It Goes with the Job: officers' insights into the impact of stress and culture on alcohol consumption within the policing occupation

The current study surveyed members of an Australian state police service (N = 749), in order to assess what officers felt were the major contributing factors to alcohol consumption within the policing occupation. The study further examined which of these factors were actually predictive of risk of harmful drinking as measured by the Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test - AUDIT (Saunders et al., 1993). Results showed that 30% of respondents were at risk of harm from excessive alcohol consumption. When asked to rate the importance of factors they felt contributed to their drinking, officers rated social factors such as celebration, and socializing with peers as the most important factors. However factors related to stress emerged as the most predictive of scores on the AUDIT. These findings highlight an often seen contradiction and have important implications for intervention strategies aimed at reducing alcohol consumption within the policing occupation. While officers appear to be drinking to reduce stress, they report drinking for social reasons, thus interventions must take into account the real impact of stress while dealing with social factors to give interventions face validity in the eyes of the officers they aim to help.     

Social status and voluntary alcohol consumption in mice: interaction with stress

Dominant rats are found to consume less alcohol than their subordinate cage-mates. It is unclear whether the difference is due to dominant, aggressive animals consuming low levels of alcohol or whether social stress increases alcohol intake in subordinate animals. The present study investigated alcohol drinking patterns in aggressive alpha mice, their fight-stressed submissive cage-mates and non-fighting control mice before and after the establishment of social hierarchies. The results revealed that both moderately and severely fight-stressed submissive mice showed increased consumption of 5% alcohol, expressed as g/kg, but only severely wounded submissive mice showed increased alcohol preference over total fluid consumption, as compared with alpha mice. The difference in alcohol consumption was not seen prior to the establishment of submissive and alpha status, indicating that the submissive mice increased their alcohol consumption only after experiencing fight-stress. The amount of alcohol consumed did not differ between alpha and non-fighting control mice. To further investigate the possible connection between alcohol intake and aggressivity, the mice were studied in the resident-intruder test before group-housing. The results failed to show a consistent pattern of correlations between the time spent in aggression in this test and subsequent alcohol intake measures. The data indicate that severe fight-stress increases alcohol consumption in mice. Alcohol intake of aggressive, dominant alpha mice is not significantly altered, as compared with non-fighting animals. Furthermore, the level of aggressiveness prior to the establishment of social status does not directly affect alcohol consumption. These results suggest that aggression and dominance are not critical in determining alcohol intake patterns, whereas being a target of severe social and physical stress significantly elevates alcohol consumption in mice.     

The impact of television advertising on alcohol consumption: an experiment

A videotaped indoor soccer game was shown to 125 men college students, ostensibly to evaluate the sport's televiewing appeal. Different versions of the videotape included zero, four or nine beer commercials. Refreshments, including beer, were available to the subjects. Half the subjects had immediate access to beer, and half had access delayed by one half hour. Exposure to the first few commercials increased consumption; however, continued exposure did not. Over the entire experiment, advertising had no significant effect on total beer consumption. Delayed access to beer led to compensatory beer consumption, notably in the third half hour. The results of the present study were interpreted as not supporting strong concern about television advertising's impact on immediate consumption of available alcohol. The results suggest that experiments on alcohol advertising are likely to produce negative results where drinking is measured over a substantial period (e.g., an hour or more), and positive results where drinking is measured over a brief period (e.g., half an hour or less).     

Correspondence in collateral and self-reports on alcohol consumption: a within family analysis

The present study tests the degree to which parents and children correspond in their reports on each others quantity and frequency of alcohol consumption. Furthermore, the degree of inaccurate estimation by parents might be related to inappropriate parenting. Particularly, parents who have little control over and knowledge of their offspring's activities and whereabouts might underestimate adolescent alcohol consumption. A full family design was employed in which both parents and two adolescents were included. A total of 428 Dutch families participated and filled in questionnaires at home in the presence of a trained interviewer on frequency and quantity of drinking. Findings showed that parents as well as children underestimate alcohol consumption of each other, in particular concerning the quantity of drinking. It appears that parents are better able to accurately estimate when their child is not drinking than when their child is drinking. Children on the other hand are better able to predict frequency and quantity of parental drinking, but not parental heavy drinking. Finally, parental underestimations of adolescent drinking are indeed related to lack of parental knowledge and control. However, this was primarily found among mothers. In conclusion, survey studies using collateral reports on parental and adolescent drinking should acknowledge the fact that in most cases family members underestimate alcohol consumption.     

The impact of sexual self-concept ambiguity on alcohol approach bias and consumption

The current work sought to examine both intra-individual and situational features that can predict heightened alcohol misuse among individuals who report sexual-orientation self-concept ambiguity (SSA). It was hypothesized that situations that evoke the salience of individuals' sexuality will contribute to alcohol misuse among individuals who report heightened SSA. In the first experiment, fifty-nine students were recruited from psychology subject pools at two large state universities. Following a writing manipulation, used to evoke a state of heightened self-focus on an individual's sexuality, participants completed the Alcohol Approach-Avoidance Task, which served as a marker of implicit bias toward alcohol-related cues. In the second experiment, ninety-four women between the ages of 21 and 35 were recruited into a lab-based study. Utilizing procedures similar to the first experiment, we attempted to test our research questions in an ad lib drinking study. Among young adults with greater SSA, situations that induced heightened self-focus were predictive of increased approach bias toward alcohol-related cues and increased consumption of an ostensibly alcoholic beverage. Evidence supported a causal link between the situational salience of sexuality and acute risk of alcohol-approach bias and consumption behavior among those with heightened SSA. Preventive interventions may highlight variation in risk of alcohol misuse based on identity-related risk factors, such as sexual self-concept ambiguity, and drinking motivations.     

New insights into the regulation of liver inflammation and oxidative stress

Pro-inflammatory lipid mediators (i.e. eicosanoids), cytokines (i.e. TNF-alpha) and reactive oxygen species are targets of interest in the regulation of liver inflammation and oxidative stress. In the current review, we summarize recent advances in the pharmacological modulation of these pathways with especial emphasis on the participation of Kupffer cells, the liver resident macrophages and the cell type most directly related to the production of inflammatory mediators in this organ.     

Electrophysiological insights into the enduring effects of early life stress on the brain

Increasing evidence links exposure to stress early in life to long-term alterations in brain function, which in turn have been linked to a range of psychiatric and neurological disorders in humans. Electrophysiological approaches to studying these causal pathways have been relatively underexploited. Effects of early life stress on neuronal electrophysiological properties offer a set of potential mechanisms for these susceptibilities, notably in the case of epilepsy. Thus, we review experimental evidence for altered cellular and circuit electrophysiology resulting from exposure to early life stress. Much of this work focuses on limbic long-term potentiation, but other studies address alterations in electrophysiological properties of ion channels, neurotransmitter systems, and the autonomic nervous system. We discuss mechanisms which may mediate these effects, including influences of early life stress on key components of brain synaptic transmission, particularly glutamate, GABA and 5-HT receptors, and influences on neuroplasticity (primarily neurogenesis and synaptic density) and on neuronal network activity. The existing literature, although small, provides strong evidence that early life stress induces enduring, often robust effects on a range of electrophysiological properties, suggesting further study of enduring effects of early life stress employing electrophysiological methods and concepts will be productive in illuminating disease pathophysiology.     

Positive and negative effects of social support on the relationship between work stress and alcohol consumption

OBJECTIVE: This study was performed to evaluate both positive and negative influences of social support on the relationship between work stress and alcohol consumption in male white-collar workers. METHOD: This study was performed in a population of male white-collar workers in Osaka, Japan. The subjects (N = 661) were categorized into nine subgroups based on the moderated mediation model of Frone and on the results of signal detection analysis using chi-square parameters calculated from work stressors and depression (mediators). Hierarchical linear regression analyses were performed among the nine subgroups to test the effects of interactions between four types of social support (i.e., two types of belonging support and two types of appraisal support) and work stress on alcohol consumption. RESULTS: Our results verified that social support has both positive and negative effects on the relationship between work stress and alcohol consumption: (1) interactions between "belonging support (1)" and depressive symptoms were related to decreased alcohol consumption in two subgroups (p < .01 in Group 1 and p < .05 in Group 6), whereas the interaction was related to increased alcohol consumption in one subgroup (p < .01 in Group 7); (2) interaction between "belonging support (2)" and depressive symptoms was related to decreased alcohol consumption in two groups (p < .05 in Group 5 andp < .01 in Group 7), whereas the interaction was related to increased alcohol consumption in one group (p < .01 in Group 1). CONCLUSIONS: Social support was suggested to have various types of influences (i.e., positive, negative or no effect) on the relationship between work stress and alcohol consumption, depending on the type of social support and environmental factors defining the groups.     

Association of alcohol control policies with adolescent alcohol consumption and with social inequality in adolescent alcohol consumption: A multilevel study in 33 countries and regions

Background Previous research found inconsistent associations between alcohol control policies and socioeconomic inequality with adolescent drinking outcomes. This study expands the focus beyond individual associations to examine whether a combination of policies is related to socioeconomic inequality in adolescent drinking outcomes and whether this relationship varies across survey years.Methods Multilevel modelling of 4 waves of repeat cross-sectional survey data (2001/02, 2005/06, 2009/10, and 2013/14) from the Health Behaviour in School-aged Children (HBSC) study was carried out. The sample was composed of 671,084 adolescents (51% girls) aged 11, 13, and 15 (mean age=13.58; SD=1.65) from 33 European and North American countries/regions. The dependent variables were lifetime alcohol consumption, weekly alcohol consumption, and lifetime drunkenness. Independent variables were of three types: individual-level variables (age, sex, Family Affluence Scale, and the Perceived Family Wealth), time-level variable (survey year), and context-level variables (minimum legal drinking age, physical availability, advertising restrictions, a total alcohol policy index, and affordability of alcohol).Results The total alcohol policy index showed a negative relationship with both lifetime and weekly consumption. Higher affordability of alcohol was related to higher lifetime and weekly consumption and higher lifetime drunkenness. Family Affluence Scale was positively related to all three alcohol measures and Perceived Family Wealth was negatively related to lifetime drunkenness, with these associations increasing across survey years. The total alcohol policy index buffered the associations of Family Affluence Scale and Perceived Family Wealth with adolescent drinking outcomes.Conclusion A combination of alcohol control policies is more effective in reducing adolescent drinking outcomes than single policy measures. Reducing the affordability of alcohol stood out as the most successful single measure. Socioeconomic inequalities (i.e. higher alcohol consumption and drunkenness in adolescents with higher family affluence and higher drunkenness in adolescents perceiving their families to be poor) have persisted and even increased across survey years. A combined alcohol control policy can help in tackling them.     

The impact of moderate daily alcohol consumption on aggression and the formation of dominance hierarchies in rats

Rationale and objective Group-housed male rats form social hierarchies, and under these conditions, it has been reported that subordinate (SUB) rats consume more alcohol than dominant (DOM) rats. We tested the hypothesis that a history of drinking alcohol would cause SUB rats to consume even greater amounts of alcohol.Methods Male Long–Evans rats were trained to drink 10% alcohol or a sucrose/quinine solution equal in calories for 1 h/day using a sucrose-fading procedure. Subsequently, rats were housed in colonies (four males, two females) in a visible burrow system (VBS) for 14 days. Individual control male rats were housed in a tub cage with one female. Rats were removed from the VBS (or control environment) daily and given 1 h to drink alcohol or sucrose/quinine.Results Colonies given daily access to sucrose/quinine formed clear DOM/SUB relationships in all measured parameters. Alcohol-drinking colonies failed to establish a dominance hierarchy and displayed little aggression, with an average of 14.6 ± 6.1 offensive attacks compared with 58.5 ± 12.3 attacks carried out by DOM sucrose/quinine rats. During VBS housing, alcohol and sucrose/quinine intake decreased independent of housing environment or social status.Conclusions Contrary to prior reports of the effect of alcohol on aggressive behavior, moderate daily alcohol intake before and during VBS housing reduced aggression and precluded the formation of a dominance hierarchy in rats.     

The differential impact of relational health on alcohol consumption and consequences in first year college women

The Relational Health Indices (RHI) is a relatively new measure that assesses the strength of relationships. It has been found that relational health has a protective factor for women, such that it enhances positive experiences and limits negative ones. The current study is the first to use the RHI to examine the effect of relational health on alcohol consumption and alcohol consequences. First year college women were given questionnaires assessing relational health, drinking motives, and alcohol use in their first few months at a mid-sized, private university. Due to the social nature of college settings, it was predicted that relational health would moderate the relationship between motives and alcohol consumption. Further, due to the protective factor of relational health, it was predicted that relational health would attenuate the relationship between drinking and negative consequences. These hypotheses were supported. Relational health, moderated the relationship between both social and coping drinking motives and drinking, such that women with strong relational health towards their peers and community who also had high social and coping motives, drank more than those with weaker relationships. Paradoxically, relational health also moderated the relationship between drinking and consequences such that heavy drinking women with strong relational health experienced fewer negative consequences than women with weaker relational health. Results indicate that although relational health is associated with an increase in alcohol consumption, it may also serve as a protective factor for alcohol-related negative consequences. Future research and interventions may seek to de-link the relational health-drinking connection in the college student environment.     

The impact of alcohol dependence and posttraumatic stress disorder on cold pressor task response

OBJECTIVE: Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is commonly comorbid with alcohol-use disorders. Abnormalities in the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis response are common in both disorders. The objective of this study was to investigate HPA axis reactivity to the cold pressor task (CPT) among individuals with alcohol dependence, PTSD, and comorbid alcohol dependence and PTSD. METHOD: Participants were 119 individuals with alcohol dependence only (n = 31), comorbid alcohol dependence and PTSD (n = 28), PTSD without alcohol dependence (n = 30), and a control group (n = 30). Subjective response, adrenal corticotropic hormone (ACTH), and cortisol were measured before, immediately after, and for 120 minutes after each subject completed the CPT. RESULTS: There were significant group and gender differences found in the subjective and ACTH response, with significantly higher subjective stress ratings and decreased ACTH response in the alcohol-dependent, PTSD, and comorbid alcohol dependent-PTSD groups compared with the control group. CONCLUSIONS: There were differences in the HPA axis and subjective response to the CPT between the control group and both the alcohol and PTSD groups. The HPA response in the comorbid alcohol-PTSD group was not significantly different than that of the alcohol-only or PTSD-only groups.     

Neuroimaging insights into the role of cortical GABA systems and the influence of nicotine on the recovery from alcohol dependence

This paper reviews evidence suggesting that nicotine and tobacco smoke profoundly modulate the effects of alcohol on γ-aminobutyric acid (GABA) neuronal function, specifically at the GABA(A)-benzodiazepine receptor (GABA(A)-BZR). The focus of this paper is on recent neuroimaging evidence in preclinical models as well as clinical experiments. First, we review findings implicating the role of alcohol at the GABA(A)-BZR and discuss the changes in GABA(A)-BZR availability during acute and prolonged alcohol withdrawal. Second, we discuss preclinical evidence that suggests nicotine affects GABA neuronal function indirectly by a primary action at neuronal nicotinic acetylcholine receptors. Third, we show how this evidence converges in studies that examine GABA levels and GABA(A)-BZRs in alcohol-dependent smokers and nonsmokers, suggesting that tobacco smoking attenuates the chemical changes that occur during alcohol withdrawal. Based on a comprehensive review of literature, we hypothesize that tobacco smoking minimizes the changes in GABA levels that typically occur during the acute cycles of drinking in alcohol-dependent individuals. Thus, during alcohol withdrawal, the continued tobacco smoking decreases the severity of the withdrawal-related changes in GABA chemistry. This article is part of a Special Issue entitled 'Trends in neuropharmacology: in memory of Erminio Costa'.     

Effects of acute alcohol consumption and vitamin E co-treatment on oxidative stress parameters in rats tongue

The aim of this study was to evaluate the effects of acute alcohol consumption and vitamin E co-treatment upon oxidative stress parameters in rats tongue. Thirty-eight, Wistar rats were separated into five groups (alcohol, alcohol/vitamin E, control, Tween, vitamin E). Alcohol and alcohol vitamin E groups had the standard diet, and 40% alcohol on drinking water. Other groups were fed with the same standard diet and water ad libitum. Vitamin E was given by gavage to vitamin E and alcohol/vitamin E rats twice a week. Alcohol and control groups were subjected to saline gavage and Tween group to 5% Tween 80 solution, the vitamin E vehicle. At day 14, the animals were anesthetized and specimens were obtained from tongue. Lipid peroxidation (TBARS), protein oxidative damage, catalase (CAT) and superoxide dismutase (SOD) activities were quantified. Alcohol group decreased TBARS in relation to control group and alcohol vitamin-treated animals decreased TBARS when compared to Tween and vitamin E groups. SOD activity was lower and CAT activity was higher in animals treated with both alcohol and vitamin E. These results suggest that short-term alcohol consumption decreases lipid peroxidation levels. Alternatively, alcohol/vitamin E group increased CAT, showing the toxicity of this association.     

Alexithymia and alcohol consumption: the mediating effects of drinking motives

The association between alexithymia and alcohol consumption has been well documented. However, little research has investigated the mechanisms behind the association. In the present study, the relationship between alexithymia, drinking motives and alcohol consumption was examined in a group of social (non-problem) drinkers. In a cross-sectional study, 862 participants completed the Toronto Alexithymia Scale, Drinking Motives Questionnaire, and provided alcohol consumption information. Regression analyses revealed that alexithymia predicts alcohol consumption. Formal mediation analyses demonstrated that this relationship was fully mediated by social, enhancement and coping drinking motives, and partially mediated by conformity. Drinking motives may represent one mechanism to explain the association between alexithymia and alcohol consumption.     

泊沙康唑在上皮细胞和真菌内的药动学:提示药物治疗和预防的潜在机制

<正>对于接受化疗或异体骨髓移植的血液病患者,烟曲霉菌感染是导致患者死亡的主要原因。临床试验发现,应用唑类抗真菌药物泊沙康唑(posaconazole)对患者进行预防性给药,可以有效降低侵袭性曲霉菌感染所致的死亡率。泊沙康唑具有较强的亲脂性,虽然其血药浓度相对较低,但在组织中的药物浓度是血药浓度的40倍之多。     

Effects of alcohol consumption and alcohol expectancy on the categorisation of perceptual cues of emotional expression

Rationale  Evidence that alcohol leads to increased aggressive behaviour is equivocal and confounded by evidence that such effects may operate indirectly via expectancy. One mechanism by which alcohol consumption may increase aggressive behaviour is via alterations in the processing of emotional facial cues. Objectives  We investigated whether acute alcohol consumption or the expectancy of consuming alcohol (or both) induces differences in the categorisation of ambiguous emotional expressions. We also explored differences between male and female participants, using male and female facial cues of emotional expression. Methods  Following consumption of a drink, participants completed a categorisation task in which they had to identify the emotional expression of a facial stimulus. Stimuli were morphed facial images ranging between unambiguously angry and happy expressions (condition 1) or between unambiguously angry and disgusted expressions (condition 2). Participants (N = 96) were randomised to receive an alcoholic or non-alcoholic drink and to be told that they would receive an alcoholic or non-alcoholic drink. Results  Significant effects of alcohol were obtained in the angry–disgusted task condition, but only when the target facial stimulus was male. Participants tended to categorise male disgusted faces as angry after alcohol, but not after placebo. Conclusions  Our data indicate that alcohol consumption may increase the likelihood of an ambiguous but negative facial expression being judged as angry. However, these effects were only observed for male faces and therefore may have been influenced by the greater expectation of aggression in males compared to females. Implications for alcohol-associated aggressive behaviour are discussed. Funding source: Alcohol Education and Research Council.