Showing papers in "Journal of Studies on Alcohol and Drugs in 2010"
TL;DR: A review of studies that compare drinking behavior among college students with that of their age-matched non-student peers highlighted the lack of consensus in the conceptualization and operationalization of college and noncollege status across studies, as well as the importance of variables such as living situation, age, full-time and part-time status, and type of college.
Abstract: Objective:To place college drinking within its larger developmental context, we reviewed studies that compare drinking behavior among college students with that of their age-matched non-student peers. Among the recurrent themes identified across these studies, we particularly noted discrepancies in the conceptualization and operationalization of both college status and noncollege status. These discrepancies, and other methodological variations, were then examined because they influence conclusions about drinking outcomes. Method:Eighteen studies directly comparing college students with nonstudents were reviewed. Results:College students drank more than noncollege peers and, in general, drank more frequently than did noncollege peers, although these differences were likely the result of factors other than college attendance itself. Younger people drank more than older peers in both groups. College students also tended to be more at risk for alcohol-related problems, including alcohol abuse and alcohol depe...
220 citations
TL;DR: The aims of the present article were to describe the IPI and its differences from the IPA and to test the relationship of network support as measured by theIPI in predicting drinking during and following treatment.
Abstract: Objective:To increase understanding of the interrelationship between a patient's social network and patient drinking, the Important People and Activities (IPA) instrument was developed. To meet the aims of the COMBINE (Combining Medications and Behavioral Interventions) Study, the IPA was modified to create the Important People Inventory (IPI), which was used to measure the contextual influence of the patient's social network on patient outcomes and treatment effects. The aims of the present article were to describe the IPI and its differences from the IPA and to test the relationship of network support as measured by the IPI in predicting drinking during and following treatment.Method:Alcohol-dependent patients (N = 1,373) seeking outpatient treatment in the COMBINE randomized clinical trial were administered the IPI before treatment. Six network constructs were tested for predicting patient drinking.Results:As unique effects, alcohol-specific support, as measured by network drinking and opposition to pa...
142 citations
TL;DR: Truancy appears to be a robust predictor of substance use, and the effect is likely to be the deleterious effects of reduced school bonding and, in part, a result of the unsupervised, risky time afforded by truancy.
Abstract: Objective:The aim of this study was to examine the relationship between truancy and escalation of substance use during adolescence and to explore potential mechanisms of this relationship. Method:Using data from the Rochester Youth Development Study, a longitudinal sample of predominantly minority youth, growth models with time-varying covariates were utilized to assess the relationship between truancy and substance use. Mediated growth models were used to examine potential mechanisms of the relationship. The analyses used five waves of panel data collected from 971 youth and their primary caregivers. Data were collected every 6 months from 1988 to 1990, spanning ages 14–16. Twenty-seven percent of the sample was female. Results:Findings indicate that truant youth engaged in more substance use, both when comparing one adolescent with another (i.e., a truant adolescent used more substances than an adolescent who was not truant) and when comparing periods of change within an adolescent (i.e., during periods...
128 citations
TL;DR: Results highlight the importance of targeting specific individual, family, and school factors in tailored intervention efforts to reduce substance use among young minority adolescents.
Abstract: Objective:This study examined racial/ethnic differences in alcohol, cigarette, and marijuana use among a diverse sample of approximately 5,500 seventh and eighth graders. We also evaluated the extent to which individual, family, and school factors mediated racial/ ethnic disparities in use. Method:Students (49% male) from 16 participating middle schools in southern California reported on lifetime and past-month substance use, individual factors (expectancies and resistance self-efficacy), family factors (familism, parental respect, and adult and older sibling use), and school factors (school-grade use and perceived peer use). We used generalized estimating equations to examine the odds of consumption for each racial/ethnic group adjusting for sex, grade, and family structure. Path analysis models tested mediation of racial/ethnic differences through individual, family, and school factors. Results:After adjusting for sex, grade, and family structure, Hispanics reported higher and Asians reported lower life...
125 citations
TL;DR: There are substantial differences in drinking trajectories at the individual level in midlife and late life, and a problem-drinking history is predictive of alcohol consumption patterns in later life.
Abstract: Objective:This study examined changes in drinking behavior after age 50 and baseline personal characteristics and subsequent life events associated with different alcohol-consumption trajectories during a 14-year follow-up period. Method:Data were taken from the Health and Retirement Study. The study sample included individuals ages 51–61 in 1992 who survived the sample period (1992–2006) and had at least five interviews with alcohol consumption information, yielding an analysis sample of 6,787 (3,760 women). We employed linear regression to determine drinking trajectories over 1992–2006. Based on these findings, each sample person was classified into one of five drinking categories. We used multinomial logit analysis to assess the relationship between personal demographic, income, health, and attitudinal characteristics as well as life events and drinking-trajectory category. Results:Overall, alcohol consumption declined. However, rates of decline differed appreciably among sample persons, and for a mino...
114 citations
TL;DR: Adolescents whose parents were authoritative were less likely to drink heavily than adolescents from the other three parenting styles, and they were more likely to have close friends who used alcohol.
Abstract: Objective:The purpose of this research was to examine whether authoritative, authoritarian, indulgent, and neglectful parenting styles were associated with adolescent alcohol use and heavy drinking, after controlling for peer use, religiosity, and other relevant variables. Method:Structural equation modeling was used to estimate direct and indirect associations of parenting style with alcohol use and heavy drinking among 4,983 adolescents in Grades 7–12. Results:Adolescents whose parents were authoritative were less likely to drink heavily than adolescents from the other three parenting styles, and they were less likely to have close friends who used alcohol. In addition, religiosity was negatively associated with heavy drinking after controlling for other relevant variables. Conclusions:Authoritative parenting appears to have both direct and indirect associations with the risk of heavy drinking among adolescents. Authoritative parenting, where monitoring and support are above average, might help deter ad...
102 citations
TL;DR: The findings suggest that methamphetamine-dependent subjects do not show considerable cognitive gains in the first month of abstinence, and a greater length of abstinence may be needed for cognitive improvement.
Abstract: Objective:The purpose of this work was to assess neuropsychological functioning of individuals in early abstinence from methamphetamine dependence and to test for cognitive change over the first month of abstinence. Method:Methamphetamine-dependent subjects in very early abstinence from methamphetamine (4–9 days; n = 27) were compared with healthy comparison subjects (n = 28) on a test battery that evaluated five cognitive domains (attention/processing speed, learning/memory, working memory, timed executive functioning, and untimed executive functioning). A subsample of the methamphetamine-dependent subjects (n = 18), who maintained abstinence for 1 month, as well as a subsample of the comparison subjects (n = 21), were retested. Results:At the first assessment, the methamphetamine-dependent subjects showed significantly worse performance than the comparison group on a test of processing speed; they also performed 0.31 SDs worse than the control group on a global battery composite score (p < .05). After a...
101 citations
TL;DR: Heavy episodic drinking continues to be a prevalent behavior among the nation's youth, with consistent risk factors over time, highlighting the continued necessity of effective screening and prevention efforts.
Abstract: Objective:Given the public health impact of adolescent alcohol use and heavy episodic drinking, we sought to identify the prevalence of types of alcohol use among national samples of 8th- and 10th-grade American students. In addition, a range of known risk factors was used to predict the most problematic type: heavy episodic use. Method:Monitoring the Future data on lifetime, past-year, and past-30-day alcohol use and on past-2-week heavy episodic drinking were available for 505,668 students from 1991 to 2007 (weightedN= 505,853; 51.5% girls; 65.3% White, 12.3% Black, 11.1% Hispanic). Logistic regression was then used in a representative subsample of 110,130 students to predict heavy episodic drinking in the previous 2 weeks. Results:In the most recent cohorts, about 1 in 10 8th graders and 1 in 5 10th graders had engaged in heavy episodic drinking in the past 2 weeks. Explanatory variables in logistic regression were largely invariant across cohort, grade level, gender, and race/ethnicity, accounting for...
92 citations
TL;DR: The study supports resource allocation and implementation of alcohol screening and brief physician advice in primary care-based college health clinics and shows no difference on the other outcome measures of interest.
Abstract: Objective:The aim of this study was to test the efficacy of brief physician advice in reducing alcohol use and related harm in college students. Method:The College Health Intervention Projects (CHIPs) is a randomized, controlled clinical trial with 12-month follow-up conducted in five college health clinics in Wisconsin; Washington state; and Vancouver, Canada. Of the 12,900 students screened for high-risk drinking, 484 men and 502 women met inclusion criteria and were randomized into a control (n = 493) or intervention (n = 493) group. Ninety-six percent of students participated in the follow-up procedures. The intervention consisted of two 15-minute counseling visits and two follow-up phone calls, and used motivational interviewing, contracting, diary cards, and take-home exercises. Results:No significant differences were found between groups at baseline on alcohol use, age, socioeconomic or smoking status, rates of depression, or measures of alcohol-related harm. At 12 months, the experimental subjects...
83 citations
TL;DR: This brief intervention in the emergency department targeting risk-taking youth shows promise to reduce alcohol-related injury and represents a good societal investment compared with other commonly adopted medical interventions.
Abstract: Objective:Brief interventions in the emergency department targeting risk-taking youth show promise to reduce alcohol-related injury. This study models the cost-effectiveness of a motivational interviewing—based intervention relative to brief advice to stop alcohol-related risk behaviors (standard care). Average cost-effectiveness ratios were compared between conditions. In addition, a cost-utility analysis examined the incremental cost of motivational interviewing per quality-adjusted life year gained. Method:Microcosting methods were used to estimate marginal costs of motivational interviewing and standard care as well as two methods of patient screening: standard emergency-department staff questioning and proactive outreach by counseling staff. Average cost-effectiveness ratios were computed for drinking and driving, injuries, vehicular citations, and negative social consequences. Using estimates of the marginal effect of motivational interviewing in reducing drinking and driving, estimates of traffic f...
75 citations
TL;DR: It is shown that both workplace injunctive and descriptive norms are important predictors of substance use in the U.S. workforce and social norms marketing campaigns may be a useful way for employers to target employee substance use.
Abstract: Objective:Although much research has explored the relation of substance-use norms to substance use among college students, much less research has focused on employed adults and the workplace as a social context for social norms regarding substance use. This study explored the relation of descriptive and injunctive workplace substance-use norms regarding alcohol and illicit drug use to employee substance use. Both alcohol use and illicit drug use were explored, as well as overall and context-specific use and impairment. Method:Data were collected from a national probability sample of 2,430 employed adults (55% female) using a random-digit-dial telephone survey. Overall employee alcohol and illicit drug use were assessed, as well as use before work, use and impairment during the workday, and use after work. Results:After controlling for a number of potential covariates, injunctive norms regarding workplace alcohol and illicit drug use predicted substance use and impairment overall and across all contexts of...
TL;DR: Adolescents' alcohol use increases over time, regardless of setting or with whom they drink, and prevention workers should focus on making parents more aware of their role in delaying the age at drinking onset.
Abstract: Objective:The present study explored the possible impact of parental supervision of adolescents' alcohol use and drinking with parents on concurrent and prospective associations between adolescents' drinking at home and drinking outside the home. The impact of drinking with their best friend, parental drinking behaviors, and sibling influence on adolescent alcohol use were also examined, as well as whether drinking at home and outside the home predicted problem drinking. Method:We used three waves of longitudinal full-family data (fathers, mothers, and two adolescent siblings; N = 428). Results:Bi-directional effects between drinking at home and drinking outside the home were found for both adolescents, with drinking in one setting predicting drinking in another setting over time. Both drinking at home and drinking outside the home predicted subsequent problem drinking. These associations did not differ as a function of adolescents drinking with parents or their best friend or of parental supervision of a...
TL;DR: Emerging adults who experience dissolution of romantic relationships or quickly move from one relationship to another experience increased substance use, and both depressive symptoms and changes in peer environments may partially account for these changes in use.
Abstract: Objective:Changes in romantic relationship status are common in emerging adulthood and may be linked to changes in substance use. This study tested the hypothesis that entry into relationships or transitioning to a more committed status leads to decreases in substance use and that dissolution of relationships or transitioning to a less committed status results in increases in substance use.Method:Data were from a community sample of 939 individuals. Substance use (heavy drinking, marijuana use, and cigarette smoking) and relationship status (single, in a romantic relationship but not cohabiting, cohabiting, or married) were assessed at the beginning and end of three 6-month intervals between the ages of 18 and 20 years. Models were estimated to assess the association between transitions in relationship status and substance use, adjusting for prior levels of use.Results:There were increases in heavy drinking, marijuana use, and cigarette smoking associated with dissolution of a romantic relationship, as we...
TL;DR: The findings suggest that several common genetic influences may be related to tobacco use and illicit drugs but that a search for specific genes underlying illicit drug use is justifi ed as well.
Abstract: Objective: Among Finnish adolescent twins, we compared (a) a model that describes a direct impact of liability to tobacco use on cannabis and other illicit drug use with (b) a model that included a shared underlying liability for these substances. Furthermore, the extent to which genetic and environmental influences contribute to the covariation between liabilities to use these substances was examined. Method: Tobacco and illicit drug use were assessed at age 17.5 years. Twin data on 3,744 individuals were analyzed using standard biometrical methods. Two alternative multivariate models were fit and compared with Mx, a statistical program for genetic model fitting. Results: The multivariate model, including a direct impact of the initiation of tobacco use on illicit drug use, provided the best fit to the data. In this model, the total variation in the initiation of illicit drugs was decomposed to genetic factors (32%), common environmental factors (20%), unique environmental factors (8%), and a component due to initiation of smoking (40%). Most variation in the progression of illicit drug use was the result of initiation of smoking and illicit drug use (83%). Conclusions: Liability to initiate smoking directly affects illicit drug use in our best-fitting model. Our findings suggest that several common genetic influences may be related to tobacco use and illicit drugs but that a search for specific genes underlying illicit drug use is justified as well. Such specific genes may hold a key to understanding biological vulnerabilities that lead to illicit drug use, which could aid in the development of targeted interventions.
TL;DR: Past-year frequency of drinking 5+/4+ drinks was quite accurate as a screener for past-year marijuana and cocaine/crack use and DUDs, but it was less accurate for illicit prescription drug use andDUDs.
Abstract: Objective:The objective of this study was to test the ability of a question on frequency of drinking 5+ (for men) or 4+ (for women) drinks to screen for drug use and drug-use disorders (DUDs) in a general population sample. Method:Using data collected in 2001-2002 from a representative U.S. adult population sample (N = 43,093), including a subsample of those with past-year emergency-department use (n = 8,525), past-year frequency of drinking 5+/4+ drinks was evaluated as a screener for drug use and DUDs for four categories of illicit drugs. Results:Sensitivities and specificities of the 5+/4+ drinks screener were 72.4% and 76.6% for any drug dependence, 71.9% and 77.3% for any DUD, and 63.3% and 78.9% for any drug use in the general population. Sensitivities and specificities were higher for marijuana and cocaine/ crack and lowest for illicit prescription drugs. Optimal screening cut-points were once a month or more for cocaine/crack dependence, either once or more a month or seven or more times a year fo...
TL;DR: Results confirm previous studies linking adolescent heavy drinking to reduced verbal learning and memory performance, however, this relationship is not seen in adolescents with similar levels of alcohol involvement who also are heavy users of marijuana.
Abstract: Objective:Lifetime alcohol hangover and withdrawal symptoms in youth have been shown to predict poorer recall of verbal and nonverbal information, as well as reduced visuospatial skills Some evidence has suggested that negative effects of alcohol on the brain may be buffered in part by potential neuroprotective properties of can-nabinoids We hypothesized that a history of more alcohol hangover symptoms would predict worse performances on measures of verbal and visual memory, and that this relationship would be moderated by marijuana involvementMethod:Participants were 130 adolescents (65 with histories of heavy marijuana use, and 65 non-marijuana-using controls), ranging in age from 157 to 191 years Neuropsychological tests for visual and verbal memory and interviews assessing lifetime and recent substance use, hangover/withdrawal symptoms, and abuse and dependence criteria were administeredResults:Regression models revealed that greater alcohol hangover symptoms predicted worse verbal learning (p
TL;DR: Antismoking programs may need to preferentially target middle schools with high rates of cigarette smoking and students who receive suboptimal parenting may benefit from increased support to deter them from early initiation of smoking and alcohol use, especially in high-risk schools.
Abstract: Objective:School-level use of tobacco and alcohol are related to individual students' use in high school, but few studies have examined the effects of school-level substance use in early adolescence. In addition, little is known about factors modifying individuals' vulnerability to school-level influences. This study examined school-wide levels of alcohol, cigarette, and marijuana use in relation to early adolescents' substance use and the role of peer deviance and parenting practices as modifiers of school-level effects. Method:This cross-sectional study included 542 students attending 49 public middle schools in a single metropolitan area. Students reported on their use of alcohol, cigarettes, and marijuana, and friends' deviant behavior in the last 12 months. Parents provided information about parental nurturance and harsh and inconsistent discipline. School-wide levels of substance use were obtained from the Pride Surveys completed by all students in Grades 6–8 at each school. Multilevel logistic regr...
TL;DR: Perceptions of typical-student and close friends' approval also directly predicted one's own use, whereas the path from parental approval to marijuana use was fully mediated by one'sown approval.
Abstract: Objective:Little work has evaluated the relationship between injunctive norms and marijuana use. This study sought to establish whether misperceptions exist between perceived injunctive norms of typical college students and the actual approval level of the students. We also examined respondents’ perceptions of which groups (typical student, close friends, and parents) were the most and least approving of marijuana. These variables were then applied to an explanatory model to assess their relationships with marijuana use.Method:Participants were 3,753 students (61% female) randomly recruited from two West Coast campuses. Participants were asked about their own marijuana use and their own approval toward marijuana. Injunctive norms were assessed by asking respondents about their perceptions of how much other reference groups approved of marijuana.Results:Students overestimated the extent to which the typical student approves of marijuana use. A path model showed that perceived approval of both close friends...
TL;DR: Preliminary evidence is offered that motivation is one mechanism by which abstinence-specific social support affects treatment outcome, and a mediational role of motivation in the relationship between support for drinking and drinking frequency is suggested.
Abstract: Objective:This study tested an integrated relapse model drawing hypotheses from both interpersonal and intra-individual relapse models. It was hypothesized that the relationships between alcohol-specific social support (support for drinking and support for not drinking) and drinking outcomes would be partially mediated by motivation.Method:Participants were 158 women with alcohol use disorders participating in two linked randomized controlled trials. One trial compared standard individual cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) for alcohol use disorders with female-specific CBT for alcohol use disorders; the other compared alcohol behavioral couple therapy with blended individual CBT and alcohol behavioral couple therapy. Measures included the Important People Interview to measure social-support variables, the Timeline Followback to measure drinking variables, and the Stages of Change Readiness and Treatment Eagerness Scale to measure motivation.Results:Results of structural equation modeling suggested a media...
TL;DR: Multiple and specific substances appear to incrementally increase psychological distress in rural stimulant users in rural areas; these associations with poor psychological health raise concerns regarding availability of local treatment services for individuals with mental-health problems, as well as substance abuse.
Abstract: Objective:Substance use is associated with poor mental health, but little is known regarding how use of multiple substances is associated with mental health, particularly longitudinally, in community studies. This article examines this issue in a large (N = 710), natural-history study of rural stimulant (cocaine and/or methamphetamine) users in three states. Method:Respondent-driven sampling recruited recent (past-30-day) stimulant users in three counties each in Arkansas, Kentucky, and Ohio. Participants were interviewed every 6 months for 3 years. Mental health was measured by the Brief Symptom Inventory, and prior 6 months' substance use was measured for 17 possible substances. Data analysis used generalized estimating equations for longitudinal data with the Global Severity Index of the Brief Symptom Inventory as the dependent variable at each interview and substance use as predictor variables measured by number of substances used in the past 6 months and, separately, the 17 individual substances, adj...
TL;DR: The findings underscore the importance of obtaining repeated assessments of depression during the course of substance use treatment and suggest the potential utility of augmenting standard chemical dependency care with depression-focused interventions for alcohol-dependent patients whose depressive symptoms do not subside during treatment.
Abstract: Objective:This study examined the associations of pretreatment and posttreatment depressive symptoms with drinking outcomes in the year following treatment in Project MATCH (Matching Alcoholism Treatments to Client Heterogeneity), a multisite clinical trial of behavioral treatments for alcohol-use disorders. Method:Data from 1,726 participants were modeled using generalized estimating equations to examine drinking frequency and intensity, as reflected by percentage days abstinent (PDA) and average drinks per drinking day (DDD). We predicted that patients who reported more pretreatment and posttreatment depressive symptoms would report greater drinking frequency (PDA) and more intense drinking (DDD) across the 12-month follow-up period. Results:Pretreatment Beck Depression Inventory (BDI) scores predicted more frequent and intense drinking in the year following treatment, although not after accounting for posttreatment BDI scores, which were associated with the drinking outcomes as hypothesized. Patients w...
TL;DR: The results support the importance of interventions that are tailored to the individual and that target perceptions of typical-college-student and social-group drinking before entering college for Whites and men but after matriculation for women, Asian, and Hispanic students.
Abstract: Objective:We evaluated selection and socialization processes associated with perceived descriptive norms and drinking from high school through the first 2 years of college.Method:Participants (n = 2,247; 61.6% female) completed measures of high school drinking and descriptive drinking norms for their social group and the typical student at the university they were entering, as well as alcohol use and social-group norms through their sophomore year of college. We conducted structural equation models by gender and ethnicity to test high school drinking and drinking norms as predictors of collegiate drinking and social-group norms.Results:Perceptions of typical-college-student drinking during high school predicted freshman-year drinking for men but not women and for White but not Asian or Hispanic students. High school social-group norms predicted freshman drinking for White but not Asian or Hispanic students, whereas freshman social-group norms predicted sophomore drinking for all participants.Conclusions:S...
TL;DR: Findings support previous research implicating the role of alcohol in IPV perpetration and suggest that self-determination theory may be a useful heuristic in the examination of individual characteristics that promote alcohol consumption and IPv perpetration.
Abstract: Objective:The present research examined the role of self-determination theory in alcohol consumption and intimate partner violence (IPV) perpetration among college students. We were interested in evaluating the extent to which individual differences in self-determination (i.e., autonomous and controlled orientations) may influence problematic alcohol use and male-to-female IPV perpetration and the extent to which problem drinking may mediate the associations between self-determination and IPV perpetration. Method:A total of 313 incoming heterosexual, male freshman drinkers at a large northwestern university between the ages of 18 and 21 years completed self-report measures of autonomous and controlled orientations, alcohol use, and IPV perpetration as part of a larger social norms intervention study. Analyses evaluated the influence of autonomous and controlled orientations on alcohol consumption, associated problems, and IPV perpetration. Results:The proposed model fit the data relatively well, χ 2 (11, ...
TL;DR: Findings suggest that, although craving performed similarly across emergency departments in the four countries, it does not add much in identification of individuals with alcohol use disorders.
Abstract: Objective:Adding a craving criterion—presently in the International Classification of Diseases, 1 0th Revision, diagnosis of alcohol dependence—has been under consideration as one possible improvement to the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fourth Edition (DSM-IV), and was recently proposed for inclusion by the DSM Substance-Related Disorders Work Group in the Fifth Revision of diagnostic criteria for alcohol use disorders. To inform cross-cultural applicability of this modification, performance of a craving criterion was examined in emergency departments in four countries manifesting distinctly different culturally based drinking patterns (Mexico, Poland, Argentina, United States). Method: Exploratory factor analysis and item response theory were used to examine psychometric properties and individual item characteristics of the 11 DSM-IV abuse and dependence criteria with and without craving for each country separately. Differential item functioning analysis was performed to examine...
TL;DR: It is suggested that other people's drinking can have substantial effects on health and well-being, providing impetus for policies that reduce heavy drinking in the population.
Abstract: Objective:Although there is a well-established quantitative literature examining the impact of alcohol consumption on the drinker, there has been much less examination of how someone's drinking affects other people. This study attempts to assess the degree to which relationships with heavy drinkers affect health and well-being. Method:The study is based on a random telephone survey of 2,649 Australians (2,422 providing sufficient data for analysis) that asked respondents to identify people in their lives who were heavy drinkers or who sometimes drank a lot. In addition, information on respondents’ well-being and health was collected using the Personal Wellbeing Index and the EuroQol Group 5-Dimension Self-Report Questionnaire score (EQ-5D) index, along with data on a range of other sociodemographic factors. Multivariate regression models were developed to determine whether living with heavy drinkers or knowing heavy drinkers outside the household were related to health and well-being once socioeconomic an...
TL;DR: Both life course-defined and past year-defined drinking groups exhibit substantial clustering of confounding risk variables, indicating the need for modeling strategies like propensity-score matching.
Abstract: Objective:The goal of this study was to estimate relationships between life-course drinking patterns and the risks of self-reported diabetes, heart problems, and hypertension. Method:Respondents to the 2005 National Alcohol Survey, age 40 and older, reported ever having a doctor or health professional diagnose each of the health-problem outcomes. Retrospective earlier-life drinking patterns were characterized by lifetime abstention and the frequency of 5+ drinking days (i.e., days on which five or more drinks were consumed) in the respondent's teens, 20s, and 30s. Past-year drinking patterns were measured through intake volume and 5+ days. Potential confounders in the domains of demographics, socioeconomic resources, and other health-risk variables—that is, depression, distress, sense of coherence, body mass index, tobacco use, marijuana use, childhood abuse, and family history of alcohol problems—were controlled through propensity-score matching. Results:After matching, lifetime abstainers were found to ...
TL;DR: Girls exposed to intimate partner violence may be at increased risk for problems with alcohol use in adulthood and should be a target for prevention and intervention efforts.
Abstract: Objective:Youth exposure to intimate partner violence has been theorized to increase the risk of adverse outcomes in adulthood including substance-use problems. However, the limited research on the association between early exposure to intimate partner violence and later alcohol- or drug-use problems is inconclusive. Using a prospective design, this study investigates whether adolescent exposure to intimate partner violence increases the risk for problem substance use in early adulthood and whether this relationship differs by gender. Method:The study uses a subsample (n = 508) of participants from the Rochester Youth Development Study, a longitudinal study of urban, largely minority adolescents that oversampled youth at high risk for antisocial behavior and drug use. Logistic regression analyses were conducted to assess whether adolescent exposure to intimate partner violence predicted increased odds of four indicators of problem substance use in early adulthood, controlling for parental substance use, a...
TL;DR: Findings on a decline in reported alcohol problems largely agree with published reports on alcohol consumption over the same period in the study countries, but do not agree with findings on changes in health and social statistics in Finland and Denmark.
Abstract: Objective: European Union travelers' allowances for alcohol import to Denmark, Sweden, and Finland were abolished in 2004. In addition, excise taxes on alcohol were lowered in 2003 and 2005 in Denmark, and in 2004 in Finland. Using northern Sweden as a control site, this study examines whether levels of reported alcohol problems have changed in Denmark, Finland, and southern Sweden as a consequence of these policy changes. Method: Annual cross-sectional surveys were conducted in Denmark, Finland, and Sweden from 2003 to 2006. Five dependency items and seven extrinsic alcohol-related problems were examined. Changes were analyzed within each country/region with logistic regressions and tested for short- and long-term changes. Differential change was also tested between each country and the control site, northern Sweden. Results: Prevalence of alcohol problems decreased over the study period. Only in selected subgroups did problems increase. This mainly occurred in the samples for northern Sweden and Finland, and mostly among older age groups and men. In relation to the control site, however, no increases in problem prevalence were found. Conclusions: Our findings on a decline in reported alcohol problems largely agree with published reports on alcohol consumption over the same period in the study countries. They do not agree, however, with findings on changes in health and social statistics in Finland and Denmark, where some significant increases in alcohol-related harm have been found.
TL;DR: The greater likelihood of developing AD in the subset of trauma-exposed individuals who develop PTSD may reflect higher levels of distress and/ or higher rates of psychopathology associated with traumas that lead to PTSD rather than PTSD-specific influences.
Abstract: Objective:The aim of the current study is to characterize the relationship between posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and alcohol dependence (AD) in women, distinguishing PTSD-specific influences on AD from the contribution of co-occurring psychiatric conditions and from the influences of trauma more generally.Method:Trauma histories and DSM-IV lifetime diagnoses, including PTSD and AD, were obtained via telephone interview from 3,768 female twins. Based on PTSD status and trauma history, participants were categorized as no trauma (43.7%), trauma without PTSD (52.6%), or trauma with PTSD (3.7%). Cox proportional hazards regression analyses were conducted using trauma/PTSD status to predict AD, first adjusting only for ethnicity and parental problem drinking, then including conduct disorder, major depressive disorder, regular smoking, and cannabis abuse.Results:Before accounting for psychiatric covariates, elevated rates of AD were evident in both trauma-exposed groups, but those with PTSD were at signif...
TL;DR: In this sample, abuse and dependence were intermixed on a continuum of severity, and "binge" drinking was in the least severe region, and DSM-IV criteria for alcohol-use disorders and heavy episodic drinking was examined using item-response theory analysis.
Abstract: Objective:This is the first study to examine the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fourth Edition (DSM-IV), criteria for alcohol-use disorders and heavy episodic (or “binge”) drinking in a college sample using item-response theory (IRT) analysis. IRT facilitates assessment of the severity of the criteria, their ability to distinguish between those at greatest and lowest risk, and the value of adding a “binge” drinking criterion. Method:In a sample of undergraduate drinkers (n = 353), we conducted factor analyses to determine whether the criteria best fit a one- or two-factor structure. We then conducted IRT analyses to obtain item-characteristic curves indicating the probability of endorsing a criterion at increasing levels of alcohol-use-disorder risk. These analyses were first conducted including current (i.e., past-year) DSM-IV alcohol-use-disorder criteria only and then rerun adding weekly “binge” drinking. Results:A single-factor model of the DSM-IV criteria did not differ signif...