The role of the controlled drinking goal in the prevention of alcohol problems

The role of the controlled drinking goal is examined in relation to the three traditional levels of preventive activity — primary, secondary and tertiary. It is shown that this goal of intervention, and the methods of behaviour change associated with it, have important potential applications at each of these levels. An integrated approach to treatment and prevention, based on a social learning perspective on drinking behaviour and problems, is recommended.     

On both sides of the bar. Bartenders’ accounts of work-related drinking

Abstract

Bartenders are expected to control guests’ excessive alcohol consumption, but hazardous drinking is also common among staff in the bar industry. This paper explores bartenders’ accounts of work-related drinking and discusses how structural and cultural working conditions may impact drinking practices among staff. The data comprises 21 in-depth interviews with bartenders from different venues in Oslo, Norway: eight females and 13 males, aged 22–36?years (mean age 27). The analyses demonstrated three clusters of accounts of work-related drinking. First, the bartenders emphasised availability of alcohol in their work environment and that they perceived themselves as sophisticated drinkers. Second, drinking alcohol was described as a coping strategy to deal with stressful work and as a way of ‘coming down’ after high-energy work. Third, bartenders talked about their work as part of a lifestyle in which alcohol played an important role and they described intense friendships with colleagues. Occupational identity and identification with co-workers involved norms that encouraged a high level of alcohol consumption. Bartenders’ work and leisure time are closely intertwined and alcohol plays an important role in both areas. Server training programmes should be developed that take into account this workplace drinking culture.     

Addiction,Drinking Behavior,and Driving Under the Influence

Using a survey of drinkers (N = 1,634), we evaluated alternative explanations of heavy and binge drinking, driving under the influence (DUI), DUI arrests, speeding citations, and chargeable accidents. Explanations included socializing, short-term decision-making, unrealistic optimism, risk preferring behavior, and addiction. Most consistent relationships were between substance use and alcohol addiction and dependent variables for (1) binge drinking and (2) DUI episodes. Respondent characteristics (age, marital and employment status, race, etc.) had important roles for DUI arrests. Drinker-drivers and those arrested for DUI are partially overlapping groups with implications for treatment and policies detecting and incapacitating persons from drinking and driving.     

Harry Potter and the Underage Drinkers: Can We Use This to Talk to Teens About Alcohol?

ABSTRACT

Underage drinking continues to be a major problem in America. Approximately 20% of all alcohol consumed in the United States is consumed by minors with 44% of 8th graders and 77% of 12th graders reporting that they have tried alcohol at least once. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration reported that, in 2003, as many as 3,657 drivers, 15 to 20 years old, were killed in motor vehicle crashes in the United States. The most recent book in the Harry Potter series, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, has several references to underage drinking and the provision of alcohol to minors by adults. Given the popularity of the book, clinicians can use this to talk to adolescents about alcohol use.     

Gender Differences in the Relationship Between Drinking Motives and Drinking Behaviors Among Korean College Students

College drinking is an important public health issue in many countries, especially in South Korea. This study aims to explore drinking motives and their relationship with drinking behaviors and drinking outcomes among Korean college students (N = 553). Utilizing a Web-based survey, this study found some similarities and differences relative to studies conducted in Western cultures. As previously observed, social and enhancement motives were the primary reasons for drinking, and enhancement motives were associated with drinking-related problems among Korean students. However, results differing from those of previous studies were revealed by comparing males and females: Korean male college students who drink to cope with stress tend to experience more alcohol-related problems, whereas Korean female college students tend to experience alcohol-related problems when drinking for enhancement motives. Implications for future research are discussed.     

Comparison of the Quick Drinking Screen and the Alcohol Timeline Followback with Outpatient Alcohol Abusers

Objective: A recent study comparing the Quick Drinking Screen (QDS) with the Timeline Followback (TLFB) found that in a nonclinical population of problem drinkers both measures produced reliable summary measures of drinking. The current study was designed to replicate these findings with a clinical population of alcohol abusers. The data were collected over three years (2004–2006). Method: Participants were 124 alcohol abusers who voluntarily enrolled for outpatient treatment. Over half (52.4%) were female with an average age of almost 40 years. About a third were married, had completed university, and a quarter were unemployed and nonwhite. Participants reported having a drinking problem for an average of 8.3 years, and reported drinking on about 5 days per week, averaging six drinks per drinking day. On two different occasions, they responded to two different sets of questions about their alcohol use. The instruments were: (a) the Quick Drinking Screen (QDS), a summary drinking measure, administered by telephone prior to the assessment; and (2) the TLFB self-administered by computer at the assessment. Results: As in a previous study, this study found that the QDS and the TLFB, two very different drinking measures, collected similar aggregate drinking data for four drinking variables in a clinical sample of alcohol abusers. Conclusions: When it is not necessary or not possible to gather detailed drinking data, the QDS produces reliable brief summary measures of drinking for problem drinkers. Generalization to nonclinical samples awaits further research.     

Age of drinking initiation as a mediator of the relationship between sensation seeking and heavy drinking among high school seniors

Sensation seeking has been identified as a significant risk factor for adolescent alcohol use. Little is known, however, about the process by which sensation seeking impacts heavy alcohol use. The current study used structural equation modeling (SEM) to examine the relationships among sensation seeking, age of drinking initiation, and heavy alcohol use in a sample of high school seniors (N?=?221). Results support age of drinking initiation as a mediator of the relationship between sensation seeking and heavy alcohol use. Implications include providing personality-targeted prevention to adolescents who display sensation-seeking traits to delay drinking initiation among these students.     

CommentaryThe Licensing Act 2003

Binge drinking has sparked considerable interest and concern. However, despite this interest little is known about the lay understanding of binge drinking and whether there are differences in understanding by gender, age and level of deprivation.

Aims: This study investigated the beliefs and attitudes to binge drinking of a sample in the Inverclyde area.

Methods: Using both cluster and quota sampling, 586 subjects completed a structured interview, using open questions about their beliefs on binge drinking and whether it was a problem generally and locally.

Findings: Definitions of binge drinking tended to concentrate on intoxication and some described a dependent drinking pattern. Causes and solutions offered were varied but pointed-up levels of deprivation in respect of jobs and entertainment. More subjects regarded binge drinking as a problem in society than locally, which is consistent with research suggesting that misperceptions of others’ drinking increases with social distance. Differences in beliefs were found by age and level of deprivation but not gender. It was marked that no subject offered the ‘official’ definition of bingeing or even an approximation of it.

Conclusions: Further research is required if future mass-media campaigns and interventions are to be relevant to the population.     

The role of the spouse in regulating one's drinking

This article examines the relationship between experiences of external influence from spouses and partners to influence one's drinking and one's own concern over drinking; whether spouse's control attempts and concern over one's own drinking are in congruence; how the level of drinking and the frequency of drinking to intoxication and the estimate of the spouse's level of drinking are related, for women and men belonging to different sociodemographic groups. Using data from the 2000 Finnish Drinking Habit Survey (n?=?1337), our results show that (1) drinking habits – especially drinking large quantities on a single occasion – are strongly related to both external control from the spouse and one's own concern about drinking and (2) there are significant differences between genders in the level of control from the spouse and concern over one's own drinking habit. These results are important when planning treatment and prevention for drinkers and their families.     

1999年和2009年江苏街道女性生活习惯相关因素比较

目的:比较1999和2009十年前后上海市江苏街道女性在吸烟、饮酒、饮茶、膳食摄入等方面的变化情况.方法:研究对象为上海市女性健康队列江苏街道的成员5862人,分别在1999年和2009年完成了关于吸烟、饮酒、饮茶及膳食摄入等方面情况的问卷调查.膳食摄入的测量采用经过重现性和有效性检验的定量食物频率问卷.统计分析采用配对卡方检验和Wilcoxon符号秩和检验.结果:研究对象在1999年时的平均年龄为53岁,平均身高为1.58 m,平均体重为59.9 kg,平均体质指数为24.1.吸烟率在1999和2009年时分别为2.1%和1.9%,差异无显著性;饮酒率分别为2.2%和4.3%,差异有显著性;饮茶率分别为29.0%和32.4%,差异有显著性.十年前后各食物组的摄入量差异均有统计意义,摄入量减少的食物组主要有谷类、肉类、鱼类、蜜饯、水果及西瓜;摄入量增加的食物组为蛋类、虾蟹螺贝类、鲜奶类、豆类、干菌菇类.奶粉、蔬菜、鲜菌菇类及花生的摄入量则变化不大.结论:十年前后上海市江苏街道女性的吸烟率基本未变,饮酒和饮茶率有所上升.饮食情况有所调整,比十年前更加接近<中国居民膳食指南>(2007)的推荐值.     

Binge drinking behaviour, attitudes and beliefs in a UK community sample: An analysis by gender, age and deprivation

Binge drinking has sparked considerable interest and concern. However, despite this interest little is known about the lay understanding of binge drinking and whether there are differences in understanding by gender, age and level of deprivation.

Aims: This study investigated the beliefs and attitudes to binge drinking of a sample in the Inverclyde area.

Methods: Using both cluster and quota sampling, 586 subjects completed a structured interview, using open questions about their beliefs on binge drinking and whether it was a problem generally and locally.

Findings: Definitions of binge drinking tended to concentrate on intoxication and some described a dependent drinking pattern. Causes and solutions offered were varied but pointed-up levels of deprivation in respect of jobs and entertainment. More subjects regarded binge drinking as a problem in society than locally, which is consistent with research suggesting that misperceptions of others' drinking increases with social distance. Differences in beliefs were found by age and level of deprivation but not gender. It was marked that no subject offered the 'official' definition of bingeing or even an approximation of it.

Conclusions: Further research is required if future mass-media campaigns and interventions are to be relevant to the population.     

Patterns of excess alcohol consumption among school children in two English comprehensive schools

BackgroundThe patterns of excess alcohol consumption among children aged 11–15 years are not routinely assessed in England and neither are the alcohol consumption patterns of adolescents aged 16–18 years. The aim of the present research was to examine patterns of excess alcohol consumption among English school children aged 11–18 years.Methods1230 children and adolescents, aged 11–18 years were surveyed about their alcohol consumption, and specifically their hazardous drinking, binge drinking and problem drinking.ResultsSixteen per cent of 11 year olds and 71% of 18 year olds reported having drunk any alcohol in the previous seven days. Thirty-two per cent (n = 199) of girls and 24% (n = 142) of boys gave an affirmative answer to at least one of the CAGE questions, indicating possible problem drinking. Hazardous drinking was associated with norms and age; binge drinking and problem drinking were associated with norms, age and gender.ConclusionsThe study provides further evidence to support the case that excessive alcohol consumption among girls now exceeds that of boys. It would be valuable to collect data on patterns of excess alcohol consumption routinely to enable policy makers to target information and resources appropriately.     

Antidipsogenic action of vasoactive intestinal peptide in the rat

The effect of vasoactive intestinal peptide (VIP) on the intake of water was studied in the rat. Intracerebroventricular administration of vasoactive intestinal peptide strongly inhibited drinking in rats deprived of water, but peripheral administration had no effect, indicating that the site of action was central. Drinking induced by angiotensin II was also markedly blocked by simultaneous administration of vasoactive intestinal peptide. The results indicate that in the rat, vasoactive intestinal peptide may play a role in the control of intake of water as a neuropeptide thirst inhibitor.     

Youth Access to Alcohol: Early Findings From a Community Action Project to Reduce the Supply of Alcohol to Teens

The Youth Access to Alcohol (YATA) project was implemented in 2002 by the Alcohol Advisory Council of New Zealand (ALAC) in thirty communities in New Zealand, with the aim of reducing the harm experienced by young people as a result of alcohol misuse in New Zealand through reducing the supply of alcohol by adults to young people. The communities include a mix of rural and urban from both Islands in New Zealand.

The project uses a community action approach, which has included setting up collaborative partnerships of key agencies, the delivery of key strategies, and multimedia awareness raising campaigns. The communities are encouraged to identify unique issues in their community regarding alcohol abuse and young people and to develop action plans incorporating a range of strategies that include tested strategies as well as innovative ideas. Communities are trained to implement several tools to monitor changes in their community over time. The study's limitations are noted and future needed research is suggested.     

Changes in Finnish drinking occasions between 1976 and 2008 – The waxing and waning of drinking contexts

A deeper understanding of drinking practices of a population requires a study of the situations in which people drink, i.e. the context of drinking. This study explores the changes and continuities in the prevalence and nature of drinking in terms of place, company, time and the social drinking context, during a period when overall alcohol consumption in Finland grew by half and drinking culture at large was transformed radically. Analyses were based on two national drinking habits surveys with a representative sample of the Finnish population aged 15–69 years in 1976 (N?=?2835) and 2008 (N?=?2725). In addition, original semi-qualitative data in 2008 were utilized, using a 15-category social drinking context typology, with the results contrasted to previously reported results from 1976. Overall, the number of drinking occasions increased between 1976 and 2008. A major part of the increase comprised drinking in home settings and with one's partner. The weekly rhythm of drinking was also concentrated on weekends even more than before. Changes in the nature of drinking showed that the typical degree of intoxication decreased for men and increased for women. The proportion of heavy drinking occasions decreased for men especially in home settings and for women, remained the same across drinking contexts except for single gender contexts. Changes in social drinking contexts reflected an overall shifting of drinking into the private sphere, with a major increase in the proportion of evenings at home and sauna drinking.     

Depression and heavy drinking occasions: a cross-sectional general population study

The purpose of this study was to assess the association between depression and heavy drinking occasions in the Finnish general population. A subsample (2086/4020, response rate 51.9%) of the National FINRISK 2007 Study was used. Depression was assessed with a modified Beck Depression Inventory (short form) and alcohol problems with the Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test. Total alcohol intake and number of heavy drinking occasions (≥7 drinks for men, ≥5 drinks for women) were evaluated using the Timeline Followback. Of the sample, 13.0% (123/946) of men and 17.4% (198/1140) of women were classified as being depressed. Further, 7.5% (71/946) of men and 3.5% (40/1140) of women reported having at least four heavy drinking occasions in the previous 28days. In an adjusted logistic regression model, these men had a 2.6-fold risk (95% C.I. 1.2-5.3) of depression, as compared to men with less than four heavy drinking occasions. The association was found irrespective of total alcohol consumption and alcohol problems. This association was not found in women.     

A problematic drinker in the family: Variations in the level of negative impact experienced by sex,relationship and living status

A national survey on harms experienced from others’ drinking was administered by telephone to 2649 randomly selected adults (18–98 years) in Australia. This article is about responses from participants concerning the family member whose drinking had the most negative impact on them (referred to as the problematic drinker). Respondents were asked about their relationship with the drinker, if they shared a household, and the level of negative impact they experienced. Of the 1494 family members identified as ‘fairly heavy drinkers’/‘drinking a lot sometimes’, the drinking of 592 (39.6%) had negatively affected 415 respondents in the previous 12 months. The problematic drinker was usually male (72.0%) and a partner (22.2%), child (18.2%), or sibling (16.3%). Most problematic drinkers in the home were partners (45.9%) or children (23.5%); there was no significant difference between problematic drinking sons living at home (62.0%) compared with problematic drinking daughters (45.2%). One-third of the respondents (35.8%) were affected ‘a lot’ by the problematic drinker; of those affected a lot, 52.6% lived with the problematic drinker. Severity of impact was significantly associated with the living status of the drinker but not with the sex of the drinker. This population-based study shows negative effects are often experienced when people have a family member who drinks a lot. While partners are often involved, a substantial proportion of problematic drinkers are adult children or siblings.