It's Game Time: Drinking Intentions,Alcohol Consumption,and Consequences at College Tailgates

Background: Alcohol consumption and related consequences is a problem on many college campuses. Tailgating parties before college sporting events may be contributing, however, little recent research has investigated alcohol consumption at these events. Objective: The purpose of this study is to evaluate the drinking behaviors of college game day tailgate attendees and subsequent alcohol-related consequences. Methods: Participants (N = 89; 44.9% female) were recruited from tailgates at a university in the Midwest United States on college football game days during fall 2014. Participants provided a breath sample, completed a questionnaire, and were given the opportunity to participate in a follow-up survey (n = 62) to assess resulting alcohol-related consequences. Results: Over half of participants had BrACs greater than 0.000. However, one in three participants reported intentions to abstain from alcohol or to drink but not enough to get buzzed. Intoxication intentions were a significant and unique predictor of alcohol consumption and experience with alcohol-related consequences at follow-up. Conclusions/Importance: This study updates and extends the literature on alcohol-related consequences in the context of college football tailgates. The results suggest that consequences may be prevented through changes in intentions to become intoxicated.     

Change in Alcohol Effect and Self-Efficacy Expectancies During Addiction Treatment

Alcohol effect expectancies and situational self-efficacy are important factors in addiction relapse. The extent to which these cognitive factors change during alcohol treatment and the relations between change in these two domains may facilitate our understanding of the transition out of addictive lifestyles. To evaluate such change, 101 male and female participants in an abstinence focused inpatient alcohol and drug treatment program completed measures of alcohol effect expectancies (AEQ) and self-efficacy (SCQ) during the first and fourth (final) week of inpatient treatment. Analyses confirmed our predictions that alcohol effect expectancies and self-efficacy were inversely correlated at the beginning of treatment, and that both alcohol expectancies and self-efficacy changed significantly during the four-week treatment program. Larger decreases in alcohol effect expectancies were evident for individuals who entered treatment with less confidence in their ability to resist drinking compared to those with more confidence in potential drinking situations. Results suggest that both expectancies and self-efficacy are useful factors to target in alcohol treatment.     

The Differential Role of Alcohol Expectancies,Drinking Refusal Self-Efficacy and Coping Resources in Predicting Alcohol Consumption in Community and Clinical Samples

This study explored the relationship between coping, alcohol expectancies and drinking refusal self-efficacy in predicting drinking behaviour in both community and clinical samples. These variables were found to have differential effects in their association with frequency and volume of alcohol consumption across the two samples. Generally, drinking refusal self-efficacy was a more salient factor in relation to frequency and volume of community drinking, while coping and expectancies were more strongly associated with frequency of drinking sessions by problem drinkers. The interaction between expectancies and drinking refusal self-efficacy was related to volume of consumption in both groups, while coping and expectancies interacted in their association with frequency in the clinical group. The findings are discussed with regard to the different patterns of cognitive variables governing the decision to drink and the amount consumed in each drinking session, which may differentiate community and problem drinkers.     

Alcohol Consumption and Alcohol Problems Among Women in European Countries

Traditionally, less research has been conducted on women's drinking as compared to men's. But women's drinking has been shown to differ from men's in terms of consumption patterns and in factors determining heavy and problematic drinking. Thus, special efforts are needed to increase knowledge in this field. This article introduces a set of papers from the recently completed concerted action project Alcohol Consumption and Alcohol Problems among Women in European Countries, supported by the European Commission. The aim of the study was to examine and compare the drinking patterns and problems of women in 9 European countries. This was done by comparing alcohol consumption and alcohol problem rates within and between countries and between men and women and among women. The project also developed recommendations for much needed standardized measures of alcohol consumption and alcohol problems for use in European alcohol epidemiological research.     

Heavy Episodic Drinking in College Females: An Exploration of Expectancies,Consequences, and Self-Efficacy

Differences on expectancies and self-efficacy between college females who engage in heavy episodic drinking (HED) and non-HED were examined. Students (N = 95) from Southern California filled out the Comprehensive Effects of Alcohol, Cognitive Appraisal of Risky Events, and Drinking Context Convivial Drinking scales as well as self-efficacy, alcohol use, and demographic items in the fall semester of 2008. Logistic and linear regression showed that greater positive expectancies and lower self-efficacy were predictive of categorization as HED and greater convivial drinking. Implications, limitations, and directions for future research are discussed.     

Finland: Increases in Alcohol Availability and Consumption

This article briefly describes the changes that Finland has undergone during the 1960–2012 period with regards to societal changes, alcohol control policies, alcohol-related harms, and alcohol consumption, after which the findings of the analyses made by Allamani and his colleagues in the AMPHORA project are discussed. It seems that despite the changes in the alcohol field, the strong and comprehensive control policy measures still have a solid footing in the Finnish society. It is also evident that the policy changes implemented over the course of the last decades have affected the development of the total alcohol consumption to a large degree in both positive and negative directions, depending on the kind of measure implemented.     

Drinking context and problematic alcohol consumption in young Swedish women

Previous research has indicated that a variety of contextual factors are involved in the development of drinking behavior. An integrated perspective can extend our understanding of the context and circumstances in which individuals drink. In this study, a person-oriented approach, cluster analysis, was used to identify drinking context clusters in a population of 20- and 25-year-old Swedish women. A further aim was to analyze how these clusters were associated with problematic alcohol consumption (high episodic drinking (HED) and alcohol use disorder (AUD)). A total of 760 respondents were interviewed, some in 1996 and some in 2001. Self-reported effects of drinking and situational factors associated with drinking alcohol were used in the cluster analysis procedure. Logistic regression models were used to analyze the associations with problematic alcohol consumption. The results revealed four distinct clusters of drinking patterns: coping drinkers, social drinkers, controlled drinkers, and moderate drinkers. Differences between clusters concerning problematic alcohol consumption were found. HED was significantly more common among the social drinkers and alcohol use disorder was more prevalent among the coping drinkers. Age differences and to a lesser extent secular trends in drinking pattern could be observed. The findings suggest that information on drinking context can help to explain differences in patterns of risky drinking and AUD. This highlights the importance of identifying groups of individuals with potentially harmful drinking patterns, which could be the target of specific preventive actions.     

Measuring the Year Consumption of Alcohol: The Development of a Questionnaire

Most general alcohol consumption population surveys are meant to represent the year consumption, although they actually ask only for habitual drinking and/or frequencies and quantities of binge drinking in the past months. These surveys typically cover about half of the alcohol sales figures. In order to enhance sales coverage and to reduce seasonal bias, we developed a year consumption questionnaire on the basis of daily and weekly drinking adding 13 categories of less-than-weekly drinking occasions over the year. As a first test we offered the new questionnaire together with a traditional typical week questionnaire, in different modes to various groups adding up to a purposive high diversity sample of 101 drinking persons (56 women, 44 men, 16–69 years old, mean age 34 years). After correction for overlaps between weekly habits and less-than-weekly occasions, the new questionnaire produces considerably higher reports of annual consumption, compared with the typical-week-based estimates of year consumption. Limitations of the study are discussed.     

Validation of the drinking refusal self-efficacy questionnaire in Arab and Asian samples

The influence of an individuals' belief in their ability to resist drinking alcohol has recognised importance in understanding the pattern of drinking behaviours among Caucasian samples. Measures used to investigate this construct, such as the drinking refusal self-efficacy questionnaire-revised (DRSEQ-R; [Oei, T. P. S., Hasking, P. A., & Young, R. M. (2005). Drinking refusal self-efficacy questionnaire-revised (DRSEQ-R): A new factor structure with confirmatory factor analysis. Drug and Alcohol Dependence, 78, 297–307.]) have been widely used and have established psychometric properties. However, the exploration of the utility of this questionnaire with samples of different ethnicity, religion and living in different countries remains scarce. In the current study, Arab Muslim samples living in the United Arab Emirates and Oman (n = 356) and Asian predominately Muslim samples living in Malaysia and Indonesia (n = 256) were used. Exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis demonstrated that the DRSEQ-R has a three factor structure. Internal consistency ranged from α .96 to α .86 and validity was good. This study offers evidence of the utility of this measure with Arab and Asian samples.     

Alcohol withdrawal syndromes - prediction from detailed medical and drinking histories

The predictability of the withdrawal syndrome on the basis of the drinking history immediately prior to detoxification was investigated in 43 patients admitted to an inpatient Alcoholism Service; a pilot study consisted of 17 patients and a subsequent definitive study of 26. After obtaining informed consent, blood alcohol concentrations were measured. Each subject was extensively interviewed to obtain a medical and dietary history and to determine alcohol and drug intake in the past week and months. The levels of intoxication and withdrawal signs/symptoms were assessed on admission and daily for at least 3 days. Urine and blood toxicology screens were also performed for 19 subjects. Contrary to widespread impressions, most of the patients were able to give a detailed account of their drinking and drinking-related behavior in the 3 days prior to admission and 73% could do this for the previous 7 days. Subjects were consistent in their reporting; 85% gave drinking histories consistent among interviews conducted independently by the medical, research and counseling staff. A significant correlation (r = 0.55; P less than 0.01) was found between the severity of withdrawal and the total alcohol intake in the days immediately prior to admission. No significant correlation was evident between withdrawal severity and the number of years of heavy drinking. Amounts of benzodiazepines (diazepam and flurazepam) administered by the medical staff during the first 3 days of withdrawal and for the total hospital stay were also found to be significantly correlated with withdrawal severity (r = 0.58; P less than 0.01 for both). Regression analyses of these data also confirmed the statistically significant relationships between alcohol intake and withdrawal severity and between withdrawal severity and amounts of benzodiazepines used for detoxication. Of special interest was the finding that 50% of the subjects reported no hangovers within he past year or more and 23% reported that they had never experienced a hangover, despite very heavy drinking. In addition, only 50% of the patients had regularly consumed coffee or any caffeine-containing substance; this low incidence of caffeine intake was statistically significantly less than that found in extensive surveys of the general population in which only 3-10% eschew caffeine-containing beverages. It is concluded that the severity of alcohol withdrawal can be related to a cluster of variables among which is recent alcohol intake. The present results are, at the same time, consistent with previous observations of the appreciable differences among individuals in the consequences of abrupt cessation of chronic alcohol consumption.     

Contextual Determinants of Alcohol Consumption Changes and Preventive Alcohol Policies: A 12-Country European Study in Progress

Beginning with France in the 1950s, alcohol consumption has decreased in Southern European countries with few or no preventive alcohol policy measures being implemented, while alcohol consumption has been increasing in Northern European countries where historically more restrictive alcohol control policies were in place, even though more recently they were loosened. At the same time, Central and Eastern Europe have shown an intermediate behavior. We propose that country-specific changes in alcohol consumption between 1960 and are explained by a combination of a number of factors: (1) preventive alcohol policies and (2) social, cultural, economic, and demographic determinants. This article describes the methodology of a research study designed to understand the complex interactions that have occurred throughout Europe over the past five decades. These include changes in alcohol consumption, drinking patterns and alcohol-related harm, and the actual determinants of such changes.     

Pacific Northwest Native American Youth and Smokeless Tobacco Use

This study examined snuff and chewing tobacco use among Alaska Native and American Indian adolescents. Results show frequent and early use of smokeless tobacco products. Almost one fifth of all females and close to one half of all males had used snuff or chewing tobacco on more than 20 occasions. Weekly smokeless tobacco use was reported by 34% of all females and by 42.6% of all males. By product type, 32.6% of all subjects had used snuff and 27.8% had chewed tobacco in the past week. Among females, over one half of all subjects had used snuff or chewing tobacco before age 10 years. Among males, nearly one half of the subjects first used smokeless tobacco prior to 8 years of age. Few subjects had used cigarettes or other smoked tobacco products.

Smokeless tobacco use by young Americans is drawing increased attention (Chassin et al., 1985; Christen, 1985; Edmundson et al., in press; Glover, O'Brien, and Holbert, in press). Among those at highest risk for early and frequent smokeless tobacco use are Native American youth (Schinke et al., 1986). Though Alaska Native and American Indian people enjoy the lowest smoking rates of any U.S. ethnic-racial group, smokeless tobacco use by Native adolescents may antecede health problems and later cigarette use (Beauvais, Oetting, and Edwards, in press). In 1986 we studied the prevalence, onset, and relationship to smoking of snuff and chewing tobacco use among a sample of Alaska Native and American Indian youth.     

Transgenerational Abnormalities Induced by Paternal Preconceptual Alcohol Drinking: Findings from Humans and Animal Models

Alcohol consumption during pregnancy and lactation is a widespread preventable cause of neurodevelopmental impairment in newborns. While the harmful effects of gestational alcohol use have been well documented, only recently, the role of paternal preconceptual alcohol consumption (PPAC) prior to copulating has drawn specific epigenetic considerations. Data from human and animal models have demonstrated that PPAC may affect sperm function, eliciting oxidative stress. In newborns, PPAC may induce changes in behavior, cognitive functions, and emotional responses. Furthermore, PPAC may elicit neurobiological disruptions, visuospatial impairments, hyperactivity disorders, motor skill disruptions, hearing loss, endocrine, and immune alterations, reduced physical growth, placental disruptions, and metabolic alterations. Neurobiological studies on PPAC have also disclosed changes in brain function and structure by disrupting the growth factors pathways. In particular, as shown in animal model studies, PPAC alters brain nerve growth factor (NGF) and brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) synthesis and release. This review shows that the crucial topic of lifelong disabilities induced by PPAC and/or gestational alcohol drinking is quite challenging at the individual, societal, and familial levels. Since a nontoxic drinking behavior before pregnancy (for both men and women), during pregnancy, and lactation cannot be established, the only suggestion for couples planning pregnancies is to completely avoid the consumption of alcoholic beverages.     

Analyzing and Comparing the Association Between Control Policy Measures and Alcohol Consumption in Europe

This paper focuses on the association between alcohol consumption and the introduction of control policy measures, within the AMPHORA 12 country European project. We estimated the “net” associations between intervention policies and total alcohol consumption, taking into account contextual socioeconomic factors and including all policies in the same regression model. The associations were estimated for each country, and the country-specific results were compared in a random-effects meta-analysis. The association between policy measures and total alcohol consumption was very heterogeneous among countries. Policies on restricting alcohol availability and on enhancing the minimum age for alcohol purchase appeared to be related to decreasing alcohol consumption. The evidence regarding the effect of the others kinds of interventions was more contradictory.     

Comparison of Three Methods to Assess Binge Consumption: One-Week Retrospective Drinking Diary,AUDIT, and Quantity/Frequency

Binge consumption contributes substantially to the occurrence of alcohol-related harm. Despite its importance, binge drinking is not well defined in the literature. The present study examines the proportions of respondents identified as binge drinkers by three separate measures: a 1-week retrospective drinking diary (RD), the Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test (AUDIT), and a quantity/frequency (QF) question. Overall, AUDIT detected the highest proportion of binge drinkers, followed by QF and RD. There was also good agreement between QF and RD, as well as QF and AUDIT. Ultimately, the measure of choice should be that which provides information most appropriate to the purposes of each study.     

Components of the Prototype/Willingness Model as Concurrent and Prospective Predictors of Adolescents' Alcohol Consumption

ABSTRACT

The aim of this study was to assess the predictive value of vulnerability, subjective norms, prototypes and willingness on alcohol use concurrently (T1) and prospectively (two years later; T2) on 126 high school students. Alcohol consumption by friends and parents and willingness were concurrently positively related to alcohol use. Perception of vulnerability was a positive predictor only when parents' subjective norms were included in analysis. Considering alcohol consumption at T2, willingness, friends' alcohol consumption, and friends' reaction were significant predictors of drinking. While willingness has had a consistent contribution to drinking, parents' influence becomes weaker in comparison to the friends' as adolescents get older.     

Factors Predicting Alcohol Consumption in Adolescents Attending a Faith-Based School System in Australia: A Multigroup Structural Equation Analysis

Abstract

Structural equation modeling was used to explore the direct and indirect association of childhood experiences, attitudes, subjective norms, and intentions on the alcohol consumption of adolescents attending faith-based Seventh-day Adventist schools in Australia. Data were collected on 1,266 adolescents and the structural model developed explained 48% of the variance for alcohol consumption. Intentions had the highest degree of association with Alcohol Consumption Status (ACS) (β?=?0.52). Attitudes were more strongly associated to ACS (β_total = 0.36) than subjective norms (β_total = 0.17). Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) were associated with every variable in the model and had a combined direct and indirect association with ACS of β_total = 0.14. Multigroup analysis found significant pathway differences in the model for gender and age with regards to the association of intentions, attitudes, ACEs, and Childhood Family Dynamics with alcohol consumption status. The study fills a gap in the alcohol literature by presenting a model describing the complex network of factors that predict alcohol consumption in a low-ACS population. The outcomes of the study highlight the importance of early intervention for children and their families to delay or minimize alcohol consumption in adolescents.     

The Detection and Management of Patients with Excessive Alcohol Consumption in General Practice

Abstract: Several studies have suggested that only a minority of excessive drinkers in the population are known to their general practitioners. We have compared several methods for the detection of excessive alcohol consumption in patients in primary care. In addition we are evaluating the impact of general practitioner intervention on these patients. A self administered questionnaire, the Health Survey Questionnaire (HSQ) was mailed to 3,997 patients registered with two general practices in North West London. Replies were received from 75% of the patients. Of the respondents, 11% males, and 5% females were identified as excessive drinkers (using the limits of 42 units per week or greater for males, and 21 units per week or greater for females). In the practice where a disease register was kept, use of the HSQ resulted in more than four-fold increase in the number of patients known to be excessive drinkers. Around 45% of the excessive drinkers expressed concern about their drinking. The HSQ compared favourably with a standard drinking interview, breath alcohol measurement and laboratory tests of excessive consumption in the detection of excessive alcohol consumption. This flexible and low cost instrument could be used to increase the detection of excessive drinkers in primary care. We are currently undertaking a pilot randomised trial of the effects of GP intervention in patients with excessive alcohol consumption involving follow up of 60 such patients over one year. A multi centre trial including around 1,000 patients from 10 group practices is planned for 1985.     

Association Between Perceived Discrimination and Alcohol and Tobacco Consumption in ELSA-Brasil Cohort: Focusing on Gender Differences

Background: Discrimination is detrimental to physical and mental health, particularly insofar as health-risk behaviors are concerned. Particular attention has been paid to excess alcohol consumption and smoking in view of the ready availability of these substances in Western societies. Objectives: To determine whether an association exists between perceived discrimination and excess alcohol intake and smoking in women and men enrolled in the ELSA-Brasil cohort study. Methods: The sample included in the ELSA-Brasil cohort consisted of 15,105 civil servants. Data from waves 1 and 2 of the study were used. A multidimensional questionnaire was used to collect sociodemographic characteristics and evaluate perceived discrimination, alcohol consumption, and smoking. Results: An association was found between excess alcohol intake and perceived discrimination only in the men, with this association remaining significant in the youngest age group, in university-educated individuals, and in the group classified as middle-class. An association was found between smoking and lifetime perceived discrimination in women, particularly in those ≥60?years of age, brown-skinned women, those who had completed elementary school, and those classified as upper social class. This same association was found in the men, mainly those of 50–59?years of age, white-skinned males, those who had completed high school, those with a university education, and those classified as upper social class. Conclusions/Importance: Investing in public health policies aimed at combating the different forms of discrimination would appear essential. Not only does discrimination contribute to social injustice, but it also encourages health-risk behaviors such as excess alcohol intake and smoking.     

Monitoring Population Levels of Alcohol Consumption in Pregnant Women: A Case for Using Biomarkers

A challenge to biochemically monitoring alcohol consumption in pregnancy is the prohibitive costs of collecting thousands of blood samples. This pilot study looks at the feasibility of using residual samples to monitor chronic and acute alcohol consumption in pregnancy. Residual anomalies screening samples (n = 150, 2006/7) were tested for carbohydrate-deficient transferrin (CDT, chronic marker) and ethyl glucuronide (EtG, acute marker). Valid readings were obtained for CDT but not EtG. These results pave the way for a larger representative study, to provide, for the first time, a national biochemical baseline estimate of chronic alcohol consumption in the pregnant population.