Ethnic differences and the closing of the sex gap in alcohol use among college-bound students.

In this study, the authors used Web-based surveys to examine differences in alcohol use by sex and ethnicity and factors associated with these group differences among 2,241 college-bound students. A Sex x Ethnicity interaction indicated that the sex gap was much larger for Latino than for Caucasian students. Although peer influence was important for both Caucasian and Latino students, family influences were significant only for Latino youths. The sex differences in drinking among Latino youths were largely explained by the combination of same-sex family member and same-sex peer drinking through values about the acceptability of drinking behavior. Among Caucasians, perceptions of peer behavior exerted a stronger influence on drinking behavior than among Latinos. These results suggest that interventions targeting peer influence are likely to be most effective for Caucasian students. In contrast, for Latinos, particularly Latina women, family characteristics may be an important target for prevention.     

Alcohol use and serial monogamy as risks for sexually transmitted diseases in young adults.

Alcohol and condom use were assessed using global, situational, and event-level analyses in a sample of young adults (N = 305). Results varied by methodology, event, and partner type; an inverse association between alcohol and condom use was found only at the event level. Participants with strong sex-related expectancies used condoms less frequently when drinking at the time of 1st intercourse with their current partner. For most recent event with a regular partner, alcohol use was unrelated to condom use, but gender, relationship duration, and oral contraceptive use accounted for more than 25% of the variance. Thus, alcohol may increase risky sex early in a relationship, whereas partner familiarity and alternate contraceptive use play a larger role as relationships develop.     

Effects of alcohol intoxication on metamemory and on retrieval from long-term memory

In a balanced-placebo design, people expected either an alcohol drink or placebo drink and consumed either alcohol (1 ml/kg) or placebo. Shortly thereafter, each person attempted to recall the answers to general-information questions (e.g., "What is the capital of Chile?"), made confidence judgments about the accuracy of recall, made feeling-of-knowing judgments on all nonrecalled items, and received a recognition test. Unanticipated outcomes included: Alcohol intoxication significantly hindered recall from long-term memory, contrary to previous conclusions that alcohol does not affect retrieval; people's expectancy of alcohol had no significant effect on memory or metamemory performance, contrary to its established effects on other kinds of performance; and alcohol intoxication produced no significant overconfidence in judgments about recall or in feeling-of-knowing judgments, contrary to the overconfidence produced in other kinds of judgments such as an intoxicated person's assessment of his driving ability. This last outcome implies that alcohol intoxication does not produce a general lowering of the threshold for confidence but rather has effects that are situation specific.     

Dominance and sex differences in nonverbal responses to differential eye contact

Sixteen male and 16 female subjects were divided into high- and low-dominant groups and assigned to one of two cohorts who either avoided eye contact or maintained a steady gaze. Starting 100 in. apart, subjects were asked to approach the cohort to the point where they felt most comfortable. Dependent measures were personal space, approach rate, reciprocal eye contact, and attitude toward cohort. It was found that high-dominant subjects showed increased proxemic behavior in responding to a direct gaze, while low-dominant subjects showed a decrease. Also men tend to use personal space and approach rate to signal dominance, while women use reciprocal eye contact. Finally, an exception was found to previous findings that positive attitudes are associated with high levels of eye contact. Low-dominant males, but no other groups, respond to direct gaze with a more negative attitude.     

A dimensional approach to the circular ordering of the emotions

A circular ordering of eight primary emotional categories was derived from the postulated underlying dimensions of hedonic and autonomic arousal. The model was contrasted with other approaches in the literature and then compared with a similar model proposed by Plutchik (1980) in postdicting the pattern of results in several studies in the literature. The results of two empirical studies based upon the present model were then presented. It was concluded that sufficient empirical support and advantage, compared with other models, was found to warrant further research.     

Beliefs About the Effects of Alcohol on Involvement in Coercive and Consenting Sexual Activities1

This study examined how an alcohol instructional set (intoxicated or sober) and gender affected subjects' b]eliefs about the negative and positive consequences of engaging in coercive and consenting sexual behaviors, as well as subjects' e]xpressed likelihood of involvement in these activities. Participants who responded to an intoxicated set believed they were more likely to be involved in coercive sexual behaviors than those who responded to sober instructions. Males with an intoxicated set also expected fewer negative and more positive consequences from coercive sex than did other participants. For consenting sexual activities, males (regardless of set) rated negative consequences lower, positive consequences higher, and expressed a stronger likelihood of involvement than did females. Efforts to prevent sexual coercion might be enhanced by including a focus on how beliefs about alcohol may affect the expected consequences and occurrence of these acts.     

High impact running improves learning

Regular physical exercise improves cognitive functions and lowers the risk for age-related cognitive decline. Since little is known about the nature and the timing of the underlying mechanisms, we probed whether exercise also has immediate beneficial effects on cognition. Learning performance was assessed directly after high impact anaerobic sprints, low impact aerobic running, or a period of rest in 27 healthy subjects in a randomized cross-over design. Dependent variables comprised learning speed as well as immediate (1 week) and long-term (>8 months) overall success in acquiring a novel vocabulary. Peripheral levels of brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) and catecholamines (dopamine, epinephrine, norepinephrine) were assessed prior to and after the interventions as well as after learning. We found that vocabulary learning was 20 percent faster after intense physical exercise as compared to the other two conditions. This condition also elicited the strongest increases in BDNF and catecholamine levels. More sustained BDNF levels during learning after intense exercise were related to better short-term learning success, whereas absolute dopamine and epinephrine levels were related to better intermediate (dopamine) and long-term (epinephrine) retentions of the novel vocabulary. Thus, BDNF and two of the catecholamines seem to be mediators by which physical exercise improves learning.