Showing papers in "Journal of Studies on Alcohol and Drugs in 1999"
TL;DR: The process of translation into Spanish and adaptation to the Hispanic culture of the Alcohol Use Disorder and Associated Disabilities Schedule (AUDADIS) demonstrates good to excellent levels of reliability and validity that are comparable to findings reported for this instrument in other national and international studies.
Abstract: Objective: The study reports the process of translation into Spanish and adaptation to the Hispanic culture of the Alcohol Use Disorder and Associated Disabilities Schedule (AUDADIS). This instrument is a structured diagnostic interview schedule specifically developed for the assessment of substance-related disorders and their comorbid disorders and disabilities. Method: A random sample (N = 169) of adults from a primary health care clinic in Puerto Rico was selected. The test-retest reliability of the instrument was examined across time and across interviewers, and the validity was assessed by comparing computer-derived diagnoses obtained through the administration of lay interviewers with best estimate diagnoses given by board-certified psychiatrists. Results: For most diagnoses and symptoms studied, as well as for most of the alcohol consumption measures, the test-retest reliability of the Spanish AUDADIS was consistent with results reported in other national and international studies using this instru...
327Â citations
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors used data gathered in the course of a large clinical trial to further examine the issue of women exhibiting "telescoped" development of alcoholism, with fewer years drinking than men.
Abstract: Objective: The literature suggests that women exhibit "telescoped" development of (i.e., faster progression to) alcoholism, with fewer years drinking than men. The purpose of this study was to use data gathered in the course of a large clinical trial to further examine this issue. Method: Subjects in this retrospective study were from a pool of 1,307 men and 419 women enrolled in Project MATCH, a multisite alcohol treatment matching study. MATCH subjects were recruited from both outpatient and aftercare settings over a 2-year period. Age-of-onset for landmark events in the development of alcoholism were determined from self-report and clinical interviews given at baseline entry into the study. Gender differences in age-of-onset variables were assessed within both outpatient and aftercare settings. Gender differences in progression times between successive landmarks were also examined. Differences were tested with both multivariate and univariate ANOVA techniques. Results: Women generally began getting dru...
279Â citations
TL;DR: It is argued that transitions to marriage and divorce should be viewed as unique opportunities for adult prevention activities, but that more pre-prevention research focused on changes over these transitions is needed to help target prevention efforts.
Abstract: Objective: Research indicates a marriage effect with respect to drinking and drinking problems. This effect is characterized by less consumption and fewer problems among married men and women as compared with either single or divorced individuals. Methods: This article reviews evidence regarding processes that might account for the marriage effect. Results: The literature suggests that the marriage effect reflects three processes: (1) reduced alcohol consumption triggered by the transition to marriage, (2) the deleterious effect of heavy drinking on marital quality and marital stability and (3) increased consumption in response to the transition to divorce. Conclusions: Given the nature of these transitions, it is argued that transitions to marriage and divorce should be viewed as unique opportunities for adult prevention activities, but that more pre-prevention research focused on changes over these transitions is needed to help target prevention efforts.
249Â citations
TL;DR: These findings indicate the potential importance of sensation seeking as a characteristic on which adolescent peers cluster and indicate that, beyond the influence of a variety of other risk factors, peer sensation seeking contributes to adolescents' substance use.
Abstract: Objective: To investigate the prospective influence of individual adolescents' sensation seeking tendency and the sensation seeking tendency of named peers on the use of alcohol and marijuana, controlling for a variety of interpersonal and attitudinal risk and protective factors. Method: Data were collected from a cohort of adolescents (N = 428; 60% female) at three points in time, starting in the eighth grade. Respondents provided information about sensation seeking, the positivity of family relations, attitudes toward alcohol and drug use, perceptions of their friends' use of alcohol and marijuana, perceptions of influence by their friends to use alcohol and marijuana, and their own use of alcohol and marijuana. In addition, they named up to three peers, whose sensation seeking and use data were integrated with respondents' data to allow for tests of hypotheses about peer clustering and substance use. Results: Structural equation modeling analyses revealed direct effects of peers' sensation seeking on a...
234Â citations
TL;DR: The results support the contention that alcohol use may contribute to the occurrence and/or severity of domestic violence, particularly in the early stages of marriage.
Abstract: Objective: Research suggests that domestically violent men are more likely to be heavy drinkers than nonviolent men. However, very little data has addressed the relationship between the occurrence of a domestic violence episode and the co-occurrence of husband or wife alcohol consumption. The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between husband and wife drinking and whether the most serious conflict involved verbal aggression, moderate physical aggression or severe physical aggression. Method: Newlywed couples (n = 366) who were assessed with respect to risk factors for marital violence at the time of marriage were interviewed at the end of their first year of marriage. These in-person interviews focused on characteristics (location, presence of other people, husband drinking, wife drinking) of the most severe verbal conflict, and the first and the most severe episode of physical aggression. Results: After controlling for individual difference risk factors including husband and wife drink...
232Â citations
TL;DR: Both off- sale alcohol outlets per square mile and off-sale outlets per person demonstrate strong geographic associations with homicide rates among urban residential census tracts in New Orleans, suggesting that communities faced with high rates of assaultive violence might consider policy interventions that address alcohol outlet related factors.
Abstract: Objective: To determine the geographic relation between homicide rate and two competing measures of exposure to alcohol outlets, alcohol outlets per square mile and alcohol outlets per person. Method: Homicides occurring in 1994 and 1995 and on-sale and off-sale alcohol outlets with active 1995 licenses were geocoded by address for aggregation at the census tract level. Ecologic analysis of the 155 urban residential census tracts in New Orleans was conducted with controls for potential sociodemographic confounders (% black, % adults unemployed, % unmarried households, and ratio males 15-24/males 35-44). Results: After logarithmic transformation of all study variables, sociodemographic confounders alone accounted for 58% (R2 = .58) of the variance of homicide rates. Adding off-sale alcohol outlet density to the models, measured (beta +/- SE) either as outlets per square mile (beta = .211 +/- .062) or outlets per person (beta = .244 +/- .063), yielded strong geographic relations with homicide and increased ...
230Â citations
TL;DR: Protective factors play an independent role in accounting for adolescent involvement in problem drinking and in the transition into problem drinking in adolescence and intervention efforts to enhance protection, especially for adolescents who are exposed to risk, should supplement efforts to reduce risk.
Abstract: Objective: To establish the role of psychosocial risk and protective factors in cross-sectional variation in adolescent problem drinking, and in the transition into problem drinking over time. Method: The data were from a four-wave (1989-1992) longitudinal study of 1,591 adolescents in a large, urban school district. School district officials selected schools for the study with an aim toward maximizing representation of minority students from inner-city areas. At Wave 1, all students in Grades 7, 8, and 9 were asked to participate. Results: Both psychosocial risk factors (such as low expectations for success, peer models for substance use, and poor school performance) and psychosocial protective factors (such as intolerance of deviance, peer models for conventional behavior, and involvement in prosocial activities) account for significant cross-sectional variation in adolescents' involvement in problem drinking, as indicated by more frequent drunkenness and more numerous instances of alcohol-related probl...
222Â citations
TL;DR: Genetic factors explained a significant proportion of the variation in the use of tobacco, alcohol and other drugs and shared environmental factors contributed significantly to lifetime alcohol use and other drug use.
Abstract: Objective: This study reports prevalences of lifetime and current alcohol, tobacco and drug use in adolescents; examines associations between substance use and a number of putative risk factors; and estimates the contribution of genetic, shared and unique environmental influences on substance use. Method: Substance use data were collected using the Child and Adolescent Psychiatric Assessment on a population sample of 1,412 male and female monozygotic and dizygotic twin pairs, aged 8 through 16, from the Virginia Twin Study of Adolescent Behavioral Development. Results: Heritabilities were estimated to be 84% and 82% for liability to lifetime and current tobacco use, respectively. For alcohol use the role of genes and environment varied according to the context of reporting. Liability to lifetime alcohol use was estimated to be under environmental control, with 71% of the variation shared by members of a twin pair and 29% unique to individual twins. Lifetime alcohol use without the permission of a parent o...
220Â citations
TL;DR: Results support the hypotheses that (1) alcohol-related impairment reduces the drinker's perception of personal risk, and (2) positive outcome expectancies motivate drinkers to engage in risky sexual practices.
Abstract: Objective: Two experimental studies tested expectancy and impairment explanations for the association between alcohol consumption and unsafe sexual behaviors. Method: Young adults, who were administered alcohol (blood alcohol concentration mean = .08 mg%), placebo or water, rated the likelihood that potential consequences would result from risky sexual practices (Study 1, N = 161) and listed potential consequences that could result from having sex without a condom (Study 2, N = 135). Results: Intoxicated participants reported lower perceptions of risk (mean [+/-SD] = 4.5+/-2.1) than those who received placebo (mean = 5.8+/-1.3) or water (mean = 5.5+/-1.7). Intoxicated participants also listed fewer negative consequences (mean = 1.3+/-1.2) than those who received placebo (mean = 1.5+/-1.2) or water (mean = 2.1+/-1.5). In addition, participants who expected alcohol to disinhibit their sexual behavior reported stronger postdrinking perceptions of benefit (mean = 2.6+/-1.8) and indicated that they were more l...
210Â citations
TL;DR: There is a need, however, for additional research that further examines the relations between exposure to such parenting behaviors during childhood and alcohol use during adolescence.
Abstract: Objective: This panel study examined the relations between alcohol-specific socialization by parents (monitoring of alcohol use by children, allowing alcohol use by children at home, communicating against alcohol use and setting rules against alcohol use), general dimensions of parenting behavior (responsiveness and demandingness) and alcohol use by children. Method: A sample of 488 fifth-grade children reported their perceptions of alcohol-specific socialization by parents, parental responsiveness and parental demandingness. These variables were used to predict alcohol use when children in the panel were in seventh grade. Results: Nineteen percent of seventh-grade children reported alcohol use in the past 30 days. Logistic regression analyses indicated that, after accounting for children's age, sex, single parent status, prior use of alcohol and exposure to parental modeling of alcohol use, the odds of alcohol use were significantly greater among children who perceived no parental monitoring of alcohol u...
204Â citations
TL;DR: Motivational interviewing shows promise as a specific intervention for initiating a reduction in drinking among pregnant women who are at greatest risk of fetal alcohol effects.
Abstract: Objective: Cost-effective interventions are needed for counseling pregnant drinkers, in order to reduce risk of fetal alcohol effects. Method: 42 pregnant women who reported alcohol consumption participated in this pilot study of motivational interviewing. Following a comprehensive alcohol use assessment, the participants were randomly assigned to receive either written information about the risks related to drinking during pregnancy or a one-hour motivational interview. The motivational interview was an empathic, client-centered, but directive session focusing on the health of the participants' unborn babies. Results: At the end of a 2-month follow-up period, the 34 women (81%) who remained in the study showed a significant reduction in alcohol consumption and peak intoxication levels. Women who had reported the highest blood alcohol concentration (BAC) levels during early pregnancy showed a significantly greater reduction in their estimated BACs at follow-up (during later pregnancy) if assigned to the t...
TL;DR: The DSM-IV alcohol dependence and no-diagnosis comparisons were most consistent with the predictions of a risk-factor model, providing further evidence that drinking to cope with negative affect may have an etiological role in development of alcohol dependence.
Abstract: Objective: Previous studies of drinking motives have demonstrated greater levels of drinking to cope with negative affect among problem drinkers relative to nonproblem drinkers. These findings suggest that the use of alcohol to cope with negative affect may place individuals at greater risk for the development of alcohol problems. However, several alternative explanations exist, each with different intervention implications. This study evaluated three alternative explanations or models: risk-factor, generalizing, and epiphenomena. A cross-sectional design was used to compare levels of self-reported drinking to cope with negative affect between individuals who had current DSM-IV alcohol use disorders and those who did not. Method: Participants consisted of a sample of community residents (N = 777, 55% men). All participants completed an in-person structured psychiatric interview and a self-report questionnaire assessing alcohol use, drinking motives, depressive affect, and negative alcohol consequences. Re...
TL;DR: Although moderate-heavy and heavy drinkers reported more work performance problems than very light, light, or moderate drinkers, the lower-level-drinking employees, since they were more plentiful, accounted for a larger proportion of workperformance problems than did the heavier drinking groups.
Abstract: Objective: The purpose of this study was to examine the independent effects of a variety of drinking indicators on self-reported work performance. Method: Data from a cross-sectional mailed survey (response rate = 71%) of managers, supervisors and workers (N = 6,540) at 16 worksites were analyzed. Average daily volume was computed from frequency and usual quantity reports. Drinking on the job included drinking during any of six workday situations. The CAGE was used to indicate alcohol dependence. Employees were also asked how frequently they drank to get high or drunk. Work performance was measured through a series of questions about work problems during the prior year. The number of times respondents experienced work performance prob- lems was regressed on the four drinking measures, and a variety of de- mographic characteristics, job characteristics and life circumstances that might also negatively affect work performance. Results: The frequency of self-reported work performance problems increased, generally, with all four drinking measures. In a multivariate model that controlled for a number of demographics, job characteristics and life-situations, aver- age daily volume was no longer significantly associated with work per- formance but the other three drinking measures were. Interestingly, although moderate-heavy and heavy drinkers reported more work per- formance problems than very light, light, or moderate drinkers, the lower-level-drinking employees, since they were more plentiful, ac- counted for a larger proportion of work performance problems than did the heavier drinking groups. Conclusions: Employers should develop clear policies limiting drinking on the job and, in addition to employee assistance programs for problem drinkers, should develop worksite edu- cational interventions aimed at informing all employees about the rela- tionship between drinking behaviors and work performance. (J. Stud. Alcohol 60: 261-270, 1999)
TL;DR: The bulk of the alcohol reported drunk in the U.S. is consumed by a relatively small population of very heavy drinkers, and young adults aged 18 to 29 are disproportionately represented in the heaviest drinking levels.
Abstract: Objective: The concentration of alcohol consumption in the U.S. among the heaviest drinkers is analyzed with data from two recent probability samples of the adult population. Method: Pooled data from four national telephone surveys (N = 7,049; 4,784 drinkers) with uniform methodology are used for the primary analysis, and data from an in-person national household survey (N = 2,058; 1,308 drinkers) are used for confirmatory analysis. Each survey systematically measured self-reported alcohol consumption during the prior year using a "graduated frequencies" approach designed to capture drinking at a series of amount-per-day levels. Results: The two studies produced very similar estimates: the top 2.5% of drinkers by volume account for 27% and 25% of the nation's total self-reported alcohol consumption in the telephone and in-person surveys, respectively; the top 5% account for 42% and 39%; and the top 20% of drinkers account for 89% and 87% in each survey, respectively. Men were overrepresented at the highes...
TL;DR: Race, gender, and age were examined as moderators of the relationship between social and coping motives and alcohol misuse in black and white adolescents to suggest a stronger tendency for social and cope motives to influence alcohol misuse during mid to late than in early adolescence.
Abstract: Objective: Motivational models of alcohol consumption suggest a positive relationship between reasons for drinking and the amount of alcohol consumed. The present study examined race, gender, and age as moderators of the relationship between social and coping motives and alcohol misuse in black and white adolescents. Method: A representative population sample (N = 699) of male and female (54%) adolescents between the ages of 13 and 16 was recruited using a random-digit-dial telephone procedure. Six face-to-face interviews with subjects and their families were carried out at approximately yearly intervals. Information gathered assessed alcohol use, social and coping motives for drinking, and psychological distress. Results: Multiple analyses, including both cross-sectional and longitudinal logistic regression analyses and survival analysis were used to examine the relationship of drinking motives to adolescent alcohol misuse. Contrary to our predictions, social motive was a somewhat better predictor of alc...
TL;DR: The gap in the prevention outcome knowledge base in this area of investigation could be filled with more rigorous universal family-focused intervention studies that address a wide range of implementation and methodological issues.
Abstract: Objective: This article summarizes the literature on alcohol initiation outcomes of universal family interventions and examines the long-term effects of the Iowa Strengthening Families Program (ISFP) on these outcomes. Methods: A longitudinal, controlled efficacy study of the ISFP was conducted with 446 families from 22 rural school districts in a Midwestern state. Alcohol initiation behaviors were measured by a four-item index (Alcohol Initiation Index [AII]), with low scores representing a lower level of alcohol initiation. The AII was examined using mixed-model analyses of covariance. Relative reduction rates for individual initiation behaviors and initiation differences among higher- and lower-dosage intervention groups were calculated. Results: AII scores were significantly lower among intervention group adolescents than among control group adolescents at 1- and 2-year follow-up assessments. Relative-reduction rate differences between intervention and control groups on specific alcohol initiation beh...
TL;DR: Among remitted alcoholics, violence returned to the level experienced by other American families, in the same way that other aspects of marital, family and psychosocial functioning improve after successful treatment of alcoholism.
Abstract: Objective: An initial study of 88 male alcoholics and their wives had shown that domestic violence decreased significantly in the year following a behavioral marital therapy (BMT) alcoholism treatment program (see J. Cons. Clin. Psychol. 63: 256-262, 1995). To determine if violence reductions were stable, the present study examined domestic violence during the second year following BMT for the 75 (of the original 88) couples who provided 2-year follow-up data on violence. Method: The prevalence and frequency of domestic violence were assessed for 75 male alcoholics and their wives at entry to and at 1 and 2 years after completing BMT. Data on frequency and consequences of alcoholics' drinking were collected for the 2-year follow-up period. Comparison rates of domestic violence for a demographically matched nonalcoholic sample were derived from a nationally representative survey of violence in American families. Results: Husband-to-wife violence occurred in nearly two-thirds of cases in the year before BMT...
TL;DR: Stress-motivated drinking is somewhat more prevalent in the undergraduate years as are other drinking motivations, but stress-related reasons for drinking are relatively more prominent among motivations and relatively more problematic in terms of consumption levels and consequences in succeeding years after college.
Abstract: Objective: This study examines stress-motivated drinking and its potential contribution to alcohol problems for young adults in college and subsequent postcollegiate contexts, specifically focusing on the simultaneous influences of life course stage and gender. Method: Data are drawn from a research project on health and well-being among multiple cohorts of college students and graduates from an undergraduate institution of higher education. Representative samples of students were surveyed in 1982 (n = 1,514), 1987 (n = 659) and 1991 (n = 926). Surveys were administered to graduates in 1987 (graduating classes of '79, '82 and '85; n = 860) and again in 1991 (graduating classes of '79, '82, '85 and '89; n = 1,151). Using this cross-sectional and longitudinal database, developmental aging effects are tested while checking for historical cohort and period effects. Results: Stress-motivated drinking is somewhat more prevalent in the undergraduate years as are other drinking motivations, but stress-related rea...
TL;DR: It is indicated that modeling has a strong effect on alcohol consumption; however, several variables do mediate this effect.
Abstract: Objective: Modeling, or the imitation of another's behavior, has been proposed to influence alcohol consumption. The literature dealing with effects of modeling on alcohol consumption was reviewed using meta-analytic procedures in order to determine the strength of the modeling effect and the variables that moderate the effect. Method: Thirteen studies were examined in which participant's alcohol consumption in the presence of a high consumption model was compared to a low consumption model condition or a no-model condition. Analyses were conducted for the four dependent measures utilized in the literature: amount consumed, blood alcohol concentration, number of sips taken and volume per sip. Mean effect sizes (d) were calculated for each dependent measure and moderator variables were examined. Results: Modeling had a significant effect on all four dependent measures, with the strongest effects being on amount consumed and blood alcohol concentration. In addition, analyses identified numerous variables th...
TL;DR: All three methodologies used to study relapse in substance abusers have produced findings that implicate negative affect states, increased craving, cognitive factors, interpersonal problems, and lack of coping as factors in relapse.
Abstract: Objective: To critically review the methodologies used to study relapse in substance abusers and compare some of the findings these methodologies have produced. Method: Representative studies that have used retrospective, prospective, or near real time methodologies to study antecedents or consequences of relapse are presented and the strengths and weaknesses of each methodology are reviewed. Limitations in the ability of substance abusers to accurately report internal states are considered. Degree of convergence in findings across methodologies is examined. Results: Retrospective reports can provide perhaps the most detailed accounts of circumstances and experiences leading up to relapse, but are also more likely to be inaccurate due to the limitations of memory. Prospective studies are less likely to be affected by memory problems, but may not capture factors that immediately precede relapse. The near real time methodology, which uses palm-top computers to gather data, has many advantages over other met...
TL;DR: Although a significant proportion of individuals recover from alcohol problems without treatment, such recoveries appear less common among individuals with more severe alcohol problems.
Abstract: Objective: Prior research indicates that the majority of people who resolve an alcohol problem do so without treatment. Further, a substantial proportion return to moderate drinking. One of the concerns with these findings, however, is that the definition of prior alcohol problems may reflect a less severe problem criterion. Thus, it could be argued that the majority of people "recover" from alcohol problems without treatment because a substantial proportion of these individuals did not actually have a severe alcohol problem. Method: This article systematically replicates earlier findings regarding the predominance of alcohol recoveries without treatment, using data from the 1994 Canadian Alcohol and Drug Survey. Further, variations in estimates of the proportion of resolutions from alcohol problems both with and without treatment, and to abstinence and moderate drinking, were assessed when different definitions of prior alcohol problems were employed. Results: Of 9,892 adult lifetime drinkers, 2,177 had ...
TL;DR: Although developmentally-persistent problem drinkers did not differ from youth-limited problem drinkers in adopting adult roles, their continued experience of many problem behaviors suggests that they fail to adopt the role of greater conventionality in adulthood.
Abstract: Objective: Many young adults engage in heavy or problem drinking, but it is unclear who will continue problem drinking into adulthood. This study followed a general population sample in order to study patterns of problem drinking over time, to identify differences among drinking groups, to test a model differentiating youth-limited from developmentally-persistent problem drinkers, and to examine adult outcomes. Method: Data were from the Health and Human Development Project; subjects (N = 1,073) were in three age cohorts (age 18-25; age 21-28; age 24-31). Based on use and consequences data from two assessment intervals, cluster analyses were performed. Results: Cluster analyses yielded four drinking groups: youth-limited problem drinkers, stable moderate drinkers, stable low drinkers and developmentally-persistent problem drinkers. Rates of youth-limited problem drinking peaked in the middle cohort and rates of developmentally-persistent problem drinking decreased in the oldest cohort. Discriminant analys...
TL;DR: Treatment and prevention interventions need to be developed to decrease the risk of violent victimization among children whose mothers have alcohol and other drug problems and other factors may also contribute to this risk.
Abstract: OBJECTIVE: The relationship between mothers' alcohol or other drug (AOD) problems and their punitiveness toward their children is examined in this study. METHOD: Women (N = 170) were recruited from five different sources, including clinical interventions and the community. Women's punitiveness toward their children was assessed by three different maternal self-report measures: Conflict Tactics Scale, Parental Punitiveness Scale and Child Abuse Potential Inventory. Women's histories of AOD problems, violent victimization and hostility were assessed using standardized assessment tools. RESULTS: Women were categorized by their AOD problems as follows: current problem (22.4%), past only problem (44.7%) or no problems (32.9%). Results indicate that mothers with current or past AOD problems are more punitive toward their children, controlling for potentially confounding demographic factors. Mothers' histories of partner violence and parental violence also predicted higher levels of mother-to-child punitiveness. However, histories of childhood sexual abuse predicted lower levels of mothers' punitiveness. Hostility served as a predictor of mothers' punitiveness and moderated some of the relationships between their AOD problems and their punitiveness. CONCLUSIONS: Findings suggest that women with AOD problems are more likely to be punitive toward their children, but other factors may also contribute to this risk. Treatment and prevention interventions need to be developed to decrease the risk of violent victimization among children whose mothers have alcohol and other drug problems. Language: en
TL;DR: Drinking patterns over the transition to marriage are explored to assess whether changes in drinking patterns are influenced by the spouse's drinking and whether this influence is comparable for husbands and wives.
Abstract: Objective: It is often assumed that a husband's drinking influences his wife's drinking, but that the wife's drinking has no impact on her husband's drinking. However, there are little data that examine this. This article explores drinking patterns over the transition to marriage to assess whether changes in drinking patterns are influenced by the spouse's drinking and whether this influence is comparable for husbands and wives. Methods: Approximately 500 husbands and wives were recruited after applying for their marriage licenses and participated in a longitudinal study of alcohol and marriage. Couples completed questionnaires that assessed alcohol use over the preceding year. These questionnaires were completed at the time of marriage and at the first anniversary. Results: Structural equation models were used to examine the longitudinal relationships between husband and wife drinking. The final model indicated that husbands and wives manifested similar drinking patterns at the time of marriage that coul...
TL;DR: These results are the first to show significant relationships between alcohol availability and drinking at work, to explain dynamics of that relationship and to demonstrate the potential risks of using only quantitative or only qualitative findings as the basis for prevention.
Abstract: Objective: This article investigates the relationship between subjective social and physical availability of alcohol at work and work-related drinking. Method: We integrated survey and ethnographic methods to determine if and why physical and social availability of alcohol predicted work-related drinking in a manufacturing plant with approximately 6,000 employees. Survey data were obtained from in-home interviews with 984 randomly selected workers. Respondents were asked about their overall and work-related drinking, their perceptions of the ease of obtaining or consuming alcohol in the plant, the work-related drinking of others and their approval/disapproval of work-related drinking by co-workers. Ethnographic data were obtained from 3 years of periodic onsite observations and semistructured interviews with key informants to investigate factors underlying alcohol availability and drinking at work. Results: Structural equations modeling of the survey data revealed that subjective social availability of al...
TL;DR: The consistency of results over a 20-year period confirms that the social-psychological meaning of adolescent involvement in problem drinking has remained stable despite changes in the larger sociohistorical context.
Abstract: Objective: Research conducted in the 1970s demonstrated that Problem Behavior Theory could account for approximately 40% of the variance in problem drinking in both local and national sample studies. The present analyses sought to determine whether the personality, perceived environment, and behavior variables of the framework continue to contribute to the explanation of problem drinking among contemporary American youth. Method: Correlational and multiple regression analyses were performed on six separate databases collected at different times between 1972 and 1992. Due to sociodemographic differences among the samples, separate analyses were performed for male and female adolescents, and age, ethnicity and socioeconomic status were statistically controlled. Results: There was considerable consistency across the samples in both the partial correlations and the partial multiple correlations, and this result held for both genders. Not only did the framework account for the same percentage of the variance (...
TL;DR: In this article, the authors examined the relationship between childhood conduct disorder (CD), antisocial personality disorder (ASPD) and substance use disorders (substance abuse or substance dependence) in psychiatric patients with severe mental illness.
Abstract: Objective: To examine the relationships between childhood conduct disorder (CD), antisocial personality disorder (ASPD) and substance use disorders (substance abuse or substance dependence) in psychiatric patients with severe mental illness. Method: Substance use-related problems on screening instruments, lifetime and recent prevalence of substance use disorders, and family history of substance use disorder were evaluated in four groups of 293 patients with mainly schizophrenia-spectrum and major affective disorders: No ASPD/CD, CD Only, Adult ASPD Only, Full ASPD. Results: Full ASPD was strongly related to all measures of substance use problems and disorders, as well as fathers' history of substance use disorder. The odds ratios for Full ASPD and substance use disorders ranged between 3.96 (lifetime cannabis use disorder) to 11.35 (recent cocaine use disorder). To a lesser extent, patients with CD Only or Adult ASPD Only were also at increased risk for having substance use disorders compared to the No AS...
TL;DR: Data suggest that while the performance of screening instruments may vary across demographic subgroups in the general population, instruments may perform equally well for identifying problem drinkers in general populations as in clinical populations.
Abstract: Objective: The purpose of this study was to compare the performance of two screening instruments for alcohol problems, the CAGE and the TWEAK, against ICD-10 and DSM-IV criteria for alcohol dependence by gender and ethnicity, and to evaluate whether characteristics associated with health services utilization may affect the performance of screening instruments, in a representative sample of the U.S. adult general population. Method: Data are from the Alcohol Research Group's 1995 National Alcohol Survey; these were weighted to account for the design effect inherent in multistage cluster sampling and oversampling of blacks and Hispanics. Effective sample size was 2,443: 797 blacks, 642 Hispanics and 1,004 whites and others (primarily Asian and Native American). Sensitivity and specificity were examined for both screening instruments. Logistic regression was used to evaluate the predictive value, separately, for the CAGE and TWEAK, controlling for gender, ethnicity, region of the country and service use (pri...
TL;DR: For the mother and the father there are different patterns of the relationship between parental drinking and closeness at work in explaining adolescent drinking, which indicates that adolescents whose mothers are heavy drinkers and who have low closeness to their mothers drink more heavily.
Abstract: Objective: This study examines the relationship of parental drinking and adolescent's closeness to parents to adolescent drinking behavior by focusing on three related issues: (1) the independent effects of parental drinking and closeness to parents on adolescent drinking, (2) the mediating role of closeness to parents for the effect of parental drinking, and (3) their interactive effects. Method: The issues were addressed with use of data from 378 respondents in a random-digit dialing sample of 625 male adolescents at age range 16 to 19 in the Buffalo area. Mother's and father's drinking and adolescent's closeness to mother and father were measured separately. Regression analyses were used to assess the effects of these measures on adolescent drinking regarding the three related issues. Results: Only father's drinking has a direct effect on adolescent drinking. Although closeness to mother is a significant protection against adolescent drinking, mother's drinking has no effect on closeness to mother. In ...
TL;DR: A strong and stable relationship between alcohol use and physical assault is supported, but the results contradict past conclusions pertaining to alcohol and women's victimization.
Abstract: Objective: This study examines the influence of lifetime alcohol use and drinking-in-the-event on the risk of physical assault perpetration and victimization while controlling for the effects of additional demographic and personality characteristics known to be associated with violence or alcohol use. Method: Secondary analyses were performed on data collected for the 1990 National Alcohol Survey, which included in-person interviews with 2,058 adults (58% female) residing within the 48 contiguous United States. Results: Approximately 11.5% of the sample reported having committed a physical assault, and 16.6% of the respondents reported having been the victim of a physical assault, since the age of 12 years. Gender, age, education, lifetime drinking history and an interaction between age and impulsivity were associated with physical assault perpetration. Marital status, impulsivity, and life-time drinking history were associated with physical assault victimization. Analyses performed on the subsample of in...