Influence of social models on alcohol use among adolescents

The aim of this study was to analyze the relationship between the consumption of alcohol among adolescents and that of their close model figures. The sample was made up of 536 secondary students from rural areas. Predictive models of alcohol consumption were established by means of logistic regression analysis and the criterion used was the consumption by parents, siblings, and the adolescent's best friend. It was observed that alcohol use of these models conditioned the adolescents' consumption; their attitude towards the drug, their intention to consume, their normative perception and perception of risk. The analysis revealed that the main predictor of alcohol use is the consumption by the best friend (OR = 13.04, IC 95% = 8.14-20.91), followed by the consumption by siblings (OR = 1.85, IC 95% = 1.12-3.04). The intention of consumption increases when the father is an alcohol user (OR = 2.70, IC 95% = 1.68-4.36), sibling (OR = 2.83, IC 95% = 1.56-5.15), and mainly best friend (OR = 4.33, IC 95% = 2.55-7.36).     

The Expectancy Challenge Alcohol Literacy Curriculum (ECALC): A single session group intervention to reduce alcohol use

The Expectancy Challenge Alcohol Literacy Curriculum (ECALC) is a single session group-delivered program designed to modify alcohol expectancy processes and reduce alcohol use among children and young adults. The objective of this study was to demonstrate the effectiveness of the ECALC in reducing risky alcohol use among heavy drinking college men. Four fraternities at a large state university were randomly assigned to receive either the single session ECALC or a control presentation (2 fraternity houses per condition, n = 250). Alcohol expectancies were assessed before and immediately after program presentation. Results demonstrated significant changes on 5 of the 7 subscales of the Comprehensive Effects of Alcohol Scale (CEOA) among students who received the ECALC when compared with control participants. Alcohol use data were collected for 4 weeks before and 4 weeks after program presentation. Compared with those in the control condition, students who received the ECALC demonstrated significant reductions in all facets of alcohol use measured, including decreased mean and peak blood alcohol content (BAC), decreased mean number of days drinking per week, decreased mean drinks per sitting, and decreased number of binge-drinking episodes per month. This study represents 2 important advances. First is the significant reduction in risky alcohol use produced by a single session group-delivered program. The second important advance is the success in changing expectancy processes without using impractical elements common in previous expectancy challenge methods (e.g., a "barlab" environment and actual alcohol administration). (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved).     

Expectancy and intermittency

When a human subject responds to the second of two closely succeeding stimuli, his reaction time to the second stimulus tends to increase sharply as the interstimulus interval decreases. Controversy has centred on the issue of whether this increase is mainly due to the effects of the first stimulus in producing some kind of block in the central analysing systems or whether it is mainly due to the temporal uncertainty of the second signal, as determined by the distribution of interstimulus intervals used.

By substituting for the first stimulus a spontaneous response on the part of the subject and holding the distribution of interstimulus intervals constant, it is shown that the delays in responding to the succeeding signal are eliminated, even at intervals as short as 50 millisec. This is interpreted as evidence in support of the intermittency hypothesis and as a clear indication that the increase in reaction times normally observed is not a result of the distribution of interstimulus intervals.     

Inference in regression models of heavily skewed alcohol use data: a comparison of ordinary least squares, generalized linear models, and bootstrap resampling.

Analysis of alcohol use data and other low base rate risk behaviors using ordinary least squares regression models can be problematic. This article presents 2 alternative statistical approaches, generalized linear models and bootstrapping, that may be more appropriate for such data. First, the basic theory behind the approaches is presented. Then, using a data set of alcohol use behaviors and consequences, results based on these approaches are contrasted with the results from ordinary least squares regression. The less traditional approaches consistently demonstrated better fit with model assumptions, as demonstrated by graphical analysis of residuals, and identified more significant variables potentially resulting in theoretically different interpretations of the models of alcohol use. In conclusion, these models show significant promise for furthering the understanding of alcohol-related behaviors.     

Television's role regarding alcohol use among teenagers

The purpose of this study was to determine the extent to which adolescents classified as light, moderate, or heavy television viewers differ regarding alcohol use. The extent to which demographic variables mediate the television-alcohol association also was investigated. A total of 394 high school males completed a written questionnaire to assess television and drinking practices. As hypothesized, heavy viewers consumed alcohol significantly more often than did light and moderate viewers, especially the former, particularly when demographic variables were controlled simultaneously. Television as a powerful and pervasive influence on youth, containing many undesirable health messages, is discussed.     

The development of children's intentions to use alcohol: direct and indirect effects of parent alcohol use and parenting behaviors

The purpose of this study was to explore the effect of parent alcohol use and parenting behavior on the development of children's intentions to use alcohol in Grades 1 through 8. The authors hypothesized that the effect of parent alcohol use on children's intention to use alcohol would be mediated through parenting behavior, specifically monitoring/supervision, positive parenting, and inconsistent discipline. Using cohort-sequential latent growth modeling (LGM), the authors tested 3 models examining the effect of the development of parent alcohol use on the development of children's intentions to use alcohol, as mediated by the development of each of the 3 parenting behaviors. Multiple group analyses were used to explore gender differences. The effect of growth in parent alcohol use on growth in children's intentions was mediated only by parent monitoring/supervision and was significant only for girls. The effect of inconsistent discipline was directly related to growth in intentions for both boys and girls. Although parent alcohol use was related to less positive parenting, positive parenting was unrelated to children's intentions to use alcohol.     

Borderline personality features predict alcohol use problems

This study assessed the relation between BPD features and problems associated with alcohol use 2 years later in young adults. Approximately 5,000 nonclinical young adults were screened for BPD features, and two cohorts of participants completed the laboratory phase of the study at Time 1 (total N = 421) and then again 2 years later at Time 2 (total N = 356). Measures included self-report and interview-based assessments of personality disorders, psychopathology in biological parents, Axis I psychopathology, and alcohol use problems. BPD features were found to significantly predict alcohol use problems 2 years later after controlling for parents' substance use disorders, Axis I psycho-pathology (including alcohol abuse/dependence), and non-BPD personality disorders. In addition, the BPD subscale that assesses impulsivity was found to be significantly associated with alcohol use problems once all predictors were entered into the model.     

Adolescents'' alcohol use related to perceived norms

A questionnaire survey was carried out among 898 Norwegian adolescents age twelve to twenty. The study focused on the relation between adolescents' alcohol use on one side and estimated drinking norms (peers' drinking) together with attributed opinion norms (parents' and friends' acceptance of adolescents' alcohol use) on the other. On average, 5% of students in 7th, 8th, and 9th grade reported weekly alcohol use. They overestimated the number of fellow students using alcohol every week seven-fold. Students' estimates were significantly related to self-reported alcohol use. Even in high-school (10th, 11th and 12th grade) where 29% reported weekly alcohol use, students overestimated number of weekly drinkers among friends and fellow students by two-fold. Contrary to the results from a previous study conducted in Norway, in this study opinions attributed to both friends and parents about adolescents' alcohol use were significantly related to the students' own alcohol use. Estimated behavior norms and attributed opinion norms explained 46% of the observed variance in students' self-reported frequency of drinking. In a health promotion context, these results point to the importance of correcting student misconceptions about how often friends and fellow students drink alcohol.     

Expectancy and academic achievement

Two possible explanations of the relationship between expectancy and subsequent academic achievement were formulated and tested. The assumption that goal setting, by influencing actual and intended effort expenditure, might also determine both expectancy and subsequent performance, and thereby explain the relationship between the latter two variables, found little support. The hypothesis that expectancy determines how hard people work and thereby how well they perform found support only in a male group. Moreover, when previous academic achievement, goal setting, and effort expenditure were all controlled, expectancy was still found to relate to subsequent grades for both women and men. It was concluded that neither goal theory nor effort calculation theory could fully account for the relationship between expectancy and academic achievement.     

Context effects in a temporal discrimination task" further tests of the Scalar Expectancy Theory and Learning-to-Time models

Pigeons were trained on two temporal bisection tasks, which alternated every two sessions. In the first task, they learned to choose a red key after a 1-s signal and a green key after a 4-s signal; in the second task, they learned to choose a blue key after a 4-s signal and a yellow key after a 16-s signal. Then the pigeons were exposed to a series of test trials in order to contrast two timing models, Learning-to-Time (LeT) and Scalar Expectancy Theory (SET). The models made substantially different predictions particularly for the test trials in which the sample duration ranged from 1 s to 16 s and the choice keys were Green and Blue, the keys associated with the same 4-s samples: LeT predicted that preference for Green should increase with sample duration, a context effect, but SET predicted that preference for Green should not vary with sample duration. The results were consistent with LeT. The present study adds to the literature the finding that the context effect occurs even when the two basic discriminations are never combined in the same session.     

Genetic associations of alcohol dehydrogenase with alcohol use disorders and endophenotypes in white college students

Associations of alcohol dehydrogenase (ADH) gene polymorphisms (ADH1B*2 and ADH1C*1) with a lifetime alcohol use disorder (AUD) were examined in White college students. Alcohol-related endophenotypes likely to be influenced by elevations in acetaldehyde were also assessed. Individuals with an ADH1B*2 allele had lower rates of AUDs, consumed a lower maximum number of drinks in a 24-hr period, reported a greater level of response to alcohol, were more likely to have experienced alcohol-induced headaches following 1 or 2 drinks, and reported more severe hangovers than those lacking this allele. These findings are consistent with the hypothesis that enhanced sensitivity to alcohol and lower levels of alcohol use reflect the mechanism by which ADH1B*2 protects against developing an AUD.     

A theory of reservation-dwelling American Indian alcohol use risk

The authors present a theory for understanding risk for problem drinking among reservation-dwelling American Indians. The theory offers an overall framework for understanding the risk process for this group. It considers the distinction between factors that influence mean levels of American Indian problem drinking and factors that influence individual differences in American Indian drinking. It proposes important contextual differences between reservation-dwelling American Indians and Caucasians that may help explain the higher mean levels of American Indian problem drinking. The theory further holds that, within the high mean level of problem drinking characteristic of many American Indian reservations, individual differences in problem drinking can be explained by very similar personality and learning factors as those that influence problem-drinking levels for other ethnic groups.     

Managers' alcohol use: Roles and symbolic functions

Alcohol was used widely by a representative sample of managers in the private business sector. Manager's perceptions of the roles and the symbolic functions played by alcohol are reported. The inclusion of the roles and symbolic functions in change strategies are advocated.This study was funded by the Alcoholic Liquor Advisory Council of New Zealand. The author would like to acknowledge the work of Ruth Houghton and Prue Toft in conducting the original study.     

At-risk children in Christian families concerning alcohol use

Health educators proposing alcohol prevention programs for a church setting face a variety of problems. Information only preventive types of alcohol programs are being increasingly criticized. The purpose of this study was to identify variables that best predict use of alcohol for children in fundamentalist Protestant Christian families. Three hundred and two students currently enrolled in a mandatory health course at a fundamentalist Protestant Christian university responded to a questionnaire designed to identify contextual or environmental risk factors for alcohol use. A significant difference was found in five of 15 established environmental factors. This paper suggests that an alcohol education program that focused on these differences would be advantageous for the health educator to carry out in the church setting.     

Traditions and alcohol use: a mixed-methods analysis

An integrative mixed-methods analysis examined traditional beliefs as associated with beliefs about self-care during pregnancy and with alcohol abstinence among young adult women from two rural U.S.-Mexico border communities. Quantitative (measured scale) variables and qualitative thematic variables generated from open-ended responses served as within-time predictors of these health-related outcomes. A weaker belief that life is better in big cities was associated with stronger self-care beliefs during pregnancy. Also, a weaker belief that small towns offer tranquil environments was associated with total abstinence from alcohol. Regarding the Hispanic Paradox, these results suggest that a critical appreciation of cultural traditions can be protective, as this avoids stereotypical or idyllic views of urban or rural lifeways, and promotes self-protective beliefs and behaviors.