Cognitions associated with recovery from alcohol dependence1

The present study examined the cognitive factors uniquely associated with the status of alcohol dependence recovery, assessing Korean patients who were recovered (n = 57), having been alcohol‐abstinent for 4 months or more after treatment, and who were nonrecovered (n = 213), being still in treatment. Compared with the nonrecovered group, the recovered group reported lower levels of denial of drinking problems and rationalization of drinking (two dimensions of specific beliefs that facilitate alcohol use), dysfunctional attitudes, depressed mood, and emotion‐focused coping. The recovered group also showed higher levels of alcohol abstinence self‐efficacy and problem‐focused coping. Both denial and alcohol abstinence self‐efficacy were uniquely associated with alcohol dependence recovery, when we controlled for the other relevant predictors, whereas neither dysfunctional attitudes nor rationalization were so associated. These findings could be useful in refining psychological interventions facilitating the recovery of alcohol‐dependent patients.     

Alcohol‐Related Consequences Among Intercollegiate Student Athletes: The Role of Drinking Motives

This study examined drinking motives as predictors of alcohol‐related consequences among student athletes and nonathletes. Results indicated that the highest level of alcohol‐related consequences was reported by student athletes with high levels of both coping and conformity motives.     

Longitudinal Predictors of Alcohol‐Related Harms During the Transition to Adulthood

While a range of factors have been found to increase the likelihood of alcohol‐related harms among young people, little is known about their relative importance. This article aimed to identify the risks for alcohol‐related harms at an age when alcohol use and problems tend to peak in Australia (19–20 years). A wide range of concurrent and antecedent factors from multiple domains were examined using path analysis, including individual characteristics, family environment, and externalising and internalising problems. The sample comprised of 941 individuals from the Australian Temperament Project, a large longitudinal community‐based study. The path model controlled for current risky drinking and revealed a number of variables that were significant longitudinal predictors of alcohol‐related harms within each of the domains, including adolescent antisocial behaviour and drinking behaviour, low agreeableness, impulsivity, and paternal drinking levels. The potential for developmental prevention approaches to reduce alcohol‐related harms by targeting externalising behaviour problems, interpersonal influences, and individual characteristics is discussed.     

Power of being present: the role of mindfulness on the relation between men's alcohol use and sexual aggression toward intimate partners

The primary aim of this investigation was to examine the association between men's level of mindfulness and histories of alcohol consumption and sexual aggression toward intimate partners. Participants were 167 heterosexual drinking males who completed self‐report measures of mindfulness, frequency and quantity of alcohol consumption during the past 12 months and sexual aggression against intimate partners during the past 12 months. Results indicated that a history of consuming larger amounts when drinking was associated with more frequent sexual coercion/aggression among men who reported low, but not high, levels of mindfulness. However, drinking more frequently by itself was not associated with more frequent sexual coercion/aggression. These results support the attention‐allocation model and suggest implications for future intervention research aimed at reducing alcohol‐related aggression. Aggr. Behav. 36:405–413, 2010. © 2010 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.     

Efficacy of a Brief,School‐Based Bystander Bullying Intervention on High School Students' Alcohol Use

The authors examined the efficacy of a brief bystander bullying intervention on reducing alcohol use among high school students (N = 61). As hypothesized, high‐risk drinkers in the intervention group reported reduced drinking compared with control students at a 30‐day follow‐up.     

Drinking trajectories following an initial lapse.

Relapse following alcohol treatment is a major problem for individuals who are alcohol dependent, yet little is known about the course of drinking after the initial lapse. In the current study, discrete-time survival analysis and latent growth mixture modeling were used to evaluate the time to first lapse and the trajectories of postlapse drinking in a sample of 563 individuals who received community alcohol treatment. Results showed a decreasing risk of lapsing over time. After the initial lapse, 3 trajectory subgroups provided a parsimonious representation of the heterogeneity in postlapse drinking frequency and quantity, with the majority of individuals reporting light, infrequent drinking. Covariate analyses incorporating demographics, distal risk factors, time to first lapse, and coping behavior as predictors of time to lapse and postlapse drinking trajectories indicated that alcohol dependence and coping behavior were the strongest predictors of lapsing and postlapse drinking behavior.     

Reducing Alcohol‐Related Consequences Among High School Seniors: Efficacy of a Brief,Web‐Based Intervention

The authors examined the efficacy of a brief, web‐based personalized feedback intervention on reducing alcohol‐related consequences among high school seniors (N = 105) using a group‐randomized controlled design. Results of repeated measures mixed‐models analyses indicated significant intervention effects over time for alcohol‐related consequences at 30‐day and 6‐month follow‐up assessments. Drinking risk status moderated intervention effects such that results were only significant for high‐risk drinkers (i.e., students reporting initiation of heavy episodic drinking at baseline).     

Early drinking onset: A study of prevalence and determinants among 13‐year‐old adolescents in Norway

Early drinking onset is associated with different psychosocial adjustment problems among adolescents. The aim of this study was to assess determinants associated with early drinking and to identify factors predicting early drinking onset among adolescents. The study included 1,550 eighth‐graders with a mean age of 13.5 years from 41 schools. A total of 24% (boys 29%, girls 19%) had ever drunk alcohol, while 14% had drunk some alcohol in the last 30 days. Further, early drinking was associated with gender, religion, school performance, smoking and bullying in the bivariate tests. Predictors of early drinking onset were identified by generalized linear mixed models with two multivariable models created. The first model included social and environmental variables. Entering intentions, expectancies, attitudes and norms into the multivariable analysis resulted in a significant improvement of the model fit constituting 86% in the second model. The percentage correctly classified those (56%) who had been drinking in the second model which was two times higher compared to the first model. Gender, religion and smoking emerged as significant predictors of drinking in both models.     

Binge Drinking Among College Athletes and Non-Athletes

Concerns about incidence, forms, and consequences of alcohol use among college students lack examinations of the lifestyles and predictors of college student athletes. This article, using a sample of student-athletes and non-athletes from four Southern universities, identifies the lifestyle predictors for each population, identifying patterns and sets of predictors of binge drinking behavior. Findings indicate that for both samples, binge drinking behavior is explained by sex, drinking in bars, number of male friends who drink, and cigarette smoking. Student-athletes' binge drinking is explained further by residing on campus. Non-athlete binge drinking is related to race and amount of study time per week. Implications for these findings are also discussed.     

Forgiveness and Cohesion in Familial Perceptions of Alcohol Misuse

The authors examine the relationships between forgiveness, family cohesion, and alcohol. In Study 1 (N= 190), participants reported lower levels of trust and forgiveness for family members who misuse alcohol. In Study 2 (N= 141), the authors present a model demonstrating family cohesion and trait forgiveness related to state forgiveness of an alcohol‐misusing family member. State forgiveness was related to trust in that family member and, subsequently, higher levels of perceived misuser drinking refusal efficacy.     

Do Parents Know Best? Examining the Relationship Between Parenting Profiles,Prevention Efforts,and Peak Drinking in College Students1

The study examined parent profiles among high school athletes transitioning to college and their association with high‐risk drinking in a multi‐site, randomized trial. Students (n = 587) were randomized to a control or combined parent‐based and brief motivational intervention condition and completed measures at baseline and at 5‐ and 10‐month follow‐ups. Four parent profiles (authoritative, authoritarian, permissive, indifferent) were observed among participants. Findings indicated control participants with authoritarian parenting were at the greatest risk for heavy drinking. Alternately, students exposed to permissive or authoritarian parenting reported lower peak drinking when administered the combined intervention, compared to controls. Findings suggest the combined intervention was efficacious in reducing peak alcohol consumption among high‐risk students based on athlete status and parenting profiles.     

Personal and social correlates of alcohol consumption among mid‐adolescents

A prospective, cohort survey of 540 mid‐adolescent students was conducted to identify personal, family and social correlates of alcohol use. A structured questionnaire recorded alcohol involvement, other substance use, perceived parental alcohol use and related factors, alcohol‐related attitudes and beliefs, psychological well‐being, social and peer behaviours, and school conduct problems. Participants drank on 17.5 days in the past 3 months; on a typical drinking day they consumed 4.7 units, with 28.5% reported drinking six or more units. More frequent drinking was independently correlated with being male, perceiving that parents encouraged drinking, drinking without parental knowledge, drinking to alter mood, buying alcoholic beverages, spending more time with friends who drink, perceiving social pressure to drink, and being excluded from school and truanting. Parental discouragement for alcohol was related to more frequent drinking in females and less frequent drinking in males. Drinking more intensively was associated with use of cannabis, parental encouragement to drink, spending more time with friends who drink, school exclusion, and being in trouble with teachers. These results highlight multidimensional correlates of drinking during mid‐adolescence and underline the importance of addressing personal, family, peer, and school conduct factors in school‐based alcohol education programmes.     

Alcohol Consumption and Nearly Lethal Suicide Attempts

W e conducted a case‐control study of the association between nearly lethal suicide attempts and facets of alcohol consumption; namely, drinking frequency, drinking quantity, binge drinking, alcoholism, drinking within 3 hours of suicide attempt, and age began drinking. Subjects were 13–34 years of age. In bivariable analyses, all measures were associated with nearly lethal suicide attempts. Odds ratios ranged from 2.4 for alcoholism to 7.0 for drinking within 3 hours of attempt. All exposure variables except age began drinking exhibited a J‐shaped relationship between alcohol exposure and nearly lethal suicide attempt. After controlling for potential confounders and other measures of alcohol exposure, drinking within 3 hours of attempt remained most strongly (odds ratios > 6) associated. Alcoholism remained significantly associated in most models, but at lower strength.     

Associations between depression, distress tolerance, delay discounting, and alcohol-related problems in European American and African American college students

Although levels of heavy drinking and alcohol-related problems are high in college students, there is significant variability in the number and type of problems experienced, even among students who drink heavily. African American students drink less and experience fewer alcohol-related problems than European American students, but are still at risk, and little research has investigated the potentially unique patterns and predictors of problems among these students. Depression, distress tolerance, and delay discounting have been implicated in adult substance abuse and may be important predictors of alcohol problem severity among college students. We examined the relationship between these variables and alcohol-related problems among African American and European American students (N = 206; 53% female; 68% European American; 28% African American) who reported recent heavy drinking. In regression models that controlled for drinking level, depression, distress tolerance, and delay discounting were associated with alcohol problems among African American students, but only depression was associated with alcohol problems among European American students. These results suggest that negative affect is a key risk factor for alcohol problems among college student drinkers. For African American students, the inability to tolerate negative emotions and to organize their behavior around future outcomes may also be especially relevant risk factors.     

Interaction Effects of Neighborhood Disadvantage and Individual Social Support on Frequency of Alcohol Use in Youth Living with HIV

Youth living with HIV (YLH) experience multiple disease‐related stresses along with the same structural and developmental challenges faced by their uninfected peers; alcohol use among YLH represents a risk behavior by virtue of potential effects on youth health and increased likelihood of engaging in unprotected sex while drinking alcohol. Research aimed at better understanding the interplay of individual‐ and neighborhood‐level influences on alcohol use for YLH is needed to inform interventions. This study examined whether socioeconomic disadvantage (SED) and social support influence, independently and through interaction, alcohol use in YLH. Data from the Adolescent Medicine Trials Network for HIV/AIDS Interventions (ATN) consisted of YLH across 538 neighborhoods in the United States who acquired HIV behaviorally. Neighborhood‐specific data were compiled from the 2010 U.S. Census Bureau and matched with individual‐level data from the ATN (N = 1,357) to examine effects that contribute to variation in frequency of alcohol use. Other drug use, being male, being non‐Black, and older age were associated with greater alcohol use. Higher social support was negatively associated with alcohol use frequency. A cross‐level interaction indicated that the association found between decreasing social support and increasing alcohol use frequency was weakened in areas with lower SED. Implications are discussed.     

Exploring Correlates of Alcohol-Specific Social Reactions in Alcohol-Involved Sexual Assaults

This exploratory study examined demographic, assault, and disclosure factors as predictors of survivors’ decisions to disclose preassault alcohol use and social reactions to their preassault alcohol use. Of survivors drinking prior to assault, those with more education and greater alcohol impairment or resistance during assault were more likely to disclose preassault drinking. Of women disclosing preassault drinking, those with more education and more violent assaults received more negative social reactions specific to their preassault drinking. Such negative reactions were more common for those telling parents, police, or medical professionals. Women with less education received more positive and negative social reactions specific to their preassault drinking. Disclosing preassault drinking in greater detail was related to positive social reactions specific to preassault drinking and greater alcohol impairment during assault was associated with both positive and negative social reactions specific to preassault drinking. Implications for research and intervention are provided for survivors disclosing alcohol-related sexual assaults.     

School Contextual Influences on the Risk for Adolescent Alcohol Misuse

This study investigates the association between school context and adolescent alcohol misuse. Data are from the first two waves of the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health (N = 10,574 adolescents nested within 128 schools). Multilevel multinomial logistic regression is used to assess the association between school-level characteristics and the risk for non-, moderate, and heavy drinking. The risk for adolescent alcohol misuse varies significantly across schools after adjusting for adolescent-level predictors. Several school-level characteristics predict alcohol misuse. Notably, the risk for heavy drinking is elevated in schools located in communities that are socioeconomically advantaged, have high proportions of Non-Hispanic White residents, and are located in suburban (versus urban) areas. High aggregate levels of intoxication in schools increases the risk for heavy drinking among individual adolescents. Results suggest that the influence of social contexts on health is not uniform and that adolescent drinking is more likely in communities that are conceptualized as advantaged.     

Factors related to cigarette smoking and alcohol use among adolescents

Based on a national survey of Icelandic adolescents, this study examined the various predictors of cigarette smoking and alcohol use. It was found that the use of tobacco and alcohol was related to a number of different factors: sex, residence, hours of paid work, physical activities, social network, educational performance and beliefs, and psychological distress. Further, smoking and drinking had most predictors in common. It was concluded that existing theoretical perspectives on juvenile deviance do not provide an adequate account of adolescent smoking and drinking. The need to integrate existing theories into a wider explanatory framework is discussed.     

Five‐Year Prospective Study of Risk Factors for Daily Smoking in Adolescence Among Early Nonsmokers and Experimenters1

Grade 7 nonsmokers and experimenters (N= 4,165) were compared on a wide range of risk factors for future smoking derived from four prominent theories and whether these factors predicted daily smoking at Grade 12. Early experimenters scored consistently higher than did early nonsmokers on risk factors for future smoking. Common predictors of Grade 12 daily smoking for both groups included early exposure to an important adult who smokes, being young for one's cohort, and weak academic bonds. For Grade 7 non‐smokers, unique predictors of daily smoking included exposure to pro‐smoking social influences (cigarette offers, sibling who smokes), early binge drinking, and being female. Unique predictors for early experimenters were less sharply delineated, although certain family factors appeared to be more important for this group. African Americans and His‐panics were also less likely to progress from experimental to daily smoking. Results point to the importance of adapting prevention efforts to the special needs of early nonsmokers and experimenters.