohol use problems, and heavy episodic drinking frequency. Further, results indicated differential expectancy endorsement based on use profiles. CAB users in the High Alcohol/Low CAB class endorsed more positive alcohol expectancies than the Low Alcohol/Low CAB group. Those in the High Alcohol/High CAB class endorsed stronger withdrawal symptoms caffeine expectancies than all other classes. Inclusion of substance-specific expectancies into larger theoretical frameworks in future work of CAB use may be beneficial. Findings may inform intervention efforts for those at greatest risk related to CAB consumption. PMID:24210683

Caffeinated alcohol consumption profiles and associations with use severity and outcome expectancies.

PubMed

Lau-Barraco, Cathy; Milletich, Robert J; Linden, Ashley N

2014-01-01

Growing evidence suggests that the consumption of caffeinated alcoholic beverages (CAB) may be riskier than alcohol alone. Efforts to identify patterns of CAB use and the correlates of such drinking patterns could further our conceptualization of and intervention for this health issue. Consequently, the current study aimed to (1) identify distinct classes of CAB users, (2) examine differences between classes on measures of alcohol and caffeine problems, and (3) compare distinct classes of CAB users on caffeine and alcohol outcome expectancies. Participants were 583 (31% men) undergraduate students from a psychology research pool. Latent profile analysis models were derived using four indicators: CAB use quantity, CAB use frequency, alcohol use quantity, and alcohol use frequency. Finding revealed four classes of drinkers: High Alcohol/High CAB (6.00%), High Alcohol/Moderate CAB (5.15%), High Alcohol/Low CAB (22.99%), and Low Alcohol/Low CAB (65.87%). The Low Alcohol/Low CAB class reported the lowest relative levels of caffeine dependence symptoms, caffeine withdrawal, alcohol use problems, and heavy episodic drinking frequency. Further, results indicated differential expectancy endorsement based on use profiles. CAB users in the High Alcohol/Low CAB class endorsed more positive alcohol expectancies than the Low Alcohol/Low CAB group. Those in the High Alcohol/High CAB class endorsed stronger withdrawal symptom caffeine expectancies than all other classes. Inclusion of substance-specific expectancies into larger theoretical frameworks in future work of CAB use may be beneficial. Findings may inform intervention efforts for those at greatest risk related to CAB consumption. © 2013.

Alcohol Withdrawal Syndrome: Benzodiazepines and Beyond

PubMed Central

Sachdeva, Ankur; Chandra, Mina

2015-01-01

Alcohol dependence is an increasing and pervasive problem. Alcohol withdrawal symptoms are a part of alcohol dependence syndrome and are commonly encountered in general hospital settings, in most of the departments. Alcohol withdrawal syndrome ranges from mild to severe. The severe complicated alcohol withdrawal may present with hallucinations, seizures or delirium tremens. Benzodiazepines have the largest and the best evidence base in the treatment of alcohol withdrawal, and are considered the gold standard. Others, such as anticonvulsants, barbiturates, adrenergic drugs, and GABA agonists have been tried and have evidence. Supportive care and use of vitamins is essential in the management. Symptom triggered regime is favoured over fixed tapering dose regime, although monitoring through scales is cumbersome. This article aims to review the evidence base for appropriate clinical management of the alcohol withdrawal syndrome. We searched Pubmed for articles published in English on ‘Alcohol withdrawal syndrome’ in humans during the last 10 years. A total of 1182 articles came up. Articles not relevant to clinical utility and management were excluded based on the titles and abstract available. Full text articles, meta-analyses, systematic reviews and randomized controlled trials were obtained from this list and were considered for review. PMID:26500991

High-intensity therapist-guided internet-based cognitive behavior therapy for alcohol use disorder: a pilot study.

PubMed

Sundström, Christopher; Kraepelien, Martin; Eék, Niels; Fahlke, Claudia; Kaldo, Viktor; Berman, Anne H

2017-05-26

A large proportion of individuals with alcohol problems do not seek psychological treatment, but access to such treatment could potentially be increased by delivering it over the Internet. Cognitive behavior therapy (CBT) is widely recognized as one of the psychological treatments for alcohol problems for which evidence is most robust. This study evaluated a new, therapist-guided internet-based CBT program (entitled ePlus) for individuals with alcohol use disorders. Participants in the study (n = 13) were recruited through an alcohol self-help web site ( www.alkoholhjalpen.se ) and, after initial internet screening, were diagnostically assessed by telephone. Eligible participants were offered access to the therapist-guided 12-week program. The main outcomes were treatment usage data (module completion, treatment satisfaction) as well as glasses of alcohol consumed the preceding week, measured with the self-rated Timeline Followback (TLFB). Participant data were collected at screening (T0), immediately pre-treatment (T1), post-treatment (T2) and 3 months post-treatment (T3). Most participants were active throughout the treatment and found it highly acceptable. Significant reductions in alcohol consumption with a large within-group effect size were found at the three-month follow-up. Secondary outcome measures of craving and self-efficacy, as well as depression and quality of life, also showed significant improvements with moderate to large within-group effect sizes. Therapist-guided internet-based CBT may be a feasible and effective alternative for people with alcohol use disorders. In view of the high acceptability and the large within-group effect sizes found in this small pilot, a randomized controlled trial investigating treatment efficacy is warranted. ClinicalTrials.gov ( NCT02384278 , February 26, 2015).

27 CFR 26.94 - Computation of tax.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-04-01

... 27 Alcohol, Tobacco Products and Firearms 1 2011-04-01 2011-04-01 false Computation of tax. 26.94 Section 26.94 Alcohol, Tobacco Products and Firearms ALCOHOL AND TOBACCO TAX AND TRADE BUREAU, DEPARTMENT... Liquors and Articles in Puerto Rico Wine § 26.94 Computation of tax. On receipt of permit to compute the...

27 CFR 26.103 - Computation of tax.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-04-01

... 27 Alcohol, Tobacco Products and Firearms 1 2011-04-01 2011-04-01 false Computation of tax. 26.103 Section 26.103 Alcohol, Tobacco Products and Firearms ALCOHOL AND TOBACCO TAX AND TRADE BUREAU, DEPARTMENT... Liquors and Articles in Puerto Rico Beer § 26.103 Computation of tax. On receipt of permit to compute the...

Rural Indiana Profile: Alcohol, Tobacco & Other Drugs.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Drug Strategies, Washington, DC.

This report examines alcohol, tobacco, and other drug use in rural parts of Indiana, as well as public and private initiatives to reduce these problems. The report is based on epidemiological, health, and criminal justice indicators; focus groups; and in-depth interviews with local officials, researchers, service providers, and civic leaders.…

Development of the Environmental Strategies Instrument to Measure Adolescent Alcohol Prevention-Related Outcomes in Community Settings

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Cervantes, Richard C.; Goldbach, Jeremy; Yeung, Albert; Rey, Antonio

2012-01-01

Recently, evidence-based community policy approaches to preventing substance use and alcohol abuse, called environmental strategies, have gained in popularity. The environmental survey instrument (ESI) was developed to evaluate perceptions around drinking and related problems. Specifically, the authors were interested in assessing community…

Alcohol use and policy formation: an evolving social problem.

PubMed

Levine, Amir

2012-01-01

This article explores the evolutionary course that the social problem of alcohol use has taken in the United States since the Colonial Era. This article utilizes a range of theoretical models to analyze the evolving nature of alcohol use from an unrecognized to a perceived social problem. The models used include critical constructionism (Heiner, 2002), top-down policy model (Dye, 2001) and Mauss'(1975) understanding of social problems and movements. These theoretical constructs exhibit the relative nature of alcohol use as a social problem in regards to a specific time, place, and social context as well as the powerful and influential role that social elites have in defining alcohol asa social problem. Studies regarding the development of alcohol policy formation are discussed to illuminate the different powers, constituents, and factors that play a role in alcohol policy formation.Finally, implications for future study are discussed [corrected].

Daily stressors as antecedents, correlates, and consequences of alcohol and drug use and cravings in community-based offenders.

PubMed

Neupert, Shevaun D; Desmarais, Sarah L; Gray, Julie S; Cohn, Amy M; Doherty, Stephen; Knight, Kevin

2017-05-01

Justice-involved individuals with alcohol and drug use problems reoffend at higher rates than their nonusing counterparts, with alcohol and drug use serving as an important vector to recidivism. At the daily level, exposure to stressors may exacerbate problematic alcohol and drug use; at the individual level, prior treatment experiences may mitigate substance use as individuals adapt to and learn new coping mechanisms. We conducted a daily diary study using Interactive Voice Response technology over 14 consecutive days with 117 men on probation or parole participating in a community-based treatment program (n = 860 calls) and referred to medication-assisted treatment. Participants reported daily stressors, craving for alcohol and illegal drugs, and use of alcohol and illegal drugs 1 time each day. Results of multilevel models showed significant day-to-day fluctuation in alcohol and drug craving and use. In concurrent models, increases in daily stressors were associated with increases in cravings and use of illegal drugs. Prior treatment experience modified many of these relationships, and additional lagged models revealed that those with less treatment experience reported an increase in next-day alcohol craving when they experienced increases in stressors on the previous day compared to those with more treatment experience. Collectively, these findings highlight the importance of tailoring treatment as a function of individual differences, including prior treatment experiences, and targeting daily stressors and subsequent cravings among justice-involved adults with alcohol and drug use problems. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2017 APA, all rights reserved).

Brief report: Affluence and college alcohol problems: the relevance of parent- and child-reported indicators of socioeconomic status.

PubMed

Harrell, Zaje A T; Huang, Jason L; Kepler, Dawn M

2013-10-01

A mediational model predicting alcohol problems was tested in a sample of college students (n = 130) and their parents (n = 115). The indirect effect of substance-use coping and the age of onset of alcohol use were examined in the relationship between socioeconomic status (SES) and alcohol problems. Findings indicated that parent-reported SES was associated with increased alcohol problems; the age of onset of alcohol use partially mediated this relationship. Substance-use coping was not a significant mediator in the model. Student-reported SES was not associated with alcohol problems. Implications for examining social status in relation to college drinking behaviors are discussed. Copyright © 2013 The Foundation for Professionals in Services for Adolescents. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

The Continuum of Care for the Alcoholic in New Jersey: Principles and Problems in Planning of Treatment and Rehabilitation.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Brennan, Jewel E.

Alcoholism is a problem of immense proportions. Views about alcoholism range from consideration of the problem as a moral weakness to the disease concept approach. Since the effects of alcoholic intake can be benevolent as well as toxic, the dilemma centers around alcohol usage. Various theories have been formulated, experimented with, and…

Solitary Alcohol Use in Teens Is Associated With Drinking in Response to Negative Affect and Predicts Alcohol Problems in Young Adulthood

PubMed Central

Creswell, Kasey G.; Chung, Tammy; Clark, Duncan B.; Martin, Christopher S.

2015-01-01

Adolescent solitary drinking may represent an informative divergence from normative behavior, with important implications for understanding risk for alcohol-use disorders later in life. Within a self-medication framework, we hypothesized that solitary alcohol use would be associated with drinking in response to negative affect and that such a pattern of drinking would predict alcohol problems in young adulthood. We tested these predictions in a longitudinal study in which we examined whether solitary drinking in adolescence (ages 12–18) predicted alcohol-use disorders in young adulthood (age 25) in 466 alcohol-using teens recruited from clinical programs and 243 alcohol-using teens recruited from the community. Findings showed that solitary drinking was associated with drinking in response to negative affect during adolescence and predicted alcohol problems in young adulthood. Results indicate that drinking alone is an important type of alcohol-use behavior that increases risk for the escalation of alcohol use and the development of alcohol problems. PMID:25977842

Solitary Alcohol Use in Teens Is Associated With Drinking in Response to Negative Affect and Predicts Alcohol Problems in Young Adulthood.

PubMed

Creswell, Kasey G; Chung, Tammy; Clark, Duncan B; Martin, Christopher S

2014-09-01

Adolescent solitary drinking may represent an informative divergence from normative behavior, with important implications for understanding risk for alcohol-use disorders later in life. Within a self-medication framework, we hypothesized that solitary alcohol use would be associated with drinking in response to negative affect and that such a pattern of drinking would predict alcohol problems in young adulthood. We tested these predictions in a longitudinal study in which we examined whether solitary drinking in adolescence (ages 12-18) predicted alcohol-use disorders in young adulthood (age 25) in 466 alcohol-using teens recruited from clinical programs and 243 alcohol-using teens recruited from the community. Findings showed that solitary drinking was associated with drinking in response to negative affect during adolescence and predicted alcohol problems in young adulthood. Results indicate that drinking alone is an important type of alcohol-use behavior that increases risk for the escalation of alcohol use and the development of alcohol problems.

Attitudes and beliefs of emergency department staff regarding alcohol-related presentations.

PubMed

Indig, Devon; Copeland, Jan; Conigrave, Katherine M; Rotenko, Irene

2009-01-01

This study examined emergency department (ED) staff attitudes and beliefs about alcohol-related ED presentations in order to recommend improved detection and brief intervention strategies. The survey was conducted at two inner-Sydney hospital EDs in 2006 to explore ED clinical staff's attitudes, current practice and barriers for managing alcohol-related ED presentations. The sample included N=78 ED staff (54% nurses, 46% doctors), representing a 30% response rate. Management of alcohol-related problems was not routine among ED staff, with only 5% usually formally screening for alcohol problems, only 16% usually conducting brief interventions, and only 27% usually providing a referral to specialist treatment services. Over 85% of ED staff indicated that lack of patient motivation made providing alcohol interventions very difficult. Significant predictors of good self-reported practice among ED staff for patients with alcohol problems included: being a doctor, being confident and having a sense of responsibility towards managing patients with alcohol-related problems. This study reported that many staff lack the confidence or sense of clinical responsibility to fully and appropriately manage ED patients with alcohol-related problems. ED staff appear to require additional training, resources and support to enhance their management of patients with alcohol-related problems.

Drinking and Desired Self-Images: Path Models of Self-Image Goals, Coping Motives, Heavy-Episodic Drinking, and Alcohol Problems

PubMed Central

Moeller, Scott J.; Crocker, Jennifer

2009-01-01

Coping motives for drinking initiate alcohol-related problems. Interpersonal goals, which powerfully influence affect, could provide a starting point for this relation. Here we tested effects of self-image goals (which aim to construct and defend desired self-views) and compassionate goals (which aim to support others) on heavy-episodic drinking and alcohol-related problems. Undergraduate drinkers (N=258) completed measures of self-image and compassionate goals in academics and friendships, coping and enhancement drinking motives, heavy-episodic drinking, and alcohol-related problems in a cross-sectional design. As predicted, self-image goals, but not compassionate goals, positively related to alcohol-related problems. Path models showed that self-image goals relate to coping motives, but not enhancement motives; coping motives then relate to heavy-episodic drinking, which in turn relate to alcohol-related problems. Self-image goals remained a significant predictor in the final model, which accounted for 34% of the variance in alcohol-related problems. These findings indicate that self-image goals contribute to alcohol-related problems in college students both independently and through coping motives. Interventions can center on reducing self-image goals and their attendant negative affect. PMID:19586150

Longitudinal effects of age at onset and first drinking situations on problem drinking.

PubMed

Warner, Lynn A; White, Helene R

2003-12-01

The purpose of this study was to describe aspects of the first alcohol-use experience, and examine the predictive relations among age of first use, context of alcohol use initiation, and problem drinking with and without controls for psychosocial risk factors. Data were from the Rutgers Health and Human Development Project, a five-wave, prospective study of substance-use behaviors in a community sample. Respondents, who were first interviewed at age 12 (1979-81) and most recently at age 30 or 31 (1999-2000) (N=371), reported on their first drinking experience, and on a range of known risk factors for alcohol abuse. Most alcohol initiation occurred during a family gathering. Regardless of initiation context, youth who drank at an early age were more likely than youth who initiated later to become problem drinkers, although the risk was relatively greater for the youth who first drank outside a family gathering. Based on multivariate logistic regressions, feeling drunk at initiation was the only onset-related variable significantly associated with problem drinking; other significant risks factors included male gender, delinquency, and family history of alcoholism. Because most initiation occurs at a family gathering, alcoholism prevention research may benefit from examining the role that drinking in family contexts could play with regard to socializing young drinkers to less risky drinking behaviors in adulthood. In particular, further research focusing on the subjective effects experienced by youth when they first drink may be merited.

Problem coping skills, psychosocial adversities and mental health problems in children and adolescents as predictors of criminal outcomes in young adulthood.

PubMed

Aebi, Marcel; Giger, Joël; Plattner, Belinda; Metzke, Christa Winkler; Steinhausen, Hans-Christoph

2014-05-01

The purpose of this study was to test child and adolescent psychosocial and psychopathological risk factors as predictors of adult criminal outcomes in a Swiss community sample. In particular, the role of active and avoidant problem coping in youths was analysed. Prevalence rates of young adult crime convictions based on register data were calculated. Univariate and multivariate logistic regressions were used to analyse the prediction of adult criminal convictions 15 years after assessment in a large Swiss community sample of children and adolescents (n = 1,086). Risk factors assessed in childhood and adolescence included socio-economic status (SES), migration background, perceived parental behaviour, familial and other social stressors, coping styles, externalizing and internalizing problems and drug abuse including problematic alcohol consumption. The rate of any young adult conviction was 10.1 %. Besides externalizing problems and problematic alcohol consumption, the presence of any criminal conviction in young adulthood was predicted by low SES and avoidant coping even after controlling for the effects of externalizing problems and problematic alcohol use. The other predictors were significant only when externalizing behaviours and problematic alcohol use were not controlled. In addition to child and adolescent externalizing behaviour problems and substance use, low SES and inadequate problem-solving skills, in terms of avoidant coping, are major risk factors of young adult criminal outcomes and need to be considered in forensic research and criminal prevention programs.

The Mutual Relationship Between Men's Drinking and Depression: A 4-Year Longitudinal Analysis.

PubMed

Lee, Soo Bi; Chung, Sulki; Lee, HaeKook; Seo, Jeong Seok

2018-03-17

The purpose of the current study was to examine the longitudinal reciprocal relationship between depression and drinking among male adults from the general population. This study used a panel dataset from the Korean Welfare Panel (from 2011 to 2014). The subjects were 2511 male adults aged between 20 and 65 years. Based on the Korean Version of the Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test (AUDIT-K) scores, 2191 subjects were categorized as the control group (AUDIT-K < 12) and 320 subjects were categorized as the problem drinking group (AUDIT-K ≥ 12). An autoregressive cross-lagged modelling analysis was performed to investigate the mutual relationship between problem drinking and depression measured consecutively over time. The results indicated that alcohol drinking and depression were stable over time. In the control group, there was no significant causal relationship between problem drinking and depression while in the problem drinking group, drinking in the previous year significantly influenced depression in the following second, third and fourth years. This study compared normal versus problem drinkers and showed a 4-year mutual causal relationship between depression and drinking. No longitudinal interaction between drinking and depression occurred in normal drinkers, while drinking intensified depression over time in problem drinkers. This study found that problem drinking was a risk factor for development of depression. Therefore, more attention should be given to problem alcohol use in the general population and evaluation of past alcohol use history in patients with depressive disorders.

Deep serotonergic and dopaminergic structures in fetal alcoholic syndrome: a study with nor-beta-CIT-single-photon emission computed tomography and magnetic resonance imaging volumetry.

PubMed

Riikonen, Raili S; Nokelainen, Pekka; Valkonen, Kirsi; Kolehmainen, Anni I; Kumpulainen, Kirsti I; Könönen, Mervi; Vanninen, Ritva-Liisa S; Kuikka, Jyrki T

2005-06-15

In prenatally alcohol exposed children, the relationship between brain structure and function is highlighted to be important to study. We studied 12 children with fetal alcoholic syndrome (FAS) and fetal alcoholic effects (FAE) by magnetic resonance imaging volumetry and by single-photon emission computed tomography with iodine-123 labeled 2beta-carbomethoxy-3beta-(4-iodophenyl) ([123I]nor-beta-CIT) and related these findings to those from neuropsychological and psychiatric tests. The absolute volumes of studied nuclei, including the brain volume, were significantly smaller in FAS/FAE children than in control patients. After normalization of volumes, significant differences were not found. Left hippocampus was smaller than the right (p<.003) but did not significantly differ from the control subjects. The children with FAS/FAE showed reduced serotonin (p=.02) in the medial frontal cortex and slightly increased striatal dopamine transporter binding. All FAS/FAE children had attention-deficit/hyperkinetic disorder (ADHD). None had depression. The internalization scores correlated with dopamine transporter binding (r=-.65; p=.03). The results indicate that the serotonin (5-HT) system may be vulnerable to the effects of ethanol in utero. The high dopamine transporter levels may correlate with the ADHD findings. Reduced serotonin and increased binding of dopamine transporter are also seen in type 2 alcoholism. Some behavioral problems of FAS/FAE might be preventable by early intervention and treatment.

Intensive motivational interviewing for women with concurrent alcohol problems and methamphetamine dependence.

PubMed

Korcha, Rachael A; Polcin, Douglas L; Evans, Kristy; Bond, Jason C; Galloway, Gantt P

2014-02-01

Motivational interviewing (MI) for the treatment of alcohol and drug problems is typically conducted over 1 to 3 sessions. The current work evaluates an intensive 9-session version of MI (Intensive MI) compared to a standard single MI session (Standard MI) using 163 methamphetamine (MA) dependent individuals. The primary purpose of this paper is to report the unexpected finding that women with co-occurring alcohol problems in the Intensive MI condition reduced the severity of their alcohol problems significantly more than women in the Standard MI condition at the 6-month follow-up. Stronger perceived alliance with the therapist was inversely associated with alcohol problem severity scores. Findings indicate that Intensive MI is a beneficial treatment for alcohol problems among women with MA dependence. © 2013.

The influences of parental divorce and maternal-versus-paternal alcohol abuse on offspring lifetime suicide attempt.

PubMed

Thompson, Ronald G; Alonzo, Dana; Hu, Mei-Chen; Hasin, Deborah S

2017-05-01

Research indicates that parental divorce and parental alcohol abuse independently increase likelihood of offspring lifetime suicide attempt. However, when experienced together, only parental alcohol abuse significantly increased odds of suicide attempt. It is unclear to what extent differences in the effect of maternal versus paternal alcohol use exist on adult offspring lifetime suicide attempt risk. This study examined the influences of parental divorce and maternal-paternal histories of alcohol problems on adult offspring lifetime suicide attempt. The sample consisted of participants from the 2001-2002 National Epidemiological Survey on Alcohol and Related Conditions. The simultaneous effect of childhood or adolescent parental divorce and maternal and paternal history of alcohol problems on offspring lifetime suicide attempt was estimated using a logistic regression model with an interaction term for demographics and parental history of other emotional and behavioural problems. Parental divorce and maternal-paternal alcohol problems interacted to differentially influence the likelihood of offspring lifetime suicide attempt. Experiencing parental divorce and either maternal or paternal alcohol problems nearly doubled the likelihood of suicide attempt. Divorce and history of alcohol problems for both parents tripled the likelihood. Individuals who experienced parental divorce as children or adolescents and who have a parent who abuses alcohol are at elevated risk for lifetime suicide attempt. These problem areas should become a routine part of assessment to better identify those at risk for lifetime suicide attempt and to implement early and targeted intervention to decrease such risk. [Thompson RG Jr,Alonzo D, Hu M-C, Hasin DS. The influences of parental divorce and maternal-versus-paternal alcohol abuse on offspringlifetime suicide attempt. Drug Alcohol Rev 2017;36:408-414]. © 2016 Australasian Professional Society on Alcohol and other Drugs.

[Harmful alcohol consumption: prevalence, trends, health burden, reduction strategy].

PubMed

Грузева, Татьяна С; Дуфинец, Василий А; Замкевич, Виктория Б

2016-01-01

Harmful alcohol consumption constitutes a significant cause of the global burden of disease, causing more than 200 different diseases, 5.9% of all deaths worldwide, causing substantial medical and social costs, major economic loss, slowing progress towards the strategic goals of human development. to substantiate approaches to the formation of a national strategy to combat the harmful use of alcohol in Ukraine based on the analysis of the prevalence of alcohol consumption and related health and social problems and international experience and recommendations of WHO. The study was based on analysis of the extent and patterns of alcohol consumption in Ukraine, levels, structure and dynamics of morbidity and mortality from diseases associated with alcohol abuse; investigation of preventive activities in primary healthcare, the existing problems and doctors' needs for prevention alcohol abuse, national and international experience on this problem.This work usesbibliosemantic, medical, statistical, sociological, epidemiological methods. The information base are: European Health for All Database (HFA-DB)for 2000-2012,Center of Medical Statistics, Ministry of Health of Ukraine for 2000-2015, questionnaire survey of physicians in primary care, strategic and policy documents of WHO, WHO Regional Office for Europe. In Ukraine, as in most countries in the WHO European Region prevalence of alcohol is high. In the ranking of the WHO European Region Ukraine ranks fifth in alcohol consumption per capita. The structure of consumption of alcoholic drinks is dominated by strong spirits (48%). There has been a negative trend for this indicator from 5.4 liters in 2002 to 15.6 liters in 2012.The dominant pattern of alcohol consumption is characterized by early onset of alcohol consumption, significant frequency, large doses, mostly strong alcohol beverages, with significant share of low-quality alcohol. This factor contributes to high levels of morbidity. A total of546.3 thousandpeople with mental and behavioral disorders due to use of psychoactive substances wereregistered in health care facilities in 2014. Standardized mortality rate from causes related to alcohol in Ukraine (185.4 per 100 thousand.) is one of the largest in Europe, with only Kazakhstan (308.4) and Belarus (187.9) being behind. Regular work aiming at prevention of alcohol abuse is carried out by 49.4% of primary care professionals; 21.3% of physiciansinsist on reducing alcohol use on occasion. Alcohol abuse is a major factor of morbidity, epidemic of noncommunicable diseases in Ukraine, causing significant medical and social costs and economic losts.Ukraine ranks fifth in alcohol consumption per capita among WHO European Region countries. High level and unhealthy patterns of alcohol consumption in the population causes high morbidity and mortality from noncommunicable diseases, accidents, exceeding pan-European indices and indicators in the European Union. Primary health care facility staff has insufficient knowledge, skills and gaps in professional training regarding the prevention of harmful use of alcohol.There is a high need for effective strategies to reduce the prevalence of this risk factor in Ukraine. In developing the National Action Plan to reduce the harmful use of alcohol, a national context and WHO recommendationsshould be considered, including improving the efficiency of health services, high-quality prevention and effective treatment of disorders caused by alcohol, countermeasures on driving drunk, limiting the sale and availability of alcohol, prevention the spread of manufacturing and marketing of alcoholbeverages produced illegally, including falsification, the revitalization of local communities, weakening the impact of marketing of alcohol beverages.

DSM-based problem gambling: increasing the odds of heavy drinking in a national sample of U.S. college athletes?

PubMed

Huang, Jiun-Hau; Jacobs, Durand F; Derevensky, Jeffrey L

2011-03-01

Despite previously found co-occurrence of youth gambling and alcohol use, their relationship has not been systematically explored in a national sample using DSM-based gambling measures and multivariate modeling, adjusted for potential confounders. This study aimed to empirically examine the prevalence patterns and odds of at-least-weekly alcohol use and heavy episodic drinking (HED) in relation to various levels of gambling severity in college athletes. Multivariate logistic regression analyses were performed on data from a national sample of 20,739 U.S. college athletes from the first National Collegiate Athletic Association national survey of gambling and health-risk behaviors. Prevalence of at-least-weekly alcohol use significantly increased as DSM-IV-based gambling severity increased, from non-gambling (24.5%) to non-problem gambling (43.7%) to sub-clinical gambling (58.5%) to problem gambling (67.6%). Multivariate results indicated that all levels of gambling were associated with significantly elevated risk of at-least-weekly HED, from non-problem (OR = 1.25) to sub-clinical (OR = 1.75) to problem gambling (OR = 3.22); the steep increase in the relative risk also suggested a possible quadratic relationship between gambling level and HED risk. Notably, adjusted odds ratios showed problem gambling had the strongest association with at-least-weekly HED, followed by marijuana (OR = 3.08) and cigarette use (OR = 2.64). Gender interactions and differences were also identified and assessed. In conclusion, attention should be paid to college athletes exhibiting gambling problems, especially considering their empirical multivariate associations with high-risk drinking; accordingly, screening for problem gambling is recommended. More research is warranted to elucidate the etiologic mechanisms of these associations. Copyright © 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Alcohol use in South Sudan in relation to social factors, mental distress and traumatic events.

PubMed

Lien, Lars; Hauff, Edvard; Martinez, Priscilla; Eide, Arne H; Swarts, Leslie; Ayazi, Touraj

2016-09-06

Alcohol use is a major public health problem with vast implications for poor, war-torn countries. The objective of this study was to describe prevalence of alcohol use and risky drinking across socio-demographic factors in South Sudan, and to determine the association between risky drinking, traumatic events and mental distress. This is a randomized, population based, cross-sectional study from the north-western part of South Sudan with nearly 500 participants. We used the Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test (AUDIT) as main outcome variable, the General Health Questionnaire (GHQ-28) for mental distress and five questions to assess traumatic events. The mean AUDIT score was 2.7 (SD 0.3) with 14,2 % in the high risk problem drinking category. Being male, lack of a regular income and psychological distress were significantly associated with higher AUDIT score. Traumatic events, however, was not associated with higher score on AUDIT. Despite decades of civil war and great poverty the alcohol use in this population was at the same level as other countries in Southern Africa. Traumatic events were not related to risk of problem drinking.

49 CFR 199.239 - Operator obligation to promulgate a policy on the misuse of alcohol.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-10-01

... health, work, and personal life; signs and symptoms of an alcohol problem (the employee's or a coworker's); and including intervening evaluating and resolving problems associated with the misuse of alcohol including intervening when an alcohol problem is suspected, confrontation, referral to any available EAP...

49 CFR 199.239 - Operator obligation to promulgate a policy on the misuse of alcohol.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-10-01

... health, work, and personal life; signs and symptoms of an alcohol problem (the employee's or a coworker's); and including intervening evaluating and resolving problems associated with the misuse of alcohol including intervening when an alcohol problem is suspected, confrontation, referral to any available EAP...

The predictive power of family history measures of alcohol and drug problems and internalizing disorders in a college population.

PubMed

Kendler, Kenneth S; Edwards, Alexis; Myers, John; Cho, Seung Bin; Adkins, Amy; Dick, Danielle

2015-07-01

A family history (FH) of psychiatric and substance use problems is a potent risk factor for common internalizing and externalizing disorders. In a large web-based assessment of mental health in college students, we developed a brief set of screening questions for a FH of alcohol problems (AP), drug problems (DP) and depression-anxiety in four classes of relatives (father, mother, aunts/uncles/grandparents, and siblings) as reported by the student. Positive reports of a history of AP, DP, and depression-anxiety were substantially correlated within relatives. These FH measures predicted in the student, in an expected pattern, dimensions of personality and impulsivity, alcohol consumption and problems, smoking and nicotine dependence, use of illicit drugs, and symptoms of depression and anxiety. Using the mean score from the four classes of relatives was more predictive than using a familial/sporadic dichotomy. Interactions were seen between the FH of AP, DP, and depression-anxiety and peer deviance in predicting symptoms of alcohol and tobacco dependence. As the students aged, the FH of AP became a stronger predictor of alcohol problems. While we cannot directly assess the validity of these FH reports, the pattern of findings suggest that our brief screening items were able to assess, with some accuracy, the FH of substance misuse and internalizing psychiatric disorders in relatives. If correct, these measures can play an important role in the creation of developmental etiologic models for substance and internalizing psychiatric disorders which constitute one of the central goals of the overall project. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Attention problems in childhood and adult substance use.

PubMed

Galéra, Cédric; Pingault, Jean-Baptiste; Fombonne, Eric; Michel, Grégory; Lagarde, Emmanuel; Bouvard, Manuel-Pierre; Melchior, Maria

2013-12-01

To assess the link between childhood attention problems (AP) and substance use 18 years later. This cohort study was conducted in a community sample of 1103 French youths followed from 1991 to 2009. Exposures and covariates were childhood behavioral problems (based on parental report at baseline), early substance use, school difficulties, and family adversity. Outcome measures were regular tobacco smoking, alcohol problems, problematic cannabis use, and lifetime cocaine use (based on youth reports at follow-up). Individuals with high levels of childhood AP had higher rates of substance use (regular tobacco smoking, alcohol problems, problematic cannabis use, and lifetime cocaine use). However, when taking into account other childhood behavioral problems, early substance use, school difficulties, and family adversity, childhood AP were related only to regular tobacco smoking and lifetime cocaine use. Early cannabis exposure was the strongest risk factor for all substance use problems. This longitudinal community-based study shows that, except for tobacco and cocaine, the association between childhood AP and substance use is confounded by a range of early risk factors. Early cannabis exposure plays a central role in later substance use. Copyright © 2013 Mosby, Inc. All rights reserved.

Examining Factors in the Research Institute on Addictions Self-Inventory (RIASI): Associations with Alcohol Use and Problems at Assessment and Follow-Up

PubMed Central

Mann, Robert E.; Stoduto, Gina; Zalcman, Rosely Flam; Nochajski, Thomas H.; Hall, Louise; Dill, Patricia; Wells-Parker, Elisabeth

2009-01-01

Impaired driving is a leading cause of alcohol-related deaths and injuries. Rehabilitation or remedial programs, involving assessment and screening of convicted impaired drivers to determine problem severity and appropriate programs, are an important component of society’s response to this problem. Ontario’s remedial program, Back on Track (BOT), involves an assessment process that includes administration of the Research Institute on Addictions Self-Inventory (RIASI) to determine assignment to an education or treatment program. The purpose of this study is to identify factors within the RIASI and examine how factor scores are associated with alcohol use and problem indicators at assessment and six-month follow-up. The sample included 22,298 individuals who completed BOT from 2000 to 2005. Principal component factor analysis with varimax rotation was conducted on RIASI data and an eight factor solution was retained: (1) Negative Affect, (2) Sensation Seeking, (3) Alcohol-Quantity, (4) Social Conformity, (5) High Risk Lifestyle, (6) Alcohol Problems, (7) Interpersonal Competence, and (8) Family History. Regression analyses were conducted to examine associations between factors and alcohol and problem measures obtained at assessment and at follow-up. Most factors, except for Interpersonal Competence, were associated with more alcohol use and problems at assessment. A similar pattern was observed at 6-month follow-up, but interestingly some factors (Negative Affect, Sensation Seeking, Alcohol-Quantity and Family History) predicted fewer days of alcohol use. The Interpersonal Competence factor was associated with significantly lower levels of alcohol use and problems at both assessment and follow-up. This work suggests that the RIASI provides information on several domains that have important relationships with alcohol problem severity and outcomes. PMID:20049234

Prenatal alcohol use: the role of lifetime problems with alcohol, drugs, depression, and violence.

PubMed

Flynn, Heather A; Chermack, Stephen T

2008-07-01

The purpose of this study was to examine a broader array of lifetime factors that theoretically may be associated with prenatal alcohol use than have previously been studied together, including family history of alcohol-use problems, history of physical or sexual abuse, lifetime major depressive disorder, alcohol-use disorder, illicit-drug-use problems, and partner violence. A total of 186 pregnant women, all of whom used alcohol in the year before pregnancy, were initially recruited in prenatal care settings. Women who reported no prenatal alcohol use (n = 96) were compared with women who drank 1-10 standard drinks during pregnancy (n = 75) and with women who drank more than 10 standard drinks during pregnancy (n = 13), considered to be a higher risk group, on the lifetime risk variables. Because of the public health implications, secondary analyses compared women who abstained during pregnancy with those who used any alcohol. Significant intercorrelations were found among most of the lifetime risk factors studied. Multivariate analyses showed that drug-use problems and partner violence were most strongly associated with prenatal alcohol use than any other variable studied. Consistent with a life span risk framework for alcohol-use problems, results of this study show that childhood abuse, familial alcoholism, lifetime major depressive disorder, and alcohol- and drug-use problems are interrelated. However, when considered together, only lifetime partner violence and drug use are significantly related to various levels of prenatal alcohol use. Identification, assessment, and intervention efforts should integrate these important factors.

[The phenomenon of alcoholism in Poland as a legal issue].

PubMed

Jagielska-Burduk, Alicja; Jagielska, Iwona; Janicki, Radosław; Grabiec, Marek

2012-01-01

Alcoholism is a problem of a social value. About 140 million people worldwide suffer from alcoholism. Research has demonstrated adverse effects of alcohol. In the scientific project were confirmed: increased risk of cancer, liver disease, abnormal course of pregnancy and development of fetus. Among alcoholics are frequent phenomena of criminal behavior, accidents and trauma. The Polish Constitution granted the right to health citizens. The consequence of the above mentioned constitutional guarantee is the duty of the state that consists in caring for the functioning of a society free from addictions and alcohol problems. The basic legal act in this field is the Act on Upbringing in Sobriety and Counteracting Alcoholism. The state policy in the fight against alcoholism is implemented at various levels of both government and local government. The established National Agency for Solving Alcohol Problems drafts a National Programme for Prevention and Solving Alcohol Problems every year. Also important are public awareness campaigns conducted to raise awareness about the negative effects of alcohol.

ALCOHOL USE, DEPRESSION, AND HIGH RISK OCCUPATIONS AMONG YOUNG ADULTS IN THE UKRAINE

PubMed Central

Polshkova, S.; Chaban, O; Walton, MA

2016-01-01

This study examined alcohol consumption in relation to anxiety, depression, and involvement with high risk occupations (HRO; e.g., coal miners), among young adults in the Ukraine (aged 18–25) (N=192; 60.9% male; 100% Caucasian). Participants were grouped based on drinking status: (1) current drinkers (CDs; n=132) or (2) nondrinkers (NDs; n=60). Questionnaires assessed frequency of alcohol use, motives for drinking, problem identification, as well as anxiety and depression (i.e., Hamilton scales). Bivariate analyses showed that CDs were more likely than NDs to be single, have a HRO, and have greater anxiety and depression; for example, 91.7% of CDs had a HRO as compared to 56.7 % of NDs. Drinking status was not significantly related to age or gender. Among CDs, common motives for use included: to reduce anxiety and fears (60.6%), because my friends use alcohol (75.0%), to fight stress (78.8%), and to increase self-esteem (64.4%). Among CDs, past month drinking days were: 25% 1–2 days, 37.9% 3–7 days, 25% 8–21 days, and 12.1% 22–30 days. Regarding problem identification, 29.5% reported not having a problem, 34.8% reported possibly having a problem, 21.9% reported having a problem but not needing help, and 13.6% reported having a problem/needing help. Young adults involved in HRO may be a particularly high risk population given increased likelihood of alcohol use, anxiety, and depression. Early intervention strategies that incorporate motivational interviewing approaches to address coping and social motives for use may be beneficial to address substance use and mental health problems. PMID:27144438

Parental History of Anxiety and Alcohol-Use Disorders and Alcohol Expectancies as Predictors of Alcohol-Related Problems*

PubMed Central

Morean, Meghan E.; Corbin, William R.; Sinha, Rajita; O'Malley, Stephanie S.

2009-01-01

Objective: Research has consistently identified a family history of alcoholism as a risk factor for alcohol-related problems, and global positive expectancies have been found to moderate this association. High rates of comorbidity between alcohol use and anxiety disorders suggest that a family history of anxiety disorders may also increase risk. Further, expectations of negative reinforcement (e.g., tension reduction) have been found to moderate the influence of anxiety-related traits. The current study sought to extend previous research by examining the influence of parental history of alcoholism, anxiety disorders, and the combination, as predictors of alcohol-related problems. Expectancies of global positive changes and tension reduction were hypothesized to moderate the influence of parental history of alcoholism and anxiety, respectively. Method: Direct interviews with parents assessed their history of alcoholism and anxiety for 144 offspring (ages 18-32; 53.5% male) creating four groups: those with a parental history of alcoholism (27.80%), anxiety (22.20%), both alcoholism and anxiety (33.30%), and no history of psychopathology (16.70%). Established measures assessed the offsprings'alcohol expectancies, alcohol use, and alcohol-related problems. Results: Although expected interactions between parental alcoholism and global positive expectancies and between parental anxiety and tension-reduction expectancies were not found, global positive expectancies were associated with alcohol-related problems among the group with parental history of both alcoholism and anxiety. Conclusions: The results suggest that the relation between parental history of alcoholism and global positive expectancies observed in previous studies may be strongest among individuals with a comorbid parental history of alcohol and anxiety disorders. Incorporating expectancies into interventions targeting individuals with a comorbid parental history of alcohol and anxiety disorders may have utility. PMID:19261234

A Life Course Approach to Understanding Racial/Ethnic Differences in Transitions Into and Out of Alcohol Problems.

PubMed

Lui, Camillia K; Mulia, Nina

2018-03-13

Alcohol problems are most prevalent in young adulthood and decrease thereafter, but some studies find that racial/ethnic minorities have elevated alcohol risk beyond the 20s. This study examines racial/ethnic differences in the transitions into and out of alcohol problems, and whether these are explained by heavy drinking (HD), socioeconomic disadvantages and adult role transitions from the 20s to 30s. Racial/ethnic groups had similar risks for earlier onset and recurrence/persistence of alcohol problems, but Blacks were at significantly greater risk than Whites for later onset in the 30s. Cumulative poverty and heavy drinking explained away this disparity, and were risk factors for recurring/persistent problems. Using data from the US National Longitudinal Survey of Youth 1979-1994 waves (n = 6098), past-year alcohol problems were measured in 1989 (mean age = 28) and in 1994 (mean age = 33) among drinkers. Patterns of alcohol problems were categorized as no problems, earlier onset in 20s/offset in 30s, later onset in 30s, and recurrence or persistence (at both time points). Multinomial regression models adjusted for demographics, cumulative poverty, HD and timing of social role transitions (marital, parental). Compared to Whites, Blacks and Hispanics had similar risks for earlier alcohol problems but greater risk for developing problems in their 30s (AORs = 1.69 and 1.27, respectively, for later onset versus no problems); however, only the Black-White disparity was statistically significant. This was eliminated after taking into account cumulative poverty and lifecourse HD. There were no racial/ethnic differences in risk for recurring/persistent alcohol problems, which were associated with greater cumulative poverty and HD. While Whites appear to 'age out' of alcohol problems in their 30s, Blacks are at greater risk after young adulthood. These findings signal a need for interventions that target racial/ethnic minorities beyond young adulthood.

Black Alcoholism.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Watts, Thomas D.; Wright, Roosevelt

1988-01-01

Examines some aspects of the problem of alcoholism among Blacks, asserting that Black alcoholism can best be considered in an ecological, environmental, sociocultural, and public health context. Notes need for further research on alcoholism among Blacks and for action to reduce the problem of Black alcoholism. (NB)

Alcohol Use-Related Problems Among a Rural Indian Population of West Bengal: An Application of the Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test (AUDIT).

PubMed

Barik, Anamitra; Rai, Rajesh Kumar; Chowdhury, Abhijit

2016-03-01

To examine alcohol use and related problems among a rural subset of the Indian population. The Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test (AUDIT) was used as part of Health and Demographic Surveillance of 36,611 individuals aged ≥18 years. From this survey data on 3671 current alcohol users were analysed using bivariate and multivariate ordered logit regression. Over 19% of males and 2.4% of females were current alcohol users. Mean ethanol consumption on a typical drinking day among males was estimated to be higher (96.3 gm) than females (56.5 gm). Mean AUDIT score was 11 among current alcohol users. AUDIT showed in the ordered logit regression estimated alcohol use-related problems to be low among women, Scheduled Tribes and unmarried people, whereas alcohol use-related problems registered high among Muslims. This rural population appears to be in need of an effective intervention program, perhaps targeting men and the household, aimed at reducing the level of alcohol use and related problems. © The Author 2015. Medical Council on Alcohol and Oxford University Press. All rights reserved.

Investigating gender differences in alcohol problems: a latent trait modeling approach.

PubMed

Nichol, Penny E; Krueger, Robert F; Iacono, William G

2007-05-01

Inconsistent results have been found in research investigating gender differences in alcohol problems. Previous studies of gender differences used a wide range of methodological techniques, as well as limited assortments of alcohol problems. Parents (1,348 men and 1,402 women) of twins enrolled in the Minnesota Twin Family Study answered questions about a wide range of alcohol problems. A latent trait modeling technique was used to evaluate gender differences in the probability of endorsement at the problem level and for the overall 105-problem scale. Of the 34 problems that showed significant gender differences, 29 were more likely to be endorsed by men than women with equivalent overall alcohol problem levels. These male-oriented symptoms included measures of heavy drinking, duration of drinking, tolerance, and acting out behaviors. Nineteen symptoms were denoted for removal to create a scale that favored neither gender in assessment. Significant gender differences were found in approximately one-third of the symptoms assessed and in the overall scale. Further examination of the nature of gender differences in alcohol problem symptoms should be undertaken to investigate whether a gender-neutral scale should be created or if men and women should be assessed with separate criteria for alcohol dependence and abuse.

Antisocial Traits, Distress Tolerance, and Alcohol Problems as Predictors of Intimate Partner Violence in Men Arrested for Domestic Violence.

PubMed

Brem, Meagan J; Florimbio, Autumn Rae; Elmquist, JoAnna; Shorey, Ryan C; Stuart, Gregory L

2018-01-01

Men with antisocial personality disorder (ASPD) traits are at an increased risk for consuming alcohol and perpetrating intimate partner violence (IPV). However, previous research has neglected malleable mechanisms potentially responsible for the link between ASPD traits, alcohol problems, and IPV perpetration. Efforts to improve the efficacy of batterer intervention programs (BIPs) would benefit from exploration of such malleable mechanisms. The present study is the first to examine distress tolerance as one such mechanism linking men's ASPD traits to their alcohol problems and IPV perpetration. Using a cross-sectional sample of 331 men arrested for domestic violence and court-referred to BIPs, the present study used structural equation modeling to examine pathways from men's ASPD traits to IPV perpetration directly and indirectly through distress tolerance and alcohol problems. Results supported a two-chain partial mediational model. ASPD traits were related to psychological aggression perpetration directly and indirectly via distress tolerance and alcohol problems. A second pathway emerged by which ASPD traits related to higher levels of alcohol problems, which related to psychological aggression perpetration. Controlling for psychological aggression perpetration, neither distress tolerance nor alcohol problems explained the relation between ASPD traits and physical assault perpetration. These results support and extend existing conceptual models of IPV perpetration. Findings suggest intervention efforts for IPV should target both distress tolerance and alcohol problems.

[Nationwide survey of alcohol drinking and alcoholism among Japanese adults].

PubMed

Osaki, Yoneatsu; Matsushita, Sachio; Shirasaka, Tomonobu; Hiro, Hisanori; Higuchi, Susumu

2005-10-01

To investigate the characteristics of alcohol use among Japanese adults and prevalence of alcohol dependence in Japan, we conducted a nationwide survey on alcohol drinking behavior and alcohol dependence among Japanese adults using a representative sampling method. We sampled 3500 adults from throughout the entire country using a stratified random sampling method with two-step stratification, and carried out a home visit interview survey. A total of 2547 people (72.8%) responded to the survey. The survey period was June, 2003. The questionnaire contained questions about the frequency and quantity of alcohol use, 'hazardous use of alcohol' and 'alcohol dependence' according to the ICD-10 definition, several screening scales on problem use of alcohol (CAGE, KAST, AUDIT), life-time prevalence of 24 alcohol related diseases, smoking status, dysgryphia, and nightcap drinking. The number of respondents was, 1184 males, and 1363 females. Lifetime alcohol drinking, and weekly drinking, and daily drinking rates were 95.1%, 64.4%, and 36.2% for males, 79.0%, 27.5%, and 7.5% for females, respectively. Average daily alcohol consumption was 3.7 units for males, and 2.0 units for females (1 unit = 10 g pure alcohol). The proportion of drinkers who drank alcohol 4 units or more daily was 28.9% for males, and 7.6% for females, and that for 6 units or more was 12.7% for males, and 3.4% for females. The proportion of flasher was 41.2% for males, and 35.0% for females. Among screening questions, problem drinking was most frequently identified using AUDIT (score 12 points or more, 150 persons), followed by KAST (2 points or more, 100 persons) and CAGE (2 points or more, 98 persons). The number of subjects who met the ICD-10 criteria for alcohol dependence was 24, while the number who engaged in hazardous alcohol use was 64. This study revealed that problem drinking and alcohol dependence are a serious problem in Japanese general population. The problem of females drinking may be growing. The government should emphasize the prevention of alcohol drinking problems in adults and continue the conduct of nationwide prevalence surveys to monitor the problem.

Using Realist Synthesis to Develop an Evidence Base from an Identified Data Set on Enablers and Barriers for Alcohol and Drug Program Implementation

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hunter, Barbara; MacLean, Sarah; Berends, Lynda

2012-01-01

The purpose of this paper is to show how "realist synthesis" methodology (Pawson, 2002) was adapted to review a large sample of community based projects addressing alcohol and drug use problems. Our study drew on a highly varied sample of 127 projects receiving funding from a national non-government organisation in Australia between 2002…

How economic crises affect alcohol consumption and alcohol-related health problems: a realist systematic review.

PubMed

de Goeij, Moniek C M; Suhrcke, Marc; Toffolutti, Veronica; van de Mheen, Dike; Schoenmakers, Tim M; Kunst, Anton E

2015-04-01

Economic crises are complex events that affect behavioral patterns (including alcohol consumption) via opposing mechanisms. With this realist systematic review, we aimed to investigate evidence from studies of previous or ongoing crises on which mechanisms (How?) play a role among which individuals (Whom?). Such evidence would help understand and predict the potential impact of economic crises on alcohol consumption. Medical, psychological, social, and economic databases were used to search for peer-reviewed qualitative or quantitative empirical evidence (published January 1, 1990-May 1, 2014) linking economic crises or stressors with alcohol consumption and alcohol-related health problems. We included 35 papers, based on defined selection criteria. From these papers, we extracted evidence on mechanism(s), determinant, outcome, country-level context, and individual context. We found 16 studies that reported evidence completely covering two behavioral mechanisms by which economic crises can influence alcohol consumption and alcohol-related health problems. The first mechanism suggests that psychological distress triggered by unemployment and income reductions can increase drinking problems. The second mechanism suggests that due to tighter budget constraints, less money is spent on alcoholic beverages. Across many countries, the psychological distress mechanism was observed mainly in men. The tighter budget constraints mechanism seems to play a role in all population subgroups across all countries. For the other three mechanisms (i.e., deterioration in the social situation, fear of losing one's job, and increased non-working time), empirical evidence was scarce or absent, or had small to moderate coverage. This was also the case for important influential contextual factors described in our initial theoretical framework. This realist systematic review suggests that among men (but not among women), the net impact of economic crises will be an increase in harmful drinking. Such a different net impact between men and women could potentially contribute to growing gender-related health inequalities during a crisis. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Prevalence and pathways of recovery from drug and alcohol problems in the United States population: Implications for practice, research, and policy.

PubMed

Kelly, John F; Bergman, Brandon; Hoeppner, Bettina B; Vilsaint, Corrie; White, William L

2017-12-01

Alcohol and other drug (AOD) problems confer a global, prodigious burden of disease, disability, and premature mortality. Even so, little is known regarding how, and by what means, individuals successfully resolve AOD problems. Greater knowledge would inform policy and guide service provision. Probability-based survey of US adult population estimating: 1) AOD problem resolution prevalence; 2) lifetime use of "assisted" (i.e., treatment/medication, recovery services/mutual help) vs. "unassisted" resolution pathways; 3) correlates of assisted pathway use. Participants (response=63.4% of 39,809) responding "yes" to, "Did you use to have a problem with alcohol or drugs but no longer do?" assessed on substance use, clinical histories, problem resolution. Weighted prevalence of problem resolution was 9.1%, with 46% self-identifying as "in recovery"; 53.9% reported "assisted" pathway use. Most utilized support was mutual-help (45.1%,SE=1.6), followed by treatment (27.6%,SE=1.4), and emerging recovery support services (21.8%,SE=1.4), including recovery community centers (6.2%,SE=0.9). Strongest correlates of "assisted" pathway use were lifetime AOD diagnosis (AOR=10.8[7.42-15.74], model R2=0.13), drug court involvement (AOR=8.1[5.2-12.6], model R2=0.10), and, inversely, absence of lifetime psychiatric diagnosis (AOR=0.3[0.2-0.3], model R2=0.10). Compared to those with primary alcohol problems, those with primary cannabis problems were less likely (AOR=0.7[0.5-0.9]) and those with opioid problems were more likely (AOR=2.2[1.4-3.4]) to use assisted pathways. Indices related to severity were related to assisted pathways (R2<0.03). Tens of millions of Americans have successfully resolved an AOD problem using a variety of traditional and non-traditional means. Findings suggest a need for a broadening of the menu of self-change and community-based options that can facilitate and support long-term AOD problem resolution. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Global outreach and user preferences of a smartphone application developed for drinkers.

PubMed

Zhang, Melvyn W B; Fang, Pan; Ho, Roger C M

2016-07-27

Alcohol use disorders has been known and recently highlighted by the World Health Organization as a major worldwide problem. Harmful usage of alcohol has been linked to increased morbidity and mortality arising from common alcohol related disorders, such as liver disease, hypertension and violent deaths. Looking at the current literature, there have been previous peer reviewed publications about how technology has helped alcohol users. Of significance, a previous content analysis showed that the vast majority of the applications catered for alcohol use disorder which are currently available on the stores are not only not supported by evidence-base, but some of them seemed to be promoting drinking instead. Zhang et al. have described how they have attempted to overcome the limitations of current alcohol applications in their video feature recently published. The objective of this article is to evaluate (a) the receptiveness of the general population toward an alcohol tracker application and to determine (b) user preferences with regards to the different features present in an alcohol tracker. Android Java Developmental kit (ADK) was utilized to program the core functions of the applications. The entire developmental process took approximately 6 weeks to complete and the android version of the application was launched and offered for free download on the android play store since the 4th of February 2015. The utilization of the application was then monitored and recorded using Google analytics. User perspectives with regards to the individual features of the application were collated via an application feedback survey embedded within the application. Based on the analytics, a total of 339 users have had access to the application. A cumulative total of 2029 downloads of the application have been made to date. Most of the participants are male (66%) and are of the age group of 30-39 years old (34%). The vast majority of the participants (94%) do not have any prior treatment for alcohol. Interestingly, the vast majority of the users have indicated that they have a drink 4 or more times a week (61%) and tend to drink between 3 to 4 drinks on a typical day they are out drinking. the vast majority reported that they were slightly and moderately comfortable with managing their alcohol use problem (25%). After the usage of the application, 27% of the individuals were moderately comfortable with managing their alcohol use problems and 20% of individuals were extremely comfortable with managing their alcohol use problems. In conclusion, this is perhaps one of the first few studies to demonstrate the receptiveness of an alcohol tracker that has included other behavioral change methods within as well as a variant of the conventional methodology of tracking alcohol consumption. The current study shows the receptiveness of global users as well as how such an intervention could help them gain more control about managing their underlying alcohol issue.

Childhood internalizing symptoms are negatively associated with early adolescent alcohol use

PubMed Central

Edwards, Alexis C.; Latendresse, Shawn J.; Heron, Jon; Cho, Seung Bin; Hickman, Matt; Lewis, Glyn; Dick, Danielle M.; Kendler, Kenneth S.

2014-01-01

Background The relationship between childhood internalizing problems and early adolescent alcohol use has been infrequently explored and remains unclear. Methods We employed growth mixture modeling of internalizing symptoms for a large, population-based sample of UK children (the ALSPAC cohort) to identify trajectories of childhood internalizing symptoms from age 4 through age 11.5. We then examined the relationship between membership in each trajectory and alcohol use in early adolescence (reported at age 13.8). Results Overall, children experiencing elevated levels of internalizing symptoms were less likely to use alcohol in early adolescence. This finding held true across all internalizing trajectories; i.e., those exhibiting increasing levels of internalizing symptoms over time, and those whose symptoms desisted over time, were both less likely to use alcohol than their peers who did not exhibit internalizing problems. Conclusions We conclude that childhood internalizing symptoms, unlike adolescent symptoms, are negatively associated with early adolescent alcohol experimentation. Additional studies are warranted to follow up on our preliminary evidence that symptoms of phobia and separation anxiety drive this effect. PMID:24848214

Problem drinking and low-dose naltrexone-assisted opioid detoxification.

PubMed

Mannelli, Paolo; Peindl, Kathleen; Patkar, Ashwin A; Wu, Li-Tzy; Tharwani, Haresh M; Gorelick, David A

2011-05-01

The influence of alcohol use on opioid dependence is a major problem that warrants a search for more effective treatment strategies. The addition of very-low-dose naltrexone (VLNTX) to methadone taper was recently associated with reduced withdrawal intensity during detoxification. In a secondary analysis of these data, we sought to determine whether problem drinking affects detoxification outcomes and whether symptoms are influenced by VLNTX use. Opioid-dependent patients (N = 174) received naltrexone (0.125 or 0.250 mg/day) or placebo in a double-blind, randomized design during methadone-based, 6-day inpatient detoxification. Alcohol consumption was assessed at admission using the Addiction Severity Index and selfreport. Outcome measures were opioid withdrawal intensity, craving, and retention in treatment. Problem drinking-opioid dependent patients (n = 79) showed episodic heavy alcohol use and reported increased subjective opioid withdrawal intensity (p = .001), craving (p = .001), and significantly lower rate of retention in treatment (p = .02). Individuals with problem drinking and opioid dependence who were treated with VLNTX (n = 55) showed reduced withdrawal (p = .05) and a lower rate of treatment discontinuation (p = .03), resuming alcohol intake in smaller numbers the day following discharge (p = .03). Treatment effects were more pronounced on anxiety, perspiration, shakiness, nausea, stomach cramps, and craving. There were no group differences in use of adjuvant medications and no treatment-related adverse events. Heavy drinking is associated with worse opioid detoxification outcomes. The addition of VLNTX is safe and is associated with reduced withdrawal symptoms and better completion rate in these patients. Further studies should explore the use of VLNTX in detoxification and long-term treatment of combined alcohol-opioid dependence and alcohol dependence alone.

An ecologically based model of alcohol-consumption decision making: evidence for the discriminative and predictive role of contextual reward and punishment information.

PubMed

Bogg, Tim; Finn, Peter R

2009-05-01

Using insights from Ecological Systems Theory and Reinforcement Sensitivity Theory, the current study assessed the utility of a series of hypothetical role-based alcohol-consumption scenarios that varied in their presentation of rewarding and punishing information. The scenarios, along with measures of impulsive sensation seeking and a self-report of weekly alcohol consumption, were administered to a sample of alcohol-dependent and non-alcohol-dependent college-age individuals (N = 170). The results showed scenario attendance decisions were largely unaffected by alcohol-dependence status and variations in contextual reward and punishment information. In contrast to the attendance findings, the results for the alcohol-consumption decisions showed alcohol-dependent individuals reported a greater frequency of deciding to drink, as well as indicating greater alcohol consumption in the contexts of complementary rewarding or nonpunishing information. Regression results provided evidence for the criterion-related validity of scenario outcomes in an account of diagnostic alcohol problems. The results are discussed in terms of the conceptual and predictive gains associated with an assessment approach to alcohol-consumption decision making that combines situational information organized and balanced through the frameworks of Ecological Systems Theory and Reinforcement Sensitivity Theory.

Difficulties with telephone-based surveys on alcohol in high-income countries: the Canadian example

PubMed Central

Shield, Kevin D.; Rehm, Jürgen

2012-01-01

Accurate information concerning alcohol consumption level and patterns is vital to formulating public health policy. The objective of this paper is to critically assess the extent to which survey design, response rate and alcohol consumption coverage obtained in random digit dialing, telephone-based surveys impact on conclusions about alcohol consumption and its patterns in the general population. Our analysis will be based on the Canadian Alcohol and Drug Use Monitoring Survey (CADUMS) 2008, a national survey intended to be representative of the general population. The conclusions of this paper are as follows: 1) ignoring people who are homeless, institutionalized and/or do not have a home phone may lead to an underestimation of the prevalence of alcohol consumption and related problems; 2) weighting of observations to population demographics may lead to a increase in the design effect, does not necessarily address the underlying selection bias, and may lead to overly influential observations; and 3) the accurate characterization of alcohol consumption patterns obtained by triangulating the data with the adult per capita consumption estimate is essential for comparative analyses and intervention planning especially when the alcohol coverage rate is low like in the CADUMS with 34%. PMID:22337654

Examination of Anxiety Sensitivity and Distress Tolerance as Transdiagnostic Mechanisms Linking Multiple Anxiety Pathologies to Alcohol Use Problems in Adolescents

PubMed Central

Wolitzky-Taylor, Kate; Guillot, Casey R.; Pang, Raina D.; Kirkpatrick, Matthew G.; Zvolensky, Michael J.; Buckner, Julia D.; Leventhal, Adam M.

2015-01-01

Background Multiple forms of anxiety psychopathology are associated with alcohol use problems in adolescents. Yet, the mechanisms underlying this association are unclear. Anxiety sensitivity (AS) and distress tolerance (DT) represent 2 distinct, conceptually relevant transdiagnostic constructs implicated in multiple manifestations of anxiety that may also underlie alcohol use problems and thereby explain why people with anxiety are more likely to have alcohol problems. Methods The current cross-sectional study examined whether AS and DT accounted for (i.e., statistically mediated) the relationship between manifest indicators of the 3 common anxiety phenotypes (generalized anxiety, social anxiety, and panic disorders) and alcohol problems in a sample of 534 high school students (14 to 15 years old). Results Multiple manifestations of anxiety were associated with greater alcohol use problems. AS statistically mediated multiple anxiety–alcohol associations, but DT did not. Conclusions These findings provide preliminary evidence suggesting AS may be an important transdiagnostic target for alcohol prevention programs for those in early adolescence that experience elevated anxiety symptoms. PMID:25706521

Associations Between MAOA-uVNTR Genotype, Maltreatment, MAOA Methylation, and Alcohol Consumption in Young Adult Males.

PubMed

Bendre, Megha; Comasco, Erika; Checknita, Dave; Tiihonen, Jari; Hodgins, Sheilagh; Nilsson, Kent W

2018-03-01

Epigenetic mechanisms are candidate moderators of the effect of maltreatment on brain and behavior. Interactions between maltreatment and the monoamine oxidase A upstream variable number tandem repeat genotype (MAOA-uVNTR) are associated with alcohol-related problems. However, presently it is not known whether DNA methylation moderates this association. The study focused on 53 young adult males and aimed to determine whether MAOA methylation moderated the association of alcohol-related problems with the interaction of MAOA-uVNTR and maltreatment, and whether alcohol consumption moderated the association of MAOA methylation with the interaction of MAOA-uVNTR and maltreatment. MAOA-uVNTR genotypes with ≤ 3 and > 3 repeats were categorized as short (S) and long (L), respectively. Data on maltreatment were obtained retrospectively, using self-reported questionnaires. DNA methylation of 16 candidate CpGs within part of the MAOA first exon and intron was assessed and grouped based on principal component analyses. Alcohol-related problems were assessed using the Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test (AUDIT). Alcohol consumption was measured using AUDIT-C. Moderation effects were assessed and probed using the moderated moderation model and Johnson-Neyman's method, respectively. Carriers of the S allele, who experienced maltreatment and displayed lower Component 1 (mean of CpGs 13-16 in the first intron) MAOA methylation levels, reported higher AUDIT score in contrast to L-allele carriers. Carriers of the S allele, who reported higher AUDIT-C score and experienced maltreatment, displayed lower Component 3 (mean of CpGs 2-6 in the first exon) MAOA methylation levels than L-allele carriers. Intronic methylation moderated the association of alcohol-related problems with the interaction of MAOA-uVNTR and maltreatment. Alcohol consumption moderated the association of exonic methylation with the interaction of MAOA-uVNTR and maltreatment. These results suggest that epigenetic factors as well as genotype and maltreatment play a role in the development of alcohol misuse among young adult males. Copyright © 2017 by the Research Society on Alcoholism.

Drinking and desired self-images: path models of self-image goals, coping motives, heavy-episodic drinking, and alcohol problems.

PubMed

Moeller, Scott J; Crocker, Jennifer

2009-06-01

Coping motives for drinking initiate alcohol-related problems. Interpersonal goals, which powerfully influence affect, could provide a starting point for this relation. Here we tested effects of self-image goals (which aim to construct and defend desired self-views) and compassionate goals (which aim to support others) on heavy-episodic drinking and alcohol-related problems. Undergraduate drinkers (N=258) completed measures of self-image and compassionate goals in academics and friendships, coping and enhancement drinking motives, heavy-episodic drinking, and alcohol-related problems in a cross-sectional design. As predicted, self-image goals, but not compassionate goals, positively related to alcohol-related problems. Path models showed that self-image goals relate to coping motives, but not enhancement motives; coping motives then relate to heavy-episodic drinking, which in turn relate to alcohol-related problems. Self-image goals remained a significant predictor in the final model, which accounted for 34% of the variance in alcohol-related problems. These findings indicate that self-image goals contribute to alcohol-related problems in college students both independently and through coping motives. Interventions can center on reducing self-image goals and their attendant negative affect. Copyright (c) 2009 APA, all rights reserved.

Paternal alcoholism and offspring ADHD problems: a children of twins design.

PubMed

Knopik, Valerie S; Jacob, Theodore; Haber, Jon Randolph; Swenson, Lance P; Howell, Donelle N

2009-02-01

A recent Children-of-Female-Twin design suggests that the association between maternal alcohol use disorder and offspring ADHD is due to a combination of genetic and environmental factors, such as prenatal nicotine exposure. We present here a complementary analysis using a Children-of-Male-Twin design examining the association between paternal alcoholism and offspring attention deficit hyperactivity problems (ADHP). Children-of-twins design: offspring were classified into 4 groups of varying genetic and environmental risk based on father and co-twin's alcohol dependence status. Univariate results are suggestive of a genetic association between paternal alcohol dependence and broadly defined offspring ADHP. Specifically, offspring of male twins with a history of DSM-III-R alcohol dependence, as well as offspring of non-alcohol dependent monozygotic twins whose co-twin was alcohol dependent, were significantly more likely to exhibit ADHP than control offspring. However, multivariate models show maternal variables independently predicting increased risk for offspring ADHP and significantly decreased support for a genetic mechanism of parent-to-child transmission. In support of earlier work, maternal variables (i.e., maternal ADHD and prenatal exposure) were strongly associated with child ADHP; however, the role of paternal alcohol dependence influences was not definitive. While genetic transmission may be important, the association between paternal alcohol dependence and child ADHP is more likely to be indirect and a result of several pathways.

PATERNAL ALCOHOLISM AND OFFSPRING ADHD PROBLEMS: A CHILDREN OF TWINS DESIGN

PubMed Central

Knopik, Valerie S.; Jacob, Theodore; Haber, Jon Randolph; Swenson, Lance P.; Howell, Donelle N.

2013-01-01

Objective A recent Children-of-Female-Twin design suggests that the association between maternal alcohol use disorder and offspring ADHD is due to a combination of genetic and environmental factors, such as prenatal nicotine exposure. We present here a complementary analysis using a Children-of-Male-Twin design examining the association between paternal alcoholism and offspring attention deficit hyperactivity problems (ADHP). Methods Children-of-twins design: offspring were classified into 4 groups of varying genetic and environmental risk based on father and co-twin’s alcohol dependence status. Results Univariate results are suggestive of a genetic association between paternal alcohol dependence and broadly defined offspring ADHP. Specifically, offspring of male twins with a history of DSM-III-R alcohol dependence, as well as offspring of non-alcohol dependent monozygotic twins whose cotwin was alcohol dependent, were significantly more likely to exhibit ADHP than control offspring. However, multivariate models show maternal variables independently predicting increased risk for offspring ADHP and significantly decreased support for a genetic mechanism of parent-to-child transmission. Conclusions In support of earlier work, maternal variables (i.e., maternal ADHD and prenatal exposure) were strongly associated with child ADHP; however, the role of paternal alcohol dependence influences was not definitive. While genetic transmission may be important, the association between paternal alcohol dependence and child ADHP is more likely to be indirect and a result of several pathways. PMID:19210180

Movie Exposure to Alcohol Cues and Adolescent Alcohol Problems: A Longitudinal Analysis in a National Sample

PubMed Central

Wills, Thomas A.; Sargent, James D.; Gibbons, Frederick X.; Gerrard, Meg; Stoolmiller, Mike

2009-01-01

The authors tested a theoretical model of how exposure to alcohol cues in movies predicts level of alcohol use (ever use plus ever and recent binge drinking) and alcohol-related problems. A national sample of younger adolescents was interviewed by telephone with 4 repeated assessments spaced at 8-month intervals. A structural equation modeling analysis performed for ever-drinkers at Time 3 (N = 961) indicated that, controlling for a number of covariates, movie alcohol exposure at Time 1 was related to increases in peer alcohol use and adolescent alcohol use at Time 2. Movie exposure had indirect effects to alcohol use and problems at Times 3 and 4 through these pathways, with direct effects to problems from Time 1 rebelliousness and Time 2 movie exposure also found. Prospective risk-promoting effects were also found for alcohol expectancies, peer alcohol use, and availability of alcohol in the home; protective effects were found for mother’s responsiveness and for adolescent’s school performance and self-control. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed. PMID:19290687

Movie exposure to alcohol cues and adolescent alcohol problems: a longitudinal analysis in a national sample.

PubMed

Wills, Thomas A; Sargent, James D; Gibbons, Frederick X; Gerrard, Meg; Stoolmiller, Mike

2009-03-01

The authors tested a theoretical model of how exposure to alcohol cues in movies predicts level of alcohol use (ever use plus ever and recent binge drinking) and alcohol-related problems. A national sample of younger adolescents was interviewed by telephone with 4 repeated assessments spaced at 8-month intervals. A structural equation modeling analysis performed for ever-drinkers at Time 3 (N = 961) indicated that, controlling for a number of covariates, movie alcohol exposure at Time 1 was related to increases in peer alcohol use and adolescent alcohol use at Time 2. Movie exposure had indirect effects to alcohol use and problems at Times 3 and 4 through these pathways, with direct effects to problems from Time 1 rebelliousness and Time 2 movie exposure also found. Prospective risk-promoting effects were also found for alcohol expectancies, peer alcohol use, and availability of alcohol in the home; protective effects were found for mother's responsiveness and for adolescent's school performance and self-control. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2009 APA, all rights reserved).

Adolescents, Alcohol, and Substance Abuse: Reaching Teens through Brief Interventions.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Monti, Peter M., Ed.; Colby, Suzanne M., Ed.; O'Leary, Tracy A., Ed.

This publication reviews a variety of empirically supported approaches to dealing with alcohol and drug problems in adolescents. Its focus is to provide motivationally based brief interventions that can be delivered in a variety of contexts address key developmental considerations and draw on the latest knowledge about the processes of addictive…

Does drinking refusal self-efficacy mediate the impulsivity-problematic alcohol use relation?

PubMed

Stevens, Angela K; Littlefield, Andrew K; Blanchard, Brittany E; Talley, Amelia E; Brown, Jennifer L

2016-02-01

There is consistent evidence that impulsivity-like traits relate to problematic alcohol involvement; however, identifying mechanisms that account for this relation remains an important area of research. Drinking refusal self-efficacy (or a person's ability to resist alcohol; DRSE) has been shown to predict alcohol use among college students and may be a relevant mediator of the impulsivity-alcohol relation. The current study examined the indirect effect of various constructs related to impulsivity (i.e., urgency, sensation seeking, and deficits in conscientiousness) via several facets of DRSE (i.e., social pressure, opportunistic, and emotional relief) on alcohol-related problems among a large sample of college students (N=891). Overall, results indicated that certain DRSE facets were significant mediators of the relation between impulsivity-related constructs and alcohol problems. More specifically, emotional-relief DRSE was a mediator for the respective relations between urgency and deficits in conscientiousness and alcohol problems, whereas social-DRSE was a significant mediator of the respective relations between urgency and sensation seeking with alcohol problems. Results from this study suggest particular types of DRSE are important mediators of the relations between specific impulsivity constructs and alcohol-related problems. These findings support prevention and intervention efforts that seek to enhance drinking refusal self-efficacy skills of college students, particularly those high in certain personality features, in order to reduce alcohol-related problems among this population. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

A content analysis of displayed alcohol references on a social networking web site.

PubMed

Moreno, Megan A; Briner, Leslie R; Williams, Amanda; Brockman, Libby; Walker, Leslie; Christakis, Dimitri A

2010-08-01

Exposure to alcohol use in media is associated with adolescent alcohol use. Adolescents frequently display alcohol references on Internet media, such as social networking web sites. The purpose of this study was to conduct a theoretically based content analysis of older adolescents' displayed alcohol references on a social networking web site. We evaluated 400 randomly selected public MySpace profiles of self-reported 17- to 20-year-olds from zip codes, representing urban, suburban, and rural communities in one Washington county. Content was evaluated for alcohol references, suggesting: (1) explicit versus figurative alcohol use, (2) alcohol-related motivations, associations, and consequences, including references that met CRAFFT problem drinking criteria. We compared profiles from four target zip codes for prevalence and frequency of alcohol display. Of 400 profiles, 225 (56.3%) contained 341 references to alcohol. Profile owners who displayed alcohol references were mostly male (54.2%) and white (70.7%). The most frequent reference category was explicit use (49.3%); the most commonly displayed alcohol use motivation was peer pressure (4.7%). Few references met CRAFFT problem drinking criteria (3.2%). There were no differences in prevalence or frequency of alcohol display among the four sociodemographic communities. Despite alcohol use being illegal and potentially stigmatizing in this population, explicit alcohol use is frequently referenced on adolescents' MySpace profiles across several sociodemographic communities. Motivations, associations, and consequences regarding alcohol use referenced on MySpace appear consistent with previous studies of adolescent alcohol use. These references may be a potent source of influence on adolescents, particularly given that they are created and displayed by peers. (c) 2010 Society for Adolescent Health and Medicine. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

A Content Analysis of Displayed Alcohol References on a Social Networking Web Site

PubMed Central

Moreno, Megan A; Briner, Leslie R; Williams, Amanda; Brockman, Libby; Walker, Leslie; Christakis, Dimitri A

2010-01-01

Purpose Exposure to alcohol use in media is associated with adolescent alcohol use. Adolescents frequently display alcohol references on Internet media such as social networking websites (SNSs). The purpose of this study was to conduct a theoretically-based content analysis of older adolescents’ displayed alcohol references on a SNS. Methods We evaluated 400 randomly selected public MySpace profiles of self-reported 17 to 20-year-olds from zip codes representing urban, suburban and rural communities in one Washington county. Content was evaluated for alcohol references suggesting: 1) explicit versus figurative alcohol use, 2) alcohol-related motivations, associations and consequences, including references that met CRAFFT problem drinking criteria. We compared profiles from four target zip codes for prevalence and frequency of alcohol display. Results Of 400 profiles, 225 profiles (56.3%) contained 341 references to alcohol. Profile owners who displayed alcohol references were mostly male (54.2%) and White (70.7%). The most frequent reference category was explicit use (49.3%), the most commonly displayed alcohol use motivation was peer pressure (4.7%). Few references met CRAFFT problem drinking criteria (3.2%). There were no differences in prevalence or frequency of alcohol display among the four sociodemographic communities. Conclusions Despite alcohol use being illegal and potentially stigmatizing in this population, explicit alcohol use is frequently referenced on adolescents’ MySpace profiles across several sociodemographic communities. Motivations, associations and consequences regarding alcohol use referenced on MySpace appear consistent with previous studies of adolescent alcohol use. These references may be a potent source of influence on adolescents, particularly given that they are created and displayed by peers. PMID:20638009

Childhood emotional abuse, negative emotion-driven impulsivity, and alcohol use in young adulthood☆

PubMed Central

Shin, Sunny H.; Lee, Sungkyu; Jeon, Sae-Mi; Wills, Thomas A.

2015-01-01

Childhood emotional abuse has been linked to problematic alcohol use in later life but there is a paucity of empirically based knowledge about the developmental pathways linking emotional abuse and alcohol use in young adulthood. Using a community sample of young individuals aged 18–25 (N = 268; female 52%), we performed structural equation modeling to investigate whether emotional abuse influences alcohol use through urgent personality trait and to determine pathways for these effects in a multivariate context. We also examined variations in these pathways by four different alcohol use outcomes including frequency of alcohol use, binge drinking, alcohol-related problems, and alcohol use disorders (AUD). The present study found that emotional abuse was related to urgency, which in turn influenced four types of alcohol use. Urgency may play a significant role in linking childhood maltreatment to alcohol use in young adulthood. PMID:25743371

Childhood emotional abuse, negative emotion-driven impulsivity, and alcohol use in young adulthood.

PubMed

Shin, Sunny H; Lee, Sungkyu; Jeon, Sae-Mi; Wills, Thomas A

2015-12-01

Childhood emotional abuse has been linked to problematic alcohol use in later life but there is a paucity of empirically based knowledge about the developmental pathways linking emotional abuse and alcohol use in young adulthood. Using a community sample of young individuals aged 18-25 (N=268; female 52%), we performed structural equation modeling to investigate whether emotional abuse influences alcohol use through urgent personality trait and to determine pathways for these effects in a multivariate context. We also examined variations in these pathways by four different alcohol use outcomes including frequency of alcohol use, binge drinking, alcohol-related problems, and alcohol use disorders (AUD). The present study found that emotional abuse was related to urgency, which in turn influenced four types of alcohol use. Urgency may play a significant role in linking childhood maltreatment to alcohol use in young adulthood. Copyright © 2015. Published by Elsevier Ltd.

Exposure to alcohol advertisements and teenage alcohol-related problems.

PubMed

Grenard, Jerry L; Dent, Clyde W; Stacy, Alan W

2013-02-01

This study used prospective data to test the hypothesis that exposure to alcohol advertising contributes to an increase in underage drinking and that an increase in underage drinking then leads to problems associated with drinking alcohol. A total of 3890 students were surveyed once per year across 4 years from the 7th through the 10th grades. Assessments included several measures of exposure to alcohol advertising, alcohol use, problems related to alcohol use, and a range of covariates, such as age, drinking by peers, drinking by close adults, playing sports, general TV watching, acculturation, parents' jobs, and parents' education. Structural equation modeling of alcohol consumption showed that exposure to alcohol ads and/or liking of those ads in seventh grade were predictive of the latent growth factors for alcohol use (past 30 days and past 6 months) after controlling for covariates. In addition, there was a significant total effect for boys and a significant mediated effect for girls of exposure to alcohol ads and liking of those ads in 7th grade through latent growth factors for alcohol use on alcohol-related problems in 10th grade. Younger adolescents appear to be susceptible to the persuasive messages contained in alcohol commercials broadcast on TV, which sometimes results in a positive affective reaction to the ads. Alcohol ad exposure and the affective reaction to those ads influence some youth to drink more and experience drinking-related problems later in adolescence.

Exposure to Alcohol Advertisements and Teenage Alcohol-Related Problems

PubMed Central

Dent, Clyde W.; Stacy, Alan W.

2013-01-01

OBJECTIVE: This study used prospective data to test the hypothesis that exposure to alcohol advertising contributes to an increase in underage drinking and that an increase in underage drinking then leads to problems associated with drinking alcohol. METHODS: A total of 3890 students were surveyed once per year across 4 years from the 7th through the 10th grades. Assessments included several measures of exposure to alcohol advertising, alcohol use, problems related to alcohol use, and a range of covariates, such as age, drinking by peers, drinking by close adults, playing sports, general TV watching, acculturation, parents’ jobs, and parents’ education. RESULTS: Structural equation modeling of alcohol consumption showed that exposure to alcohol ads and/or liking of those ads in seventh grade were predictive of the latent growth factors for alcohol use (past 30 days and past 6 months) after controlling for covariates. In addition, there was a significant total effect for boys and a significant mediated effect for girls of exposure to alcohol ads and liking of those ads in 7th grade through latent growth factors for alcohol use on alcohol-related problems in 10th grade. CONCLUSIONS: Younger adolescents appear to be susceptible to the persuasive messages contained in alcohol commercials broadcast on TV, which sometimes results in a positive affective reaction to the ads. Alcohol ad exposure and the affective reaction to those ads influence some youth to drink more and experience drinking-related problems later in adolescence. PMID:23359585

Coping and rehabilitation in alcoholic liver disease patients after hepatic encephalopathy--in interaction with professionals and relatives.

PubMed

Mikkelsen, Maria Rudkjær; Hendriksen, Carsten; Schiødt, Frank Vinholt; Rydahl-Hansen, Susan

2015-12-01

To identify and describe conditions that limit or support patients, with alcoholic liver disease after surviving alcohol-induced hepatic encephalopathy, ability to cope with current and potential physical and psychosocial problems--in interaction with professionals and relatives--and to recommend appropriate interventions. Alcoholic liver disease patients surviving alcohol-induced hepatic encephalopathy have significantly impaired quality of life. Internationally, there is a lack of knowledge about the conditions that affect alcoholic liver disease patients' coping and rehabilitation. A grounded theory study. Semi-structured interviews, conducted with 11 alcoholic liver disease patients who were diagnosed with hepatic encephalopathy. The interview guide was inspired by Richard S. Lazarus's theory of stress and coping. The elements that support or limit alcoholic liver disease patients' ability to cope with physical and psychosocial problems in interaction with professionals and relatives were represented by the core category 'Struggle for preservation of identity as a significant individual'. It was characterised by three categories, which are interrelated and impact upon each other: 'Acknowledgement', 'Struggle to maintain control' and 'Achieving a sense of security'. Alcoholic liver disease patients experience a struggle to preserve their identity as a significant individual. It can be assumed that professionals and relatives in their interaction with, and support of, patients should focus on strengthening and preserving patients' identity in the form of acknowledgement, helping alcoholic liver disease patients maintain self-control and providing a safety net so patients feel a sense of security. It can be assumed that professionals should support alcoholic liver disease patients' appraisal of, and coping with, physical and psychosocial problems based on acknowledgment, understanding and a sympathetic attitude. Professionals should proactively approach patients when they withdraw. It may be useful for professionals to be aware of alcoholic liver disease patients' individual coping strategies and thereby their individual requirements for professional supportive intervention. © 2015 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Towards a concept of sensible drinking and an illustration of measure.

PubMed

Harburg, E; Gleiberman, L; Difranceisco, W; Peele, S

1994-07-01

The major focus of research on alcohol is not on the majority who drink without problems, but on the small minority who have extreme problems. Difficulty in conceiving, measuring, and analyzing non-problem drinking lies in the exclusively problem-drinking orientation of most drinking measures. Drawing on conventionally used scales (e.g. Short Michigan Alcoholism Screening Test) and other established concepts in the alcohol literature (e.g. craving, hangover), a set of 24 items was selected to classify all persons in a sample from Tecumseh, Michigan, as to their alcohol-related behaviors (N = 1266). A Sensible-Problem Drinking Classification (SPDC) was developed with five categories: very sensible, sensible, borderline, problem, and impaired. A variety of known alcohol and psychosocial variables were related monotonically across these categories in expected directions. Ethanol ounces per week was only modestly related to SPDC groups: R2 = 0.09 for women, R2 = 0.21 for men. The positive relationship of problem and non-problem SPDC groups to high and low blood pressure was P = 0.07, while ethanol (oz/week) was uncorrelated to blood pressure (mm Hg) in this subsample (N = 453). The development of SPDC requires additional items measuring self and group regulatory alcohol behavior. However, this initial analysis of no-problem subgroups has direct import for public health regulation of alcohol use by providing a model of a sensible view of alcohol use.

Students' Mathematics Word Problem-Solving Achievement in a Computer-Based Story

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Gunbas, N.

2015-01-01

The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of a computer-based story, which was designed in anchored instruction framework, on sixth-grade students' mathematics word problem-solving achievement. Problems were embedded in a story presented on a computer as computer story, and then compared with the paper-based version of the same story…

Reducing Youth Access to Alcohol: Findings from a Community-Based Randomized Trial*

PubMed Central

Flewelling, Robert L.; Grube, Joel W.; Paschall, M.J.; Biglan, Anthony; Kraft, Anne; Black, Carol; Hanley, Sean; Ringwalt, Christopher; Wiesen, Chris; Ruscoe, Jeff

2012-01-01

Underage drinking continues to be an important public health problem and a challenge to the substance abuse prevention field. Community-based interventions designed to more rigorously control underage access to alcohol through retailer education and greater enforcement of underage drinking laws have been advocated as potentially effective strategies to help address this problem, but studies designed to evaluate such interventions are sparse. To address this issue we conducted a randomized trial involving 36 communities to test the combined effectiveness of five interrelated intervention components designed to reduce underage access to alcohol. The intervention was found to be effective in reducing the likelihood that retail clerks would sell alcohol to underage-looking buyers, but did not reduce underage drinking or the perceived availability of alcohol among high school students. Post hoc analyses, however, revealed significant associations between the level of underage drinking law enforcement in the intervention communities and reductions in both 30-day use of alcohol and binge drinking. The findings highlight the difficulty in reducing youth drinking even when efforts to curtail retail access are successful. Study findings also suggest that high intensity implementation of underage drinking law enforcement can reduce underage drinking. Any such effects of enhanced enforcement on underage drinking appear to be more directly attributable to an increase in perceived likelihood of enforcement and the resultant perceived inconveniences and/or sanctions to potential drinkers, than to a reduction in access to alcohol per se. PMID:22688848

Reducing youth access to alcohol: findings from a community-based randomized trial.

PubMed

Flewelling, Robert L; Grube, Joel W; Paschall, M J; Biglan, Anthony; Kraft, Anne; Black, Carol; Hanley, Sean M; Ringwalt, Christopher; Wiesen, Chris; Ruscoe, Jeff

2013-03-01

Underage drinking continues to be an important public health problem and a challenge to the substance abuse prevention field. Community-based interventions designed to more rigorously control underage access to alcohol through retailer education and greater enforcement of underage drinking laws have been advocated as potentially effective strategies to help address this problem, but studies designed to evaluate such interventions are sparse. To address this issue we conducted a randomized trial involving 36 communities to test the combined effectiveness of five interrelated intervention components designed to reduce underage access to alcohol. The intervention was found to be effective in reducing the likelihood that retail clerks would sell alcohol to underage-looking buyers, but did not reduce underage drinking or the perceived availability of alcohol among high school students. Post hoc analyses, however, revealed significant associations between the level of underage drinking law enforcement in the intervention communities and reductions in both 30-day use of alcohol and binge drinking. The findings highlight the difficulty in reducing youth drinking even when efforts to curtail retail access are successful. Study findings also suggest that high intensity implementation of underage drinking law enforcement can reduce underage drinking. Any such effects of enhanced enforcement on underage drinking appear to be more directly attributable to an increase in perceived likelihood of enforcement and the resultant perceived inconveniences and/or sanctions to potential drinkers, than to a reduction in access to alcohol per se.

Alcohol Policies on College Campuses.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Mitchell, Rebecca J.; Toomey, Traci L.; Erickson, Darin

2005-01-01

State and local alcohol policies can minimize opportunities for people to use alcohol, thereby reducing consumption and alcohol-related problems. Little is known, however, about the prevalence of campus policies aimed at reducing college students' alcohol use and related problems. The authors surveyed school administrators in Minnesota and…

Prevalence and associated factors with alcohol use disorders among adults: a population-based study in southern Brazil.

PubMed

Reisdorfer, Emilene; Büchele, Fátima; Pires, Rodrigo Otávio Moretti; Boing, Antonio Fernando

2012-09-01

The study aimed to describe the prevalence of alcohol use disorders in an adult population from Brazil and its association with demographic, socioeconomic, behavioral variables and health conditions. A population-based cross-sectional survey was conducted with adults (20 to 59 years) of a medium-sized city in Southern Brazil with a random sample of 1,720 individuals. Cluster sampling was done in two stages: census tract first and household second. Alcohol use disorders were measured using the Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test (AUDIT) and associations were tested with selected variables by Poisson Regression. Results of multivariate analysis were expressed as prevalence ratios. The prevalence of alcohol use disorders in the population was 18.4% (95% CI: 16.6% - 20.3%), higher among men (29.9%) than in women (9.3%). The prevalence of abstinence was 30.6%; 6.8% of respondents had already caused problems to themselves or to others after drinking; and 10.3% reported that a relative, friend or doctor had already shown concern on their drinking. After multivariate analysis, an association with alcohol use disorders remained for: being male, age 20 to 29 years, being single, declaring to be light-skinned blacks and being an ex-smoker or current smoker. The prevalence of alcohol use disorders identified is high compared with other similar studies, with differences according to being male, age 20 to 29, skin color and tobacco use. These issues must be considered in formulating public health policies aimed at reducing problems related to alcohol use.

Mothers' maximum drinks ever consumed in 24 hours predicts mental health problems in adolescent offspring

PubMed Central

Malone, Stephen M.; McGue, Matt; Iacono, William G.

2009-01-01

Background The maximum number of alcoholic drinks consumed in a single 24-hr period is an alcoholism-related phenotype with both face and empirical validity. It has been associated with severity of withdrawal symptoms and sensitivity to alcoholism, genes implicated in alcohol metabolism, and amplitude of a measure of brain activity associated with externalizing disorders in general. In a previous study we found that the maximum number of drinks fathers had ever consumed in 24 hrs was associated with externalizing behaviors and disorders in preadolescent and adolescent children. The purpose of the present study was to determine whether maternal maximum consumption has similar correlates. Method We examined associations between maternal maximum consumption and alcohol dependence, respectively, and disruptive disorders and substance-related problems in two large independent population-based cohorts of 17-year-old adolescents. Results Maximum consumption was associated with conduct disorder, disruptive disorders in general, early substance use and misuse, and substance disorders in adolescent children regardless of sex. Associations were consistent across cohorts, providing internal replication. They also paralleled our previous findings regarding paternal status. They could not be explained by maternal alcohol dependence, effects of drinking during pregnancy, or paternal maximum consumption. They were not simple artifacts of the fact that maximum consumption is a continuous measure while alcohol dependence is dichotomous. Conclusions Despite deriving from a single question about lifetime behavior, parental maximum consumption appears to reflect vulnerability for mental health problems, especially substance-related ones, more directly than a diagnosis of alcohol dependence. PMID:20085606

A Laboratory-Based Test of the Relation between Adolescent Alcohol Use and Panic-Relevant Responding

PubMed Central

Blumenthal, Heidemarie; Cloutier, Renee M.; Zamboanga, Byron L.; Bunaciu, Liviu; Knapp, Ashley A.

2015-01-01

A burgeoning literature supports a link between alcohol use and panic-spectrum problems (e.g., panic attacks, disorder) among adolescents, but the direction of influence has yet to be properly examined. From a theoretical perspective, panic-spectrum problems may increase risk for problematic drinking via affect regulation efforts (e.g., self-medication), and problematic consumption also may increase or initiate panic-relevant responding (e.g., learning or kindling models). The objective of the current investigation was to examine the role of prior alcohol use in predicting panic-relevant responding, as well as panic symptom history in predicting the desire to consume alcohol, in the context of either a voluntary hyperventilation or a low-arousal task. Participants were community-recruited adolescents aged 12-17 years (n = 92, Mage = 15.42, SD = 1.51; 39.1% girls). Results indicated that prior alcohol use predicted panic-relevant responding among those undergoing the hyperventilation task (but not the low-arousal task), and that this finding was robust to the inclusion of theoretically-relevant covariates (i.e. age, sex, negative affectivity). However, panic symptom history did not predict the desire to consume alcohol as a function of either the hyperventilation or low-arousal condition. This work sheds further light on the nature of the relation between panic-spectrum problems and problematic alcohol use in adolescence. Specifically, the current findings suggest that frequent alcohol use may increase panic vulnerability among adolescents, whereas acute panic symptoms may not elicit the immediate (self-reported) desire to drink. PMID:26053320

THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN MEASURES OF IMPULSIVITY AND ALCOHOL MISUSE: AN INTEGRATIVE STRUCTURAL EQUATION MODELING APPROACH

PubMed Central

Courtney, Kelly E.; Arellano, Ryan; Barkley-Levenson, Emily; Gálvan, Adriana; Poldrack, Russell A.; MacKillop, James; Jentsch, J. David; Ray, Lara A.

2011-01-01

Background Higher levels of impulsivity have been implicated in the development of alcohol use disorders. Recent findings suggest that impulsivity is not a unitary construct, highlighted by the diverse ways in which the various measures of impulsivity relate to alcohol use outcomes. This study simultaneously tested the following dimensions of impulsivity as determinants of alcohol use and alcohol problems: risky decision-making, self-reported risk attitudes, response inhibition, and impulsive decision-making. Method Participants were a community sample of non-treatment seeking problem drinkers (N = 158). Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) analyses employed behavioral measures of impulsive decision-making (Delay Discounting Task, DDT), response inhibition (Stop Signal Task, SST), and risky decision-making (Balloon Analogue Risk Task, BART), and a self-report measure of risk attitudes (Domain-specific Risk-attitude Scale, DOSPERT), as predictors of alcohol use and of alcohol-related problems in this sample. Results The model fit well, accounting for 38% of the variance in alcohol problems, and identified two impulsivity dimensions that significantly loaded onto alcohol outcomes: (1) impulsive decision-making, indexed by the DDT; and (2) risky decision-making, measured by the BART. Conclusions The impulsive decision-making dimension of impulsivity, indexed by the DDT, was the strongest predictor of alcohol use and alcohol pathology in this sample of problem drinkers. Unexpectedly, a negative relationship was found between risky decision-making and alcohol problems. The results highlight the importance of considering the distinct facets of impulsivity in order to elucidate their individual and combined effects on alcohol use initiation, escalation, and dependence. PMID:22091877

Integrating Computers into the Problem-Solving Process.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Lowther, Deborah L.; Morrison, Gary R.

2003-01-01

Asserts that within the context of problem-based learning environments, professors can encourage students to use computers as problem-solving tools. The ten-step Integrating Technology for InQuiry (NteQ) model guides professors through the process of integrating computers into problem-based learning activities. (SWM)

Associations between displayed alcohol references on Facebook and problem drinking among college students

PubMed Central

Moreno, Megan A; Christakis, Dimitri A; Egan, Katie G; Brockman, Libby N; Becker, Tara

2011-01-01

Objective Alcohol screening is uncommon among college students; however, many students display references to alcohol on Facebook. The objective of this study was to examine associations between displayed alcohol use and intoxication/problem drinking (I/PD) references on Facebook and self-reported problem drinking using a clinical scale. Design Content analysis and cross-sectional survey Setting www.Facebook.com Participants Undergraduate students from two state universities between the ages of 18 and 20 with public Facebook profiles Main exposures Profiles were categorized into one of three distinct categories: Non-Displayers, Alcohol Displayers and Intoxication/Problem Drinking (I/PD) Displayers. Outcome measures An online survey measured problem drinking using the AUDIT scale. Analyses examined associations between alcohol display category and 1) AUDIT problem drinking category using logistic regression, 2) AUDIT score using negative binomial regression, and 3) alcohol-related injury using Fisher’s exact test. Results Of 307 profiles identified, 224 participants completed the survey (73% response rate). The average age was 18.8 years, 122 (54%) were female, 152 (68%) were Caucasian, and approximately half were from each university. Profile owners who displayed I/PD were more likely (OR=4.4 [95% CI 2.0-9.4]) to score in the problem drinking category of the AUDIT scale, had 64% (IRR=1.64 [95% CI: 1.27-11.0] higher AUDIT scores overall and were more likely to report an alcohol-related injury in the past year (p=0.002). Conclusions Displayed references to I/PD were positively associated with AUDIT scores suggesting problem drinking as well as alcohol-related injury. Results suggest that clinical criteria for problem drinking can be applied to Facebook alcohol references. PMID:21969360

A Preliminary Investigation of Caffeinated Alcohol Use During Spring Break.

PubMed

Linden-Carmichael, Ashley N; Lau-Barraco, Cathy

2016-06-06

Caffeinated alcoholic beverages (e.g., Red Bull and vodka) are popular but associated with negative consequences. CABs may be particularly popular during Spring Break, a potentially risky social event. We aimed to identify the prevalence of Spring Break caffeinated alcohol use, determine how caffeinated alcohol use Spring Break drinking habits differ from usual, and examine the association between Spring Break caffeinated alcohol use and alcohol-related problems. Data were collected from 95 college students during March of 2013 and 2014. Students completed questionnaires of their alcohol and caffeinated alcohol use before and during Spring Break and Spring Break alcohol-related problems. Approximately 54% of students used caffeinated alcohol during Spring Break. Spring Break caffeinated alcohol use was associated with more alcohol-related problems, even after controlling for other alcohol consumed and Spring Break vacation status. Caffeinated alcoholic beverages are commonly consumed during Spring Break and their use uniquely predicted harms. Prevention efforts placed on caffeinated alcoholic beverage users may be helpful in reducing Spring Break-related harms.

Self-Cognitions, Risk Factors for Alcohol Problems, and Drinking in Preadolescent Urban Youths

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Corte, Colleen; Szalacha, Laura

2010-01-01

In this study we examine relationships between self-structure and known precursors for alcohol problems in 9- to 12-year-old primarily black and Latino youths (N = 79). Parental alcohol problems and being female predicted few positive and many negative self-cognitions and a future-oriented self-cognition related to alcohol ("drinking possible…

Social Work Practice in Health Care: The Need to Use Brief Interventions

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kotrla, Kim

2005-01-01

According to the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA) (2001), 14 million U.S. adults abuse alcohol and several million more are at risk of developing alcohol problems because of their drinking behaviors. Heavy drinking increases the risk of serious health problems, with the economic cost of problem drinking estimated to be…

Screening and Brief Intervention for Alcohol Problems among College Students Treated in a University Hospital Emergency Department

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Helmkamp, James C.; Hungerford, Daniel W.; Williams, Janet M.; Manley, William G.; Furbee, Paul M.; Horn, Kimberly A.; Pollock, Daniel A.

2003-01-01

The authors evaluated a protocol to screen and provide brief interventions for alcohol problems to college students treated at a university hospital emergency department (ED). Of 2,372 drinkers they approached, 87% gave informed consent. Of those, 54% screened positive for alcohol problems (Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test score [less…

49 CFR 40.275 - What is the effect of procedural problems that are not sufficient to cancel an alcohol test?

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-10-01

... not sufficient to cancel an alcohol test? 40.275 Section 40.275 Transportation Office of the Secretary of Transportation PROCEDURES FOR TRANSPORTATION WORKPLACE DRUG AND ALCOHOL TESTING PROGRAMS Problems in Alcohol Testing § 40.275 What is the effect of procedural problems that are not sufficient to...

49 CFR 40.275 - What is the effect of procedural problems that are not sufficient to cancel an alcohol test?

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-10-01

... not sufficient to cancel an alcohol test? 40.275 Section 40.275 Transportation Office of the Secretary of Transportation PROCEDURES FOR TRANSPORTATION WORKPLACE DRUG AND ALCOHOL TESTING PROGRAMS Problems in Alcohol Testing § 40.275 What is the effect of procedural problems that are not sufficient to...

49 CFR 40.275 - What is the effect of procedural problems that are not sufficient to cancel an alcohol test?

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-10-01

... not sufficient to cancel an alcohol test? 40.275 Section 40.275 Transportation Office of the Secretary of Transportation PROCEDURES FOR TRANSPORTATION WORKPLACE DRUG AND ALCOHOL TESTING PROGRAMS Problems in Alcohol Testing § 40.275 What is the effect of procedural problems that are not sufficient to...

49 CFR 40.275 - What is the effect of procedural problems that are not sufficient to cancel an alcohol test?

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-10-01

... not sufficient to cancel an alcohol test? 40.275 Section 40.275 Transportation Office of the Secretary of Transportation PROCEDURES FOR TRANSPORTATION WORKPLACE DRUG AND ALCOHOL TESTING PROGRAMS Problems in Alcohol Testing § 40.275 What is the effect of procedural problems that are not sufficient to...

49 CFR 40.275 - What is the effect of procedural problems that are not sufficient to cancel an alcohol test?

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-10-01

... not sufficient to cancel an alcohol test? 40.275 Section 40.275 Transportation Office of the Secretary of Transportation PROCEDURES FOR TRANSPORTATION WORKPLACE DRUG AND ALCOHOL TESTING PROGRAMS Problems in Alcohol Testing § 40.275 What is the effect of procedural problems that are not sufficient to...

Women and Alcohol Problems: Tools for Prevention.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

National Inst. on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (DHHS), Rockville, MD.

This report presents a practical guide to the prevention of women's alcohol problems. It is intended for use by individuals interested in incorporating prevention measures into the workplace, schools, treatment facilities, and other settings, and for women interested in reducing the risks of alcohol problems or preventing existing problems from…

Social networks as mediators of the effect of Alcoholics Anonymous.

PubMed

Kaskutas, Lee Ann; Bond, Jason; Humphreys, Keith

2002-07-01

This study tested the hypothesis that the relationship between Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) involvement and reduced substance use is partially explained (or 'mediated') by changes in social networks. This is a naturalistic longitudinal study of the course of alcohol problems. Study sites were the 10 largest public and private alcohol treatment programs in a northern California county. Three hundred and seventy-seven men and 277 women were recruited upon seeking treatment at study sites. At baseline and 1-year follow-up, we assessed alcohol consequences and dependence symptoms, consumption, social support for abstinence, pro-drinking social influences and AA involvement. In the structural equation model, AA involvement was a significant predictor of lower alcohol consumption and fewer related problems. The size of this effect decreased by 36% when network size and support for drinking were included as mediators. In logistic regression models predicting abstinence at follow-up, AA remained highly significant after including social network variables but was again reduced in magnitude. Thirty-day abstinence was predicted by AA involvement (OR=2.9), not having pro-drinking influences in one's network (OR=0.7) and having support for reducing consumption from people met in AA (versus no support; OR=3.4). In contrast, having support from non-AA members was not a significant predictor of abstinence. For alcohol-related outcomes other than abstinence, significant relationships were found for both AA-based and non-AA-based support. The type of social support specifically given by AA members, such as 24-hour availability, role modeling and experientially based advice for staying sober, may help to explain AA's mechanism of action. Results highlight the value of focusing on outcomes reflective of AA's goals (such as abstinence) when studying how AA works.

Early age alcohol use and later alcohol problems in adolescents: individual and peer mediators in a bi-national study.

PubMed

Mason, W Alex; Toumbourou, John W; Herrenkohl, Todd I; Hemphill, Sheryl A; Catalano, Richard F; Patton, George C

2011-12-01

This paper examines whether there is cross-national similarity in the longitudinal relationship between early age alcohol use and adolescent alcohol problems. Potential mechanisms underlying this relationship also are examined, testing adolescent alcohol use, low self-regulation, and peer deviance as possible mediators. Students (N = 1,945) participating in the International Youth Development Study, a longitudinal panel survey study, responded to questions on alcohol use and influencing factors, and were followed annually over a 3-year period from 2002 to 2004 (98% retention rate). State-representative, community student samples were recruited in grade 7 in Washington State, United States (US, n = 961, 78% of those eligible; Mage = 13.09, SD = .44) and Victoria, Australia (n = 984, 76% of those eligible; Mage = 12.93, SD = .41). Analyses were conducted using multiple-group structural equation modeling. In both states, early age alcohol use (age 13) had a small but statistically significant association with subsequent alcohol problems (age 15). Overall, there was little evidence for mediation of early alcohol effects. Low self-regulation prospectively predicted peer deviance, alcohol use, and alcohol problems in both states. Peer deviance was more positively related to alcohol use and low self-regulation among students in Victoria compared to students in Washington State. The small but persistent association of early age alcohol use with alcohol problems across both samples is consistent with efforts to delay alcohol initiation to help prevent problematic alcohol use. Self-regulation was an important influence, supporting the need to further investigate the developmental contribution of neurobehavioral disinhibition.

Alcohol Policy Considerations for Indian Reservations and Bordertown Communities.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

May, Philip A.

1992-01-01

Alcohol abuse and alcoholism are the leading health problems among American Indian communities. Public policy options that address these problems include controlling the supply of alcoholic beverages; shaping drinking practices directly; or reducing physical and social environmental risks. Discusses alcohol-related death rates and community…

The green eyed monster in the bottle: Relationship contingent self-esteem, romantic jealousy, and alcohol-related problems.

PubMed

DiBello, Angelo M; Rodriguez, Lindsey M; Hadden, Benjamin W; Neighbors, Clayton

2015-10-01

Previous research suggests that both jealousy and relationship contingent self-esteem (RCSE) are related to alcohol use and alcohol-related problems. No work, however, has examined these two constructs together as they relate to motives for alcohol use and alcohol-related problems. The current study aims to build upon emerging literature examining different types of jealousy (i.e., emotional, cognitive, and behavioral), relationship quality (i.e., satisfaction, commitment, closeness), RCSE, and alcohol use. More specifically, the current study aimed to examine the associations between RCSE and drinking to cope and RCSE and alcohol-related problems, in the context of the different types of jealousy. Moreover, the current study aimed to assess whether the associations between RCSE, jealousy, and drinking outcomes vary as a function of relationship quality. Two hundred and seventy seven individuals (87% female) at a large southern university participated in the study. They completed measures of RCSE, relationship satisfaction, commitment, closeness, and jealousy as well as alcohol-related outcomes. Using PROCESS, moderated mediational analyses were used to evaluate different types of jealousy as mediators of the association between RCSE and drinking to cope/alcohol-related problems. Further, we aimed to examine whether relationship quality moderated the association between RCSE and jealousy in predicting alcohol-related variables. Results indicated that cognitive jealousy mediated the association between both RCSE and drinking to cope and RCSE and alcohol-related problems. Further, relationship satisfaction, commitment, and closeness were all found to moderate the association between RSCE and cognitive jealousy such that at lower, but not higher levels of satisfaction, commitment, and closeness, cognitive jealousy mediated the association between RCSE and drinking to cope and RCSE and alcohol-related problems. Copyright © 2015. Published by Elsevier Ltd.

Emotion dysregulation and peer drinking norms uniquely predict alcohol-related problems via motives.

PubMed

Simons, Raluca M; Hahn, Austin M; Simons, Jeffrey S; Murase, Hanako

2017-08-01

This study examined the relationships between emotion dysregulation, peer drinking norms, drinking motives, and alcohol-related outcomes among 435 college students. We examined the mediating roles of drinking motives when predicting alcohol consumption and related problems from the subscales of the Difficulties in Emotion Regulation Scale (DERS; Gratz and Roemer, 2004) via negative and positive reinforcement models. First, we hypothesized that individuals who lack in emotion regulation strategies or have difficulties in accepting negative emotions are more likely to drink to cope. Additionally, we hypothesized that individuals who act impulsively or become distracted when upset as well as those with higher peer drinking norms are more likely to drink for social and enhancement motives. The results of the path model indicated that limited access to emotion regulation strategies significantly predicted alcohol-related problems via both depression and anxiety coping motives, but did not predict alcohol consumption. Nonacceptance of emotional responses was not significantly associated with coping motives. Impulsivity had a significant direct relationship with alcohol problems. Difficulty in engaging in goal-directed behaviors predicted both enhancement and social motives, but only enhancement motives in turn predicted consumption. Norms indirectly predicted problems via enhancement motives and consumption. The results indicated that using alcohol to reduce negative or to increase positive emotions increases alcohol consumption and alcohol-related problems. Overall, results advance our understanding of the mechanisms of increased alcohol use and problems among college students. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Automated network analysis to measure brain effective connectivity estimated from EEG data of patients with alcoholism.

PubMed

Bae, Youngoh; Yoo, Byeong Wook; Lee, Jung Chan; Kim, Hee Chan

2017-05-01

Detection and diagnosis based on extracting features and classification using electroencephalography (EEG) signals are being studied vigorously. A network analysis of time series EEG signal data is one of many techniques that could help study brain functions. In this study, we analyze EEG to diagnose alcoholism. We propose a novel methodology to estimate the differences in the status of the brain based on EEG data of normal subjects and data from alcoholics by computing many parameters stemming from effective network using Granger causality. Among many parameters, only ten parameters were chosen as final candidates. By the combination of ten graph-based parameters, our results demonstrate predictable differences between alcoholics and normal subjects. A support vector machine classifier with best performance had 90% accuracy with sensitivity of 95.3%, and specificity of 82.4% for differentiating between the two groups.

Understanding the relationship between social anxiety and alcohol use in college students: a meta-analysis.

PubMed

Schry, Amie R; White, Susan W

2013-11-01

Many college students use alcohol, and most of these students experience problems related to their use. Emerging research indicates that socially anxious students face heightened risk of experiencing alcohol-related problems, although the extant research on alcohol use and social anxiety in this population has yielded inconsistent findings. This meta-analysis was conducted to examine the relationship between social anxiety and alcohol variables in college students. A literature search was used to identify studies on college students that included measures of social anxiety and at least one of the alcohol variables of interest. All analyses were conducted using random effects models. We found that social anxiety was negatively correlated with alcohol use variables (e.g., typical quantity and typical frequency), but significantly positively correlated with alcohol-related problems, coping, conformity, and social motives for alcohol use, and positive and negative alcohol outcome expectancies. Several moderators of effect sizes were found to be significant, including methodological factors such as sample ascertainment approach. Given that social anxiety was negatively related to alcohol use but positively related to alcohol-related problems, research is needed to address why individuals high in social anxiety experience more problems as a result of their alcohol use. Avoidance of social situations among socially anxious students should also be taken into account when measuring alcohol use. The primary limitation of this study is the small number of studies available for inclusion in some of the analyses. © 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

A Population-Based Study on Alcohol and High-Risk Sexual Behaviors in Botswana

PubMed Central

Weiser, Sheri D; Leiter, Karen; Heisler, Michele; McFarland, Willi; Korte, Fiona Percy-de; DeMonner, Sonya M; Tlou, Sheila; Phaladze, Nthabiseng; Iacopino, Vincent; Bangsberg, David R

2006-01-01

Background In Botswana, an estimated 24% of adults ages 15–49 years are infected with HIV. While alcohol use is strongly associated with HIV infection in Africa, few population-based studies have characterized the association of alcohol use with specific high-risk sexual behaviors. Methods and Findings We conducted a cross-sectional, population-based study of 1,268 adults from five districts in Botswana using a stratified two-stage probability sample design. Multivariate logistic regression was used to assess correlates of heavy alcohol consumption (>14 drinks/week for women, and >21 drinks/week for men) as a dependent variable. We also assessed gender-specific associations between alcohol use as a primary independent variable (categorized as none, moderate, problem and heavy drinking) and several risky sex outcomes including: (a) having unprotected sex with a nonmonogamous partner; (b) having multiple sexual partners; and (c) paying for or selling sex in exchange for money or other resources. Criteria for heavy drinking were met by 31% of men and 17% of women. Adjusted correlates of heavy alcohol use included male gender, intergenerational relationships (age gap ≥10 y), higher education, and living with a sexual partner. Among men, heavy alcohol use was associated with higher odds of all risky sex outcomes examined, including unprotected sex (AOR = 3.48; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.65 to 7.32), multiple partners (AOR = 3.08; 95% CI, 1.95 to 4.87), and paying for sex (AOR = 3.65; 95% CI, 2.58 to 12.37). Similarly, among women, heavy alcohol consumption was associated with higher odds of unprotected sex (AOR = 3.28; 95% CI, 1.71 to 6.28), multiple partners (AOR = 3.05; 95% CI, 1.83 to 5.07), and selling sex (AOR = 8.50; 95% CI, 3.41 to 21.18). A dose-response relationship was seen between alcohol use and risky sexual behaviors, with moderate drinkers at lower risk than both problem and heavy drinkers. Conclusions Alcohol use is associated with multiple risks for HIV transmission among both men and women. The findings of this study underscore the need to integrate alcohol abuse and HIV prevention efforts in Botswana and elsewhere. PMID:17032060

Self-Reported Alcohol and Drug Problems Among Internal Medicine Outpatients: Relationships With Criminal Behavior

PubMed Central

Lam, Charlene; Wiederman, Michael W.

2011-01-01

Objective: Previous research indicates relationships between alcohol/substance misuse and criminal behavior, but past studies have restricted investigations to atypical samples and/or utilized limited assessments of illegal behavior. In the present study, we explored relationships between alcohol/drug problems and charges for 27 criminal behaviors in a primary care sample. Method: Participants were a cross-sectional sample of 376 consecutive men and women, aged 18 years or older, being seen for nonemergent medical care at an outpatient internal medicine clinic staffed predominantly by residents and located in a midsized, midwestern city in October 2010. Using a self-report survey methodology, we examined relationships between alcohol and drug problems (“Have you ever had a problem with alcohol?” and “Have you ever had a problem with drugs?”) and 27 illegal behaviors as delineated by the categories used by the US Federal Bureau of Investigation. Results: Men with alcohol or drug problems statistically exhibited the greatest number of charges for different forms of illegal behavior (P < .001). These charges were directly related to alcohol/drug misuse (eg, driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs) and otherwise (eg, aggravated assault, simple assault, gambling, larceny-theft). Conclusions: In primary care settings, men with alcohol/drug problems may also have a history of illegal behaviors—a finding that is relevant in terms of social and legal implications. PMID:22454803

Synthesis and characterization of sulfolane-based amino alcohols: A combined experimental and computational study

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Palchykov, Vitalii A.; Zarovnaya, Iryna S.; Tretiakov, Serhii V.; Reshetnyak, Alyona V.; Omelchenko, Iryna V.; Shishkin, Oleg V.; Okovytyy, Sergiy I.

2018-04-01

Aminolysis of 3,4-epoxysulfolane in aqueous media leads to a very complex mixture of products with unresolved stereochemistry. Herein, we report a detailed theoretical and experimental mechanistic investigation of this reaction along with extensive spectroscopic characterization of the resulting amino alcohols, using 1D and 2D NMR techniques (1H, 13C, NOE, NOESY, COSY, HSQC, HMBC) as well as XRD analysis. In addition to simple amines such as ammonia and benzylamine, our study also employed the more sterically hindered endo-bicyclo[2.2.1]hept-5-en-2-ylmethanamine. The mechanism of the aminolysis of 3,4-epoxysulfolane by aqueous ammonia was studied in more detail using quantum chemical calculations at the M06-2X/6-31++G** level of theory. The computational results led us to conclude that the most probable way of initial epoxide transformation is base-catalyzed rearrangement to a corresponding allylic alcohol. Subsequent formation of vicinal amino alcohols and diols proceeds via addition of ammonia or hydroxy-anions to activated double Cdbnd C bond with some preference of a cis-attack. Detailed analytical data obtained in the course of our work will be useful for the stereochemical identification of new sulfolane derivatives.

Ecological Associations of Alcohol Outlets with Underage and Young Adult Injuries

PubMed Central

Gruenewald, Paul J.; Freisthler, Bridget; Remer, Lillian; LaScala, Elizabeth A.; Treno, Andrew J.; Ponicki, William R.

2010-01-01

Objective This paper argues that associations between rates of three specific problems related to alcohol (i.e., accidents, traffic crashes, and assaults) should be differentially related to densities of off-premise outlets among underage youth and young adults based upon age related-patterns of alcohol outlet use. Methods Zip code-level population models assessed local and distal effects of alcohol outlets upon rates of hospital discharges for these outcomes. Results Densities of off-premise alcohol outlets were significantly related to injuries from accidents, assaults, and traffic crashes for both underage youth and young adults. Densities of bars were associated with more assaults and densities of restaurants were associated with more traffic crash injuries for young adults. Conclusions The distribution of alcohol-related injuries relative to alcohol outlets reflect patterns of alcohol outlet use. PMID:20028361

An assessment of statistics on alcohol-related problems

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

1980-05-05

The report is presented as a contribution to the discussion of alcohol use and its related problems. Its aim is to provide an assessment of government and other statistics regarding certain alcohol-related problems; further research is suggested wher...

Why Adolescents Use a Computer-Based Health Information System.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hawkins, Robert P.; And Others

The Body Awareness Resource Network (BARN) is a system of interactive computer programs designed to provide adolescents with confidential, nonjudgmental health information, behavior change strategies, and sources of referral. These programs cover five adolescent health areas: alcohol and other drugs, human sexuality, smoking prevention and…

Alcohol and Kids: Facing Our Problem.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Long, Nicholas; And Others

1993-01-01

Introduces special journal issue on alcohol use among children and adolescents. Describes scope of the problem, claiming that alcohol is the most consumed drug among children and youth. Discusses possible progression in alcohol use, parents' reactions to their children using alcohol or other drugs, and effects of the media and advertising on…

Effects of ALDH2*2 on Alcohol Problem Trajectories of Asian American College Students

PubMed Central

Luczak, Susan E.; Yarnell, Lisa M.; Prescott, Carol A.; Myers, Mark G.; Liang, Tiebing; Wall, Tamara L.

2014-01-01

The variant aldehyde dehydrogenase allele, ALDH2*2, consistently has been associated with protection against alcohol dependence, but the mechanism underlying this process is not known. This study examined growth trajectories of alcohol consumption (frequency, average quantity, binge drinking, maximum drinks) and problems over the college years and then tested whether the ALDH2 genotype mediated or moderated the relationship between alcohol consumption and problems. Asian American college students (N = 433) reported on their drinking behavior in their first year of college and then annually for 3 consecutive years. Alcohol consumption and problems increased over the college years for both those with and without ALDH2*2, but having an ALDH2*2 allele was associated with less of an increase in problems over time. A mediation model was supported, with ALDH2*2 group differences in problems fully accounted for by differences in frequency of binge drinking. Findings also supported a moderation hypothesis: All four alcohol consumption variables were significant predictors of subsequent alcohol problems, but these relationships were not as strong in those with ALDH2*2 as in those without ALDH2*2. Our findings suggest that the interplay between ALDH2*2 and drinking-related problems is complex, involving both mediation and moderation processes that reduce the likelihood of developing problems via reduction of heavy drinking as well as by altering the relationship between alcohol consumption and problems. Results of this longitudinal study provide evidence that what seems like a relatively straightforward effect of a diminished ability to metabolize alcohol on drinking behavior is actually dependent on behavior and developmental stage. PMID:24661165

What Happens After Treatment? Long-Term Effects of Continued Substance Use, Psychiatric Problems and Help-Seeking on Social Status of Alcohol-Dependent Individuals.

PubMed

Karriker-Jaffe, Katherine J; Witbrodt, Jane; Subbaraman, Meenakshi S; Kaskutas, Lee Ann

2018-03-30

We examined whether alcohol-dependent individuals with sustained substance use or psychiatric problems after completing treatment were more likely to experience low social status and whether continued help-seeking would improve outcomes. Ongoing alcohol, drug and psychiatric problems after completing treatment were associated with increased odds of low social status (unemployment, unstable housing and/or living in high-poverty neighborhood) over 7 years. The impact of drug problems declined over time, and there were small, delayed benefits of AA attendance on social status. Alcohol-dependent individuals sampled from public and private treatment programs (N = 491; 62% male) in Northern California were interviewed at treatment entry and 1, 3, 5 and 7 years later. Random effects models tested relationships between problem severity (alcohol, drug and psychiatric problems) and help-seeking (attending specialty alcohol/drug treatment and Alcoholics Anonymous, AA) with low social status (unemployment, unstable housing and/or living in a high-poverty neighborhood) over time. The proportion of participants experiencing none of the indicators of low social status increased between baseline and the 1-year follow-up and remained stable thereafter. Higher alcohol problem scores and having any drug and/or psychiatric problems in the years after treatment were associated with increased odds of low social status over time. An interaction of drug problems with time indicated the impact of drug problems on social status declined over the 7-year period. Both treatment-seeking and AA attendance were associated with increased odds of low social status, although lagged models suggested there were small, delayed benefits of AA attendance on improved social status over time. Specialty addiction treatment alone was not sufficient to have positive long-term impacts on social status and social integration of most alcohol-dependent people.

Problem drinking and the dimension of involvement with drugs: a Guttman scalogram analysis of adolescent drug use.

PubMed Central

Donovan, J E; Jessor, R

1983-01-01

Analyses of data from two nationwide surveys of high school students, one carried out in 1974 and the other in 1978, suggest that problem drinking may be seen as yet another step along an underlying dimension of involvement with both licit and illicit drugs. The dimension of involvement with drugs consists of the following levels: nonuse of alcohol or illicit drugs; nonproblem use of alcohol; marijuana use; problem drinking; use of pills (amphetamines, barbiturates, hallucinogenic drugs); and the use of "hard drugs" such as cocaine or heroin. The dimension possesses excellent Guttman-scale properties in both national samples as well as in subsamples differing in gender and ethnic background. The ordering of the levels of involvement was confirmed by the ordering of the alcohol-drug involvement groups based on their mean scores on measures of psychosocial proneness for involvement in problem behavior. The excessive use of a licit drug, i.e., problem drinking, appears to indicate greater involvement in drug use than does the use of an illicit drug, marijuana. This finding points to the importance of distinguishing between use and problem use of drugs in efforts to understand adolescent drug involvement. PMID:6837819

Tobacco cessation with patients recovering from alcohol and other substance abuse.

PubMed

McIlvain, H E; Bobo, J K

1999-09-01

This article focuses on the problem of tobacco cessation in the patient recovering from alcohol or other substance abuse. The authors review the epidemiology of the problem, specific health risks to this population from continued tobacco use, and recent research findings that address previous treatment concerns. Recommendations for counseling by physicians are made. These include an algorithm for determining the patient's stage of readiness for making a quit attempt, specific counseling tasks based on the patients stage, and motivational counseling strategies aimed at increasing the patients motivation to quit.

Web-Based Alcohol, Smoking, and Substance Involvement Screening Test Results for the General Spanish Population: Cross-Sectional Study

PubMed Central

2018-01-01

Background Information technology in health sciences could be a screening tool of great potential and has been shown to be effective in identifying single-drug users at risk. Although there are many published tests for single-drug screening, there is a gap for concomitant drug use screening in general population. The ASSIST (Alcohol, Smoking and Substance Involvement Screening Test) website was launched on February 2015 in Madrid, Spain, as a tool to identify those at risk. Objective The aim of this study was to describe the use of a tool and to analyze profiles of drug users, their consumption patterns, and associated factors. Methods Government- and press-released launching of a Spanish-validated ASSIST test from the World Health Organization (WHO) was used for voluntary Web-based screening of people with drug-related problems. The tests completed in the first 6 months were analyzed . Results A total of 1657 visitors of the 15,867 visits (1657/15,867, 10.44%) completed the whole Web-based screening over a 6-month period. The users had an average age of 37.4 years, and 78.87% (1307/1657) screened positive for at least one of the 9 drugs tested. The drugs with higher prevalence were tobacco (840/1657, 50.69%), alcohol (437/1657, 26.37%), cannabis (361/1657, 21.79%), and sedatives or hypnotics (192/1657, 11.59%). Polyconsumption or concomitant drug use was stated by 31.80% (527/1657) of the users. Male respondents had a higher risk of having alcohol problems (odds ratio, OR 1.55, 95% CI 1.18-2.04; P=.002) and double the risk for cannabis problems (OR 2.07, 95% CI 1.46-2.92; P<.001). Growing age increased by 3 times the risk of developing alcohol problems for people aged between 45 and 65 years (OR 3.01, 95% CI 1.89-4.79; P<.001). Conclusions A Web-based screening test could be useful to detect people at risk. The drug-related problem rates detected by the study are consistent with the current literature. This tool could be useful for users, who use information technology on a daily basis, not seeking medical attention. PMID:29453188

27 CFR 19.957 - Instructions to compute bond penal sum.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-04-01

... 27 Alcohol, Tobacco Products and Firearms 1 2010-04-01 2010-04-01 false Instructions to compute bond penal sum. 19.957 Section 19.957 Alcohol, Tobacco Products and Firearms ALCOHOL AND TOBACCO TAX... Fuel Use Bonds § 19.957 Instructions to compute bond penal sum. (a) Medium plants. To find the required...

Association between residential exposure to outdoor alcohol advertising and problem drinking among African American women in New York City.

PubMed

Kwate, Naa Oyo A; Meyer, Ilan H

2009-02-01

We evaluated the association between residential exposure to outdoor alcohol advertising and current problem drinking among 139 African American women aged 21 to 49 years in Central Harlem, New York City. We found that exposure to advertisements was positively related to problem drinking (13% greater odds), even after we controlled for a family history of alcohol problems and socioeconomic status. The results suggest that the density of alcohol advertisements in predominantly African American neighborhoods may add to problem drinking behavior of their residents.

Impulsivity moderates the association between racial discrimination and alcohol problems.

PubMed

Latzman, Robert D; Chan, Wing Yi; Shishido, Yuri

2013-12-01

Alcohol use among university students is a serious public health concern, particularly among minority students who may use alcohol to cope with experiences of racial discrimination. Although the impact of racial discrimination on alcohol use has been well-established, individual differences in factors that may act to either attenuate or exacerbate the negative effects of racial discrimination are largely unknown. One potentially fruitful individual differences trait that has repeatedly been found to predict alcohol problems is the multidimensional personality trait of impulsivity. Nonetheless, the ways in which various aspects of impulsivity interact with racial discrimination is yet unknown. The current study, therefore, examined the joint and interactive contribution of racial discrimination and impulsivity in the prediction of alcohol consumption among racial minority university students. Participants included 336 Black/African-American and Asian/Asian-American university students. Results revealed both racial discrimination and impulsivity to be significantly associated with alcohol problems. Further, individuals' responses to racial discrimination were not uniform. Specifically, the association between racial discrimination and alcohol problems was moderated by lack of Premeditation; racial discrimination was most strongly predictive of alcohol problems for those who reported low level of premeditation. Findings from the present study highlight the importance of investigating risk factors for alcohol problems across multiple levels of the ecology as individual personality traits appear to relate to how one might respond to the experience of racial discrimination. © 2013.

Examination of associations between early life victimisation and alcohol's harm from others.

PubMed

Kaplan, Lauren M; Greenfield, Thomas K; Karriker-Jaffe, Katherine J

2018-03-01

Study aims were to examine: (i) how physical and sexual victimisation in early life are associated with alcohol's harm from others; and (ii) whether respondents' current drinking is a mediator of the association between early life victimisation and alcohol's harm from others among men and women. Data were from national computer-assisted telephone interviews, using the landline sample (3335 men and 3520 women ages ≥18) from the 2010 US National Alcohol Survey. Harms from someone else's drinking included family/marital problems, financial troubles, assault and vandalism in the past 12 months. Victimisation was measured with severe physical abuse or sexual assault before age 18. Severe physical or sexual victimisation before age 18 was reported by 3.4% of men and 8.1% of women. Significantly more men (5.2%) than women (2.4%) reported assault by other drinkers, and significantly more women reported family/marital (5.3%) and financial problems (2.8%) than did men (2.6 and 1% respectively). Severe early life victimisation was robustly associated with a greater likelihood of experiencing past-year harms from other drinkers for both men and women. Men's drinking partially mediated associations between early life victimisation and recent assaults and vandalism by other drinkers. Early life victimisation may increase risk of harms from someone else's drinking. Health services and interventions that screen for histories of victimisation may help decrease risk of later harms from others' drinking. Reductions in drinking among men with histories of victimisation also could help reduce their exposure to such harms. [Kaplan LM, Greenfield TK, Karriker-Jaffe KJ. Examination of associations between early life victimisation and alcohol's harm from others. © 2017 Australasian Professional Society on Alcohol and other Drugs.

Assessing barriers to change in drinking behavior: results of an online employee screening program.

PubMed

Aseltine, Robert H; Demarco, Frank J; Wallenstein, Gene V; Jacobs, Douglas G

2009-01-01

The impact of alcohol abuse on worker productivity is considerable and appears to be increasing over time. Although early screening and intervention may help prevent or reduce the damaging health and productivity effects of problem drinking, barriers to behavioral change may render broad-based prevention efforts ineffectual. This study examined the correlates of two potential barriers to changes in drinking behavior--underestimation of drinking and lack of knowledge of helping resources--using data from web-based employee alcohol screenings. Anonymous screening data from 1185 employees of ten companies participating in the 2003 National Alcohol Screening Day were analyzed. The AUDIT, a 10-item screening instrument developed by the World Health Organization, was used to measure drinking behavior; employees' subjective assessments of their drinking were also obtained. Over 53% of participants subjectively underestimated their drinking relative to their AUDIT results, and 58% of respondents did not know whether their medical insurance included benefits for alcohol treatment. Logistic regression analysis revealed that younger and male respondents tended to have the highest AUDIT scores and also (along with married respondents) were most likely to underestimate their drinking. Younger, unmarried respondents were least likely to be aware of their alcohol treatment insurance benefits. Current corporate efforts to curtail problem drinking among employees may not adequately address barriers to change. Targeting at-risk employee groups for alcohol screening and dissemination of information about health insurance benefits and treatment options is recommended, as is providing personalized feedback based on screening results to raise awareness of at-risk drinking and available helping resources.

Similarities and Differences between Individuals Seeking Treatment for Gambling Problems vs. Alcohol and Substance Use Problems in Relation to the Progressive Model of Self-stigma

PubMed Central

Gavriel-Fried, Belle; Rabayov, Tal

2017-01-01

Aims: People with gambling as well as substance use problems who are exposed to public stigmatization may internalize and apply it to themselves through a mechanism known as self-stigma. This study implemented the Progressive Model for Self-Stigma which consists four sequential interrelated stages: awareness, agreement, application and harm on three groups of individuals with gambling, alcohol and other substance use problems. It explored whether the two guiding assumptions of this model (each stage is precondition for the following stage which are trickle-down in nature, and correlations between proximal stages should be larger than correlations between more distant stages) would differentiate people with gambling problems from those with alcohol and other substance use problems in terms of their patterns of self-stigma and in terms of the stages in the model. Method: 37 individuals with gambling problems, 60 with alcohol problems and 51 with drug problems who applied for treatment in rehabilitation centers in Israel in 2015–2016 were recruited. They completed the Self-stigma of Mental Illness Scale-Short Form which was adapted by changing the term “mental health” to gambling, alcohol or drugs, and the DSM-5-diagnostic criteria for gambling, alcohol or drug disorder. Results: The assumptions of the model were broadly confirmed: a repeated measures ANCOVA revealed that in all three groups there was a difference between first two stages (aware and agree) and the latter stages (apply and harm). In addition, the gambling group differed from the drug use and alcohol groups on the awareness stage: individuals with gambling problems were less likely to be aware of stigma than people with substance use or alcohol problems. Conclusion: The internalization of stigma among individuals with gambling problems tends to work in a similar way as for those with alcohol or drug problems. The differences between the gambling group and the alcohol and other substance groups at the aware stage may suggest that public stigma with regard to any given addictive disorder may be a function of the type of addiction (substance versus behavioral). PMID:28649212

Social competence promotion with inner-city and suburban young adolescents: effects on social adjustment and alcohol use.

PubMed

Caplan, M; Weissberg, R P; Grober, J S; Sivo, P J; Grady, K; Jacoby, C

1992-02-01

This study assessed the impact of school-based social competence training on skills, social adjustment, and self-reported substance use of 282 sixth and seventh graders. Training emphasized broad-based competence promotion in conjunction with domain-specific application to substance abuse prevention. The 20-session program comprised six units: stress management, self-esteem, problem solving, substances and health information, assertiveness, and social networks. Findings indicated positive training effects on Ss' skills in handling interpersonal problems and coping with anxiety. Teacher ratings revealed improvements in Ss' constructive conflict resolution with peers, impulse control, and popularity. Self-report ratings indicated gains in problem-solving efficacy. Results suggest some preventive impact on self-reported substance use intentions and excessive alcohol use. In general, the program was found to be beneficial for both inner-city and suburban students.

A numerical study of the life time of superficial bubbles in water-alcohol mixtures with surfactants

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Atasi, Omer; Scheid, Benoit; Haut, Benoît; Legendre, Dominique; Zenit, Roberto

2017-11-01

The evaluation of the lifetime of bubbles at the surface of a liquid has been used as an empirical technique in the traditional production of Mezcal (an artisanal distilled agave spirit from Mexico) to determine the desired concentration of alcohol. We investigated this problem in light of computational fluid dynamics (CFD) using a level-set method and a scalar transport technique to account for the presence of surfactants. We determined the rupture time of the film at the top of a bubble in function of the various bulk and surface properties. In agreement with experiments, we found that the superficial bubbles exhibit an extended lifetime for an intermediate water-alcohol concentration, corresponding to both a maximum of viscosity and a specific concentration of surfactants. We finally propose a scaling law that should be of practical use for Mezcal production. F.R.S-FNRS.

One Last Pleasure? Alcohol Use among Elderly People in Nursing Homes.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Klein, Waldo C.; Jess, Carol

2002-01-01

Describes the alcohol-related policies, practices, and problems experienced by a sample of intermediate care facilities and homes for elderly people. Despite the problems reported, screening for alcohol problems among residents, treatment of identified problems, and training of staff were not found to be widespread. Challenges to social workers…

Spouses of older adults with late-life drinking problems: health, family, and social functioning.

PubMed

Moos, Rudolf H; Brennan, Penny L; Schutte, Kathleen K; Moos, Bernice S

2010-07-01

This study focuses on the health, family, and social functioning of spouses of late-life remitted and continuing problem drinkers, and on predictors of spouses' alcohol-related functioning and depressive symptoms. Three groups of spouses were compared at baseline and a 10-year follow-up: (a) spouses (n = 73) of older adults who had no drinking problems at baseline or follow-up, (b) spouses (n = 25) of older adults who had drinking problems at baseline but not follow-up, and (c) spouses (n = 69) of older adults who had drinking problems at both baseline and follow-up. At each contact point, spouses completed an inventory that assessed their alcohol-related, health, family, and social functioning. At baseline, compared with spouses of problem-free individuals, spouses of older adults whose drinking problems later remitted reported more alcohol consumption, poorer health, more depressive symptoms, and less involvement in domestic tasks and social and religious activities. At the 10-year follow-up, spouses of remitted problem drinkers were comparable to spouses of problem-free individuals, but spouses of continuing problem drinkers consumed more alcohol, incurred more alcohol-related consequences, and had friends who approved more of drinking. Overall, spouses whose friends approved more of drinking and whose partners consumed more alcohol and had drinking problems were likely to consume more alcohol and to have drinking problems themselves. Spouses of older adults whose late-life drinking problems remit can attain normal functioning; however, spouses of older adults with continuing late-life drinking problems experience some ongoing deficits.

Spouses of Older Adults With Late-Life Drinking Problems: Health, Family, and Social Functioning*

PubMed Central

Moos, Rudolf H.; Brennan, Penny L.; Schutte, Kathleen K.; Moos, Bernice S.

2010-01-01

Objective: This study focuses on the health, family, and social functioning of spouses of late-life remitted and continuing problem drinkers, and on predictors of spouses' alcohol-related functioning and depressive symptoms. Method: Three groups of spouses were compared at baseline and a 10-year follow-up: (a) spouses (n = 73) of older adults who had no drinking problems at baseline or follow-up, (b) spouses (n = 25) of older adults who had drinking problems at baseline but not follow-up, and (c) spouses (n = 69) of older adults who had drinking problems at both baseline and follow-up. At each contact point, spouses completed an inventory that assessed their alcohol-related, health, family, and social functioning. Results: At baseline, compared with spouses of problem-free individuals, spouses of older adults whose drinking problems later remitted reported more alcohol consumption, poorer health, more depressive symptoms, and less involvement in domestic tasks and social and religious activities. At the 10-year follow-up, spouses of remitted problem drinkers were comparable to spouses of problem-free individuals, but spouses of continuing problem drinkers consumed more alcohol, incurred more alcohol-related consequences, and had friends who approved more of drinking. Overall, spouses whose friends approved more of drinking and whose partners consumed more alcohol and had drinking problems were likely to consume more alcohol and to have drinking problems themselves. Conclusions: Spouses of older adults whose late-life drinking problems remit can attain normal functioning; however, spouses of older adults with continuing late-life drinking problems experience some ongoing deficits. PMID:20553658

Social Desirability Bias in the Reporting of Alcohol Consumption: A Randomized Trial.

PubMed

Kypri, Kypros; Wilson, Amanda; Attia, John; Sheeran, Paschal; Miller, Peter; McCambridge, Jim

2016-05-01

To investigate reporting of alcohol consumption, we manipulated the contexts of questions in ways designed to induce social desirability bias. We undertook a two-arm, parallel-group, individually randomized trial at an Australian public university. Students were recruited by email to a web-based "Research Project on Student Health Behavior." Respondents answered nine questions about their physical activity, diet, and smoking. They were unknowingly randomized to a group presented with either (A) three questions about their alcohol consumption or (B) seven questions about their alcohol dependence and problems (under a prominent header labeled "Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test"), followed by the same three alcohol consumption questions from (A). A total of 3,594 students (mean age = 27, SD = 10) responded and were randomized: 1,778 to Group A and 1,816 to Group B. Outcome measures were the number of days they drank alcohol, the typical number of drinks they consumed per drinking day, and the number of days they consumed six or more drinks. The primary analysis included participants with any alcohol consumption in the preceding 4 weeks (1,304 in Group A; 1,340 in Group B) using between-group, two-tailed t tests. In Groups A and B, respectively, means (and SDs) of the number of days drinking were 5.89 (5.92) versus 6.06 (6.12), p = .49; typical number of drinks per drinking day: 4.02 (3.87) versus 3.82 (3.76), p = .17; and number of days consuming six or more drinks: 1.69 (2.94) versus 1.67 (3.25), p = .56. We could not reject the null hypothesis because earlier questions about alcohol dependence and problems showed no sign of biasing the respondents' subsequent reports of alcohol consumption. These data support the validity of university students' reporting of alcohol consumption in web-based studies.

Evaluating Environmental Management Approaches to Alcohol and Other Drug Abuse Prevention. Prevention Updates

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

DeJong, William; Langford, Linda M.

2006-01-01

Recent years have seen an upsurge in prevention work focused on changing the campus and community environments in which college students make decisions about alcohol and other drug (AOD) use. This approach, called "environmental management," is based on three fundamental premises: (1) Substance use problems are aggravated by a physical, social,…

Project Northland in Croatia: A Community-Based Adolescent Alcohol Prevention Intervention

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Abatemarco, Diane J.; West, Bernadette; Zec, Vesna; Russo, Andrea; Sosiak, Persis; Mardesic, Vedran

2004-01-01

War and social transition in Croatia have increased unemployment and rates of substance abuse. A decrease in prevention programs places adolescents at an increased risk. Data collected from the 2002 Split Youth Behavior Risk Survey (YRBS) showed that adolescents are at risk for alcohol use and related problems. Thus, there is a need to strengthen…

Baseline research for action: adolescent alcohol consumption in Los Palacios Municipality, Cuba.

PubMed

Díaz, Yolanda; Espinosa, Yairelis

2013-04-01

In Cuba, alcohol is an important contributor to morbidity, mortality and social problems. The foundation of Cuba's universal primary health care coverage, family doctor-and-nurse offices play a critical role in prevention, early detection and treatment of alcohol abuse. Los Palacios Municipality of the westernmost province of Pinar del Río, Cuba, is a socially complex, periurban area where alcohol abuse and alcoholism have been identified as important health problems. Adolescents constitute a population at high risk for alcohol abuse because of their receptivity to social influences, but the precise extent of the problem is unknown. This paper reports baseline findings from a survey and direct observation of alcohol consumption in the catchment area of a primary care center, conducted to inform planning for an educational intervention. KEYWORDS Alcohol, alcoholism, alcohol abuse, alcohol dependence, adolescence, primary health care, Cuba.

Childhood maltreatment severity and alcohol use in adult psychiatric inpatients: The mediating role of emotion regulation difficulties.

PubMed

Dutcher, Christina D; Vujanovic, Anka A; Paulus, Daniel J; Bartlett, Brooke A

2017-09-01

Emotion regulation difficulties are a potentially key mechanism underlying the association between childhood maltreatment and alcohol use in adulthood. The current study examined the mediating role of emotion regulation difficulties in the association between childhood maltreatment severity (i.e., Childhood Trauma Questionnaire total score) and past-month alcohol use severity, including alcohol consumption frequency and alcohol-related problems (i.e., number of days of alcohol problems, ratings of "bother" caused by alcohol problems, ratings of treatment importance for alcohol problems). Participants included 111 acute-care psychiatric inpatients (45.0% female; Mage=33.5, SD=10.6), who reported at least one DSM-5 posttraumatic stress disorder Criterion A traumatic event, indexed via the Life Events Checklist for DSM-5. Participants completed questionnaires regarding childhood maltreatment, emotion regulation difficulties, and alcohol use. A significant indirect effect of childhood maltreatment severity via emotion regulation difficulties in relation to alcohol use severity (β=0.07, SE=0.04, 99% CI [0.01, 0.21]) was documented. Specifically, significant indirect effects were found for childhood maltreatment severity via emotion regulation difficulties in relation to alcohol problems (β's between 0.05 and 0.12; all 99% bootstrapped CIs with 10,000 resamples did not include 0) but not alcohol consumption. Emotion regulation difficulties may play a significant role in the association between childhood maltreatment severity and alcohol outcomes. Clinical implications are discussed. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Experiences and Attitudes of Collegiate Athletic Trainers Regarding Alcohol-Related Unintentional Injury in Athletes

PubMed Central

Brenner, James W.; Metz, Stacie M.; Entriken, Jack; Brenner, Christina J.

2014-01-01

Context: Alcohol-related unintentional injury (ARUI) has been an unexamined consequence of alcohol consumption by collegiate athletes. It has a potentially devastating effect on their athletic performances and careers. Awareness of this problem in athletes could have a huge effect on what athletic trainers (ATs) do to recognize, treat, and prevent it in a collegiate athlete population. Objective: To examine the experiences and attitudes among collegiate and university ATs about ARUI in the athletes in their care. Design: Cross-sectional study. Setting: Web-based survey. Patients or Other Participants: A total of 1767 e-mail addresses for collegiate and university ATs within National Athletic Trainers' Association Districts 1, 2, 3, and 9. Main Outcome Measure(s): We calculated frequencies, percentages, and attitudes of ATs regarding ARUI in collegiate athletes during the 2010–2011 academic year. Results: The resulting sample size for the analysis was 459 (26.0%) participants of the initial total sample. More than 56% (n = 260) of the ATs reported that they had evaluated, treated, or referred if needed at least 1 ARUI in a collegiate athlete. On average, these ATs had evaluated, treated, or referred if needed 3 alcohol-related unintentional injuries within the 2010–2011academic year. About 73% (n = 331) of ATs agreed that ARUI is a serious problem. Nearly 80% (n = 358) indicated they believe ATs should receive more training to identify student–athletes with alcohol-related problems. Conclusions: Alcohol-related unintentional injury is a common and serious consequence of alcohol use among collegiate athletes. Many ATs also view it as a serious problem yet would like more training in how to address it. Alcohol-related unintentional injury may have important negative effects on the careers and athletic performances of athletes. Researchers need to determine how prevalent ARUI is in the collegiate athlete population and what ATs can do to address it. PMID:24377956

Decisions to Attend and Drink at Party Events: The Effects of Incentives and Disincentives and Lifetime Alcohol and Antisocial Problems.

PubMed

Finn, Peter R; Gerst, Kyle; Lake, Allison; Bogg, Tim

2017-09-01

Alcohol use disorders are associated with patterns of impulsive/risky decision making on behavioral economic decision tasks, but little is known about the factors affecting drinking-related decisions. The effects of incentives and disincentives to attend and drink at hypothetical alcohol-related party events as a function of lifetime (LT) alcohol and antisocial problems were examined in a sample of 434 young adults who varied widely in LT alcohol and antisocial problems. Moderate and high disincentives substantially discouraged decisions to attend the party events and were associated with decisions to drink less at the party events. High versus low party incentives were associated with more attendance decisions. LT antisocial problems were associated with being less deterred from attending by moderate and high disincentives. LT alcohol problems were associated with greater attendance at high party incentive contexts. LT alcohol problems were associated with drinking more at the majority of events; however, the results indicate that young adults with high levels of alcohol problems moderate their drinking in response to moderate and high disincentives. Finally, attendance and drinking decisions on this hypothetical task were significantly related to actual drinking practices. The results suggest that antisocial symptoms are associated with a reduced sensitivity to the potential negative consequences of drinking, while alcohol problems are associated with a greater sensitivity to the rewarding aspects of partying. The results also underline the value of directly assessing drinking-related decisions in different hypothetical contexts as well as assessing decisions about attendance at risky drinking events in addition to drinking amount decisions. Copyright © 2017 by the Research Society on Alcoholism.

Military status and alcohol problems: Former soldiers may be at greater risk.

PubMed

Vest, Bonnie M; Homish, D Lynn; Fillo, Jennifer; Homish, Gregory G

2018-04-13

The goal of this study was to explore differences in alcohol problems as a function of military status (current soldier, previous soldier and civilian spouses), and the possible interaction between sex and military status. We hypothesized that 1) soldiers would be at greater risk for alcohol problems than civilian spouses, and 2) former soldiers would be at greater risk compared to current soldiers. Data were drawn from Operation: SAFETY, a longitudinal study examining physical and mental health among U.S. Army Reserve and National Guard soldiers and their partners. The analytic sample included male and female participants who completed both the baseline and first follow-up assessments (N = 772). Negative binomial regression models were used to examine differences between military status group on alcohol problems at follow-up, controlling for sex and alcohol consumption at baseline. Interactions between military status and sex were also examined. Among current soldiers, males experienced significantly more alcohol problems compared to women (4.47, 3.46; p = 0.005). Likewise, among previous soldiers, males experienced significantly more alcohol problems compared to women (6.69, 2.92; p = 0.002). Male previous soldiers had significantly more alcohol problems compared to both male current soldiers and male civilian spouses (6.69, 4.47, p = 0.04; 6.69, 3.96; p = 0.02). Among women, there were no significant differences by military status. Our results indicate that male previous soldiers are at greater risk of alcohol problems than both current soldiers and civilian spouses. Health care and service providers should consider screening and monitoring soldiers who separate from the military, as alcohol use may increase. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders.

PubMed

Williams, Janet F; Smith, Vincent C

2015-11-01

Prenatal exposure to alcohol can damage the developing fetus and is the leading preventable cause of birth defects and intellectual and neurodevelopmental disabilities. In 1973, fetal alcohol syndrome was first described as a specific cluster of birth defects resulting from alcohol exposure in utero. Subsequently, research unequivocally revealed that prenatal alcohol exposure causes a broad range of adverse developmental effects. Fetal alcohol spectrum disorder (FASD) is the general term that encompasses the range of adverse effects associated with prenatal alcohol exposure. The diagnostic criteria for fetal alcohol syndrome are specific, and comprehensive efforts are ongoing to establish definitive criteria for diagnosing the other FASDs. A large and growing body of research has led to evidence-based FASD education of professionals and the public, broader prevention initiatives, and recommended treatment approaches based on the following premises:▪ Alcohol-related birth defects and developmental disabilities are completely preventable when pregnant women abstain from alcohol use.▪ Neurocognitive and behavioral problems resulting from prenatal alcohol exposure are lifelong.▪ Early recognition, diagnosis, and therapy for any condition along the FASD continuum can result in improved outcomes.▪ During pregnancy:◦no amount of alcohol intake should be considered safe;◦there is no safe trimester to drink alcohol;◦all forms of alcohol, such as beer, wine, and liquor, pose similar risk; and◦binge drinking poses dose-related risk to the developing fetus. Copyright © 2015 by the American Academy of Pediatrics.

Income inequality, alcohol use, and alcohol-related problems.

PubMed

Karriker-Jaffe, Katherine J; Roberts, Sarah C M; Bond, Jason

2013-04-01

We examined the relationship between state-level income inequality and alcohol outcomes and sought to determine whether associations of inequality with alcohol consumption and problems would be more evident with between-race inequality measures than with the Gini coefficient. We also sought to determine whether inequality would be most detrimental for disadvantaged individuals. Data from 2 nationally representative samples of adults (n = 13,997) from the 2000 and 2005 National Alcohol Surveys were merged with state-level inequality and neighborhood disadvantage indicators from the 2000 US Census. We measured income inequality using the Gini coefficient and between-race poverty ratios (Black-White and Hispanic-White). Multilevel models accounted for clustering of respondents within states. Inequality measured by poverty ratios was positively associated with light and heavy drinking. Associations between poverty ratios and alcohol problems were strongest for Blacks and Hispanics compared with Whites. Household poverty did not moderate associations with income inequality. Poverty ratios were associated with alcohol use and problems, whereas overall income inequality was not. Higher levels of alcohol problems in high-inequality states may be partly due to social context.

Income Inequality, Alcohol Use, and Alcohol-Related Problems

PubMed Central

C. M. Roberts, Sarah; Bond, Jason

2013-01-01

Objectives. We examined the relationship between state-level income inequality and alcohol outcomes and sought to determine whether associations of inequality with alcohol consumption and problems would be more evident with between-race inequality measures than with the Gini coefficient. We also sought to determine whether inequality would be most detrimental for disadvantaged individuals. Methods. Data from 2 nationally representative samples of adults (n = 13 997) from the 2000 and 2005 National Alcohol Surveys were merged with state-level inequality and neighborhood disadvantage indicators from the 2000 US Census. We measured income inequality using the Gini coefficient and between-race poverty ratios (Black–White and Hispanic–White). Multilevel models accounted for clustering of respondents within states. Results. Inequality measured by poverty ratios was positively associated with light and heavy drinking. Associations between poverty ratios and alcohol problems were strongest for Blacks and Hispanics compared with Whites. Household poverty did not moderate associations with income inequality. Conclusions. Poverty ratios were associated with alcohol use and problems, whereas overall income inequality was not. Higher levels of alcohol problems in high-inequality states may be partly due to social context. PMID:23237183

Problem drinking - detection and assessment in general practice.

PubMed

Demirkol, Apo; Haber, Paul; Conigrave, Katherine

2011-08-01

Alcohol has long been an integral part of the social life of many Australians. However, alcohol is associated with significant harm to drinkers, and also to nondrinkers. This article explores the role of the general practitioner in the detection and assessment of problem drinking. Excessive alcohol use is a major public health problem and the majority of people who drink excessively go undetected. General practitioners are in a good position to detect excessive alcohol consumption; earlier intervention can help improve outcomes. AUDIT-C is an effective screening tool for the detection of problem drinking. National Health and Medical Research Council guidelines suggest that no more than two standard drinks on each occasion will keep lifetime risk of death from alcohol related disease or injury at a low level. Once an alcohol problem is detected it is important to assess for alcohol dependence, other substance use, motivation to change, psychiatric comorbidities and examination and investigation findings that may be associated with excessive alcohol use. A comprehensive assessment of the impact and risk of harm of the patient's drinking to themselves and others is vital, and may require several consultations.

Curiosity Killed the Cocktail? Curiosity, Sensation Seeking, and Alcohol-related Problems in College Women

PubMed Central

Lindgren, Kristen P.; Mullins, Peter M.; Neighbors, Clayton; Blayney, Jessica A.

2010-01-01

Curiosity, composed of two factors: exploration and absorption, has been previously associated with life satisfaction, life meaningfulness, and enhanced positive affect. It also shares some overlap with sensation seeking, which has been linked to alcohol use and other addictive behaviors. The present research explored the association between curiosity and college women’s problematic drinking in the context of sensation seeking. Participants (79 women) completed questionnaires measuring curiosity, sensation seeking, alcohol consumption, and consequences related to alcohol consumption. A zero-inflated negative binomial model indicated that curiosity and sensation seeking accounted for unique variance in alcohol-related problems after controlling for drinking. The curiosity factors had opposing relationships to alcohol-related problems: higher scores on absorption were associated with more alcohol related problems whereas higher scores on exploration were associated with fewer alcohol related problems. Should findings be replicated, the curiosity factors may represent additional prevention and intervention targets. Future directions for research about curiosity and drinking and for the inclusion of positive psychology constructs in addictive behaviors research are discussed. PMID:20080358

Academic and social motives and drinking behavior.

PubMed

Vaughan, Ellen L; Corbin, William R; Fromme, Kim

2009-12-01

This longitudinal study of 1,447 first-time college students tested separate time-varying covariate models of the relations between academic and social motives/behaviors and alcohol use and related problems from senior year of high school through the end of the second year in college. Structural equation models identified small but significant inverse relations between academic motives/behaviors and alcohol use across all time points, with relations of somewhat larger magnitude between academic motives/behaviors and alcohol-related problems across all semesters other than senior year in high school. At all time points, there were much larger positive relations between social motives/behaviors and alcohol use across all semesters, with smaller but significant relations between social motives/behaviors and alcohol-related problems. Multi-group models found considerable consistency in the relations between motives/behaviors and alcohol-related outcomes across gender, race/ethnicity, and family history of alcohol problems, although academic motives/behaviors played a stronger protective role for women, and social motives were a more robust risk factor for Caucasian and Latino students and individuals with a positive family history of alcohol problems. Implications for alcohol prevention efforts among college students are discussed. Copyright 2009 APA

Environmental Strategies to Prevent Alcohol Problems on College Campuses. Revised

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Stewart, Kathryn

2011-01-01

Alcohol problems on campuses cannot be solved with simple solutions, such as an alcohol awareness campaign. Instead, dangerous college drinking can be prevented with an array of protective measures that deal with alcohol availability, enforcement of existing laws and rules, and changes in how alcohol is promoted, sold and served. Many people,…

Adolescents, Health Education, and Computers: The Body Awareness Resource Network (BARN).

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Bosworth, Kris; And Others

1983-01-01

The Body Awareness Resource Network (BARN) is a computer-based system designed as a confidential, nonjudgmental source of health information for adolescents. Topics include alcohol and other drugs, diet and activity, family communication, human sexuality, smoking, and stress management; programs are available for high school and middle school…

Promoting Behavior Change from Alcohol Use through Mobile Technology: The Future of Ecological Momentary Assessment

PubMed Central

Cohn, Amy M.; Hunter-Reel, Dorian; Hagman, Brett T.; Mitchell, Jessica

2011-01-01

Background Interactive and mobile technologies (i.e., smartphones such as Blackberries, iPhones, and palm-top computers) show promise as an efficacious and cost-effective means of communicating health-behavior risks, improving public health outcomes, and accelerating behavior change (Abroms and Maibach, 2008). The present study was conducted as a “needs assessment” to examine the current available mobile smartphone applications (e.g., apps) that utilize principles of ecological momentary assessment (EMA) -- daily self-monitoring or near real-time self-assessment of alcohol use behavior -- to promote positive behavior change, alcohol harm reduction, psycho-education about alcohol use, or abstinence from alcohol. Methods Data were collected and analyzed from iTunes for Apple iPhone©. An inventory assessed the number of available apps that directly addressed alcohol use and consumption, alcohol treatment, or recovery, and whether these apps incorporated empirically-based components of alcohol treatment. Results Findings showed that few apps addressed alcohol use behavior change or recovery. Aside from tracking drinking consumption, a minority utilized empirically-based components of alcohol treatment. Some apps claimed they could serve as an intervention, however no empirical evidence was provided. Conclusions More studies are needed to examine the efficacy of mobile technology in alcohol intervention studies. The large gap between availability of mobile apps and their use in alcohol treatment programs indicate several important future directions for research. PMID:21689119

Employed women with alcohol problems who seek help from employee assistance programs. Description and comparisons.

PubMed

Blum, T C; Roman, P M; Harwood, E M

1995-01-01

After a brief description of employee assistance programs (EAP), we present data collected from 6,400 employees from 84 worksites who used the services of EAPs, a portion of whom were assessed by the EAP as having alcohol-related problems and/or received scores on the Alcohol Dependence Scale (ADS) indicative of a potential alcohol-related problem. In addition, data were collected at intake from the EAP administrators, and employment status of the employee clients was assessed 18 to 24 months later. These data indicate that EAPs are effective in sustaining the employment of most women with alcohol-related problems who seek services from EAPs and that EAPs' goal of early intervention is especially realized among women with alcohol problems. Other conclusions include: women with alcohol problems do not enter EAPs through routes that are strikingly different from those of men; many of the gender differences that are revealed are associated with job status differences; employed women with alcohol problems are detached from nuclear families, with markedly low rates of current marriage; even when married, spouses are less likely to play a role in the referral of women with alcohol problems than the spouses of the men; and, there is no clear indication that women are the target of any form of discrimination in the process of EAP utilization. However, women are considerably more likely to have less adequate insurance coverage, according to the EAP administrators' assessment reported at client intake, than their male counterparts, leading to treatment choices that may be less than appropriate.

Late-life and life history predictors of older adults' high-risk alcohol consumption and drinking problems.

PubMed

Moos, Rudolf H; Schutte, Kathleen K; Brennan, Penny L; Moos, Bernice S

2010-04-01

This prospective, longitudinal study focused on late-life and life history predictors of high-risk alcohol consumption and drinking problems during a 20-year interval as adults matured from age 55-65 to 75-85. A sample of older community residents (N=719) who had consumed alcohol in the past year or shortly before was surveyed at baseline and 10 and 20 years later. At each contact point, participants completed an inventory that assessed their alcohol consumption, drinking problems, and personal and life context factors. Participants also provided information about their life history of drinking and help-seeking. Older adults who, at baseline, had more friends who approved of drinking, relied on substances for tension reduction, and had more financial resources were more likely to engage in high-risk alcohol consumption and to incur drinking problems at 10- and 20-year follow-ups. With respect to life history factors, drinking problems by age 50 were associated with a higher likelihood of late-life high-risk alcohol consumption and drinking problems; having tried to cut down on drinking and participation in Alcoholics Anonymous were associated with a lower likelihood of high-risk consumption and problems. Specific late-life and life history factors can identify older adults likely to engage in excessive alcohol consumption 10 and 20 years later. Targeted screening that considers current alcohol consumption and life context, and history of drinking problems and help-seeking, could help identify older adults at higher risk for excessive or problematic drinking. Published by Elsevier Ireland Ltd.

Late-Life and Life History Predictors of Older Adults of High-Risk Alcohol Consumption and Drinking Problems

PubMed Central

Moos, Rudolf H.; Schutte, Kathleen K.; Brennan, Penny L.; Moos, Bernice S.

2009-01-01

Aims This prospective, longitudinal study focused on late-life and life history predictors of high-risk alcohol consumption and drinking problems during a 20-year interval as adults matured from age 55–65 to age 75–85. Design, Setting, Participants A sample of older community residents (N=719) who had consumed alcohol in the past year or shortly before was surveyed at baseline and 10 years and 20 years later. Measurements At each contact point, participants completed an inventory that assessed their alcohol consumption, drinking problems, and personal and life context factors. Participants also provided information about their life history of drinking and help-seeking. Results Older adults who, at baseline, had more friends who approved of drinking, relied on substances for tension reduction, and had more financial resources were more likely to engage in high-risk alcohol consumption and to incur drinking problems at 10-year and 20-year follow-ups. With respect to life history factors, drinking problems by age 50 were associated with a higher likelihood of late-life high-risk alcohol consumption and drinking problems; having tried to cut down on drinking and participation in Alcoholics Anonymous were associated with a lower likelihood of high-risk consumption and problems. Conclusion Specific late-life and life history factors can identify older adults likely to engage in excessive alcohol consumption 10 and 20 years later. Targeted screening that considers current alcohol consumption and life context, and history of drinking problems and help-seeking, could help identify older adults at higher risk for excessive or problematic drinking. PMID:19969428

Distances to on- and off-premise alcohol outlets and experiences of alcohol-related amenity problems.

PubMed

Wilkinson, Claire; Livingston, Michael

2012-06-01

There are a number of studies in recent years that have examined the relationship of alcohol outlets to the incidence of alcohol-related problems. Only a small number of these studies examine the types of alcohol-related problems which may be considered amenity problems, such as neighbourhood disturbance, litter and noise. This paper examines the association between the proximity of someone's home to alcohol outlets and their experience of public amenity problems. Data came from an Australian general population survey: the Alcohol's Harm to Others Survey (2008). Two thousand six hundred and forty-nine Australians aged 18 years and over were asked about their experiences of a number of amenity-type problems and the distance they lived to the nearest on- and off-premise alcohol outlet. Bivariate results showed that respondents living closer to on- and off-premise outlets reported more problems, with minor differences by distance to on- and off-premise outlet. In multivariate logistic regression analyses, controlling for possible confounding effects of the respondent and neighbourhood characteristics, living closer to on-premise outlets was independently associated with reporting being kept awake or disturbed at night and living closer to an off-premise outlet was independently associated with reporting property damage. A possible interpretation of the results is that respondents living close to on- and off-premise outlets experience more amenity problems than those living further away, but that these experiences are concentrated among demographic groups who live in these areas. Direction of influence cannot be inferred from these cross-sectional findings. © 2011 Australasian Professional Society on Alcohol and other Drugs.

An Ecologically Based Model of Alcohol-Consumption Decision Making: Evidence for the Discriminative and Predictive Role of Contextual Reward and Punishment Information*

PubMed Central

Bogg, Tim; Finn, Peter R.

2009-01-01

Objective: Using insights from Ecological Systems Theory and Reinforcement Sensitivity Theory, the current study assessed the utility of a series of hypothetical role-based alcohol-consumption scenarios that varied in their presentation of rewarding and punishing information. Method: The scenarios, along with measures of impulsive sensation seeking and a self-report of weekly alcohol consumption, were administered to a sample of alcohol-dependent and non-alcohol-dependent college-age individuals (N = 170). Results: The results showed scenario attendance decisions were largely unaffected by alcohol-dependence status and variations in contextual reward and punishment information. In contrast to the attendance findings, the results for the alcohol-consumption decisions showed alcohol-dependent individuals reported a greater frequency of deciding to drink, as well as indicating greater alcohol consumption in the contexts of complementary rewarding or nonpunishing information. Regression results provided evidence for the criterion-related validity of scenario outcomes in an account of diagnostic alcohol problems. Conclusions: The results are discussed in terms of the conceptual and predictive gains associated with an assessment approach to alcohol-consumption decision making that combines situational information organized and balanced through the frameworks of Ecological Systems Theory and Reinforcement Sensitivity Theory. PMID:19371496

Time Trends and Policy Gaps: The Case of Alcohol Misuse Among Adolescents in Lebanon.

PubMed

Ghandour, Lilian; Afifi, Rima; Fares, Sonia; El Salibi, Noura; Rady, Alissar

2015-01-01

Monitoring studies are crucial for informing and reforming local policies. Using the Lebanon 2005 and 2011 Global School-based Student Health Surveys (GSHS), alcohol time trends were described, policy gaps were identified, and harm reduction policy recommendations were made. In 2005 and 2011, 100 (n = 5109 students) and 44 (n = 2784 students) middle schools were surveyed, respectively. Self-reported cross-sectional data on alcohol use among 7-9th graders in private and public schools was collected including 30-day prevalence, lifetime drunkenness, alcohol-related problems, and sources of alcohol. In 2011, the majority (87%) had alcohol before turning 14. Between 2005 and 2011, past 30-day alcohol use had increased by 40% and lifetime drunkenness by 50% in the total sample (122% among females with a narrowing in the gender gap). Drinking was regular for more than a third of the past 30-day drinkers (drank two or more drinks on the days they drank). Male adolescents were more likely to obtain alcohol from "stores" or "through their friends" whereas females' main source was their "family." One in twenty reported experiencing alcohol-related problems (e.g., getting into fights with family/friends and skipping school). Conclusion/Importance: Evidence-informed policy implications include enforcing a minimum legal drinking age, regulating alcohol advertising, and marketing particularly those targeting youth and women, and ensuring the availability of youth-friendly services. Public messages to increase awareness among all stakeholders including youth, their parents, and larger community are also needed.

Randomized Controlled Trial of Mailed Personalized Feedback for Risky Drinkers in the Emergency Department: The Impact on Alcohol Consumption, Alcohol-Related Injuries, and Repeat Emergency Department Presentations.

PubMed

Havard, Alys; Shakeshaft, Anthony P; Conigrave, Katherine M

2015-07-01

Due to the difficulty encountered in disseminating resource-intensive emergency department (ED)-based brief alcohol interventions into real-world settings, this study evaluated the effect of a mailed personalized feedback intervention for problem drinking ED patients. At 6-week follow-up, this intervention was associated with a statistically significant reduction in alcohol consumption among patients with alcohol-involved ED presentations. This study aimed to evaluate the effects of this intervention over time. A randomized controlled trial was conducted among problem drinking ED patients, defined as those scoring 8 or more on the Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test. Participants in the intervention group received mailed personalized feedback regarding their alcohol consumption. The control group received no feedback. Follow-up interviews were conducted over the phone, postal survey, or email survey 6 weeks and 6 months after baseline screening, and repeat ED presentations over 12-month follow-up were ascertained via linked ED records. Six-month follow-up interviews were completed with 210 participants (69%), and linked ED records were obtained for 286 participants (94%). The intervention had no effect on alcohol consumption, while findings regarding alcohol-related injuries and repeat ED presentations remain inconclusive. Further research in which the receipt of feedback is improved and a booster intervention is provided is recommended. Copyright © 2015 by the Research Society on Alcoholism.

Alcohol-Related Problems and Risk for Suicide among College Students: The Mediating Roles of Belongingness and Burdensomeness

PubMed Central

Lamis, Dorian A.; Malone, Patrick S.

2012-01-01

This study examined the relations among alcohol-related problems, perceived burdensomeness, thwarted belongingness, and suicide proneness in undergraduate college students (N = 996). As hypothesized, alcohol-related problems, perceived burdensomeness, and thwarted belongingness were all significantly and positively correlated with suicide proneness. The relation between experiencing alcohol-related problems and suicide proneness was, in part, accounted for by perceived burdensomeness and thwarted belongingness. Additionally, the mediation via perceived burdensomeness was significantly stronger than the mediation via thwarted belongingness. Results suggest that it would be advisable for clinicians to be aware of students’ experiences with alcohol-related problems in conjunction with their levels of burdensomeness and belongingness when assessing for suicide risk PMID:21883409

Mindfulness Facets, Social Anxiety, and Drinking to Cope with Social Anxiety: Testing Mediators of Drinking Problems.

PubMed

Clerkin, Elise M; Sarfan, Laurel D; Parsons, E Marie; Magee, Joshua C

2017-02-01

This cross-sectional study tested social anxiety symptoms, trait mindfulness, and drinking to cope with social anxiety as potential predictors and/or serial mediators of drinking problems. A community-based sample of individuals with co-occurring social anxiety symptoms and alcohol dependence were recruited. Participants ( N = 105) completed measures of social anxiety, drinking to cope with social anxiety, and alcohol use and problems. As well, participants completed the Five Facet Mindfulness Questionnaire , which assesses mindfulness facets of accepting without judgment, acting with awareness, not reacting to one's internal experiences, observing and attending to experiences, and labeling and describing. As predicted, the relationship between social anxiety symptoms and drinking problems was mediated by social anxiety coping motives across each of the models. Further, the relationship between specific mindfulness facets (acting with awareness, accepting without judgment, and describe) and drinking problems was serially mediated by social anxiety symptoms and drinking to cope with social anxiety. This research builds upon existing studies that have largely been conducted with college students to evaluate potential mediators driving drinking problems. Specifically, individuals who are less able to act with awareness, accept without judgment, and describe their internal experiences may experience heightened social anxiety and drinking to cope with that anxiety, which could ultimately result in greater alcohol-related problems.

Computed tomography assessment of peripubertal craniofacial morphology in a sheep model of binge alcohol drinking in the first trimester

PubMed Central

Birch, Sharla M.; Lenox, Mark W.; Kornegay, Joe N.; Shen, Li; Ai, Huisi; Ren, Xiaowei; Goodlett, Charles R.; Cudd, Tim A.; Washburn, Shannon E.

2015-01-01

Identification of facial dysmorphology is essential for the diagnosis of fetal alcohol syndrome (FAS); however, most children with fetal alcohol spectrum disorders (FASD) do not meet the dysmorphology criterion. Additional objective indicators are needed to help identify the broader spectrum of children affected by prenatal alcohol exposure. Computed tomography (CT) was used in a sheep model of prenatal binge alcohol exposure to test the hypothesis that quantitative measures of craniofacial bone volumes and linear distances could identify alcohol-exposed lambs. Pregnant sheep were randomly assigned to four groups: heavy binge alcohol, 2.5 g/kg/day (HBA); binge alcohol, 1.75 g/kg/day (BA); saline control (SC); and normal control (NC). Intravenous alcohol (BA; HBA) or saline (SC) infusions were given three consecutive days per week from gestation day 4–41, and a CT scan was performed on postnatal day 182. The volumes of eight skull bones, cranial circumference, and 19 linear measures of the face and skull were compared among treatment groups. Lambs from both alcohol groups showed significant reduction in seven of the eight skull bones and total skull bone volume, as well as cranial circumference. Alcohol exposure also decreased four of the 19 craniofacial measures. Discriminant analysis showed that alcohol-exposed and control lambs could be classified with high accuracy based on total skull bone volume, frontal, parietal, or mandibular bone volumes, cranial circumference, or interorbital distance. Total skull volume was significantly more sensitive than cranial circumference in identifying the alcohol-exposed lambs when alcohol-exposed lambs were classified using the typical FAS diagnostic cutoff of ≤10th percentile. This first demonstration of the usefulness of CT-derived craniofacial measures in a sheep model of FASD following binge-like alcohol exposure during the first trimester suggests that volumetric measurement of cranial bones may be a novel biomarker for binge alcohol exposure during the first trimester to help identify non-dysmorphic children with FASD. PMID:26496796

Alcohol Problems in Alaska Natives: Lessons from the Inuit

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Seale, J. Paul; Shellenberger, Sylvia; Spence, John

2006-01-01

In this Alaska Native study, cultural "insiders" analyzed problems associated with increased alcohol availability, factors which have reduced alcohol-related problems, and ideas for improving treatment in an Inuit community. Participants described frequent bingeing, blackouts, family violence, suicide, loss of child custody, and feelings…

Identification and testing of countermeasures for specific alcohol accident types and problems. Volume 2, General driver alcohol problem

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

1984-12-01

This report summarizes work conducted to investigate the feasibility of developing effective countermeasures directed at specific alcohol-related accidents or problems. In Phase I, literature and accident data were reviewed to determine the scope and...

Alcohol and highway safety 1978 : a review of the state of knowledge

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

1978-01-01

This report presents the results of a comprehensive review and analysis of the problem of alcohol and highway crashes in the United States. Both the nature of the alcohol-crash problem and societal responses to that problem are treated. Epidemiologic...

Drinking motives mediate the relationship between reinforcing efficacy and alcohol consumption and problems.

PubMed

Yurasek, Ali M; Murphy, James G; Dennhardt, Ashley A; Skidmore, Jessica R; Buscemi, Joanna; McCausland, Claudia; Martens, Matthew P

2011-11-01

Several studies have shown that demand curve indices of the reinforcing efficacy of alcohol (i.e., reports of hypothetical alcohol consumption and expenditures across a range of drink prices) are associated with alcohol-related outcomes. A next logical step in this area of research is to examine potential mediators of this direct relationship. It is possible that enhancement and coping drinking motives serve as an intermediary of the reinforcing efficacy-alcohol use relationship, such that higher reinforcing efficacy is associated with increased motivation to drink, which is then associated with greater alcohol use and problems. Data were collected from 215 college undergraduates who reported drinking in the past 30 days. The demand curve reinforcing efficacy indices O(max) (maximum alcohol expenditure) and intensity (consumption level when drinks were free) demonstrated the strongest and most consistent associations with alcohol use, problems, and motives. Results from two structural equation models indicated that enhancement and coping motives mediated the relationship between reinforcing efficacy and alcohol use and alcohol-related problems. These results suggest that the motivational effects of the behavioral economic variable reinforcing efficacy on problematic alcohol use are in part mediated by increases in enhancement and coping motives for drinking.

Childhood Physical and Sexual Abuse and Social Network Patterns on Social Media: Associations With Alcohol Use and Problems Among Young Adult Women

PubMed Central

Oshri, Assaf; Himelboim, Itai; Kwon, Josephine A.; Sutton, Tara E.; Mackillop, James

2015-01-01

Objective: The aim of the present study was to examine the links between severities of child abuse (physical vs. sexual), and alcohol use versus problems via social media (Facebook) peer connection structures. Method: A total of 318 undergraduate female students at a public university in the United States reported severity of child abuse experiences and current alcohol use and problems. Social network data were obtained directly from the individuals’ Facebook network. Results: Severity of childhood physical abuse was positively linked to alcohol use and problems via eigenvector centrality, whereas severity of childhood sexual abuse was negatively linked to alcohol use and problems via clustering coefficient. Conclusions: Childhood physical and sexual abuse were linked positively and negatively, respectively, to online social network patterns associated with alcohol use and problems. The study suggests the potential utility of these online network patterns as risk indices and ultimately using social media as a platform for targeted preventive interventions. PMID:26562592

Evaluating Age Differences in Coping Motives as a Mediator of the Link between Social Anxiety Symptoms and Alcohol Problems

PubMed Central

Clerkin, Elise M.; Werntz, Alexandra J.; Magee, Joshua C.; Lindgren, Kristen P.; Teachman, Bethany A.

2014-01-01

The goal of this study is to evaluate whether coping motives mediate the relationship between self-reported symptoms of social anxiety and alcohol problems across different age groups, building upon previous research conducted among emerging adults. This study focuses on adult drinkers, including emerging adults (age 18–25; n = 148), young adults (age 26–39; n = 68), and middle-aged adults (age 40–65; n = 51). All participants completed measures of social anxiety symptoms, alcohol problems, and coping motives, administered via the web. Invariance tests using structural equation modeling suggested that among emerging adults (and to some degree middle-aged adults), coping motives mediated the positive relationship between symptoms of social anxiety and alcohol problems. Interestingly, coping motives appeared to suppress a negative relationship between social anxiety and alcohol problems in young adults. Results suggest that it is critical to consider age differences when attempting to understand the relationships between symptoms of social anxiety, alcohol problems, and coping motives. PMID:24841182

Evaluating age differences in coping motives as a mediator of the link between social anxiety symptoms and alcohol problems.

PubMed

Clerkin, Elise M; Werntz, Alexandra J; Magee, Joshua C; Lindgren, Kristen P; Teachman, Bethany A

2014-09-01

The goal of this study is to evaluate whether coping motives mediate the relationship between self-reported symptoms of social anxiety and alcohol problems across different age groups, building on previous research conducted among emerging adults. This study focuses on adult drinkers, including emerging adults (aged 18-25 years; n = 148), young adults (aged 26-39 years; n = 68), and middle-aged adults (aged 40-65 years; n = 51). All participants completed measures of social anxiety symptoms, alcohol problems, and coping motives, administered via the Web. Invariance tests using structural equation modeling suggested that among emerging adults (and to some degree middle-aged adults), coping motives mediated the positive relationship between symptoms of social anxiety and alcohol problems. Interestingly, coping motives appeared to suppress a negative relationship between social anxiety and alcohol problems in young adults. Results suggest that it is critical to consider age differences when attempting to understand the relationships between symptoms of social anxiety, alcohol problems, and coping motives.

Childhood Physical and Sexual Abuse and Social Network Patterns on Social Media: Associations With Alcohol Use and Problems Among Young Adult Women.

PubMed

Oshri, Assaf; Himelboim, Itai; Kwon, Josephine A; Sutton, Tara E; Mackillop, James

2015-11-01

The aim of the present study was to examine the links between severities of child abuse (physical vs. sexual), and alcohol use versus problems via social media (Facebook) peer connection structures. A total of 318 undergraduate female students at a public university in the United States reported severity of child abuse experiences and current alcohol use and problems. Social network data were obtained directly from the individuals' Facebook network. Severity of childhood physical abuse was positively linked to alcohol use and problems via eigenvector centrality, whereas severity of childhood sexual abuse was negatively linked to alcohol use and problems via clustering coefficient. Childhood physical and sexual abuse were linked positively and negatively, respectively, to online social network patterns associated with alcohol use and problems. The study suggests the potential utility of these online network patterns as risk indices and ultimately using social media as a platform for targeted preventive interventions.

Association Between Residential Exposure to Outdoor Alcohol Advertising and Problem Drinking Among African American Women in New York City

PubMed Central

Meyer, Ilan H.

2009-01-01

We evaluated the association between residential exposure to outdoor alcohol advertising and current problem drinking among 139 African American women aged 21 to 49 years in Central Harlem, New York City. We found that exposure to advertisements was positively related to problem drinking (13% greater odds), even after we controlled for a family history of alcohol problems and socioeconomic status. The results suggest that the density of alcohol advertisements in predominantly African American neighborhoods may add to problem drinking behavior of their residents. PMID:19059857

A randomised controlled pilot trial evaluating feasibility and acceptability of a computer-based tool to identify and reduce harmful and hazardous drinking among adolescents with alcohol-related presentations in Canadian pediatric emergency departments.

PubMed

Newton, Amanda S; Dow, Nadia; Dong, Kathryn; Fitzpatrick, Eleanor; Cameron Wild, T; Johnson, David W; Ali, Samina; Colman, Ian; Rosychuk, Rhonda J

2017-08-11

This study piloted procedures and obtained data on intervention acceptability to determine the feasibility of a definitive randomised controlled trial (RCT) of the effectiveness of a computer-based brief intervention in the emergency department (ED). Two-arm, multi-site, pilot RCT. Adolescents aged 12-17 years presenting to three Canadian pediatric EDs from July 2010 to January 2013 for an alcohol-related complaint. Standard medical care plus computer-based screening and personalised assessment feedback (experimental group) or standard care plus computer-based sham (control group). ED and research staff, and adolescents were blinded to allocation. Main: change in alcohol consumption from baseline to 1- and 3 months post-intervention. Secondary: recruitment and retention rates, intervention acceptability and feasibility, perception of group allocation among ED and research staff, and change in health and social services utilisation. Of the 340 adolescents screened, 117 adolescents were eligible and 44 participated in the study (37.6% recruitment rate). Adolescents allocated to the intervention found it easy, quick and informative, but were divided on the credibility of the feedback provided (agreed it was credible: 44.4%, disagreed: 16.7%, unsure: 16.7%, no response: 22.2%). We found no evidence of a statistically significant relationship between which interventions adolescents were allocated to and which interventions staff thought they received. Alcohol consumption, and health and social services data were largely incomplete due to modest study retention rates of 47.7% and 40.9% at 1- and 3 months post-intervention, respectively. A computer-based intervention was acceptable to adolescents and delivery was feasible in the ED in terms of time to use and ease of use. However, adjustments are needed to the intervention to improve its credibility. A definitive RCT will be feasible if protocol adjustments are made to improve recruitment and retention rates; and increase the number of study sites and research staff. clinicaltrials.gov NCT01146665. © Article author(s) (or their employer(s) unless otherwise stated in the text of the article) 2017. All rights reserved. No commercial use is permitted unless otherwise expressly granted.

Externalities from Alcohol Consumption in the 2005 US National Alcohol Survey: Implications for Policy

PubMed Central

Greenfield, Thomas K.; Ye, Yu; Kerr, William; Bond, Jason; Rehm, Jürgen; Giesbrecht, Norman

2009-01-01

A subsample (n = 2,550) of the 2005 US National Alcohol Survey of adults was used to estimate prevalence and correlates of six externalities from alcohol abuse––family problems, assaults, accompanying intoxicated driver, vehicular accident, financial problems and vandalized property––all from another’s drinking. On a lifetime basis, 60% reported externalities, with a lower 12-month rate (9%). Women reported more family/marital and financial impacts and men more assaults, accompanying drunk drivers, and accidents. Being unmarried, older, white and ever having monthly heavy drinking or alcohol problems was associated with more alcohol externalities. Publicizing external costs of drinking could elevate political will for effective alcohol controls. PMID:20049257

Efficacy of the alcohol use disorders identification test as a screening tool for hazardous alcohol intake and related disorders in primary care: a validity study.

PubMed Central

Piccinelli, M.; Tessari, E.; Bortolomasi, M.; Piasere, O.; Semenzin, M.; Garzotto, N.; Tansella, M.

1997-01-01

OBJECTIVE: To determine the properties of the alcohol use disorders identification test in screening primary care attenders for alcohol problems. DESIGN: A validity study among consecutive primary care attenders aged 18-65 years. Every third subject completed the alcohol use disorders identification test (a 10 item self report questionnaire on alcohol intake and related problems) and was interviewed by an investigator with the composite international diagnostic interview alcohol use module (a standardised interview for the independent assessment of alcohol intake and related disorders). SETTING: 10 primary care clinics in Verona, north eastern Italy. PATIENTS: 500 subjects were approached and 482 (96.4%) completed evaluation. RESULTS: When the alcohol use disorders identification test was used to detect subjects with alcohol problems the area under the receiver operating characteristic curve was 0.95. The cut off score of 5 was associated with a sensitivity of 0.84, a specificity of 0.90, and a positive predictive value of 0.60. The screening ability of the total score derived from summing the responses to the five items minimising the probability of misclassification between subjects with and without alcohol problems provided an area under the receiver operating characteristic curve of 0.93. A score of 5 or more on the five items was associated with a sensitivity of 0.79, a specificity of 0.95, and a positive predictive value of 0.73. CONCLUSIONS: The alcohol use disorders identification test performs well in detecting subjects with formal alcohol disorders and those with hazardous alcohol intake. Using five of the 10 items on the questionnaire gives reasonable accuracy, and these are recommended as questions of choice to screen patients for alcohol problems. PMID:9040389

The 2008-2009 recession and alcohol outcomes: differential exposure and vulnerability for Black and Latino populations.

PubMed

Zemore, Sarah E; Mulia, Nina; Jones-Webb, Rhonda J; Liu, Huiguo; Schmidt, Laura

2013-01-01

We examined whether race/ethnicity was related to exposure to acute economic losses in the 2008-2009 recession, even accounting for individual-level and geographic variables, and whether it influenced associations between economic losses and drinking patterns and problems. Data were from the 2010 National Alcohol Survey (N = 5,382). Surveys assessed both severe losses (i.e., job and housing loss) and moderate losses (i.e., reduced hours/pay and trouble paying the rent/mortgage) attributed to the 2008-2009 recession. Alcohol outcomes included total annual volume, monthly drunkenness, drinking consequences, and alcohol dependence (based on criteria from the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fourth Edition). Compared with Whites, Blacks reported significantly greater exposure to job loss and trouble paying the rent/mortgage, and Latinos reported greater exposure to all economic losses. However, only Black-White differences were robust in multivariate analyses. Interaction tests suggested that associations between exposure to economic loss and alcohol problems were stronger among Blacks than Whites. Given severe (vs. no) loss, Blacks had about 13 times the odds of both two or more drinking consequences and alcohol dependence, whereas the corresponding odds ratios for Whites were less than 3. Conversely, associations between economic loss and alcohol outcomes were weak and ambiguous among Latinos. Results suggest greater exposure to economic loss for both Blacks and Latinos (vs. Whites) and that the Black population may be particularly vulnerable to the negative effects of economic hardship on the development and/or maintenance of alcohol problems. Findings extend the economic literature and signal policy makers and service providers that Blacks and Latinos may be at special risk during economic downturns.

Bullying perpetration and victimization as externalizing and internalizing pathways: A retrospective study linking parenting styles and self-esteem to depression, alcohol use, and alcohol-related problems

PubMed Central

Patock-Peckham, Julie A; Medina, Mia; Terrell, Nathan; Belton, Daniel; King, Kevin M

2016-01-01

Emerging research suggests significant positive associations between bullying and substance use behaviors. However, these studies typically focused either on the link between substance use and bullying perpetration or victimization, and few have conceptualized bullying perpetration and/or victimization as mediators. In this study, we simultaneously tested past bullying perpetration and victimization as mediational pathways from retrospective report of parenting styles and global self-esteem to current depressive symptoms, alcohol use and alcohol-related problems. Data were collected from a college sample of 419 drinkers. Mediation effects were conducted using a bias-corrected bootstrap technique in structural equation modeling. Two-path mediation analyses indicated that mother and father authoritativeness were protective against bully victimization and depression through higher self-esteem. Conversely, having a permissive or authoritarian mother was positively linked to bullying perpetration, which in turn was associated with increased alcohol use, and to a lesser degree, more alcohol-related problems. Mother authoritarianism was associated with alcohol-related problems through depressive symptoms. Three-path mediation analyses suggested a trend in which individuals with higher self-esteem were less likely to report alcohol-related problems through lower levels of bullying victimization and depression. Results suggested that bullying perpetration and victimization may respectively serve as externalizing and internalizing pathways through which parenting styles and self-esteem are linked to depression and alcohol-related outcomes. The present study identified multiple modifiable precursors of, and mediational pathways to, alcohol-related problems which could guide the development and implementation of prevention programs targeting problematic alcohol use. PMID:26757486

Bullying Perpetration and Victimization as Externalizing and Internalizing Pathways: A Retrospective Study Linking Parenting Styles and Self-Esteem to Depression, Alcohol Use, and Alcohol-Related Problems.

PubMed

Luk, Jeremy W; Patock-Peckham, Julie A; Medina, Mia; Terrell, Nathan; Belton, Daniel; King, Kevin M

2016-01-02

Emerging research suggests significant positive associations between bullying and substance use behaviors. However, these studies typically focused either on the link between substance use and bullying perpetration or victimization, and few have conceptualized bullying perpetration and/or victimization as mediators. In this study, we simultaneously tested past bullying perpetration and victimization as mediational pathways from retrospective report of parenting styles and global self-esteem to current depressive symptoms, alcohol use, and alcohol-related problems. Data were collected from a college sample of 419 drinkers. Mediation effects were conducted using a bias-corrected bootstrap technique within a structural equation modeling framework. Two-path mediation analyses indicated that mother and father authoritativeness were protective against bully victimization and depression through higher self-esteem. Conversely, having a permissive or authoritarian mother was positively linked to bullying perpetration, which in turn, was associated with increased alcohol use, and to a lesser degree, more alcohol-related problems. Mother authoritarianism was associated with alcohol-related problems through depressive symptoms. Three-path mediation analyses suggested a trend in which individuals with higher self-esteem were less likely to report alcohol-related problems through lower levels of bullying victimization and depression. Results suggested that bullying perpetration and victimization may, respectively, serve as externalizing and internalizing pathways through which parenting styles and self-esteem are linked to depression and alcohol-related outcomes. The present study identified multiple modifiable precursors of, and mediational pathways to, alcohol-related problems which could guide the development and implementation of prevention programs targeting problematic alcohol use.

Impact of Mid-Life Symptoms of Alcoholism on the Health and Wellbeing of Aging Parents of Adults with Disabilities.

PubMed

Ghosh, Subharati; Ha, Jung-Hwa; Pai, Manacy; Essenfeld, Harper; Park, Sang Min

2016-01-01

The study examined the effect of adult children's disability on parents' physical health in later life and the extent to which parents' symptoms of alcoholism in mid-life moderates the link between children's disability and later life parental health. Analyses are based on data from the Wisconsin Longitudinal Study. The analytic sample included parents of children with developmental disabilities (n = 145) or mental health problems (n = 200) and 2,432 parents of unaffected children. The results showed that the negative health consequences in later life of having a child with a developmental disability were greater for those who showed more symptoms of alcoholism in mid-life. However, symptoms of alcoholism in mid-life did not significantly moderate the impact of an adult child's mental health problems on parents' later life physical health. The findings suggest a potential area where gerontological social workers could intervene, given the negative impact of symptoms of alcoholism on the health of aging parents of children with a disability who may be significantly more susceptible to the negative health impacts of alcohol compared to their younger counterparts.

Spreading out or concentrating weekly consumption: alcohol problems and other consequences within a UK population sample.

PubMed

Miller, Patrick; Plant, Moira; Plant, Martin

2005-01-01

To consider the consequences, within a UK population sample, of consuming a given amount of alcohol weekly in one or two sessions as against spreading it out over several sessions. A new analysis of data from the UK components of the GENACIS survey of adults aged > or =18, was carried out. At low levels of weekly alcohol consumption those subjects whose usual drinking frequency was several times per week ('spreaders'), if anything, reported more alcohol problems than those who consumed alcohol only once or twice per week ('bingers'). As weekly consumption increased above approximately 11 units per week 'bingers' began to experience more problems than 'spreaders'. At the highest levels of consumption 'bingers' reported more positive experiences from drinking than did 'spreaders'. Subjects >54 years showed lower levels of weekly alcohol consumption than other subjects, and relationships between problems, drinking level, and drinking pattern were less in evidence. Females drank less alcohol and experienced fewer alcohol-related problems than did their male counterparts. However, at high-consumption levels, female 'bingers' experienced fewer problems than male 'bingers'. For most but not all the variables studied, both drinking level and drinking pattern are important determinants of problems experienced. Binge drinking for people who drink more than approximately 11 units per week is an obvious target for harm minimization.

Effects of Awareness and Legal Drinking Age on Alcohol Knowledge, Consumption, and Problems.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Gonzalez, Gerardo M.

1991-01-01

Examined changes that occurred in alcohol consumption, alcohol knowledge, and alcohol-related problems among students attending major university between 1983 and 1988. Analyzed data from 353 questionnaires collected in 1983 and 254 in 1988. In spite of alcohol awareness program and change in state law raising drinking age to 21 in 1985, found no…

Associations of Personality with Alcohol Use Behaviour and Alcohol Problems in Adolescents Receiving Child Welfare Services

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Stewart, Sherry Heather; McGonnell, Melissa; Wekerle, Christine; Adlaf, Ed

2011-01-01

Four specific personality factors have been theorized to put adolescents at risk for alcohol abuse: hopelessness (HOP), anxiety sensitivity (AS), sensation seeking (SS), and impulsivity (IMP). We examined relations of these personality factors to various alcohol-related indices in a sample at high risk for alcohol problems--specifically, a child…

Intangible costs of alcohol dependence from the perspective of patients and their relatives: A contingent valuation study.

PubMed

Mosquera Nogueira, Jacinto; Rodríguez-Míguez, Eva

2018-04-15

Alcohol dependence causes multiple problems not only for the person suffering dependence but also for others. In this study, the contingent valuation method is proposed to measure the intangible effects of alcohol dependence from the perspective of the persons directly involved: the patients and their relatives. Interviews were conducted with 145 patients and 61 relatives. Intangible effects of alcohol dependence were determined based on willingness to pay for a hypothetical treatment for dependence, with different success scenarios (100% and 50%). The mean monthly willingness to pay among the alcohol-dependent population was €129 and €168, respectively, for the treatments with 100% and 50% success. The willingness to pay of relatives was greater in both scenarios (€307 and €420, respectively), which could be explained by their greater perception of the family, labour, and health problems resulting from alcohol dependence. Regression analysis showed that patients' willingness to pay is positively related to treatment efficacy, personal income and moderate health deterioration, and negatively related to feeling discouraged and depressed. The results from this study can be applied to economic valuation studies that aim to measure the benefits of programs intended to reduce the prevalence of alcohol dependence. The intangible costs estimated can be added to the direct and indirect costs commonly used.

Temporal Trends and Changing Racial/ethnic Disparities in Alcohol Problems: Results from the 2000 to 2010 National Alcohol Surveys.

PubMed

Zemore, Sarah E; Karriker-Jaffe, Katherine J; Mulia, Nina

2013-09-28

Economic conditions and drinking norms have been in considerable flux over the past 10 years. Accordingly, research is needed to evaluate both overall trends in alcohol problems during this period and whether changes within racial/ethnic groups have affected racial/ethnic disparities. We used 3 cross-sectional waves of National Alcohol Survey data (2000, 2005, and 2010) to examine a) temporal trends in alcohol dependence and consequences overall and by race/ethnicity, and b) the effects of temporal changes on racial/ethnic disparities. Analyses involved bivariate tests and multivariate negative binomial regressions testing the effects of race/ethnicity, survey year, and their interaction on problem measures. Both women and men overall showed significant increases in dependence symptoms in 2010 (vs. 2000); women also reported increases in alcohol-related consequences in 2010 (vs. 2000). (Problem rates were equivalent across 2005 and 2000.) However, increases in problems were most dramatic among Whites, and dependence symptoms actually decreased among Latinos of both genders in 2010. Consequently, the long-standing disparity in dependence between Latino and White men was substantially reduced in 2010. Post-hoc analyses suggested that changes in drinking norms at least partially drove increased problem rates among Whites. Results constitute an important contribution to the literature on racial/ethnic disparities in alcohol problems. Findings are not inconsistent with the macroeconomic literature suggesting increases in alcohol problems during economic recession, but the pattern of effects across race/ethnicity and findings regarding norms together suggest, at the least, a revised understanding of how recessions affect drinking patterns and problems.

Commentary: if you drink alcohol, drink sensibly: is this guideline still appropriate?

PubMed

Jacobs, Liezille; Steyn, Nelia

2013-01-01

Alcohol abuse remains one of the most serious substance abuse disorders in South African society, resulting in inordinately large social, economic and health problems at all levels of society. Alcohol consumers in South Africa are estimated to drink 16.6L per annum with a per capita consumption of 7.1L. South Africa has one of the highest rates of death attributable to crime, violence, traffic accidents, and HIV/AIDS in the world. These rates have been directly related to the high prevalence of alcohol abuse and risky drinking patterns. A food-based dietary guideline that encourages alcohol consumption would appear to be not in the nation's best interest. We conducted a search of websites supported by the World Health Organization to find published literature on substance abuse in South Africa and also reviewed the website of the Medical Research Council of South Africa for studies on the social impact of alcohol abuse in humans. We used the search terms alcohol guidelines, alcohol abuse, non-communicable diseases, health benefits of alcohol, moderate drinking, alcohol, and intake patterns and reviewed studies that hade been published between 2002 and the current time. Based on evidence over the past two decades, messages that convey the positive health benefits of moderate alcohol consumption (eg, the increased levels of HDL cholesterol) should be raised and even encouraged for those who are very moderate drinkers (ie, one alcoholic drink/ day for women and a maximum of 2 drinks/day for men). For those who do not consume alcohol at all, even moderate drinking is not encouraged. Nutrition educators should emphasize the negative consequences of alcohol abuse. The current food-based dietary guideline, "If you drink alcohol, drink sensibly," from the South African Department of Health should not remain as is.

Alcohol and highway safety 1978 : a review of the state of knowledge. Summary volume

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

1978-01-01

This report summarizes the results or a comprehensive review and analysis of the problem of alcohol and highway crashes in the United States. Both the nature of the alcohol-crash problem and societal responses to that problem are treated. Epidemiolog...

Alcohol use in films and adolescent alcohol use.

PubMed

Waylen, Andrea; Leary, Sam; Ness, Andrew; Sargent, James

2015-05-01

To investigate whether exposure to alcohol use in films (AUFs) is associated with early alcohol use, binge drinking, and alcohol-related problems in British adolescents. Cross-sectional study with 5163 15-year-olds from the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children in the United Kingdom. We measured adolescent exposure to AUFs, age at onset of alcohol use, and binge-drinking behavior. We adjusted for early childhood social, family and behavioral factors, adolescent tobacco use, and peer drinking. After adjustment, adolescents with the highest exposure to AUFs were 1.2 (95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.1-1.3) times more likely to have tried alcohol compared with those least exposed and 1.7 (95% CI: 1.5-2.0) times more likely to binge drink. They were 2.4 (95% CI: 1.9-3.1) times more likely to drink weekly and 2.0 (95% CI: 1.7-2.4) times more likely to have alcohol-related problems than those least exposed. Exposure to AUFs is associated with higher risk of alcohol use and alcohol-related problems in UK adolescents. Our findings provide evidence to support the argument that a review of film-rating categories and alcohol ratings for all films may help reduce problem-related alcohol consumption in young people. Copyright © 2015 by the American Academy of Pediatrics.

Procurement of alcohol and underage drinking among adolescents in Ontario.

PubMed

Smart, R G; Adlaf, E M; Walsh, G W

1996-07-01

The purpose of this article is to examine the procurement of alcohol among underage drinkers. The data are based on a survey of 3,571 students in Ontario schools. Underage drinkers were those younger than 19 years of age. Data were gathered with an anonymous questionnaire administered in classrooms in 1992. The data include descriptive analysis of underage procurement and a cluster analysis of underage drinker types (n = 1,125: 566 female). Most students found alcohol easy to obtain, with the most common access being from parents' supplies or older friends. Four types of underage drinkers were identified: bar drinkers (5%), frequent purchasers (10%), frequent obtainers (3%) and infrequent obtainers (83%). Frequent self purchasers and infrequent secondary purchasers have the highest levels of consumption and problems. However, most underage drinkers report no problems.

Personnel and Welfare: The Case of the Problem Drinker at Work.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hyman, J.; Beaumont, P. B.

1985-01-01

Presents evidence of welfare activity in a number of work organizations based in Scotland that have introduced recovery programs for employees with alcohol-related problems. The study points to extensive involvement by personnel specialists in the operation of these policies. (CT)

Alcohol-related crime in city entertainment precincts: Public perception and experience of alcohol-related crime and support for strategies to reduce such crime.

PubMed

Tindall, Jenny; Groombridge, Daniel; Wiggers, John; Gillham, Karen; Palmer, Darren; Clinton-McHarg, Tara; Lecathelinais, Christophe; Miller, Peter

2016-05-01

Bars, pubs and taverns in cities are often concentrated in entertainment precincts that are associated with higher rates of alcohol-related crime. This study assessed public perception and experiences of such crime in two city entertainment precincts, and support for alcohol-related crime reduction strategies. A cross-sectional household telephone survey in two Australian regions assessed: perception and experiences of crime; support for crime reduction strategies; and differences in such perceptions and support. Six hundred ninety-four people completed the survey (32%). Most agreed that alcohol was a problem in their entertainment precinct (90%) with violence the most common alcohol-related problem reported (97%). Almost all crime reduction strategies were supported by more than 50% of participants, including visitors to the entertainment precincts, with the latter being slightly less likely to support earlier closing and restrictions on premises density. Participants in one region were more likely to support earlier closing and lock-out times. Those at-risk of acute alcohol harm were less likely to support more restrictive policies. High levels of community concern and support for alcohol harm-reduction strategies, including restrictive strategies, provide policy makers with a basis for implementing evidence-based strategies to reduce such harms in city entertainment precincts. [Tindall J, Groombridge D, Wiggers J, Gillham K, Palmer D, Clinton-McHarg T, Lecathelinais C, Miller P. Alcohol-related crime in city entertainment precincts: Public perception and experience of alcohol-related crime and support for strategies to reduce such crime. Drug Alcohol Rev 2016;35:263-272]. © 2015 The Authors. Drug and Alcohol Review published by Wiley Publishing Asia Pty Ltd on behalf of Australasian Professional Society on Alcohol and other Drugs.

Alcohol Use and HIV Risk Within Social Networks of MSM Sex Workers in the Dominican Republic.

PubMed

Tan, Diane; Holloway, Ian W; Gildner, Jennifer; Jauregui, Juan C; Garcia Alvarez, Rafael; Guilamo-Ramos, Vincent

2017-11-01

To examine how alcohol-related HIV risk behaviors within MSM sex workers' social networks (SN) may be associated with individual risk behaviors, respondent-driven and venue-based sampling were used to collect demographic, behavioral and SN characteristics among MSM sex workers in Santo Domingo and Boca Chica (N = 220). The majority of participants reported problem drinking (71.0%) or alcohol use at their last sexual encounter (71.4%). Self-reported problem drinking was associated with SN characteristics (at least one member who recently got drunk aOR = 7.5, no religious/spiritual adviser aOR = 3.0, non-sexual network density aOR = 0.9), while self-reported alcohol use at last sex was associated with individual (drug use at last sex aOR = 4.4) and SN characteristics (at least one member with previous HIV/STI testing aOR = 4.7). Dominican MSM sex workers reported high alcohol use, which may increase their risk for HIV. A better understanding of SN factors associated with individual risk behaviors can help guide appropriate intervention development.

Reducing sexual risk behaviors: secondary analyses from a randomized controlled trial of a brief web-based alcohol intervention for underage, heavy episodic drinking college women.

PubMed

Bountress, Kaitlin E; Metzger, Isha W; Maples-Keller, Jessica L; Gilmore, Amanda K

2017-01-01

Alcohol use and sexual risk behaviors (SRBs) are significant problems on college campuses. College women are at particularly high risk for negative consequences associated with sexually transmitted infections (STIs) and unwanted pregnancy. The current study ( n = 160) examined the effect of a brief, web-based alcohol intervention ( n = 53) for college women on reducing SRBs compared to an assessment only control ( n = 107) with a randomized controlled trial. Outcome measures included condom use assertiveness and number of vaginal sex partners and data were collected at baseline and three-month follow-up. Regression analyses revealed that the alcohol intervention was associated with higher levels of condom use assertiveness at a three-month follow-up. Additionally, more alcohol use was associated with less condom use assertiveness for those with more significant sexual assault histories. These findings suggest that alcohol interventions may impact college women's beliefs but not behavior, and future interventions should more explicitly target both alcohol and sexual risk to decrease risky behaviors.

Reducing sexual risk behaviors: secondary analyses from a randomized controlled trial of a brief web-based alcohol intervention for underage, heavy episodic drinking college women

PubMed Central

Bountress, Kaitlin E.; Metzger, Isha W.; Maples-Keller, Jessica L.; Gilmore, Amanda K.

2017-01-01

Background Alcohol use and sexual risk behaviors (SRBs) are significant problems on college campuses. College women are at particularly high risk for negative consequences associated with sexually transmitted infections (STIs) and unwanted pregnancy. Methods The current study (n = 160) examined the effect of a brief, web-based alcohol intervention (n = 53) for college women on reducing SRBs compared to an assessment only control (n = 107) with a randomized controlled trial. Outcome measures included condom use assertiveness and number of vaginal sex partners and data were collected at baseline and three-month follow-up. Results Regression analyses revealed that the alcohol intervention was associated with higher levels of condom use assertiveness at a three-month follow-up. Additionally, more alcohol use was associated with less condom use assertiveness for those with more significant sexual assault histories. Conclusions These findings suggest that alcohol interventions may impact college women’s beliefs but not behavior, and future interventions should more explicitly target both alcohol and sexual risk to decrease risky behaviors. PMID:28428737

Multiple Use One-Sided Hypotheses Testing in Univariate Linear Calibration

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Krishnamoorthy, K.; Kulkarni, Pandurang M.; Mathew, Thomas

1996-01-01

Consider a normally distributed response variable, related to an explanatory variable through the simple linear regression model. Data obtained on the response variable, corresponding to known values of the explanatory variable (i.e., calibration data), are to be used for testing hypotheses concerning unknown values of the explanatory variable. We consider the problem of testing an unlimited sequence of one sided hypotheses concerning the explanatory variable, using the corresponding sequence of values of the response variable and the same set of calibration data. This is the situation of multiple use of the calibration data. The tests derived in this context are characterized by two types of uncertainties: one uncertainty associated with the sequence of values of the response variable, and a second uncertainty associated with the calibration data. We derive tests based on a condition that incorporates both of these uncertainties. The solution has practical applications in the decision limit problem. We illustrate our results using an example dealing with the estimation of blood alcohol concentration based on breath estimates of the alcohol concentration. In the example, the problem is to test if the unknown blood alcohol concentration of an individual exceeds a threshold that is safe for driving.

Developing a tablet computer-based application ('App') to measure self-reported alcohol consumption in Indigenous Australians.

PubMed

Lee, K S Kylie; Wilson, Scott; Perry, Jimmy; Room, Robin; Callinan, Sarah; Assan, Robert; Hayman, Noel; Chikritzhs, Tanya; Gray, Dennis; Wilkes, Edward; Jack, Peter; Conigrave, Katherine M

2018-01-15

The challenges of assessing alcohol consumption can be greater in Indigenous communities where there may be culturally distinct approaches to communication, sharing of drinking containers and episodic patterns of drinking. This paper discusses the processes used to develop a tablet computer-based application ('App') to collect a detailed assessment of drinking patterns in Indigenous Australians. The key features of the resulting App are described. An iterative consultation process was used (instead of one-off focus groups), with Indigenous cultural experts and clinical experts. Regular (weekly or more) advice was sought over a 12-month period from Indigenous community leaders and from a range of Indigenous and non-Indigenous health professionals and researchers. The underpinning principles, selected survey items, and key technical features of the App are described. Features include culturally appropriate questioning style and gender-specific voice and images; community-recognised events used as reference points to 'anchor' time periods; 'translation' to colloquial English and (for audio) to traditional language; interactive visual approaches to estimate quantity of drinking; images of specific brands of alcohol, rather than abstract description of alcohol type (e.g. 'spirits'); images of make-shift drinking containers; option to estimate consumption based on the individual's share of what the group drank. With any survey platform, helping participants to accurately reflect on and report their drinking presents a challenge. The availability of interactive, tablet-based technologies enables potential bridging of differences in culture and lifestyle and enhanced reporting.

Alcohol Use and Problems in Mandated College Students: A Randomized Clinical Trial Using Stepped Care

PubMed Central

Borsari, Brian; Hustad, John T.P.; Mastroleo, Nadine R.; Tevyaw, Tracy O’Leary; Barnett, Nancy P.; Kahler, Christopher W.; Short, Erica Eaton; Monti, Peter M.

2012-01-01

Objective Over the past two decades, colleges and universities have seen a large increase in the number of students referred to the administration for alcohol policies violations. However, a substantial portion of mandated students may not require extensive treatment. Stepped care may maximize treatment efficiency and greatly reduce the demands on campus alcohol programs. Method Participants in the study (N = 598) were college students mandated to attend an alcohol program following a campus-based alcohol citation. All participants received Step 1: a 15-minute Brief Advice session that included the provision of a booklet containing advice to reduce drinking. Participants were assessed six weeks after receiving the Brief Advice, and those who continued to exhibit risky alcohol use (n = 405) were randomized to Step 2, a 60–90 minute brief motivational intervention (BMI) (n = 211) or an assessment-only control (n = 194). Follow-up assessments were conducted 3, 6, and 9 months after Step 2. Results Results indicated that the participants who received a BMI significantly reduced the number of alcohol-related problems compared to those who received assessment-only, despite no significant group differences in alcohol use. In addition, low risk drinkers (n = 102; who reported low alcohol use and related harms at 6-week follow-up and were not randomized to stepped care) showed a stable alcohol use pattern throughout the follow-up period, indicating they required no additional intervention. Conclusion Stepped care is an efficient and cost-effective method to reduce harms associated with alcohol use by mandated students. PMID:22924334

Dynamics Of Human Motion The Case Study of an Examination Hall

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ogunjo, Samuel; Ajayi, Oluwaseyi; Fuwape, Ibiyinka; Dansu, Emmanuel

Human behaviour is difficult to characterize and generalize due to ITS complex nature. Advances in mathematical models have enabled human systems such as love interaction, alcohol abuse, admission problem to be described using models. This study investigates one of such problems, the dynamics of human motion in an examination hall with limited computer systems such that students write their examination in batches. The examination is characterized by time (t) allocated to each students and difficulty level (dl) associated with the examination. A stochastic model based on the difficulty level of the examination was developed for the prediction of student's motion around the examination hall. A good agreement was obtained between theoretical predictions and numerical simulation. The result obtained will help in better planning of examination session to maximize available resources. Furthermore, results obtained in the research can be extended to other areas such as banking hall, customer service points where available resources will be shared amongst many users.

Schools and the Community Alcohol, Tobacco, and Other Drug Environment: Opportunities for Prevention

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Pacific Institute for Research and Evaluation, 2013

2013-01-01

Schools have long been central to community-based alcohol, tobacco, and other drug (ATOD) prevention programs. Yet research consistently shows that school programs have only a marginal effect on student substance use and community ATOD problems. Schools are only one of the many influences on young people, and even the best curriculum will fail if…

Alcohol and Drug Use among Gang Members: Experiences of Adolescents Who Attend School

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Swahn, Monica H.; Bossarte, Robert M.; West, Bethany; Topalli, Volkan

2010-01-01

Background: Problems related to gangs have been noted in large cities and in many schools across the United States. This study examined the patterns of alcohol, drug use, and related exposures among male and female high school students who were gang members. Methods: Analyses were based on the Youth Violence Survey, conducted in 2004, and…

The Utility of a Brief Web-Based Prevention Intervention as a Universal Approach for Risky Alcohol Use in College Students: Evidence of Moderation by Family History.

PubMed

Neale, Zoe E; Salvatore, Jessica E; Cooke, Megan E; Savage, Jeanne E; Aliev, Fazil; Donovan, Kristen K; Hancock, Linda C; Dick, Danielle M

2018-01-01

Background: Alcohol use on college campuses is prevalent and contributes to problems that affect the health, emotional wellbeing, and academic success of college students. Risk factors, such as family history of alcohol problems, predict future alcohol problems, but less is known about their potential impact on intervention effectiveness. The purpose of this study was to examine the effect of an intervention implemented in a non-randomized sample of drinking and non-drinking college freshmen. Methods: Freshmen college students recruited for the intervention study ( n = 153) completed a web-adaptation of the Brief Alcohol Screening and Intervention for College Students (BASICS) at the start of spring semester. We compared their 30-days post-intervention alcohol initiation, number of drinking days (DAYS), drinks per occasion (DRINKS), maximum drinks in 24 h (MAX24) and alcohol use disorder symptoms (AUDsx) to 151 comparison participants retrospectively matched on demographics and baseline alcohol use behaviors. We also tested baseline DRINKS, DAYS, AUDsx, MAX24, and parental family history (PFH) of alcohol problems as moderators of the effect of the intervention. Results: At follow-up, intervention participants had lower rates of AUDsx than comparison participants, especially among baseline drinkers. Among participants drinking 3+ days/month at baseline, intervention participants showed fewer DAYS at follow-up than the comparison group participants. BASICS was also associated with a decreased likelihood of initiation among baseline non-drinkers. PFH significantly interacted with treatment group, with positive PFH intervention participants reporting significantly fewer AUDsx at follow-up compared to positive PFH comparison participants. We found no evidence for an effect of the intervention on DRINKS or MAX24 in our analyses. Conclusions: Results suggest some indication that novel groups, such as non-drinkers, regular drinkers, and PFH positive students may experience benefits from BASICS. Although conclusions were limited by lack of randomization and short follow-up period, PFH positive and low to moderate drinking groups represent viable targets for future randomized studies.

Labelling out: the personal account of an ex-alcoholic lesbian feminist.

PubMed

Staddon, Patsy

2005-01-01

In this paper, I look at my past alcohol dependency from a political as well as personal perspective. I consider the problems caused in my life and that of other lesbians by alcohol abuse, outdated treatment methods and self-help organizations such as AA, which misrepresent social factors leading to alcohol abuse. I focus on a series of themes: the personal and political; lesbian bar styles; alternative realities; lesbian problem drinking; problems facing lesbians in treatment and engaging with Alcoholics Anonymous; treatment as it often is and treatment as it should be.

Exposure to dysfunctional parenting and trauma events and posttraumatic stress profiles among a treatment sample with coexisting depression and alcohol use problems.

PubMed

Bailey, Kylie; Webster, Rosemary; Baker, Amanda L; Kavanagh, David J

2012-06-01

Trauma exposure (including experiencing dysfunctional parenting when a child) and posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) frequently coexist with major depressive disorder (MDD) and alcohol use disorders (AUD), with the impact of this comorbidity usually studied as a dual disorder (i.e. PTSD-MDD or PTSD-AUD). This study explores trauma exposure (including to dysfunctional parenting), PTSD symptom severity and PTSD in people seeking treatment for coexisting depressive symptoms and alcohol use problems. Participants (n = 221) with current depression and alcohol use problems were recruited. Trauma exposure, PTSD symptoms and PTSD were assessed using the Posttraumatic Stress Diagnostic Scale. The Measure of Parenting Style assessed dysfunctional parenting (neglect/over-control/abuse) experienced as a child. Most participants experienced trauma (71.6%, n = 159), with more than one-third reaching DSM-IV criteria for current PTSD (38.0%, n = 84). Unique to this study was that there were no gender differences in rates of trauma exposure, number of traumatic events and PTSD. More severe PTSD symptoms and PTSD were associated with: childhood neglect; earlier depression onset; more severe depression and alcohol problems; and lower general functioning. More severe problems with alcohol were related to Intrusion and Avoidance symptoms, while severe alcohol dependence symptoms were related to hyperarousal. PTSD symptoms and PTSD are highly prevalent in those with coexisting depression and alcohol use problems and are associated with a history of childhood neglect and higher levels of comorbidity. Trauma, PTSD symptoms and PTSD should be assessed and addressed among people seeking treatment for coexisting depression and alcohol problems. © 2011 Australasian Professional Society on Alcohol and other Drugs.

Dyadic conflict, drinking to cope, and alcohol-related problems: A psychometric study and longitudinal actor-partner interdependence model.

PubMed

Lambe, Laura; Mackinnon, Sean P; Stewart, Sherry H

2015-10-01

The motivational model of alcohol use posits that individuals may consume alcohol to cope with negative affect. Conflict with others is a strong predictor of coping motives, which in turn predict alcohol-related problems. Two studies examined links between conflict, coping motives, and alcohol-related problems in emerging adult romantic dyads. It was hypothesized that the association between conflict and alcohol-related problems would be mediated by coping-depression and coping-anxiety motives. It was also hypothesized that this would be true for actor (i.e., how individual factors influence individual behaviors) and partner effects (i.e., how partner factors influence individual behaviors) and at the between- (i.e., does not vary over the study period) and within-subjects (i.e., varies over the study period) levels. Both studies examined participants currently in a romantic relationship who consumed ≥12 alcoholic drinks in the past year. Study 1 was cross-sectional using university students (N = 130 students; 86.9% female; M = 21.02 years old, SD = 3.43). Study 2 used a 4-wave, 4-week longitudinal design with romantic dyads (N = 100 dyads; 89% heterosexual; M = 22.13 years old, SD = 5.67). In Study 2, coping-depression motives emerged as the strongest mediator of the conflict-alcohol-related problems association, and findings held for actor effects but not partner effects. Supplemental analyses revealed that this mediational pathway only held among women. Within any given week, alcohol-related problems changed systematically in the same direction between romantic partners. Interventions may wish to target coping-depression drinking motives within couples in response to conflict to reduce alcohol-related problems. (c) 2015 APA, all rights reserved).

Alcohol marketing and drunkenness among students in the Philippines: findings from the nationally representative Global School-based Student Health Survey.

PubMed

Swahn, Monica H; Palmier, Jane B; Benegas-Segarra, Agnes; Sinson, Fe A

2013-12-10

A largely unaddressed issue in lower income countries and the Philippines, in particular, is the role of alcohol marketing and its potential link to early alcohol use among youth. This study examines the associations between exposures to alcohol marketing and Filipino youths' drinking prevalence and drunkenness. Cross-sectional analyses were used to examine the Global School-based Student Health Survey (GSHS) conducted in Philippines (2011). The self-administered questionnaires were completed by students primarily 13 to 16 years of age (N = 5,290). Three statistical models were computed to test the associations between alcohol marketing and alcohol use, while controlling for possible confounding factors. Alcohol marketing, specifically through providing free alcohol through a company representative, was associated with drunkenness (AOR: 1.84; 95% CI=1.06-3.21) among youths after controlling for demographic and psychosocial characteristics, peer environment, and risky behaviors. In addition, seeing alcohol ads in newspapers and magazines (AOR: 1.65, 95% CI=1.05-2.58) and seeing ads at sports events, concerts or fairs (AOR: 1.50, 95% CI =1.06-2.12) were significantly associated with increased reports of drunkenness. There are significant associations between alcohol marketing exposure and increased alcohol use and drunkenness among youth in the Philippines. These findings highlight the need to put policies into effect that restrict alcohol marketing practices as an important prevention strategy for reducing alcohol use and its dire consequences among vulnerable youth.

Identification and testing of countermeasures for specific alcohol accident types and problems. Volume 3, The heavy truck alcohol problem

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

1984-12-01

This report summarizes the results of work conducted during 1979 pertaining to the scope and nature of the heavy truck alcohol problem. Included in a review of literature available at that time, a detailed examination of the Fatal Accident Reporting ...

Alcohol-Related Problems and Risk of Suicide among College Students: The Mediating Roles of Belongingness and Burdensomeness

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Lamis, Dorian A.; Malone, Patrick S.

2011-01-01

The relationship among alcohol-related problems, perceived burdensomeness, thwarted belongingness, and suicide proneness in undergraduate college students (N = 996) was examined. As hypothesized, alcohol-related problems, perceived burdensomeness, and thwarted belongingness were all significantly and positively correlated with suicide proneness.…

The Effect of Perceived Parental Approval of Drinking on Alcohol Use and Problems

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Messler, Erick C.; Quevillon, Randal P.; Simons, Jeffrey S.

2014-01-01

The relationship between perceived parental approval of drinking and alcohol use and problems was explored with undergraduate students in a small midwestern university. Participants completed a survey measuring demographic information, perceived approval of drinking, and alcohol use and problems. Results indicated perceived parental approval of…

Social Context of Drinking and Alcohol Problems among College Students

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Beck, Kenneth H.; Arria, Amelia M.; Caldeira, Kimberly M.; Vincent, Kathryn B.; O'Grady, Kevin E.; Wish, Eric D.

2008-01-01

Objective: To examine how social contexts of drinking are related to alcohol use disorders, other alcohol-related problems, and depression among college students. Methods: Logistic regression models controlling for drinking frequency measured the association between social context and problems, among 728 current drinkers. Results: Drinking for…

Development and preliminary validation of the young adult alcohol consequences questionnaire.

PubMed

Read, Jennifer P; Kahler, Christopher W; Strong, David R; Colder, Craig R

2006-01-01

A substantial proportion of U.S. college students drink alcoholic beverages and report significant deleterious effects. The present study describes the development and initial validation of a measure designed to capture a broad range of alcohol-related consequences experienced by male and female college students. College students (N=340, 176 women) completed a self-report questionnaire battery consisting of information about demographic characteristics, drinking behaviors, and drinking consequences. Drinking consequences were assessed with a composite measure based on the Drinker Inventory of Consequences, the Young Adult Alcohol Problem Screening Test (YAAPST) and items developed by the researchers. To assess concurrent validity, a subset of the total sample (n=126) also completed the Rutgers Alcohol Problem Index (RAPI). Confirmatory factor analyses supported an eight-factor solution (Social-Interpersonal Consequences, Impaired Control, Self-Perception, Self-Care, Risk Behaviors, Academic/Occupational Consequences, Physical Dependence, and Blackout Drinking), with all factors loading on a single, higher-order factor. YAACQ total scores correlated with alcohol quantity and frequency, and the RAPI. Gender comparisons suggest that the YAACQ assesses constructs of interest equally well for women and men. These results offer preliminary support for this measure. Research and clinical applications include the potential to predict future problems by specific type of consequence and to offer detailed feedback about drinking consequences to students as part of a preventive intervention. As such, the YAACQ may serve as an aid in both the description of and intervention for heavy drinking in college.

Alcoholic beverage server liability and the reduction of alcohol-related problems : evaluation of dram shop laws : final report

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

1990-06-01

The project was an evaluation of the potential for the legal liability of alcoholic beverage servers to stimulate preventative serving practices and thus reduce alcohol-involved traffic problems. Legal analyses of judicial and legislative actions wit...

Alcoholic beverage server liability and the reduction of alcohol-related problems : evaluation of dram shop laws : summary report

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

1990-06-01

The project was an evaluation of the potential for the legal liability of alcoholic beverage servers to stimulate preventative serving practices and thus reduce alcohol-involved traffic problems. Legal analyses of judicial and legislative actions wit...

Paternal Alcoholism and Toddler Noncompliance

PubMed Central

Eiden, Rina Das; Leonard, Kenneth E.; Morrisey, Sean

2009-01-01

Background This study examined the effect of fathers’ alcoholism and associated risk factors on toddler compliance with parental directives at 18 and 24 months of age. Methods Participants were 215 families with 12-month-old children, recruited through birth records, who completed assessments of parental substance use, family functioning, and parent-child interactions at 12, 18, and 24 months of child age. Of these families, 96 were in the control group, 89 families were in the father-alcoholic-only group, and 30 families were in the group with two alcohol-problem parents. Child compliance with parents during cleanup situations after free play was measured at 18 and 24 months. The focus of this paper is on four measures of compliance: committed compliance, passive noncompliance, overt resistance, and defiance. Results Sons of alcohol-problem parents exhibited higher rates of noncompliance compared with sons of nonalcoholic parents. Sons in the two-alcohol-problem parent group seemed to be following a trajectory toward increasing rates of noncompliance. Daughters in the two-alcohol-problem parent group followed an opposite pattern. Other risk factors associated with parental alcohol problems also predicted compliance, but in unexpected ways. Conclusions Results indicate that early risk for behavioral undercontrol is present in the toddler period among sons of alcoholic fathers, but not among daughters. PMID:11707637

Imaging evaluation of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease: focused on quantification.

PubMed

Lee, Dong Ho

2017-12-01

Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) has been an emerging major health problem, and the most common cause of chronic liver disease in Western countries. Traditionally, liver biopsy has been gold standard method for quantification of hepatic steatosis. However, its invasive nature with potential complication as well as measurement variability are major problem. Thus, various imaging studies have been used for evaluation of hepatic steatosis. Ultrasonography provides fairly good accuracy to detect moderate-to-severe degree hepatic steatosis, but limited accuracy for mild steatosis. Operator-dependency and subjective/qualitative nature of examination are another major drawbacks of ultrasonography. Computed tomography can be considered as an unsuitable imaging modality for evaluation of NAFLD due to potential risk of radiation exposure and limited accuracy in detecting mild steatosis. Both magnetic resonance spectroscopy and magnetic resonance imaging using chemical shift technique provide highly accurate and reproducible diagnostic performance for evaluating NAFLD, and therefore, have been used in many clinical trials as a non-invasive reference of standard method.

Imaging evaluation of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease: focused on quantification

PubMed Central

2017-01-01

Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) has been an emerging major health problem, and the most common cause of chronic liver disease in Western countries. Traditionally, liver biopsy has been gold standard method for quantification of hepatic steatosis. However, its invasive nature with potential complication as well as measurement variability are major problem. Thus, various imaging studies have been used for evaluation of hepatic steatosis. Ultrasonography provides fairly good accuracy to detect moderate-to-severe degree hepatic steatosis, but limited accuracy for mild steatosis. Operator-dependency and subjective/qualitative nature of examination are another major drawbacks of ultrasonography. Computed tomography can be considered as an unsuitable imaging modality for evaluation of NAFLD due to potential risk of radiation exposure and limited accuracy in detecting mild steatosis. Both magnetic resonance spectroscopy and magnetic resonance imaging using chemical shift technique provide highly accurate and reproducible diagnostic performance for evaluating NAFLD, and therefore, have been used in many clinical trials as a non-invasive reference of standard method. PMID:28994271

Alcohol-impaired driving and its consequences in the United States: the past 25 years.

PubMed

Williams, Allan F

2006-01-01

Progress in dealing with the alcohol-impaired driving problem in the United States during the past 25 years is addressed. Trends in various measures of the problem were tracked and a thorough review of the relevant literature conducted. In the 1980s and continuing into the early 1990s, major decreases occurred in alcohol-impaired driving and its consequences. The contribution of alcohol to fatal crashes dropped by 35-40% during this period. Two primary reasons for the decline appear to be the emergence of citizen activist groups that mobilized public support and attention to the problem, and the proliferation of effective laws. Since about 1995 the alcohol-impaired driving problem has stabilized at a reduced but still quite high level. Highway safety organizations and citizen activist groups have continued to highlight the problem, but its status as a social issue has diminished. We basically know what the primary target groups are, and we know measures that would work to reduce the problem if implemented more fully. We know that political leadership, state task forces, and media advocacy are important ingredients in addressing the problem. It is likely that a resurgence in citizen activism will be necessary to foster these elements and refocus the nation on the unfinished battle against alcohol-impaired driving. Alcohol-impaired driving is still a major problem that needs continuing attention.

Molecular Dynamics Analysis of Lysozyme Protein in Ethanol-Water Mixed Solvent Environment

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ochije, Henry Ikechukwu

Effect of protein-solvent interaction on the protein structure is widely studied using both experimental and computational techniques. Despite such extensive studies molecular level understanding of proteins and some simple solvents is still not fully understood. This work focuses on detailed molecular dynamics simulations to study of solvent effect on lysozyme protein, using water, alcohol and different concentrations of water-alcohol mixtures as solvents. The lysozyme protein structure in water, alcohol and alcohol-water mixture (0-12% alcohol) was studied using GROMACS molecular dynamics simulation code. Compared to water environment, the lysozome structure showed remarkable changes in solvents with increasing alcohol concentration. In particular, significant changes were observed in the protein secondary structure involving alpha helices. The influence of alcohol on the lysozyme protein was investigated by studying thermodynamic and structural properties. With increasing ethanol concentration we observed a systematic increase in total energy, enthalpy, root mean square deviation (RMSD), and radius of gyration. a polynomial interpolation approach. Using the resulting polynomial equation, we could determine above quantities for any intermediate alcohol percentage. In order to validate this approach, we selected an intermediate ethanol percentage and carried out full MD simulation. The results from MD simulation were in reasonably good agreement with that obtained using polynomial approach. Hence, the polynomial approach based method proposed here eliminates the need for computationally intensive full MD analysis for the concentrations within the range (0-12%) studied in this work.

Behavioral Economic Measures of Alcohol Reward Value as Problem Severity Indicators in College Students

PubMed Central

Skidmore, Jessica R.; Murphy, James G.; Martens, Matthew P.

2014-01-01

The aims of the current study were to examine the associations among behavioral economic measures of alcohol value derived from three distinct measurement approaches, and to evaluate their respective relations with traditional indicators of alcohol problem severity in college drinkers. Five behavioral economic metrics were derived from hypothetical demand curves that quantify reward value by plotting consumption and expenditures as a function of price, another metric measured proportional behavioral allocation and enjoyment related to alcohol versus other activities, and a final metric measured relative discretionary expenditures on alcohol. The sample included 207 heavy drinking college students (53% female) who were recruited through an on-campus health center or university courses. Factor analysis revealed that the alcohol valuation construct comprises two factors: one factor that reflects participants’ levels of alcohol price sensitivity (demand persistence), and a second factor that reflects participants’ maximum consumption and monetary and behavioral allocation towards alcohol (amplitude of demand). The demand persistence and behavioral allocation metrics demonstrated the strongest and most consistent multivariate relations with alcohol-related problems, even when controlling for other well-established predictors. The results suggest that behavioral economic indices of reward value show meaningful relations with alcohol problem severity in young adults. Despite the presence of some gender differences, these measures appear to be useful problem indicators for men and women. PMID:24749779

Socioeconomic status and alcohol-related behaviors in mid- to late adolescence in the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children.

PubMed

Kendler, Kenneth S; Gardner, Charles O; Hickman, Matt; Heron, Jon; Macleod, John; Lewis, Glyn; Dick, Danielle M

2014-07-01

Prior studies of the relationship between socioeconomic status (SES) and alcohol consumption and problems in adolescence have been inconclusive. Few studies have examined all three major SES indicators and a broad range of alcohol-related outcomes at different ages. In the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children cohort, we examined (by logistic regression, with differential weighting to control for attrition) the relationship between family income and parental education and occupational status, and five alcohol outcomes assessed at ages 16 and 18 years. At age 16, high SES-as indexed by income and education-significantly predicted frequent alcohol consumption. Low SES-as measured by education and occupational status-predicted alcohol-related problems. At age 18, high SES-particularly income and education-significantly predicted frequent alcohol consumption and heavy episodic drinking and, more weakly, symptoms of alcohol dependence. All three measures of SES were inversely related to high-quantity consumption and alcohol behavioral problems. In adolescents in the United Kingdom, the relationship between SES and alcohol-related behaviors is complex and varies as a function of age, SES measure, and specific outcome. High SES tends to predict increased consumption and, in later adolescence, heavy episodic drinking and perhaps symptoms of alcohol dependence. Low SES predicts alcohol-related behavioral problems and, in later adolescence, high-quantity alcohol consumption.

Alcohol effects on family relations: a case study.

PubMed

Reinaldo, Amanda Márcia Dos Santos; Pillon, Sandra Cristina

2008-01-01

Problems related to alcohol abuse have been associated to different factors, regardless of the causes attributed to this phenomenon. Alcohol consumption and dependence is considered a public health problem and deserve attention because of the social, work, family, physical, legal and violence-related risks it represents. This study aimed to identify the effects of alcoholism on family relations and, by means of case management, to encourage the recovery of these relationships. The results show that the problems caused by alcohol abuse impose profound suffering to family members, which contributes to high levels of interpersonal conflict, domestic violence, parental inadequacy, child abuse and negligence, financial and legal difficulties, in addition to clinical problems associated to it.

Senior Alcohol Services Revisited: Elderly Alcoholism--Current State of the Art.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Dunlop, Jean D.

This report notes the growing awareness of alcohol problems among the elderly during the past 5 to 10 years, and reviews the final conclusions of the federal demonstration project, Senior Alcohol Services. Five basic concepts are included: (1) there are a growing number of elderly persons with alcohol problems (10-15% of all persons over age 60);…

Mechanisms of Association between Paternal Alcoholism and Abuse of Alcohol and Other Illicit Drugs among Adolescents

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Peleg-Oren, Neta; Hospital, Michelle; Morris, Staci Leon; Wagner, Eric F.

2013-01-01

The current study examines the effect of paternal alcohol problems on adolescent use of alcohol and other illicit drugs as a function of maternal communication, as well as adolescent social and coping skills (N = 145). Structural equation modeling (SEM) analyses indicated that adolescents with a paternal history of alcohol problems reported higher…

Influence of Early Onset of Alcohol Use on the Development of Adolescent Alcohol Problems: A Longitudinal Binational Study

PubMed Central

Kim, Min Jung; Mason, W. Alex; Herrenkohl, Todd I.; Catalano, Richard F.; Toumbourou, John W.; Hemphill, Sheryl A.

2016-01-01

This study examined cross-national similarities in a developmental model linking early age of alcohol use onset to frequent drinking and heavy drinking and alcohol problems 1 and 2 years later in a binational sample of 13-year-old students from 2 states: Washington State, United States, and Victoria, Australia (N = 1,833). A range of individual, family, school, and peer influences were included in analyses to investigate their unique and shared contribution to development of early and more serious forms of alcohol use and harms from misuse. Data were collected annually over a 3-year period from ages 13 to 15. Analyses were conducted using multiple-group structural equation modeling. For both states, early use of alcohol predicted frequent drinking, which predicted alcohol problems. Family protective influences had no direct effects on heavy drinking, nor effects on alcohol harm in either state, whereas school protection directly reduced the risk of heavy drinking in both states. Exposure to antisocial peers and siblings predicted a higher likelihood of heavy drinking and alcohol harm for students in both Washington and Victoria. Implications for the prevention of adolescent alcohol problems are discussed. PMID:27699620

Alcohol availability and neighborhood poverty and their relationship to binge drinking and related problems among drinkers in committed relationships

PubMed Central

McKinney, Christy M.; Chartier, Karen G.; Caetano, Raul; Harris, T. Robert

2012-01-01

The authors examined the relationship of alcohol outlet density (AOD) and neighborhood poverty with binge drinking and alcohol-related problems among drinkers in married and cohabitating relationships and assessed whether these associations differed across sex. A U.S. national population couples survey was linked to U.S. Census data on AOD and neighborhood poverty. The 1,784 current drinkers in the survey reported on their binge drinking, alcohol-related problems, and other covariates. AOD was defined as the number of alcohol outlets per 10,000 persons and was obtained at the zip code level. Neighborhood poverty was as having a low (<20%) or high (≥20%) proportion of residents living in poverty at the census tract level. We used logistic regression for survey data to estimate odds ratios and 95% confidence intervals and tested for differences of associations by sex. Associations of neighborhood poverty with binge drinking were stronger for male than for female drinkers. The association of neighborhood poverty with alcohol-related problems was also stronger for men than for women. We observed no relationships between AOD and binge drinking or alcohol-related problems in this couples survey. Efforts to reduce binge drinking or alcohol-related problems among partners in committed relationships may have the greatest impact if targeted to male drinkers living in high-poverty neighborhoods. Binge drinking and alcohol-related problems, as well as residence in an impoverished neighborhood are risk factors for intimate partner violence (IPV) and other relationship conflicts. PMID:22890980

Alcohol availability and neighborhood poverty and their relationship to binge drinking and related problems among drinkers in committed relationships.

PubMed

McKinney, Christy M; Chartier, Karen G; Caetano, Raul; Harris, T Robert

2012-09-01

The authors examined the relationship of alcohol outlet density (AOD) and neighborhood poverty with binge drinking and alcohol-related problems among drinkers in married and cohabitating relationships and assessed whether these associations differed across sex. A U.S. national population couples survey was linked to U.S. Census data on AOD and neighborhood poverty. The 1,784 current drinkers in the survey reported on their binge drinking, alcohol-related problems, and other covariates. AOD was defined as the number of alcohol outlets per 10,000 persons and was obtained at the zip code level. Neighborhood poverty was defined as having a low (<20%) or high (≥20%) proportion of residents living in poverty at the census tract level. We used logistic regression for survey data to estimate odds ratios and 95% confidence intervals and tested for differences of associations by sex. Associations of neighborhood poverty with binge drinking were stronger for male than for female drinkers. The association of neighborhood poverty with alcohol-related problems was also stronger for men than for women. We observed no relationships between AOD and binge drinking or alcohol-related problems in this couples survey. Efforts to reduce binge drinking or alcohol-related problems among partners in committed relationships may have the greatest impact if targeted to male drinkers living in high-poverty neighborhoods. Binge drinking and alcohol-related problems, as well as residence in an impoverished neighborhood are risk factors for intimate partner violence (IPV) and other relationship conflicts.

Impulsivity in abstinent early- and late-onset alcoholics: differences in self-report measures and a discounting task.

PubMed

Dom, G; D'haene, P; Hulstijn, W; Sabbe, B

2006-01-01

To test the hypothesis that early-onset alcoholics (EOAs) can be differentiated from late-onset alcoholics (LOAs) by more severe substance-related problems and higher levels of impulsivity and aggression. A cross-sectional patient survey with a community comparison group. The European Addiction Severity Index was used to assess substance-related problems and the Barratt Impulsiveness Scale, the Dutch version of the Zuckermann Sensation Seeking Scale and the Buss-Durkee Hostility Inventory were used to assess impulsive and aggressive traits. Impulsive decision making was assessed using a delay discounting task (DDT) with hypothetical monetary rewards. Participants were EOAs (n = 42) and LOAs (n = 46) recruited from an addiction treatment centre and an unmatched, non-substance-abusing comparison group (n = 54). Findings The EOAs had higher levels of impulsive decision making than both the LOAs and the comparison group. The EOAs had higher scores than the LOAs on measures of impulsiveness, aggressiveness and the severity of substance-related problems. This study provides evidence that EOAs are more impulsive and aggressive than LOAs. Further identification of alcoholism subtypes based on dimensions of impulsivity should be considered in the light of their relationship with pharmacological and behavioural treatment interventions.

Prospective Analysis of Behavioral Economic Predictors of Stable Moderation Drinking Among Problem Drinkers Attempting Natural Recovery

PubMed Central

Tucker, Jalie A.; Cheong, JeeWon; Chandler, Susan D.; Lambert, Brice H.; Pietrzak, Brittney; Kwok, Heather; Davies, Susan L.

2016-01-01

Background As interventions have expanded beyond clinical treatment to include brief interventions for persons with less severe alcohol problems, predicting who can achieve stable moderation drinking has gained importance. Recent behavioral economic (BE) research on natural recovery has shown that active problem drinkers who allocate their monetary expenditures on alcohol and saving for the future over longer time horizons tend to have better subsequent recovery outcomes, including maintenance of stable moderation drinking. The present study compared the predictive utility of this money-based “Alcohol-Savings Discretionary Expenditure” (ASDE) index with multiple BE analogue measures of behavioral impulsivity and self-control, which have seldom been investigated together, to predict outcomes of natural recovery attempts. Methods Community-dwelling problem drinkers, enrolled shortly after stopping abusive drinking without treatment, were followed prospectively for up to a year (N = 175 [75.4% male], M age = 50.65 years). They completed baseline assessments of pre-resolution drinking practices and problems; analogue behavioral choice tasks (Delay Discounting, Melioration-Maximization, and Alcohol Purchase Tasks); and a Timeline Followback interview including expenditures on alcohol compared to voluntary savings (ASDE index) during the pre-resolution year. Results Multinomial logistic regression models showed that, among the BE measures, only the ASDE index predicted stable moderation drinking compared to stable abstinence or unstable resolutions involving relapse. As hypothesized, stable moderation was associated with more balanced pre-resolution allocations to drinking and savings (OR = 1.77, 95% CI = 1.02 ∼ 3.08, p < .05), suggesting it is associated with longer term behavior regulation processes than abstinence. Conclusions The ASDE's unique predictive utility may rest on its comprehensive representation of contextual elements to support this patterning of behavioral allocation. Stable low risk drinking, but not abstinence, requires such regulatory processes. PMID:27775161

Resident assistant training program for increasing alcohol, other drug, and mental health first-aid efforts.

PubMed

Thombs, Dennis L; Gonzalez, Jennifer M Reingle; Osborn, Cynthia J; Rossheim, Matthew E; Suzuki, Sumihiro

2015-05-01

In college and university residence halls, resident assistants (RAs) are expected to serve as first-aid providers to students who may have alcohol, other drug, mental health, and academic problems. Despite this responsibility, evidence-based, first-aid programs have not been developed and tested for the RA workforce. The current study examined effects of an investigational first-aid program designed specifically for RAs. The online Peer Hero Training program is a novel approach to RA training in its use of interactive video dramatizations of incidents involving substance-using or distressed residents. A 9-month randomized trial conducted on eight US campuses compared RAs who participated in the Peer Hero Training program to RAs who received training-as-usual. Participation in the Peer Hero Training program significantly increased RA first-aid efforts for residential students who may have had alcohol, other drug, mental health, or academic problems 6 months after baseline. Compared with those in the training-as-usual condition, RAs in the Peer Hero Training program made more than 10 times as many first-aid efforts for possible alcohol problems, almost 14 times the number of first-aid efforts for possible drug use, almost 3 times the number of first-aid efforts for possible mental health problems, and 3 times the number of first-aid efforts for academic problems. There was no evidence that measured RA attitudes mediated the effects of the intervention. Results of this preliminary evaluation trial suggest that online training using interactive video dramatizations is a viable approach to strengthening RAs' ability to provide alcohol, other drugs, and mental health first-aid to undergraduates.

Computer-Aided Recognition of Facial Attributes for Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders.

PubMed

Valentine, Matthew; Bihm, Dustin C J; Wolf, Lior; Hoyme, H Eugene; May, Philip A; Buckley, David; Kalberg, Wendy; Abdul-Rahman, Omar A

2017-12-01

To compare the detection of facial attributes by computer-based facial recognition software of 2-D images against standard, manual examination in fetal alcohol spectrum disorders (FASD). Participants were gathered from the Fetal Alcohol Syndrome Epidemiology Research database. Standard frontal and oblique photographs of children were obtained during a manual, in-person dysmorphology assessment. Images were submitted for facial analysis conducted by the facial dysmorphology novel analysis technology (an automated system), which assesses ratios of measurements between various facial landmarks to determine the presence of dysmorphic features. Manual blinded dysmorphology assessments were compared with those obtained via the computer-aided system. Areas under the curve values for individual receiver-operating characteristic curves revealed the computer-aided system (0.88 ± 0.02) to be comparable to the manual method (0.86 ± 0.03) in detecting patients with FASD. Interestingly, cases of alcohol-related neurodevelopmental disorder (ARND) were identified more efficiently by the computer-aided system (0.84 ± 0.07) in comparison to the manual method (0.74 ± 0.04). A facial gestalt analysis of patients with ARND also identified more generalized facial findings compared to the cardinal facial features seen in more severe forms of FASD. We found there was an increased diagnostic accuracy for ARND via our computer-aided method. As this category has been historically difficult to diagnose, we believe our experiment demonstrates that facial dysmorphology novel analysis technology can potentially improve ARND diagnosis by introducing a standardized metric for recognizing FASD-associated facial anomalies. Earlier recognition of these patients will lead to earlier intervention with improved patient outcomes. Copyright © 2017 by the American Academy of Pediatrics.

Alcohol consumption in tertiary education students.

PubMed

Reavley, Nicola J; Jorm, Anthony F; McCann, Terence V; Lubman, Dan I

2011-07-09

Heavy alcohol consumption among adolescents and young adults is an issue of significant public concern. With approximately 50% of young people aged 18-24 attending tertiary education, there is an opportunity within these settings to implement programs that target risky drinking. The aim of the current study was to survey students and staff within a tertiary education institution to investigate patterns of alcohol use, alcohol-related problems, knowledge of current National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) guidelines for alcohol consumption and intentions to seek help for alcohol problems. Students of an Australian metropolitan university (with staff as a comparison group) participated in a telephone interview. Questions related to knowledge of NHMRC guidelines, drinking behaviour, alcohol-related problems and help-seeking intentions for alcohol problems. Level of psychological distress was also assessed. Of the completed interviews, 774 (65%) were students and 422 (35%) were staff. While staff were more likely to drink regularly, students were more likely to drink heavily. Alcohol consumption was significantly higher in students, in males and in those with a history of earlier onset drinking. In most cases, alcohol-related problems were more likely to occur in students. The majority of students and staff had accurate knowledge of the current NHMRC guidelines, but this was not associated with lower levels of risky drinking. Psychological distress was associated with patterns of risky drinking in students. Our findings are consistent with previous studies of tertiary student populations, and highlight the disconnect between knowledge of relevant guidelines and actual behaviour. There is a clear need for interventions within tertiary education institutions that promote more effective means of coping with psychological distress and improve help-seeking for alcohol problems, particularly among young men.

Alcohol Impaired University Professors: A Problem until the 21st Century?

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Caliguri, Joseph P.

1989-01-01

Contends that work obsession and alcoholism can and do become steady partners for academics with high achievement need. Suggests that some technological changes may contribute to the resolution of the alcohol-impaired professoriate problem. Examines alcohol abuse, employee assistance programs, and stages of adulthood. (NB)

Prospective Analysis of Behavioral Economic Predictors of Stable Moderation Drinking Among Problem Drinkers Attempting Natural Recovery.

PubMed

Tucker, Jalie A; Cheong, JeeWon; Chandler, Susan D; Lambert, Brice H; Pietrzak, Brittney; Kwok, Heather; Davies, Susan L

2016-12-01

As interventions have expanded beyond clinical treatment to include brief interventions for persons with less severe alcohol problems, predicting who can achieve stable moderation drinking has gained importance. Recent behavioral economic (BE) research on natural recovery has shown that active problem drinkers who allocate their monetary expenditures on alcohol and saving for the future over longer time horizons tend to have better subsequent recovery outcomes, including maintenance of stable moderation drinking. This study compared the predictive utility of this money-based "Alcohol-Savings Discretionary Expenditure" (ASDE) index with multiple BE analogue measures of behavioral impulsivity and self-control, which have seldom been investigated together, to predict outcomes of natural recovery attempts. Community-dwelling problem drinkers, enrolled shortly after stopping abusive drinking without treatment, were followed prospectively for up to a year (N = 175 [75.4% male], M age = 50.65 years). They completed baseline assessments of preresolution drinking practices and problems, analogue behavioral choice tasks (Delay Discounting, Melioration-Maximization, and Alcohol Purchase Tasks), and a Timeline Followback interview including expenditures on alcohol compared to voluntary savings (ASDE index) during the preresolution year. Multinomial logistic regression models showed that, among the BE measures, only the ASDE index predicted stable moderation drinking compared to stable abstinence or unstable resolutions involving relapse. As hypothesized, stable moderation was associated with more balanced preresolution allocations to drinking and savings (odds ratio = 1.77, 95% confidence interval = 1.02 to 3.08, p < 0.05), suggesting it is associated with longer-term behavior regulation processes than abstinence. The ASDE's unique predictive utility may rest on its comprehensive representation of contextual elements to support this patterning of behavioral allocation. Stable low-risk drinking, but not abstinence, requires such regulatory processes. Copyright © 2016 by the Research Society on Alcoholism.

Prospective relationship between poor sleep and substance-related problems in a national sample of adolescents

PubMed Central

Wong, Maria M.; Roberson, Gail; Dyson, Rachel

2014-01-01

Background Previous studies showed that poor sleep prospectively predicted alcohol related problems and illicit drug use in adolescents and young adults (Wong et al., 2010, 2012). However, more works needs to be done to elucidate the nature of these problems. The purpose of this study was to examine whether sleep difficulties and hours of sleep prospectively predicted several serious substance related problems, e.g., binge drinking, driving under the influence of alcohol, risky sexual behavior. Methods Study participants were 6504 adolescents from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health (ADD HEALTH). Data were collected from interviews and questionnaires. The current study analyzed data from the first three waves of data (T1: 1994–95; T2: 1996; T3: 2001–02). In all analyses, we used sleep difficulties at a previous wave to predict substance-related problems at a subsequent wave, while controlling for substance-related problems at a previous wave. Results Holding T1 alcohol-related problems constant, sleep difficulties at T1 significantly predicted alcohol-related interpersonal problems, binge drinking, gotten drunk or very high on alcohol, driving under the influence of alcohol, getting into a sexual situation one later regretted due to drinking, ever using any illicit drugs and drugs-related problems at T2. T1 hours of sleep negatively predicted T2 alcohol-related interpersonal problems and binge drinking. The relationship between T2 sleep variables and T3 substance-related problems were consistent with previous waves, though the effect was weaker. Conclusions Sleep difficulties and hours of sleep are a significant predictor of a number of substance-related problems. It may be useful to educate adolescents about the importance of sleep, sleep hygiene and the potential consequences of poor sleep on drinking and related behaviors. PMID:25598438

Translating effective web-based self-help for problem drinking into the real world.

PubMed

Riper, Heleen; Kramer, Jeannet; Conijn, Barbara; Smit, Filip; Schippers, Gerard; Cuijpers, Pim

2009-08-01

Drinking Less (DL) is a 24/7 free-access anonymous interactive web-based self-help intervention without therapeutic guidance for adult problem drinkers in the community. In a randomized controlled trial (referred to here as DL-RCT), DL has been shown effective in reducing risky alcohol consumption. To assess whether the findings of DL-RCT are generalizable to a naturalistic setting (DL-RW) in terms of ability to reach the target group and alcohol treatment response. Pretest-posttest study with 6-month follow-up. An online survey was conducted of 378 of the 1,625 people who used DL-RW from May to November 2007. Primary outcome measures were (1) problem drinking, defined as alcohol consumption in the previous 4 weeks averaging >21 or >14 standard units (male/female) per week or >or=6 or >or=4 units (m/f) on 1 or more days per week; and (2) mean weekly alcohol consumption. DL-RW and DL-RCT data were compared and pooled. Intention-to-treat (ITT) analysis was performed to analyze and compare changes in drinking from baseline to follow-up. In the DL-RW group, 18.8% (n = 71) were drinking successfully within the limits of the Dutch guideline for low-risk drinking (p < 0.001) 6 months after baseline (ITT). The DL-RW group also decreased its mean weekly alcohol intake by 7.4 units, t(377) = 6.67, p < 0.001, d = 0.29. Drinking reduction in DL-RW was of a similar magnitude to that in the DL-RCT condition in terms of drinking within the guideline [chi(2)(1) = 1.83, CI: 0.82-3.00, p = 0.18, RD = 0.05, OR = 1.55] and mean weekly consumption (a negligible difference of d = 0.03 in favor of DL-RW group). The results from DL-RCT and DL-RW were similar, and they demonstrate that web-based self-help without therapeutic guidance is feasible, well accepted, and effective for curbing adult problem drinking in the community.

When psychopathology matters most: identifying sensitive periods when within-person changes in conduct, affective, and anxiety problems are associated with male adolescent substance use

PubMed Central

Cerdá, Magdalena; Prins, Seth J.; Galea, Sandro; Howe, Chanelle J.; Pardini, Dustin

2016-01-01

Background and aims There is a documented link between common psychiatric disorders and substance use in adolescent males. This study addressed two key questions: 1) Is there a within-person association between an increase in psychiatric problems and an increase in substance use among adolescent males?; and 2) Are there sensitive periods during male adolescence when such associations are more evident? Design Analysis of longitudinal data collected annually on boys randomly selected from schools based on a comprehensive public school enrollment list from the Pittsburgh Board of Education Setting Recruitment occurred in public schools in Pittsburgh, Pennysylvania, USA. Participants 503 boys assessed at ages 13-19, average cooperation rate = 92.1% Measurements DSM-oriented affective, anxiety, and conduct disorder problems were measured with items from the caregiver, teacher, and youth version of the Achenbach scales. Scales were converted to T-scores using age- and gender-based national norms and combined by taking the average across informants. Alcohol and marijuana use were assessed semi-annually by a 16-item Substance Use Scale adapted from the National Youth Survey. Findings When male adolescents experienced a one-unit increase in their conduct problems T-score, their rate of marijuana use subsequently increased by 1.03 (95% confidence interval (CI): 1.01, 1.05), and alcohol quantity increased by 1.01 (95% CI: 1.0002, 1.02). When adolescents experienced a one-unit increase in their average quantity of alcohol use, their anxiety problems T-score subsequently increased by 0.12 (95% CI: 0.05, 0.19). These associations were strongest in early and late adolescence. Conclusions When adolescent boys experience an increase in conduct disorder problems, they are more likely to exhibit a subsequent escalation in substance use. As adolescent boys increase their intensity of alcohol use, they become more likely to develop subsequent anxiety problems. Developmental turning points such as early and late adolescence appear to be particularly sensitive periods for boys to develop comorbid patterns of psychiatric problems and substance use. PMID:26748766

When psychopathology matters most: identifying sensitive periods when within-person changes in conduct, affective and anxiety problems are associated with male adolescent substance use.

PubMed

Cerdá, Magdalena; Prins, Seth J; Galea, Sandro; Howe, Chanelle J; Pardini, Dustin

2016-05-01

There is a documented link between common psychiatric disorders and substance use in adolescent males. This study addressed two key questions: (1) is there a within-person association between an increase in psychiatric problems and an increase in substance use among adolescent males and (2) are there sensitive periods during male adolescence when such associations are more evident? Analysis of longitudinal data collected annually on boys selected randomly from schools based on a comprehensive public school enrollment list from the Pittsburgh Board of Education. Recruitment occurred in public schools in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA. A total of 503 boys assessed at ages 13-19 years, average cooperation rate = 92.1%. Diagnostic and Statistical Manual (DSM)-oriented affective, anxiety and conduct disorder problems were measured with items from the caregiver, teacher and youth version of the Achenbach scales. Scales were converted to t-scores using age- and gender-based national norms and combined by taking the average across informants. Alcohol and marijuana use were assessed semi-annually by a 16-item Substance Use Scale adapted from the National Youth Survey. When male adolescents experienced a 1-unit increase in their conduct problems t-score, their rate of marijuana use subsequently increased by 1.03 [95% confidence interval (CI) = 1.01, 1.05], and alcohol quantity increased by 1.01 (95% CI = 1.0002, 1.02). When adolescents experienced a 1-unit increase in their average quantity of alcohol use, their anxiety problems t-score subsequently increased by 0.12 (95% CI = 0.05, 0.19). These associations were strongest in early and late adolescence. When adolescent boys experience an increase in conduct disorder problems, they are more likely to exhibit a subsequent escalation in substance use. As adolescent boys increase their intensity of alcohol use, they become more likely to develop subsequent anxiety problems. Developmental turning points such as early and late adolescence appear to be particularly sensitive periods for boys to develop comorbid patterns of psychiatric problems and substance use. © 2016 Society for the Study of Addiction.

The effectiveness of psychosocial modalities in the treatment of alcohol problems in adults: a review of the evidence.

PubMed

Martin, Garth W; Rehm, Jürgen

2012-06-01

Our objectives were to review the effectiveness of psychosocial modalities in the treatment of alcohol use disorders and problems, and to examine the impact of therapists on treatment outcome, the evidence on best practices for comorbid conditions, and the evidence on treatment matching. We based our review on published systematic reviews of this topic after 2000. There is strong evidence that some, but not all, psychosocial treatments are effective in treating alcohol problems. Those with the strongest empirical support are motivational enhancement therapy, various cognitive-behavioural interventions, and brief interventions. Meta-analyses for several of these modalities suggest typical effect sizes in the low-to-moderate range. When these modalities have been compared with one another in well-designed clinical trials, they have been shown to be of comparable effectiveness. There is little basis on which to recommend one of these modalities over another but good reason to select from among them.

Evaluative conditioning: A brief computer-delivered intervention to reduce college student drinking.

PubMed

Tello, Nina; Bocage-Barthélémy, Yvana; Dandaba, Meira; Jaafari, Nematollah; Chatard, Armand

2018-07-01

Recent research suggests that a brief computer-delivered intervention based on evaluative conditioning (EC) can change the implicit evaluation of alcohol and reduce drinking behaviors among college students. We tested whether we could obtain similar findings in a high-powered preregistered study and whether hazardous drinking moderates these effects. Before the intervention, 122 French college students were screened for hazardous drinking using the Alcohol Use Disorder Identification Test (AUDIT). Implicit evaluation of alcohol was assessed before and immediately after the intervention using an Implicit Association Test (IAT). Drinking behavior was assessed before the intervention and approximately two weeks after using the TimeLine Follow Back (TLFB) method. The EC consisted of 120 trials of words (related to alcoholic beverages, soft drinks or neutral) paired with pictures (neutral, positive or negative). In the EC condition, alcohol-related words were systematically paired with negative pictures. In the control condition, alcohol-related words were systematically paired with neutral pictures. The EC did not change the implicit evaluation of alcohol, Cohen's d = 0.01, 95CI [-0.35, 0.35]. However, the EC reduced drinking behavior, Cohen's d = 0.37, 95CI [0.01, 0.72]. This effect was independent of hazardous drinking behavior, but it was especially pronounced among participants with the most positive implicit evaluation of alcohol before the intervention. This preregistered study suggests that evaluative conditioning can successfully reduce drinking behavior among college students by 31% (compared to 4% in the control condition) without causing an immediate change in the implicit evaluation of alcohol. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Pathway from child sexual and physical abuse to risky sex among emerging adults: the role of trauma-related intrusions and alcohol problems.

PubMed

Walsh, Kate; Latzman, Natasha E; Latzman, Robert D

2014-04-01

Some evidence suggests that risk reduction programming for sexual risk behaviors (SRB) has been minimally effective, which emphasized the need for research on etiological and mechanistic factors that can be addressed in prevention and intervention programming. Childhood sexual and physical abuse have been linked with SRB among older adolescents and emerging adults; however, pathways to SRB remain unclear. This study adds to the literature by testing a model specifying that traumatic intrusions after early abuse may increase risk for alcohol problems, which in turn may increase the likelihood of engaging in various types of SRB. Participants were 1,169 racially diverse college students (72.9% female, 37.6% black/African-American, and 33.6% white) who completed anonymous questionnaires assessing child abuse, traumatic intrusions, alcohol problems, and sexual risk behavior. The hypothesized path model specifying that traumatic intrusions and alcohol problems account for associations between child abuse and several aspects of SRB was a good fit for the data; however, for men, stronger associations emerged between physical abuse and traumatic intrusions and between traumatic intrusions and alcohol problems, whereas for women, alcohol problems were more strongly associated with intent to engage in risky sex. Findings highlight the role of traumatic intrusions and alcohol problems in explaining paths from childhood abuse to SRB in emerging adulthood, and suggest that risk reduction programs may benefit from an integrated focus on traumatic intrusions, alcohol problems, and SRB for individuals with abuse experiences. Copyright © 2014 Society for Adolescent Health and Medicine. All rights reserved.

What drives the relationship between combat and alcohol problems in soldiers? The roles of perception and marriage.

PubMed

Vest, Bonnie M; Homish, D Lynn; Hoopsick, Rachel A; Homish, Gregory G

2018-04-01

While the relationship between combat exposure and alcohol problems is well-established, the role of perceptions of trauma is less understood. The goal of this study was to explore associations between National Guard (NG) and reserve soldiers' perceptions of combat experiences as traumatic and alcohol problems, and to examine marital satisfaction as a possible protective factor. The Operation: SAFETY study recruited US Army Reserve and NG soldiers and their partners to complete a questionnaire covering many physical and mental health, military service, and substance use topics. Negative binomial regression models examined the impact of perceived trauma of combat experiences on alcohol problems (N = 198). The potential role of marital satisfaction as a resiliency factor was also examined. The perception of combat experiences as traumatic was associated with increased risk of alcohol problems (risk ratio [RR] = 1.06, 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.01, 1.12; p = 0.024). Combat exposure itself showed no relationship. Marital satisfaction had a significant interaction with perceived combat trauma on alcohol problems (RR = 0.90, 95% CI 0.81, 0.99, p = 0.046), such that soldiers who perceived combat exposure as moderately-highly traumatic were less likely to have alcohol problems when they rated their marital satisfaction highly. Our results demonstrate that the perception of combat experiences as traumatic may be a greater contributor to adverse outcomes, such as alcohol problems, than mere combat exposure. They also demonstrate the importance of marital satisfaction as a resiliency factor, particularly at the highest levels of trauma.

Alcohol use potentiates marijuana problem severity in young adult women.

PubMed

Stein, Michael D; Caviness, Celeste M; Anderson, Bradley J

2014-01-01

Most young adult women who smoke marijuana also drink alcohol. Marijuana-related problems are associated with marijuana use frequency. We hypothesized that increased alcohol use frequency potentiates the association between frequency of marijuana use and marijuana-related problem severity. We recruited women aged 18 to 24 who smoked marijuana at least monthly and were not treatment seeking. Marijuana and alcohol use were measured using the timeline follow-back method. Problems associated with marijuana use were assessed using the Marijuana Problems Scale. Participants (n = 332) averaged 20.5 ± 1.8 years of age, were 66.7% non-Hispanic White, and reported using marijuana on 51.5 ± 30.6 and alcohol on 18.9 ± 16.8 of the 90 previous days. Controlling for education, ethnicity, years of marijuana use, and other drug use, frequency of marijuana use (b = .22; p < .01) and frequency of alcohol use (b = 0.13; p < .05) had significant, positive effects on marijuana problem severity. In a separate multivariate model, the linear by linear interaction of marijuana by alcohol use frequency was significant (b = 0.18; p < .01), consistent with the hypothesis. Concurrent alcohol use impacts the experience of negative consequences from marijuana use in a community sample of young women. Discussions of marijuana use in young adults should consider the possible potentiating effects of alcohol use. Copyright © 2014 Jacobs Institute of Women's Health. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Australian school-based prevention programs for alcohol and other drugs: a systematic review.

PubMed

Teesson, Maree; Newton, Nicola C; Barrett, Emma L

2012-09-01

To reduce the occurrence and costs related to substance use and associated harms it is important to intervene early. Although a number of international school-based prevention programs exist, the majority show minimal effects in reducing drug use and related harms. Given the emphasis on early intervention and prevention in Australia, it is timely to review the programs currently trialled in Australian schools. This paper reports the type and efficacy of Australian school-based prevention programs for alcohol and other drugs. Cochrane, PsychInfo and PubMed databases were searched. Additional materials were obtained from authors, websites and reference lists. Studies were selected if they described programs developed and trialled in Australia that address prevention of alcohol and other drug use in schools. Eight trials of seven intervention programs were identified. The programs targeted alcohol, cannabis and tobacco and most were based on social learning principles. All were universal. Five of the seven intervention programs achieved reductions in alcohol, cannabis and tobacco use at follow up. Existing school-based prevention programs have shown to be efficacious in the Australian context. However, there are only a few programs available, and these require further evaluative research. This is critical, given that substance use is such a significant public health problem. The findings challenge the commonly held view that school-based prevention programs are not effective. © 2012 Australasian Professional Society on Alcohol and other Drugs.

Problematic alcohol and cannabis use among young adults: the roles of depression and discomfort and distress tolerance.

PubMed

Buckner, Julia D; Keough, Meghan E; Schmidt, Norman B

2007-09-01

Problematic substance use is associated with depression. Clarifying the relationship between substance use and depression remains an important research goal, with implications for prevention and treatment. Individual differences in the ability to tolerate negative physical and emotional sensations were hypothesized to play a role in substance use behaviors among depressed individuals. The present study investigated the roles of discomfort and distress tolerance in the relationship between alcohol and cannabis problems and depression among undergraduates (N=265). Consistent with other reports, depression was correlated with alcohol and cannabis problems. As predicated, distress tolerance mediated the relationships between depression and alcohol and cannabis problems. Interestingly, discomfort intolerance moderated the relationship between depression and cannabis problems such that depressed individuals with high discomfort tolerance were most vulnerable to cannabis problems. These data suggest that distress intolerance may at least partially account for alcohol and cannabis problems among depressed young adults whereas discomfort intolerance may actually serve a protective role in the development of cannabis problems.

Children of alcoholics: helping a vulnerable group.

PubMed Central

Woodside, M

1988-01-01

There are 28 million children of alcoholics in the United States--1 of every 8 Americans. They are more likely than others to suffer from alcoholism and a wide range of physical, emotional, and mental health problems. It is probable that an inherited predisposition for the disease of alcoholism exists. Most children of alcoholics do not become alcoholic, but they are at increased risk for many other health problems. Records of the use of services provided by health maintenance organizations and of health insurance claims show that children of alcoholics use more medical and hospital services than other children. Children of alcoholics are more likely to have problems in school and to abuse alcohol and other drugs. Their mental and physical health problems persist into adulthood. Clinical findings show that life in an alcoholic family is often characterized by pain, guilt, fear, tension, and insecurity. Children do not know that alcoholism is a disease which they cannot cause, control, or cure. Because alcoholism is a family secret, children rarely seek help, even as adults. Because the children of alcoholics are in many medical and social service systems, greater awareness and understanding by health and human service professionals can lead to identification and help for this vulnerable group. It is critical for family physicians, obstetricians, pediatricians, nurses, social workers, hospital staff, and others to incorporate questions about family alcoholism in routine screening procedures for youth and adults. Recommendations and useful materials are discussed. PMID:3141959

Family Dysfunction Differentially Affects Alcohol and Methamphetamine Dependence: A View from the Addiction Severity Index in Japan

PubMed Central

Sugaya, Nagisa; Haraguchi, Ayako; Ogai, Yasukazu; Senoo, Eiichi; Higuchi, Susumu; Umeno, Mitsuru; Aikawa, Yuzo; Ikeda, Kazutaka

2011-01-01

We investigated the differential influence of family dysfunction on alcohol and methamphetamine dependence in Japan using the Addiction Severity Index (ASI), a useful instrument that multilaterally measures the severity of substance dependence. The participants in this study were 321 male patients with alcohol dependence and 68 male patients with methamphetamine dependence. We conducted semi-structured interviews with each patient using the ASI, which is designed to assess problem severity in seven functional domains: Medical, Employment/Support, Alcohol use, Drug use, Legal, Family/Social relationships, and Psychiatric. In patients with alcohol dependence, bad relationships with parents, brothers and sisters, and friends in their lives were related to current severe psychiatric problems. Bad relationships with brothers and sisters and partners in their lives were related to current severe employment/support problems, and bad relationships with partners in their lives were related to current severe family/social problems. The current severity of psychiatric problems was related to the current severity of drug use and family/social problems in patients with alcohol dependence. Patients with methamphetamine dependence had difficulty developing good relationships with their father. Furthermore, the current severity of psychiatric problems was related to the current severity of medical, employment/support, and family/social problems in patients with methamphetamine dependence. The results of this study suggest that family dysfunction differentially affects alcohol and methamphetamine dependence. Additionally, family relationships may be particularly related to psychiatric problems in these patients, although the ASI was developed to independently evaluate each of seven problem areas. PMID:22073020

Family dysfunction differentially affects alcohol and methamphetamine dependence: a view from the Addiction Severity Index in Japan.

PubMed

Sugaya, Nagisa; Haraguchi, Ayako; Ogai, Yasukazu; Senoo, Eiichi; Higuchi, Susumu; Umeno, Mitsuru; Aikawa, Yuzo; Ikeda, Kazutaka

2011-10-01

We investigated the differential influence of family dysfunction on alcohol and methamphetamine dependence in Japan using the Addiction Severity Index (ASI), a useful instrument that multilaterally measures the severity of substance dependence. The participants in this study were 321 male patients with alcohol dependence and 68 male patients with methamphetamine dependence. We conducted semi-structured interviews with each patient using the ASI, which is designed to assess problem severity in seven functional domains: Medical, Employment/Support, Alcohol use, Drug use, Legal, Family/Social relationships, and Psychiatric. In patients with alcohol dependence, bad relationships with parents, brothers and sisters, and friends in their lives were related to current severe psychiatric problems. Bad relationships with brothers and sisters and partners in their lives were related to current severe employment/support problems, and bad relationships with partners in their lives were related to current severe family/social problems. The current severity of psychiatric problems was related to the current severity of drug use and family/social problems in patients with alcohol dependence. Patients with methamphetamine dependence had difficulty developing good relationships with their father. Furthermore, the current severity of psychiatric problems was related to the current severity of medical, employment/support, and family/social problems in patients with methamphetamine dependence. The results of this study suggest that family dysfunction differentially affects alcohol and methamphetamine dependence. Additionally, family relationships may be particularly related to psychiatric problems in these patients, although the ASI was developed to independently evaluate each of seven problem areas.

Alcohol-related social problems among Mexican Americans living in U.S.-Mexico border and non-border areas.

PubMed

Vaeth, Patrice A C; Caetano, Raul; Mills, Britain A; Rodriguez, Lori A

2012-08-01

This paper examines alcohol-related social problems among Mexican Americans living along the U.S.-Mexico border and in non-border areas. Interviews were conducted among Mexican Americans in the border regions of California, Arizona, New Mexico, and Texas (N=1307). Non-border respondents were interviewed primarily in Houston and Los Angeles (N=1288) as part of the Hispanic Americans Baseline Alcohol Survey (HABLAS). Both the border and HABLAS surveys employed multistage cluster sample designs (response rates were 67% and 76%, respectively). In the bivariate analysis, there were no significant differences between border and non-border areas in the proportion of those with one or more social problem. In non-border areas, the prevalence of alcohol problems did not differ significantly by age. However, along the border the prevalence of alcohol problems was significantly different across age groups, with 18 to 29year old men and women having the highest prevalence. The final models showed no residence effect on problem likelihood. Drinking was strongly associated with problems. Although young border residents had higher problem prevalence rates than older residents, the logistic regression models showed no effect of border residence on the likelihood of problems, indicating that problems are due to alcohol consumption, not the border environment. The border, however, did appear to influence more drinking among young people. Regardless of residence, alcohol treatment and preventive interventions tailored to Mexican Americans are essential and special attention should be focused on younger individuals near the border. Published by Elsevier Ltd.

Alcohol-related Social Problems among Mexican Americans Living in U.S.-Mexico Border and Non-border Areas

PubMed Central

Vaeth, Patrice A.C.; Caetano, Raul; Mills, Britain A.; Rodriguez, Lori A.

2012-01-01

This paper examines alcohol-related social problems among Mexican Americans living along the U.S.-Mexico border and in non-border areas. Interviews were conducted among Mexican Americans in the border regions of California, Arizona, New Mexico, and Texas (N=1,307). Non-border respondents were interviewed primarily in Houston and Los Angeles (N=1,288) as part of the Hispanic Americans Baseline Alcohol Survey (HABLAS). Both the border and HABLAS surveys employed multistage cluster sample designs (response rates were 67% and 76%, respectively). In the bivariate analysis, there were no significant differences between border and non-border areas in the proportion of those with one or more social problem. In non-border areas, the prevalence of alcohol problems did not differ significantly by age. However, along the border the prevalence of alcohol problems was significantly different across age groups, with 18 to 29 year old men and women having the highest prevalence. The final models showed no residence effect on problem likelihood. Drinking was strongly associated with problems. Although young border residents had higher problem prevalence rates than older residents, the logistic regression models showed no effect of border residence on the likelihood of problems, indicating that problems are due to alcohol consumption, not the border environment. The border, however, did appear to influence more drinking among young people. Regardless of residence, alcohol treatment and preventive interventions tailored to Mexican Americans are essential and special attention should be focused on younger individuals near the border. PMID:22564755

Implementation of effective alcohol control strategies is needed at large sports and entertainment events.

PubMed

Lyne, Mark; Galloway, Andrew

2012-02-01

To assess the implementation and effectiveness of strategies and actions to eliminate and/or reduce alcohol-related problems at large sports and entertainment events in New Zealand. We conducted site visits and monitoring observations at venues before, during and after a variety of large events between March 2009 and November 2010. Thirteen events were attended at nine different venues. Events included rugby, rugby league and cricket matches, motor racing, rowing, horse racing, an outdoor music festival, and food and wine festivals. Most large events appeared to pass with few or no alcohol-related problems. The exceptions were one of the horse-race meetings, a rugby league match and one food and wine festival. Common contexts at events where alcohol-related problems were seen included: inadequate alcohol control and management by security staff; the ability to purchase four alcoholic drinks (rather than two) at a time; inexperienced bar staff untrained in responsible alcohol service; no or little promotion of low and non-alcoholic drinks; and a lack of monitoring and enforcement of the law on intoxication. An important approach to prevent and reduce alcohol-related problems at large spots and entertainment events is the use of specific alcohol-control strategies. The management of alcohol consumption is a major part of event management that must be planned with harm-minimisation strategies well in advance of the event itself. If strategies and actions are not properly implemented to manage the sale and supply of alcohol at large events, there is significant risk of alcohol-related problems and harm resulting from them. © 2012 The Authors. ANZJPH © 2012 Public Health Association of Australia.

Comprehensive Substance Abuse Services for Homeless Persons with Alcohol and Other Drug Problems.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kirby, Michael W., Jr.; Braucht, G. Nicholas

Homeless people with alcohol and other drug problems present the traditional substance abuse services delivery provider with special challenges. This paper discusses the optimal designs of comprehensive treatment services for homeless persons with alcohol and other drug problems. Most importantly, the homeless must have immediate access to a safe…

[SEMERGEN positioning for the treatment of alcohol disorders in primary care].

PubMed

Arbesú, José Ángel; Gual, Antoni; Casquero, Rafael; Bobes, Julio; Ortega, Patricia

2015-12-01

The present manuscript is based on the recommendations of a panel of health care professionals, including several experts in primary health care, psychiatry and addictions. The participants are recognized specialists in the treatment of alcohol use disorder. The panel met in Barcelona on 2015 April 22 with the aims of evaluating the current management of alcohol use disorder in primary health care and developing a strategy to address this problem, basing on the evidence and the recommendations of the scientific societies and national and international organizations. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier España, S.L.U. y Sociedad Española de Medicina Rural y Generalista (SEMERGEN). All rights reserved.

An Interdependent Look at Perceptions of Spousal Drinking Problems and Marital Outcomes

PubMed Central

Rodriguez, Lindsey M.; Neighbors, Clayton

2015-01-01

Research indicates a bidirectional association between heavy alcohol use and marital quality among couples. The current research extends previous research on the role of interpersonal perception by examining how partner drinking and perceiving one’s partner’s drinking as problematic are associated with subsequent marital outcomes. Moreover, we evaluated how perceiving one’s partner to have a drinking problem was associated with marital functioning, and whether that association differed based on the partner’s actual drinking. Married couples (N = 123 dyads) with at least one spouse who consumed alcohol regularly completed measures of alcohol use and consequences, the perception that their spouse’s drinking was problematic, and marital adjustment (i.e., relationship satisfaction, commitment, and trust). Results from actor-partner interdependence models using structural equations modeling indicated that for husbands, partner heavy drinking was associated with lower adjustment. Additionally, for husbands, perceiving their spouse had a drinking problem was associated with lower adjustment for both themselves and their wives. Moreover, significant interactions between partner drinking and the perception of partner drinking problem on marital adjustment emerged, controlling for amount of consumption. Specifically, perceiving one’s partner’s drinking as a problem was only negatively associated with relationship adjustment if the partner reported higher levels of heavy drinking. This pattern was stronger for husbands. Results illustrate the importance of interpersonal perception, gender differences, and the use of dyadic data to model the complex dynamic between spouses with regard to alcohol use and how it affects relationship outcomes. PMID:26091752

Initiation and Retention in Couples Outpatient Treatment for Parents with Drug and Alcohol Use Disorders

PubMed Central

Braitman, Abby L.; Kelley, Michelle L.

2016-01-01

The focus of the current study was to identity mental health, relationship factors, substance use related problems, and individual factors as predictors of couples-based substance abuse treatment initiation and attendance. Heterosexual couples with children that met study criteria were invited to attend 12 sessions of outpatient behavioral couples therapy (BCT). Men were more likely to initiate treatment if they had a higher income, had greater relationship satisfaction, were initiating treatment for alcohol use disorder only, if they were younger when they first suspected a problem, and had higher depression but lower hostility or phobic anxiety. Men attended more treatment sessions if they reported less intimate partner victimization, if they sought treatment for both alcohol and drug use disorder, if they were older when they first suspected a substance use problem, and if they were more obsessive-compulsive, more phobic anxious, less hostile, and experienced less somatization and less paranoid ideation. For women, treatment initiation was associated with less cohesion in their relationships, more somatization, and being older when they first suspected an alcohol or drug use problem. Trends were observed between women’s treatment retention and being older, experiencing more somatization, and suspecting drug-related problems when they were younger; however, no predictors reached statistical significance for women. Results suggest that different factors may be associated with men and women’s willingness to initiate and attend conjoint treatment for substance abuse. PMID:27064819

Impact of the New Mental Health Services on Rates of Suicide and Hospitalisations by Attempted Suicide, Psychiatric Problems, and Alcohol Problems in Brazil.

PubMed

Machado, Daiane B; Alves, Flávia Jôse; Rasella, Davide; Rodrigues, Laura; Araya, Ricardo

2018-05-01

A sizeable proportion of all suicides have mental health issues in the background. The association between access to mental health care in the community and decreased suicide rates is inconsistent in the literature. Brazil undertook a major psychiatric reform strengthening psychiatric community-based care. To evaluate the impact of the new Brazilian community mental health care units (CAPS-Psychosocial-Community-Centres) on municipal rates of suicide, and hospitalisations by attempted suicide, psychiatric and alcohol problems. We performed robust multivariable negative binomial regression models with fixed effect for panel data from all 5507 Brazilian municipalities. Suicide and hospitalization rates were calculated by sex and standardised by age for each municipality and year from 2008 to 2012. The main variable of interest was municipal CAPS coverage. CAPS municipal coverage was associated with lower suicide rates but this was not statistically significant (RR: 0.981; 95% CI 0.952-1.011). However, increased CAPS coverage was associated with lower hospitalizations for attempted suicide (RR: 0.887; 95% CI 0.841-0.935), psychiatric (RR: 0.841; 95% CI 0.821-0.862), and alcohol problems (RR: 0.882; 95% CI 0.860-0.904). Our results suggest that access to community mental health services seems to reduce hospitalisations due to attempted suicide, psychiatric and alcohol problems but not suicidal rates. Therefore, increased investments in community mental health services in low-middle-income countries might decrease costs associated with potentially avoidable hospitalizations.

Alcohol use by youth and adolescents: a pediatric concern.

PubMed

Kokotailo, Patricia K

2010-05-01

Alcohol use continues to be a major problem from preadolescence through young adulthood in the United States. Results of recent neuroscience research have substantiated the deleterious effects of alcohol on adolescent brain development and added even more evidence to support the call to prevent and reduce underaged drinking. Pediatricians should be knowledgeable about substance abuse to be able to recognize risk factors for alcohol and other substance abuse among youth, screen for use, provide appropriate brief interventions, and refer to treatment. The integration of alcohol use prevention programs in the community and our educational system from elementary school through college should be promoted by pediatricians and the health care community. Promotion of media responsibility to connect alcohol consumption with realistic consequences should be supported by pediatricians. Additional research into the prevention, screening and identification, brief intervention, and management and treatment of alcohol and other substance use by adolescents continues to be needed to improve evidence-based practices.

Drinking motives mediate emotion regulation difficulties and problem drinking in college students.

PubMed

Aurora, Pallavi; Klanecky, Alicia K

2016-05-01

Problem drinking in college places students at an increased risk for a wealth of negative consequences including alcohol use disorders. Most research has shown that greater emotion regulation difficulties are related to increased problem drinking, and studies generally assume that drinking is motivated by efforts to cope with or enhance affective experiences. However, there is a lack of research specifically testing this assumption. The current study sought to examine the mediating potential of drinking motives, specifically coping and enhancement, on the relationship between emotion regulation and problem drinking. College participants (N = 200) completed an online survey, consisting of a battery of measures assessing alcohol use behaviors and related variables. Coping drinking motives fully mediated the emotion regulation/problem drinking relationship, and enhancement motives partially mediated this relationship. Exploratory analyses indicated that all four drinking motives (i.e. coping, enhancement, social, and conformity) simultaneously mediated the relationship between emotion regulation and quantity/frequency of alcohol use. However, only coping and enhancement significantly mediated the relationship between emotion regulation and alcohol-related consequences (e.g. alcohol dependence symptoms, alcohol-related injuries). The current results offer direction for potentially modifying brief alcohol interventions in efforts to reduce students' engagement in problem drinking behaviors. For example, interventions might incorporate information on the risks of using alcohol as a means of emotion regulation and offer alternative emotion regulation strategies.

Time Trends and Policy Gaps: The Case of Alcohol Misuse Among Adolescents in Lebanon

PubMed Central

Ghandour, Lilian; Afifi, Rima; Fares, Sonia; El Salibi, Noura; Rady, Alissar

2017-01-01

Background Monitoring studies are crucial for informing and reforming local policies. Objectives Using the Lebanon 2005 and 2011 Global School-based Student Health Surveys (GSHS), alcohol time trends were described, policy gaps were identified, and harm reduction policy recommendations were made. Methods In 2005 and 2011, 100 (n = 5109 students) and 44 (n = 2784 students) middle schools were surveyed, respectively. Self-reported cross-sectional data on alcohol use among 7–9th graders in private and public schools was collected including 30-day prevalence, lifetime drunkenness, alcohol-related problems, and sources of alcohol. Results In 2011, the majority (87%) had alcohol before turning 14. Between 2005 and 2011, past 30-day alcohol use had increased by 40% and lifetime drunkenness by 50% in the total sample (122% among females with a narrowing in the gender gap). Drinking was regular for more than a third of the past 30-day drinkers (drank two or more drinks on the days they drank). Male adolescents were more likely to obtain alcohol from “stores” or “through their friends” whereas females’ main source was their “family.” One in twenty reported experiencing alcohol-related problems (e.g., getting into fights with family/friends and skipping school). Conclusion/Importance Evidence-informed policy implications include enforcing a minimum legal drinking age, regulating alcohol advertising, and marketing particularly those targeting youth and women, and ensuring the availability of youth-friendly services. Public messages to increase awareness among all stakeholders including youth, their parents, and larger community are also needed. PMID:26646475

A Family Focused Randomized Controlled Trial to Prevent Adolescent Alcohol and Tobacco Use: The Moderating Roles of Positive Parenting and Adolescent Gender

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Jones, Deborah J.; Olson, Ardis L.; Forehand, Rex; Gaffney, Cecelia A.; Zens, Michael S.; Bau, J. J.

2005-01-01

Four years of longitudinal data from 2,153 families with a 5th- or 6th-grade preadolescent participating in a family-focused pediatric primary-care-based prevention program were used to examine whether prevention effects were moderated by positive parenting and/or adolescent gender. Alcohol and tobacco use, internalizing problems, and…

Binge drinking among young adults in an urban tertiary care emergency department in Israel.

PubMed

Levinson, Daphna; Rosca, Paola; Vilner, Doron; Brimberg, Idit; Stall, Yael; Rimon, Ayelet

2017-07-01

Alcohol use is a major preventable public health problem with serious health and social consequences especially among youth. In Israel, alcohol use has become an emerging problem during the last decade, and its use has increased among adolescents and young adults. Binge drinking is the common pattern of alcohol consumption among young adults who drink for recreational purposes. The present survey was conducted among 16-35 years old visitors to the ED. The aim was specifically to identify binge drinkers in order to assess the scope of the need for a brief counseling intervention among young people who arrive intoxicated to a large tertiary care urban ED in Israel. The survey was conducted throughout a 1 week period (24 h per day) at the general EDs in a large, tertiary care center, situated in Tel Aviv. During the survey week, 946 individuals, aged 16-35, visited the ED and 573 (63%) of them were approached for an interview. 89% of those approached agreed to be interviewed. Consenting patients [N = 348] were asked whether they drink any alcohol, how often they drink and how much. About one fifth of those interviewed were in the habit of consuming more than four units of alcohol per occasion. Drinking several times a week or every day was reported by 19% of the males and 26% of the females. Frequency of the drinking episodes was highly correlated with the number of units of drink per occasion. The study found a very high rate of binge drinking among ED visitors, and this suggests a need for large scale ED-based interventions. As binge drinkers are at elevated risk for accidents, violence and related problems, effective ED-based interventions could make an important contribution to public health. Accordingly, Israel is in the process of assessing the effectiveness of a large-scale ED-based counseling intervention. Trial registration number 0230-13-TLV.

Facts about Alcohol and Other Drug Use during Pregnancy. ARC Facts.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Association for Retarded Citizens, Arlington, TX.

The fact sheet provides basic information about how alcohol and drug use during pregnancy can lead to Fetal Alcohol Syndrome (FAS) and Alcohol Related Birth Defects (ARBD), resulting in such problems as mental retardation, sleep disturbances, learning disabilities, muscle problems, heart defects, and small head size. The question and answer format…

Empirical Investigation of a Model of Sexual Minority Specific and General Risk Factors for Intimate Partner Violence among Lesbian Women.

PubMed

Lewis, Robin J; Mason, Tyler B; Winstead, Barbara A; Kelley, Michelle L

2017-01-01

This study proposed and tested the first conceptual model of sexual minority specific (discrimination, internalized homophobia) and more general risk factors (perpetrator and partner alcohol use, anger, relationship satisfaction) for intimate partner violence among partnered lesbian women. Self-identified lesbian women ( N =1048) were recruited from online market research panels. Participants completed an online survey that included measures of minority stress, anger, alcohol use and alcohol-related problems, relationship satisfaction, psychological aggression, and physical violence. The model demonstrated good fit and significant links from sexual minority discrimination to internalized homophobia and anger, from internalized homophobia to anger and alcohol problems, and from alcohol problems to intimate partner violence. Partner alcohol use predicted partner physical violence. Relationship dissatisfaction was associated with physical violence via psychological aggression. Physical violence was bidirectional. Minority stress, anger, alcohol use and alcohol-related problems play an important role in perpetration of psychological aggression and physical violence in lesbian women's intimate partner relationships. The results of this study provide evidence of potentially modifiable sexual minority specific and more general risk factors for lesbian women's partner violence.

An examination of heavy drinking, depressed mood, drinking related constructs, and consequences among high-risk college students using a person-centered approach.

PubMed

Geisner, Irene M; Mallett, Kimberly; Varvil-Weld, Lindsey; Ackerman, Sarah; Trager, Bradley M; Turrisi, Rob

2018-03-01

Research has identified college students who experience depressed mood and consume alcohol are at an increased risk for experiencing alcohol problems. The present study identified profiles of differential alcohol use, depression, key psychosocial indicators of drinking (e.g., normative perceptions) and examined the relationship between these profiles and alcohol-related consequences. Students with a history of risky drinking and elevated depressed mood (n=311; 62.4% female) completed a web-based survey assessing typical and peak drinking, depressive symptoms, descriptive norms, drinking to cope motives, protective behavioral strategies, and alcohol-related consequences. Latent profile analysis was used to classify participants into distinct profiles focusing on alcohol use patterns and level of depressed mood and drinking related constructs. Profiles were then compared based on their association with reported rates of alcohol-related consequences. Four profiles emerged: 1) Mild Depression, Heavy Drinkers; 2) Mild Depression, Severe Drinkers; 3) Moderate Depression, Heavy Drinkers; and 4) Moderate Depression, Severe Drinkers. Findings revealed significant differences between the four profiles on both risky drinking and alcohol-related consequences. These findings suggest the importance of assessing and addressing depressive symptoms among college students in order to reduce rates of risky drinking and alcohol-related consequences. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Trait-based Affective Processes in Alcohol-Involved Risk Behaviors

PubMed Central

Wray, Tyler B.; Simons, Jeffrey S.; Dvorak, Robert D.; Gaher, Raluca M.

2012-01-01

This study tested a theoretical model of alcohol use, markers of extreme intoxication, and risk behavior as a function of trait affect, distress tolerance, and affect-based behavior dysregulation. Positive affective pathways to risk behavior were primarily expected to be indirect via high levels of alcohol use, while negative affect paths were expected to be more directly associated with engagement in risk behavior. In addition, we expected trait affectivity and distress tolerance would primarily exhibit relationships with alcohol use and problems through behavioral dysregulation occurring during extreme affective states. To evaluate these hypotheses, we tested a SEM with three alcohol–related outcomes: “Typical” alcohol use, “blackout” drinking,” and risk behavior. Results were complex, but generally supported the hypotheses. High trait negative affect and low tolerance for affective distress contribute to difficulty controlling behavior when negatively aroused and this is directly associated with increased risk behavior when drinking. In contrast, associations between positive urgency and risk behaviors are indirect via increased alcohol consumption. Positive affectivity exhibited both inverse and positive effects in the model, with the net effect on alcohol outcomes being insignificant. These findings contribute important information about the distinct pathways between affect, alcohol use, and alcohol-involved risk behavior among college students. PMID:22770825

Work stressors, sleep quality, and alcohol-related problems across deployment: A parallel process latent growth modeling approach among Navy members.

PubMed

Bravo, Adrian J; Kelley, Michelle L; Hollis, Brittany F

2017-10-01

This study examined how work stressors were associated with sleep quality and alcohol-related problems among U.S. Navy members over the course of deployment. Participants were 101 U.S. Navy members assigned to an Arleigh Burke-class destroyer who experienced an 8-month deployment after Operational Enduring Freedom/Operation Iraqi Freedom. Approximately 6 weeks prior to deployment, 6 weeks after deployment, and 6 months reintegration, participants completed measures that assessed work stressors, sleep quality, and alcohol-related problems. A piecewise latent growth model was conducted in which the structural paths assessed if work stressors influenced sleep quality or its growth over time, and in turn if sleep quality influenced alcohol-related problems intercepts or growth over time. A significant indirect effect was found such that increases in work stressors from pre- to postdeployment predicted decreases in sleep quality, which in turn were associated with increases in alcohol-related problems from pre- to postdeployment. These effects were maintained from postdeployment through the 6-month reintegration. Findings suggest that work stressors may have important implications for sleep quality and alcohol-related problems. Positive methods of addressing stress and techniques to improve sleep quality are needed as both may be associated with alcohol-related problems among current Navy members. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Excessive computer game playing among Norwegian adults: self-reported consequences of playing and association with mental health problems.

PubMed

Wenzel, H G; Bakken, I J; Johansson, A; Götestam, K G; Øren, Anita

2009-12-01

Computer games are the most advanced form of gaming. For most people, the playing is an uncomplicated leisure activity; however, for a minority the gaming becomes excessive and is associated with negative consequences. The aim of the present study was to investigate computer game-playing behaviour in the general adult Norwegian population, and to explore mental health problems and self-reported consequences of playing. The survey includes 3,405 adults 16 to 74 years old (Norway 2007, response rate 35.3%). Overall, 65.5% of the respondents reported having ever played computer games (16-29 years, 93.9%; 30-39 years, 85.0%; 40-59 years, 56.2%; 60-74 years, 25.7%). Among 2,170 players, 89.8% reported playing less than 1 hr. as a daily average over the last month, 5.0% played 1-2 hr. daily, 3.1% played 2-4 hr. daily, and 2.2% reported playing > 4 hr. daily. The strongest risk factor for playing > 4 hr. daily was being an online player, followed by male gender, and single marital status. Reported negative consequences of computer game playing increased strongly with average daily playing time. Furthermore, prevalence of self-reported sleeping problems, depression, suicide ideations, anxiety, obsessions/ compulsions, and alcohol/substance abuse increased with increasing playing time. This study showed that adult populations should also be included in research on computer game-playing behaviour and its consequences.

Motivational Pathways to Unique Types of Alcohol Consequences

PubMed Central

Merrill, Jennifer E.; Read, Jennifer P.

2010-01-01

Individuals consume alcohol for a variety of reasons (motives), and these reasons may be differentially associated with the types of drinking outcomes that result. The present study examined whether specific affect-relevant motivations for alcohol use (i.e., coping, enhancement) are associated with distinct types of consequences, and whether such associations occur directly, or only as a function of increased alcohol use. It was hypothesized that enhancement motives would be associated with distinct problem types only through alcohol use, whereas coping motives would be linked directly to hypothesized problem types. Regularly drinking undergraduates (N= 192, 93 female) completed self-report measures of drinking motives and alcohol involvement. Using structural equation modeling, we tested direct associations between Coping motives and indirect associations between Enhancement motives and eight unique alcohol problem domains: Risky Behaviors, Blackout Drinking, Physiological Dependence, Academic/Occupational problems, Poor Self-care, Diminished Self-perception, Social/Interpersonal problems, and Impaired Control. We observed direct effects of Coping motives on three unique problem domains (Academic/Occupational problems, Risky Behaviors, and Poor Self-care). Both Coping and Enhancement motives were indirectly associated (through Use) with several problem types. Unhypothesized associations between Conformity motives and unique consequence types also were observed. Findings suggest specificity in the consequences experienced by individuals who drink to cope with negative affect versus to enhance positive affect, and may have intervention implications. Findings depict the coping motivated student as one who is struggling across multiple domains, regardless of levels of drinking. Such students may need to be prioritized for interventions. PMID:20822194

Effects of delaying binge drinking on adolescent brain development: a longitudinal neuroimaging study.

PubMed

Bourque, Josiane; Baker, Travis E; Dagher, Alain; Evans, Alan C; Garavan, Hugh; Leyton, Marco; Séguin, Jean R; Pihl, Robert; Conrod, Patricia J

2016-12-13

Onset of alcohol use by 14 relative to 21 years of age strongly predicts elevated risk for severe alcohol use problems, with 27% versus 4% of individuals exhibiting alcohol dependence within 10 years of onset. What remains unclear is whether this early alcohol use (i) is a marker for later problems, reflected as a pre-existing developmental predisposition, (ii) causes global neural atrophy or (iii) specifically disturbs neuro-maturational processes implicated in addiction, such as executive functions or reward processing. Since our group has demonstrated that a novel intervention program targeting personality traits associated with adolescent alcohol use can prevent the uptake of drinking and binge drinking by 40 to 60%, a crucial question is whether prevention of early onset alcohol misuse will protect adolescent neurodevelopment and which domains of neurodevelopment can be protected. A subsample of 120 youth at high risk for substance misuse and 30 low-risk youth will be recruited from the Co-Venture trial (Montreal, Canada) to take part in this 5-year follow-up neuroimaging study. The Co-Venture trial is a community-based cluster-randomised trial evaluating the effectiveness of school-based personality-targeted interventions on substance use and cognitive outcomes involving approximately 3800 Grade 7 youths. Half of the 120 high-risk participants will have received the preventative intervention program. Cognitive tasks and structural and functional neuroimaging scans will be conducted at baseline, and at 24- and 48-month follow-up. Two functional paradigms will be used: the Stop-Signal Task to measure motor inhibitory control and a modified version of the Monetary Incentive Delay Task to evaluate reward processing. The expected results should help identify biological vulnerability factors, and quantify the consequences of early alcohol abuse as well as the benefits of early intervention using brain metrics.

Health promotion interventions and policies addressing excessive alcohol use: a systematic review of national and global evidence as a guide to health-care reform in China.

PubMed

Li, Qing; Babor, Thomas F; Zeigler, Donald; Xuan, Ziming; Morisky, Donald; Hovell, Melbourne F; Nelson, Toben F; Shen, Weixing; Li, Bing

2015-01-01

Steady increases in alcohol consumption and related problems are likely to accompany China's rapid epidemiological transition and profit-based marketing activities. We reviewed research on health promotion interventions and policies to address excessive drinking and to guide health-care reform. We searched Chinese- and English-language databases and included 21 studies in China published between 1980 and 2013 that covered each policy area from the World Health Organization (WHO) Global Strategy to Reduce the Harmful Use of Alcohol. We evaluated and compared preventive interventions to the global alcohol literature for cross-national applicability. In contrast with hundreds of studies in the global literature, 11 of 12 studies from mainland China were published in Chinese; six of 10 in English were on taxation from Taiwan or Hong Kong. Most studies demonstrated effectiveness in reducing excessive drinking, and some reported the reduction of health problems. Seven were randomized controlled trials. Studies targeted schools, drink-driving, work-places, the health sector and taxation. China is the world's largest alcohol market, yet there has been little growth in alcohol policy research related to health promotion interventions over the past decade. Guided by a public health approach, the WHO Global Strategy and health reform experience in Russia, Australia, Mexico and the United States, China could improve its public health response through better coordination and implementation of surveillance and evidence-based research, and through programmatic and legal responses such as public health law research, screening and early intervention within health systems and the implementation of effective alcohol control strategies. © 2014 Society for the Study of Addiction.

Health promotion interventions and policies addressing excessive alcohol use: A systematic review of national and global evidence as a guide to health-care reform in China

PubMed Central

Li, Qing; Babor, Thomas F.; Zeigler, Donald; Xuan, Ziming; Morisky, Donald; Hovell, Melbourne F.; Nelson, Toben F.; Shen, Weixing; Li, Bing

2014-01-01

Aims Steady increases in alcohol consumption and related problems are likely to accompany China's rapid epidemiologic transition and profit-based marketing activities. We reviewed research on health promotion interventions and policies to address excessive drinking and to guide health-care reform. Methods We searched in Chinese and English language databases and included 21 studies in China published between 1980 and 2013 that covered each policy area from the WHO Global Strategy to Reduce the Harmful Use of Alcohol. We evaluated and compared preventive interventions to the global alcohol literature for cross-national applicability. Results In contrast with hundreds of studies in the global literature, 11 of 12 studies from mainland China were published in Chinese; six of ten in English were on taxation from Taiwan or Hong Kong. Most studies demonstrated effectiveness in reducing excessive drinking, and some reported the reduction of health problems. Seven were randomized controlled trials. Studies targeted schools, drink-driving, workplaces, the health sector, and taxation. Conclusions China is the world's largest alcohol market, yet there has been little growth in alcohol policy research related to health promotion interventions over the past decade. Guided by a public health approach, the WHO Global Strategy, and health reform experience in Russia, Australia, Mexico, and the USA, China could improve its public health response through better coordination and implementation of surveillance and evidence-based research, and through programmatic and legal responses such as public health law research, screening and early intervention within health systems, and the implementation of effective alcohol control strategies. PMID:25533866

Mindfulness Facets, Social Anxiety, and Drinking to Cope with Social Anxiety: Testing Mediators of Drinking Problems

PubMed Central

Clerkin, Elise M.; Sarfan, Laurel D.; Parsons, E. Marie; Magee, Joshua C.

2016-01-01

This cross-sectional study tested social anxiety symptoms, trait mindfulness, and drinking to cope with social anxiety as potential predictors and/or serial mediators of drinking problems. A community-based sample of individuals with co-occurring social anxiety symptoms and alcohol dependence were recruited. Participants (N = 105) completed measures of social anxiety, drinking to cope with social anxiety, and alcohol use and problems. As well, participants completed the Five Facet Mindfulness Questionnaire, which assesses mindfulness facets of accepting without judgment, acting with awareness, not reacting to one’s internal experiences, observing and attending to experiences, and labeling and describing. As predicted, the relationship between social anxiety symptoms and drinking problems was mediated by social anxiety coping motives across each of the models. Further, the relationship between specific mindfulness facets (acting with awareness, accepting without judgment, and describe) and drinking problems was serially mediated by social anxiety symptoms and drinking to cope with social anxiety. This research builds upon existing studies that have largely been conducted with college students to evaluate potential mediators driving drinking problems. Specifically, individuals who are less able to act with awareness, accept without judgment, and describe their internal experiences may experience heightened social anxiety and drinking to cope with that anxiety, which could ultimately result in greater alcohol-related problems. PMID:28392844

Recent research on the effects of alcohol policy changes.

PubMed

Room, R

1990-09-01

As the agenda of alcohol problems prevention has broadened, new traditions of research have emerged: of experimental studies at the community or the societal level, of "natural experiment" studies of the effects of sudden changes such as strikes or new legislation, and of sophisticated time-series analyses of the effects of sudden and of long-term changes. While it has been shown that control measures can influence alcohol problems rates, substantial change seems to require changes in the political status quo, often also involving popular movements. Except for taxes, raising the drinking age and drinking-driving countermeasures, the political will to restrict availability has been lacking in market-oriented industrial societies in the modern era, so that the modern experience of the effects of other control measures is based on centrally-planned or non-industrial economies.

The Mediating Role of Anxiety Sensitivity in Uncontrolled Drinking: A Look at Gender-Specific Parental Influences.

PubMed

Ebbert, Ashley M; Patock-Peckham, Julie A; Luk, Jeremy W; Voorhies, Kirsten; Warner, Olivia; Leeman, Robert F

2018-05-01

Anxiety sensitivity (AS) reflects an individual's belief that experiencing anxiety will cause illness or embarrassment, and may be a reason individuals self-medicate with alcohol. Harsh or indulgent parenting could contribute to the development of AS. We examined the direct and indirect associations between parenting styles and alcohol-related variables through AS and impaired control over drinking (IC; i.e., perceived failure to adhere to limits on alcohol consumption in the future). A multiple-group structural equation model with 614 university students (344 men; 270 women) was examined. Structural invariance tests were conducted to evaluate moderation by gender. We used a bias corrected bootstrap technique to obtain the mediated effects. Father authoritarianism and mother permissiveness were directly linked to AS among women, whereas father permissiveness was directly linked to AS among men. This suggests unique parental influences based on gender regarding AS. While AS was directly linked to alcohol-related problems for both men and women, several gender-specific associations were found. AS was directly linked to IC for men but not for women. For men, father permissiveness was directly related to AS, and AS mediated the indirect link between father permissiveness and IC along both the heavy episodic drinking and alcohol-related problems pathways. Similar to other internalizing constructs (e.g., neuroticism and depression), higher AS was directly associated with less heavy episodic drinking but more alcohol-related problems. Our findings highlight the dangers of AS for men as an important correlate of under-controlled drinking behaviors. Additionally, permissive parenting of the same-gender parent was associated with AS, which is consistent with the gender-matching hypothesis. Together, these results underscore the importance of measuring the independent influence of both parents. Copyright © 2018 by the Research Society on Alcoholism.

Randomized controlled trial of web-based alcohol screening and brief intervention in primary care.

PubMed

Kypri, Kypros; Langley, John D; Saunders, John B; Cashell-Smith, Martine L; Herbison, Peter

2008-03-10

There is compelling evidence supporting screening and brief intervention (SBI) for hazardous drinking, yet it remains underused in primary health care. Electronic (computer or Web-based) SBI (e-SBI) offers the prospects of ease and economy of access. We sought to determine whether e-SBI reduces hazardous drinking. We conducted a randomized controlled trial in a university primary health care service. Participants were 975 students (age range, 17-29 years) screened using the Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test (AUDIT). Of 599 students who scored in the hazardous or harmful range, 576 (300 of whom were women) consented to the trial and were randomized to receive an information pamphlet (control group), a Web-based motivational intervention (single-dose e-SBI group), or a Web-based motivational intervention with further interventions 1 and 6 months later (multidose e-SBI group). Relative to the control group, the single-dose e-SBI group at 6 months reported a lower frequency of drinking (rate ratio [RR], 0.79; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.68-0.94), less total consumption (RR, 0.77; 95% CI, 0.63-0.95), and fewer academic problems (RR, 0.76; 95% CI, 0.64-0.91). At 12 months, statistically significant differences in total consumption (RR, 0.77; 95% CI, 0.63-0.95 [equivalent to 3.5 standard drinks per week]) and in academic problems (RR, 0.80; 95% CI, 0.66-0.97) remained, and the AUDIT scores were 2.17 (95% CI, -1.10 to -3.24) points lower. Relative to the control group, the multidose e-SBI group at 6 months reported a lower frequency of drinking (RR, 0.85; 95% CI, 0.73-0.98), less total consumption (RR, 0.79; 95% CI, 0.64-0.97 [equivalent to 3.0 standard drinks per week]), reduced episodic heavy drinking (RR, 0.65; 95% CI, 0.45-0.93), and fewer academic problems (RR, 0.78; 95% CI, 0.65-0.93). At 12 months, statistically significant differences in academic problems remained (RR, 0.75; 95% CI, 0.62-0.90), while the AUDIT scores were 2.02 (95% CI, -0.97 to -3.10) points lower. Single-dose e-SBI reduces hazardous drinking, and the effect lasts 12 months. Additional sessions seem not to enhance the effect. Trial Registration www.anzctr.org.au Identifier:ACTRN012607000103460.

Alcohol use and cultural change in an indigenous population: a case study from Venezuela.

PubMed

Seale, J Paul; Shellenberger, Sylvia; Rodriguez, Carlos; Seale, Josiah D; Alvarado, Manuel

2002-01-01

To explore the historical and cultural context of problem drinking in a Latin American indigenous population and identify possible areas for intervention. Focus group discussions. Participants reported that prior to 1945, binge drinking and fighting were part of cultural festivals held several times each year. Alcohol was brewed in limited quantities by specially qualified individuals. Limited family violence and injuries resulted. Increasing contact with Western civilization resulted in year-round access to large supplies of commercial alcohol and exposure to alcohol-misusing role models. Increased heavy drinking and decreases in subsistence farming resulted in escalation of problems, including hunger, serious injury, family violence, divorce and legal problems. Communities are beginning to regain control by prohibiting sale of alcohol in villages, sponsoring alcohol-free celebrations, and increasing involvement in religious activities. Though alcohol may cause devastating consequences in cultures in transition, studies of community responses may identify useful strategies for reducing alcohol-related harm.

[Adolescent substance use and family problems].

PubMed

Malbergier, André; Cardoso, Luciana Roberta Donola; Amaral, Ricardo Abrantes do

2012-04-01

This study aimed to evaluate the association between substance use (alcohol, tobacco, and illicit drugs) and family problems among 965 adolescents from 50 public schools in two cities in São Paulo State, Brazil, in 2007. The Drug Use Screening Inventory (DUSI) was used for data collection. Use of alcohol, tobacco, and illicit drugs was associated with a negative assessment of the family relationship, lack of monitoring/support, and psychoactive substance use by family members (p < 0.05). Adolescents that reported having used alcohol, tobacco, and illicit drugs had more family problems than those who did not consume any substance (p < 0.001). Adolescents that used alcohol and tobacco (p = 0.028) and illicit drugs (p < 0.001) reported having more family problems than those who used only alcohol. The results highlight the importance of awareness of alcohol and tobacco use by adolescents, since such use was associated with significant family impairments, similar to illicit drug use.

CBT for high anxiety sensitivity: alcohol outcomes.

PubMed

Olthuis, Janine V; Watt, Margo C; Mackinnon, Sean P; Stewart, Sherry H

2015-07-01

High anxiety sensitivity (AS) has been associated with greater alcohol consumption and alcohol-related problems as well as greater sensitivity to the anxiety-reducing effects of alcohol and greater risky negative reinforcement motives for drinking. The present study reported on the alcohol-related outcomes of a telephone-delivered cognitive behavioral treatment (CBT) designed to reduce high AS. Eighty individuals with high AS (M age=36 years; 79% women; 76% Caucasian) seeking treatment for their AS-related concerns participated in the study and were randomly assigned to an eight week telephone CBT program or a waiting list control. Participants completed measures of drinking motives and problem drinking at pre- and post-treatment. Multilevel modeling showed that the treatment was successful in reducing AS. The treatment also resulted in specific reductions in drinking to cope with anxiety motives as well as physical alcohol-related problems. Mediated moderation analyses showed treatment-related changes in AS mediated changes in drinking to cope with anxiety motives. Changes in drinking to cope with anxiety motives mediated changes in physical alcohol-related problems. Results of the present study suggest that an AS-targeted intervention may have implications for reducing risky alcohol use cognitions and behaviors. Further research is needed in a sample of problem drinkers. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Still a difficult business? Negotiating alcohol-related problems in general practice consultations.

PubMed

Rapley, Tim; May, Carl; Frances Kaner, Eileen

2006-11-01

This paper describes general practitioners' (GPs) experiences of detecting and managing alcohol and alcohol-related problems in consultations. We undertook qualitative research in two phases in the North-East of England. Initially, qualitative interviews with 29 GPs explored their everyday work with patients with alcohol-related issues. We then undertook group interviews--two with GPs and one with a primary care team--where they discussed and challenged findings of the interviews. The GPs reported routinely discussing alcohol with patients with a range of alcohol-related problems. GPs believed that this work is important, but felt that until patients were willing to accept that their alcohol consumption was problematic they could achieve very little. They tentatively introduced alcohol as a potential problem, re-introduced the topic periodically, and then waited until the patient decided to change their behaviour. They were aware that they could identify and manage more patients. A lack of time and having to work with the multiple problems that patients brought to consultations were the main factors that stopped GPs managing more risky drinkers. Centrally, we compared the results of our study with [Thom, B., & Tellez, C. (1986). A difficult business-Detecting and managing alcohol-problems in general-practice. British Journal of Addiction, 81, 405-418] seminal study that was undertaken 20 years ago. We show how the intellectual, moral, emotional and practical difficulties that GPs currently face are quite similar to those faced by GPs from 20 years ago. As the definition of what could constitute abnormal alcohol consumption has expanded, so the range of consultations that they may have to negotiate these difficulties in has also expanded.

A Randomized Trial of a Parent-Based Intervention on Drinking Behavior Among Incoming College Freshmen*

PubMed Central

Ichiyama, Michael A.; Fairlie, Anne M.; Wood, Mark D.; Turrisi, Rob; Francis, Diane P.; Ray, Anne E.; Stanger, Louise A.

2009-01-01

Objective: Despite research suggesting that parental involvement can affect alcohol involvement among adolescents, few studies have focused on parent-based alcohol prevention strategies among college undergraduates. We report the results of a randomized trial of a parent-based intervention (PBI) in a sample of college freshmen. Method: Across two cohorts, 724 incoming freshman—parent dyads completed baseline assessments and were randomly assigned to PBI or intervention as usual (an alcohol fact sheet for parents). Student follow-up assessments were completed at 4 and 8 months. Results: Two-part latent growth curve modeling was used to test hypothesized intervention effects. Outcome variables were drinks per week (past month), heavy episodic drinking (past 2 weeks), and alcohol-related problems (past 3 months). Over the 8-month follow-up period, PBI had a significant effect on drinks per week but not heavy episodic drinking or alcohol-related problems. Specifically, compared with students in the intervention-as-usual condition, students receiving the PBI were significantly less likely to transition from nondrinker to drinker status and showed less growth in drinking over the freshman year. However, the direct PBI effect on growth was qualified by a PBI × Gender interaction, with probes indicating that the effect applied to women but not men in the PBI condition. Conclusions: This study extends previous research by demonstrating the potential utility for PBIs to decrease the likelihood of transitioning into drinker status and, at least for women, for slowing growth in drinking over the freshman year. PMID:19538914

Disentangling contributions of bar attendance, drinking, and other factors to elevated acute alcohol problems on the U.S.-Mexico border.

PubMed

Mills, Britain A; Caetano, Raul; Vaeth, Patrice A C; Reingle Gonzalez, Jennifer M

2015-11-01

Levels of drinking are unusually elevated among young adults on the U.S.-Mexico border, and this elevation can be largely explained by young border residents' unusually high frequency of bar attendance. However, this explanation complicates interpretation of high alcohol problem rates that have also been observed in this group. Because bar environments can lower the threshold for many types of problems, the extent to which elevated alcohol problems among young border residents can be attributed to drinking per se-versus this common drinking context-is not clear. Data were collected from multistage cluster samples of adult Mexican Americans on and off the U.S.-Mexico border (current drinker N = 1,351). After developing structural models of acute alcohol problems, estimates were subjected to path decompositions to disentangle the common and distinct contributions of drinking and bar attendance to problem disparities on and off the border. Additionally, models were estimated under varying degrees of adjustment to gauge the sensitivity of the results to sociodemographic, social-cognitive, and environmental sources of confounding. Consistent with previous findings for both drinking and other problem measures, acute alcohol problems were particularly elevated among young adults on the border. This elevation was entirely explained by a single common pathway involving bar attendance frequency and drinking. Bar attendance did not predict acute alcohol problems independently of drinking, and its effect was not moderated by border proximity or age. The common indirect effect and its component effects (of border youth on bar attendance, of bar attendance on drinking, and of drinking on problems) were surprisingly robust to adjustment for confounding in all parts of the model (e.g., fully adjusted indirect effect: b = 0.11, SE = 0.04, p < 0.01). Bar attendance and associated increases in drinking play a key, unique role in the high levels of acute alcohol problems among the border's young adult population that cannot be entirely explained by sociodemographic or social-cognitive characteristics of young border residents, by contextual effects of bars on problems, or by broader neighborhood factors. Bar attendance in particular may represent an early modifiable risk factor that can be targeted to reduce alcohol problem disparities in the region. Copyright © 2015 by the Research Society on Alcoholism.

Adolescent Temperament: Childhood Problem Precursors and Problem Behavior Correlates.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Windle, Michael

Interrelations between childhood behavior problems and adolescent temperament, and between adolescent temperament and problem behaviors, were studied. A sample of 311 adolescents with an average age of 15.7 years completed self-report measures regarding behavior problems before age 13, temperament, alcohol consumption, alcohol-related problems,…

[Parental stance towards alcohol consumption in 12- to 17-year-old adolescents from six urban areas in Spain].

PubMed

March Cerdá, Joan Carles; Prieto Rodríguez, María Angeles; Danet, Alina; Ruiz Azarola, Ainhoa; García Toyos, Noelia; Ruiz Román, Paloma

2010-01-01

To determine the opinions of urban parents on alcohol drinking in teenagers and their positioning regarding the legal restrictive measures. We performed a qualitative study of six focal groups including 42 mothers and fathers of adolescents from six different Spanish regions and from diverse social strata. The quantitative part of the study consisted of a 1-10 scale questionnaire, measuring parents' acceptance and opinion about legal measures restricting underage drinking. Means and standard deviation were calculated. Parents did not consider adolescent alcohol drinking to be a problem so long as it was moderate and leisure time-related. The social and cultural context was permissive with the alcohol consumption. Alcohol intake depended on both external (social pressure) and internal (family) factors. Fathers' preferred to exercise authority, while mothers preferred communication and education skills. Parents approved of teachers' interventions, especially when based on the student's overall education and not restricted to knowledge transmission. Public institutions and authorities were held responsible for adolescents' lack of information, the scarcity of leisure-time alternatives and for not ensuring compliance with current regulations. Parents approved restrictions regarding the sale and advertising of alcohol. Parents recognize adolescent alcohol drinking as a problem and tend to deal with it. Parents use distinct intervention strategies and generally approve legal measures. Copyright 2008 SESPAS. Published by Elsevier Espana. All rights reserved.

Alcohol consumption in early adolescence and medical care.

PubMed

Borrás Santiesteban, Tania

2016-10-01

Alcohol consumptionin adolescents is a risky behavior that can be prevented. Objective. To determine health care and alcohol consumption pattern in early adolescence and its relation to determinants of health (biological, environmental, social and health system factors). A qualitative-quantitative, crosssectional study was carried out in the four schools belonging to Popular Council 8 of Mario Gutiérrez Ardaya health sector in May, 2013. The study universe was made up of adolescents aged 10-14. The sample was determined through a simple randomized sampling. Surveys were administered to adolescents, parents, educators and senior health staff members to determine alcohol consumption, medical care quality and level of knowledge on the problem. A nominal group with health professionals was created. Two hundred and eighty eight adolescents were included. 54.5% were alcohol users, of which 30.2% were 10-11 years old. Those classified as low risk were prevailing (55.6%). 100% of the senior health staff expressed the need for a methodology of care. 90.4% of education staff considered adolescence as a vulnerable stage. Relatives reported that there should be adolescent-specific medical appointments (61.8%). The nominal group's most important opinions were based on the main features that a consultation for adolescents should have and on the problems hindering proper care. Alcohol consumption was considered high and early start prevailed. Insufficient care to early adolescents who use alcohol was made evident. Sociedad Argentina de Pediatría.

Alcohol marketing and drunkenness among students in the Philippines: findings from the nationally representative Global School-based Student Health Survey

PubMed Central

2013-01-01

Background A largely unaddressed issue in lower income countries and the Philippines, in particular, is the role of alcohol marketing and its potential link to early alcohol use among youth. This study examines the associations between exposures to alcohol marketing and Filipino youths’ drinking prevalence and drunkenness. Methods Cross-sectional analyses were used to examine the Global School-based Student Health Survey (GSHS) conducted in Philippines (2011). The self-administered questionnaires were completed by students primarily 13 to 16 years of age (N = 5290). Three statistical models were computed to test the associations between alcohol marketing and alcohol use, while controlling for possible confounding factors. Results Alcohol marketing, specifically through providing free alcohol through a company representative, was associated with drunkenness (AOR: 1.84; 95% CI = 1.06–3.21) among youths after controlling for demographic and psychosocial characteristics, peer environment, and risky behaviors. In addition, seeing alcohol ads in newspapers and magazines (AOR: 1.65, 95% CI = 1.05–2.58) and seeing ads at sports events, concerts or fairs (AOR: 1.50, 95% CI = 1.06–2.12) were significantly associated with increased reports of drunkenness. Conclusions There are significant associations between alcohol marketing exposure and increased alcohol use and drunkenness among youth in the Philippines. These findings highlight the need to put policies into effect that restrict alcohol marketing practices as an important prevention strategy for reducing alcohol use and its dire consequences among vulnerable youth. PMID:24325264

Health Risk Factors Associated with Lifetime Abstinence from Alcohol in the 1979 National Longitudinal Survey of Youth Cohort.

PubMed

Kerr, William C; Lui, Camillia K; Williams, Edwina; Ye, Yu; Greenfield, Thomas K; Lown, E Anne

2017-02-01

The choice and definition of a comparison group in alcohol-related health studies remains a prominent issue in alcohol epidemiology due to potential biases in the risk estimates. The most commonly used comparison group has been current abstainers; however, this includes former drinkers who may have quit drinking due to health problems. Lifetime abstention could be the best option, but measurement issues, selection biases due to health and other risk factors, and small numbers in populations are important concerns. This study examines characteristics of lifetime abstention and occasional drinking that are relevant for alcohol-related health studies. This study used data from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth 1979 cohort of 14 to 21 year olds followed through 2012 (n = 7,515). Definitions of abstinence and occasional drinking were constructed based on multiple measurements. Descriptive analyses were used to compare the definitions, and in further analysis, lifetime abstainers (n = 718) and lifetime minimal drinkers (n = 1,027) were compared with drinkers across demographics and early-life characteristics (i.e., religion, poverty, parental education, and family alcohol problems) in logistic regression models. Using a strict measurement of zero drinks from adolescence to the 50s, only 1.7% of the sample was defined as lifetime abstainer compared to a broader definition allowing a total of 1 drink over the lifetime that included 9.5% and to lifetime minimal drinking (a total of 3 drinks or less a month), which accounted for 13.7%. Factors significantly associated with lifetime abstention and lifetime minimal drinking included religion, poverty, having no family alcohol problems, Hispanic ethnicity, foreign-born, and female gender. Importantly, work-related health limitations in early life were significantly associated, but not childhood physical and mental health problems. Alcohol-related health studies should utilize lifetime classifications of drinkers and abstainers, and, in doing so, should account for early-life socioeconomic adversity and childhood health factors or consider these as unmeasured confounders. Copyright © 2017 by the Research Society on Alcoholism.

A conceptual model predicting internalizing problems in middle childhood among children of alcoholic and nonalcoholic fathers: the role of marital aggression.

PubMed

Eiden, Rina D; Molnar, Danielle S; Colder, Craig; Edwards, Ellen P; Leonard, Kenneth E

2009-09-01

The purpose of this study was to test a conceptual model predicting children's anxiety/depression in middle childhood in a community sample of children with parents who had alcohol problems (n = 112) and those without alcohol problems (n = 101). The conceptual model examined the role of parents' alcohol diagnoses, depression, and antisocial behavior among parents of children ages 12 months to kindergarten age in predicting marital aggression and parental aggravation. Higher levels of marital aggression and parental aggravation were hypothesized to predict children's depression/anxiety within time (18 months to kindergarten age and, prospectively, to age during fourth grade). The sample was recruited from New York State birth records when the children were 12 months old. Assessments were conducted at 12, 18, 24, and 36 months; at kindergarten age; and during fourth grade. Children with alcoholic fathers had higher depression/anxiety scores according to parental reports but not self-reports. Structural equations modeling was largely supportive of the conceptual model. Fathers' alcoholism was associated with higher child anxiety via greater levels of marital aggression among families with alcohol problems. Results also indicated that there was a significant indirect association between parents' depression symptoms and child anxiety via marital aggression. The results highlight the nested nature of risk characteristics in alcoholic families and the important role of marital aggression in predicting children's anxiety/depression. Interventions targeting both parents' alcohol problems and associated marital aggression are likely to provide the dual benefits of improving family interactions and lowering risk of children's internalizing behavior problems.

Parents' drinking motives and problem drinking predict their children's drinking motives, alcohol use and substance misuse.

PubMed

Marino, Claudia; Moss, Antony C; Vieno, Alessio; Albery, Ian P; Frings, Daniel; Spada, Marcantonio M

2018-09-01

The aim of the current study was to test the direct and indirect influence of parents' drinking motives and problem drinking on their children's drinking motives, alcohol use and substance misuse. Cross-sectional analysis of parent and child drinking patterns and motives, derived from the nationally representative Drinkaware Monitor panel survey. The sample comprised a total of 148 couples of parents and child. Path analysis revealed that children's alcohol use and substance misuse were influenced by their own drinking motives and parents' problem drinking. Parents' conformity motives were linked to their children's conformity motives. Finally, parental drinking problems mediated the effect of their coping motives on their childrens' alcohol use and substance misuse. In conclusion, parental drinking styles relate to their children's alcohol use and substance misuse through problem drinking and drinking motives. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism and the study of fetal alcohol spectrum disorders. The International Consortium.

PubMed

Calhoun, Faye; Attilia, Maria Luisa; Spagnolo, Primavera Alessandra; Rotondo, Claudia; Mancinelli, Rosanna; Ceccanti, Mauro

2006-01-01

Fetal alcohol syndrome (FAS) is a large and rapidly increasing public health problem worldwide. Aside the full-blown FAS, multiple terms are used to describe the continuum of effects that result from prenatal exposure to alcohol, including the whole fetal alcohol spectrum disorders (FASD). The revised Institute of Medicine (IOM) Diagnostic Classification System and the diagnostic criteria for FAS and FASD are reported, as well as the formation of the four-state FAS International Consortium and its aims, as the development of an information base that systematizes data collection that helps to determine at-high-risk populations, and to implement and test a scientific-based prevention/intervention model for at risk women. The Consortium was further enlarged, with the inclusion of some more states (including Italy), leading to the formation of the International Consortium for the Investigation of FASD. The objectives of the Consortium are reported, as well as its previous activities, the South Africa and Italy Projects (active case ascertainment initiatives), and its future activities.

Lifestyle Factors and Premature Ejaculation: Are Physical Exercise, Alcohol Consumption, and Body Mass Index Associated With Premature Ejaculation and Comorbid Erectile Problems?

PubMed

Ventus, Daniel; Jern, Patrick

2016-10-01

Premature ejaculation (PE) is a common sexual problem in men, but its etiology remains uncertain. Lifestyle factors have long been hypothesized to be associated with sexual problems in general and have been proposed as risk factors for PE. To explore associations among physical exercise, alcohol use, body mass index, PE, and erectile dysfunction. A population-based sample of Finnish men and a sample of Finnish men diagnosed with PE were surveyed for statistical comparisons. Participants using selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors or other medications known to affect symptoms of PE were excluded from analyses. Self-report questionnaires: Multiple Indicators of Premature Ejaculation, International Index of Erectile Function-5, Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test, and Godin Leisure-Time Exercise Questionnaire. The clinical sample reported lower levels of physical exercise (mean = 27.53, SD = 21.01, n = 69) than the population-based sample (mean = 34.68, SD = 22.82, n = 863, t930 = 2.52, P = .012), and the effect size was large (d = 0.85). There was a small negative correlation between levels of physical exercise and symptoms of PE (r = -0.09, P < .01, n = 863) in the population-based sample. The association between physical exercise and PE remained significant after controlling for effects of age, erectile dysfunction, alcohol use, and body mass index. If future studies show that the direction of causality of this association is such that physical activity alleviates PE symptoms, then including physical activity in PE treatment interventions could be a promising addition to treatment regimes. Copyright © 2016 International Society for Sexual Medicine. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Brief Motivational Interviewing Intervention for Peer Violence and Alcohol Use in Teens: One-Year Follow-up

PubMed Central

Chermack, Stephen T.; Zimmerman, Marc A.; Shope, Jean T.; Bingham, C. Raymond; Blow, Frederic C.; Walton, Maureen A.

2012-01-01

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Emergency department (ED) visits present an opportunity to deliver brief interventions (BIs) to reduce violence and alcohol misuse among urban adolescents at risk for future injury. Previous analyses demonstrated that a BI resulted in reductions in violence and alcohol consequences up to 6 months. This article describes findings examining the efficacy of BIs on peer violence and alcohol misuse at 12 months. METHODS: Patients (14–18 years of age) at an ED reporting past year alcohol use and aggression were enrolled in the randomized control trial, which included computerized assessment, random assignment to control group or BI delivered by a computer or therapist assisted by a computer. The main outcome measures (at baseline and 12 months) included violence (peer aggression, peer victimization, violence-related consequences) and alcohol (alcohol misuse, binge drinking, alcohol-related consequences). RESULTS: A total of 3338 adolescents were screened (88% participation). Of those, 726 screened positive for violence and alcohol use and were randomly selected; 84% completed 12-month follow-up. In comparison with the control group, the therapist assisted by a computer group showed significant reductions in peer aggression (P < .01) and peer victimization (P < .05) at 12 months. BI and control groups did not differ on alcohol-related variables at 12 months. CONCLUSIONS: Evaluation of the SafERteens intervention 1 year after an ED visit provides support for the efficacy of computer-assisted therapist brief intervention for reducing peer violence. PMID:22614776

Efficacy of a web- and text messaging-based intervention to reduce problem drinking in young people: study protocol of a cluster-randomised controlled trial.

PubMed

Haug, Severin; Kowatsch, Tobias; Castro, Raquel Paz; Filler, Andreas; Schaub, Michael P

2014-08-07

Problem drinking, particularly risky single-occasion drinking is widespread among adolescents and young adults in most Western countries. Mobile phone text messaging allows a proactive and cost-effective delivery of short messages at any time and place and allows the delivery of individualised information at times when young people typically drink alcohol. The main objective of the planned study is to test the efficacy of a combined web- and text messaging-based intervention to reduce problem drinking in young people with heterogeneous educational level. A two-arm cluster-randomised controlled trial with one follow-up assessment after 6 months will be conducted to test the efficacy of the intervention in comparison to assessment only. The fully-automated intervention program will provide an online feedback based on the social norms approach as well as individually tailored mobile phone text messages to stimulate (1) positive outcome expectations to drink within low-risk limits, (2) self-efficacy to resist alcohol and (3) planning processes to translate intentions to resist alcohol into action. Program participants will receive up to two weekly text messages over a time period of 3 months. Study participants will be 934 students from approximately 93 upper secondary and vocational schools in Switzerland. Main outcome criterion will be risky single-occasion drinking in the past 30 days preceding the follow-up assessment. This is the first study testing the efficacy of a combined web- and text messaging-based intervention to reduce problem drinking in young people. Given that this intervention approach proves to be effective, it could be easily implemented in various settings, and it could reach large numbers of young people in a cost-effective way. Current Controlled Trials ISRCTN59944705.

Alcohol and highway safety in a public health perspective.

PubMed Central

Dickman, F B

1988-01-01

The Public Health Service and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration share the responsibility for problems related to injury prevention and control regarding the alcohol-impaired operation of motor vehicles. NHTSA activities have evolved over several decades within a general framework which emphasizes community-based systems. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration is promoting program activities that stress community-level involvement in problems of alcohol and highway use. The public health approach to the mortality and morbidity resulting from alcohol use and motor vehicle operation entails examining and promoting those activities that address human factors. Techniques for Effective Alcohol Management (TEAM) is a cooperative effort representing sports, entertainment, insurance, vehicle manufacturer, and other organizations and agencies building community coalitions. The Centers for Disease Control is establishing research and collaborating centers to stimulate studies and exchange information on injury-related research. Alcohol countermeasures programs include training for law enforcement and legal officials, technology development efforts, and changes in laws applied to use of alcohol and other drugs. Outreach and networking activities have encouraged the initiation and coordination of community level groups active in promoting highway safety with regard to the use of alcohol. Statistical method changes are being discussed for surveillance of motor vehicle-related injuries for Health Objectives for the Nation for the Year 2000. NHTSA data systems being discussed are thought to be more timely and more sensitive to crash activity than methods now in use.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS) PMID:3141961

Parental Divorce and Initiation of Alcohol Use in Early Adolescence

PubMed Central

Jackson, Kristina M.; Rogers, Michelle L.; Sartor, Carolyn E.

2016-01-01

Parental divorce/separation is among the most commonly endorsed adverse childhood events and has been shown to increase subsequent risk of alcohol dependence and problems across adolescence and early adulthood, but its influence on early stages of alcohol involvement has only recently been explored. The present study examined whether time to first full drink was accelerated among youth who experienced parental divorce/separation. To determine specificity of risk, models controlled for perceived stress as well as family history of alcoholism, current parental drinking, and internalizing and externalizing problems. Developmental specificity in terms of timing of both parental divorce and first drink was also examined. Participants were 931 middle-school students who were enrolled in a prospective study on drinking initiation and progression (52% female; 23% non-White, 11% Hispanic). Students indicated whether and at what age they had consumed a full drink of alcohol. Parental divorce/separation was coded from a parent-reported life events inventory and was grouped based on age experienced (ages 0–5, ages 6–9, age 10+). Cox proportional-hazard models showed increased risk for onset of drinking as a function of divorce/separation, even controlling for stress, parental alcohol involvement, and psychopathology. There was no evidence for developmental specificity of the divorce/separation effect based on when it occurred nor in timing of first drink. However, the effect of parental divorce/separation on initiation was magnified at higher levels of parental drinking. Given the rates of parental divorce/separation and its association with increased risk of early drinking, investigation of the mechanisms underlying this link is clearly warranted. PMID:27322803

Exploring the Relationship between Experiential Avoidance, Alcohol Use Disorders, and Alcohol-Related Problems among First-Year College Students

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Levin, Michael E.; Lillis, Jason; Seeley, John; Hayes, Steven C.; Pistorello, Jacqueline; Biglan, Anthony

2012-01-01

Objective: This study explored the relationship of experiential avoidance (eg, the tendency to avoid, suppress, or otherwise control internal experiences even when doing so causes behavioral harm) to alcohol use disorders and alcohol-related problems. Participants: Cross-sectional data were collected from 240 undergraduate college students in…

Alcohol and Other Drug Prevention on College Campuses: Model Programs, 1999 and 2000.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Higher Education Center for Alcohol and Other Drug Prevention, Newton, MA.

Recent research confirms that college campuses continue to have significant alcohol and other drug-use problems. Although the vast majority of college students are under the legal drinking age of 21, alcohol is the drug that causes the most problems. Studies conducted on college campuses suggest a strong relationship between alcohol and other drug…

Effects of computer-based graphic organizers to solve one-step word problems for middle school students with mild intellectual disability: A preliminary study.

PubMed

Sheriff, Kelli A; Boon, Richard T

2014-08-01

The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of computer-based graphic organizers, using Kidspiration 3© software, to solve one-step word problems. Participants included three students with mild intellectual disability enrolled in a functional academic skills curriculum in a self-contained classroom. A multiple probe single-subject research design (Horner & Baer, 1978) was used to evaluate the effectiveness of computer-based graphic organizers to solving mathematical one-step word problems. During the baseline phase, the students completed a teacher-generated worksheet that consisted of nine functional word problems in a traditional format using a pencil, paper, and a calculator. In the intervention and maintenance phases, the students were instructed to complete the word problems using a computer-based graphic organizer. Results indicated that all three of the students improved in their ability to solve the one-step word problems using computer-based graphic organizers compared to traditional instructional practices. Limitations of the study and recommendations for future research directions are discussed. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.