Comparison of indirect assessments of association as predictors of marijuana use among at-risk adolescents

In this study, the authors compared indirect measures that attempt to quantify the level of marijuana associations among adolescents. They also evaluated whether these various methods overlap or tap different aspects of associative processes that may act in concert to influence marijuana use. Automatic drug-relevant associations were assessed in 121 at-risk youth in continuation high schools in California with the use of a word association index and computer-based, reaction time measures (i.e., Implicit Association Test [IAT] and Extrinsic Affective Simon Task [EAST]). Measures of working memory capacity, sensation seeking, and explicit cognitions also were included in analyses as potential confounders. The word association index and the marijuana IAT excited D measure were significant predictors of marijuana use. The word association index accounted for more variance in marijuana use than did the IAT or EAST measures. Further, confirmatory factor analytic models of the indirect measures of marijuana use revealed a significant moderate correlation between the EAST Excitement and Word Association factors but no significant correlations between the Word Association and IAT factors. These findings suggest that there is some convergence among the different indirect measures, but these assessments also appear to tap different aspects of associative processes. The types of indirect measures evaluated in this work provide information about spontaneous cognitions related to substance use, capturing influences on behavior that are not evaluated with traditional explicit assessments of behavior. Findings from this work add to a growing body of research that implicates the importance of implicit associative processes in risk and health behaviors.     

Same wording, distinct concepts? Testing differences between expectancies and motives in a mediation model of alcohol outcomes

Per definition, alcohol expectancies (after alcohol I expect X), and drinking motives (I drink to achieve X) are conceptually distinct constructs. Theorists have argued that motives mediate the association between expectancies and drinking outcomes. Yet, given the use of different instruments, do these constructs remain distinct when assessment items are matched? The present study tested to what extent motives mediated the link between expectancies and alcohol outcomes when identical items were used, first as expectancies and then as motives. A linear structural equation model was estimated based on a national representative sample of 5,779 alcohol-using students in Switzerland (mean age = 15.2 years). The results showed that expectancies explained up to 38% of the variance in motives. Together with motives, they explained up to 48% of the variance in alcohol outcomes (volume, 5+ drinking, and problems). In 10 of 12 outcomes, there was a significant mediated effect that was often higher than the direct expectancy effect. For coping, the expectancy effect was close to zero, indicating the strongest form of mediation. In only one case (conformity and 5+ drinking), there was a direct expectancy effect but no mediation. To conclude, the study demonstrates that motives are distinct from expectancies even when identical items are used. Motives are more proximally related to different alcohol outcomes, often mediating the effects of expectancies. Consequently, the effectiveness of interventions, particularly those aimed at coping drinkers, should be improved through a shift in focus from expectancies to drinking motives.     

Experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis induction in peptidylarginine deiminase 2 knockout mice

During the development of multiple sclerosis the destruction of the myelin sheath surrounding the neurites is accompanied by citrullination of several central nervous system (CNS) proteins, including myelin basic protein and glial fibrillary acidic protein. In experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis (EAE), a disease induced in animals by immunization with proteins or peptides from the CNS, the animals develop symptoms similar to multiple sclerosis (MS). The increased levels of citrullinated CNS proteins associated with MS are also observed during the development of EAE. To study the role of CNS protein citrullination in EAE development, we induced EAE with a peptide derived from myelin oligodendrocyte glycoprotein (MOG(35-55)) in mice lacking the peptidylarginine deiminase 2 (PAD2) protein, because this enzyme was the most likely candidate to be involved in catalyzing CNS protein citrullination in the diseased state. Even though the PAD2 knockout mice displayed a dramatic reduction in the amount of citrullination present in the CNS, indicating that PAD2 is indeed responsible for the majority of detectable citrullination observed in EAE, the development of EAE was not impaired by genetic deletion of PAD2, suggesting that PAD2 catalyzed citrullination is not essential to the development of EAE.     

Effects of a low dose of alcohol on cognitive biases and craving in heavy drinkers

Rationale Heavy alcohol drinking increases the incentive salience of alcohol-related cues. This leads to increased appetitive motivation to drink alcohol as measured by subjective craving and cognitive biases such as attentional bias and approach bias. Although these measures relate to the same construct, correlations between these variables are often very low. Alcohol consumption might not only increase different aspects of appetitive motivation, but also correlations between those aspects. Objectives To investigate the effect of a low alcohol dose on changes in various measures of appetitive motivation. Materials and methods Twenty-three heavy social drinkers were tested in 2 sessions, once after receiving an alcohol prime dose and once after receiving a placebo drink. After drink administration, attentional bias was measured with a visual-probe task using concurrent eye movement monitoring. Furthermore, we measured the approach bias with a stimulus response compatibility task and subjective craving with the Desires for Alcohol Questionnaire. Results After the alcohol prime dose, participants had higher levels of craving and more pronounced attentional bias (faster reaction times to probes that replaced alcohol rather than control pictures, increased maintenance of gaze on alcohol pictures, and a higher percentage of first eye movements directed toward alcohol pictures). Approach bias was not influenced by the alcohol prime dose. The correlation between attentional bias and approach bias was significantly higher after the alcohol than after the placebo drink. Conclusions A low alcohol dose increased most measures of appetitive motivation for alcohol and increased the interrelation between cognitive measures of this construct.     

Mediational relations of substance use risk profiles,alcohol-related outcomes,and drinking motives among young adolescents in the Netherlands

Aim

To examine the mediation by drinking motives of the association between personality traits (negative thinking, anxiety sensitivity, impulsivity, and sensation seeking) and alcohol frequency, binge drinking, and alcohol-related problems using a sample of students (n = 3053) aged between 13 and 15, who reported lifetime use of alcohol.

Method

Structural equation modeling was used to examine the relationship between personality traits and alcohol-related outcomes. The Model Indirect approach was used to examine the hypothesized mediation by drinking motives of the association between personality traits and alcohol-related outcomes.

Results

In this study among young adolescents, coping motives, social motives and enhancement motives played a prominent mediating role between personality and the alcohol outcomes. Multi-group analyses revealed that the role of drinking motives in the relation between personality and alcohol outcomes were largely similar between the sexes, though there were some differences found for binge drinking. More specifically, for young males, enhancement motives seems to play a more prominent mediation role between personality and binge drinking, while for young females, coping motives play a more mediating role between personality and binge drinking. Few mediation associations were found for conformity motives, and no relationships were found between anxiety sensitivity and drinking motives.

Discussion

Already in early adolescence, personality traits are found to be associated with drinking motives, which in turn are related to alcohol use. This study provides indications that it is important to intervene in early adolescence with interventions focusing on personality traits in combination with drinking motives.     

Evaluating a selective prevention programme for binge drinking among young adolescents: study protocol of a randomized controlled trial

Background  

In comparison to other Europe countries, Dutch adolescents are at the top in drinking frequency and binge drinking. A total of 75% of the Dutch 12 to 16 year olds who drink alcohol also engage in binge drinking. A prevention programme called Preventure was developed in Canada to prevent adolescents from binge drinking. This article describes a study that aims to assess the effects of this selective school-based prevention programme in the Netherlands.     

Assessing implicit alcohol associations with the Implicit Association Test: Fact or artifact?

Studies using bipolar Implicit Association Tests (IATs) found that heavy drinkers have negative and arousal associations with alcohol relative to soda. Study 1 examined whether these results were due to the label 'alcohol' and the choice of the contrast category 'soda'. Four unipolar IATs assessed alcohol associations with positive and negative valence, arousal, and sedation, while varying the target dimension: alcohol or beer versus soda or animals. Results showed that drinkers had the strongest associations between alcohol and negative valence with the exact strength depending on the choice of the target categories. They also showed associations between alcohol and positive valence, arousal, and to a lesser extent sedation, which were uninfluenced by composition of the target dimension. These findings indicate ambivalence in both the valence and arousal-sedation dimension, underscoring the importance of using unipolar alcohol-IATs. Further, study 2 showed that "figure-ground" asymmetries could not account for these IAT results. These findings provide support that implicit alcohol associations are not merely IAT artifacts and that they can be assessed in a meaningful way with unipolar IATs.