Journal of Studies on
Alcohol
Volume 65
Number 1
January 2004
Issues Available Online
September 2006
July 2006
May 2006
March 2006
January 2006
November 2005
September 2005
Supplement 15 July 2005
July 2005
May 2005
March 2005
January 2005
November 2004
September 2004
July 2004
May 2004
March 2004
January 2004
November 2003
September 2003
July 2003
May 2003
March 2003
January 2003
November 2002
September 2002
July 2002
May 2002
Selected Abstracts
PERRINE, M.W.B., SCHRODER, K.E.E., FORESTER, R., MCGONAGLE-MOULTON, P. AND HUESSY, F. The Impact of the September 11, 2001, Terrorist Attacks on Alcohol Consumption and Distress: Reactions to a National Trauma 300 Miles from Ground Zero
ABSTRACT. Objective: This study examined the short- and long-term effects of the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks in a sample of light, medium and heavy drinkers who live 300+ miles north of the epicenters. Method: Participants in an ongoing longitudinal study submitted daily reports on alcohol consumption and mood via Interactive Voice Response technology. The daily self-reports of 86 subjects between September 11, 2000, and December 30, 2001, were used to analyze alcohol consumption and mood before, on and after September 11, 2001. Data were analyzed by statistical process control (SPC) analyses. Results: Descriptive analyses revealed that by comparison with the average alcohol consumption on the previous 52 Tuesdays, women drank 33.9% more alcohol and men 13.9% more on Tuesday, September 11, 2001. Compared with the average alcohol consumption on the 365 days preceding September 11, however, no increase in alcohol consumption was found. SPC analyses did not indicate a significant increase of alcohol consumption in response to September 11 in terms of baseline standard error computed from the 365 days preceding the events. Marked increases, on the other hand, were found in self-reported levels of stress, anger and sadness, with elevations up to nine standard errors beyond average baseline ratings. Negative emotions remained elevated for up to 69 days following the attacks. Conclusions: Vicarious experience of terrorism affects emotions significantly but may not significantly affect alcohol consumption among drinkers remote from the events. (J. Stud. Alcohol 65: 5-15, 2004)
ABSTRACT. Objective: This study examined the putative effects of a paternal history of alcoholism on the apparent detectability of brain alcohol in human subjects. Method: Brain to blood ethanol ratios in two cohorts of men were determined, using proton magnetic resonance spectroscopic imaging in a brain voxel (2 ¥ 2 ¥ 2 cm) containing the putamen. The men were light drinkers with a positive (n = 8) or a negative (n = 8) paternal history of alcoholism and were given an alcohol dose of 0.8 g/kg body weight. Results: In both groups, brain alcohol detectability was less than 100%. No significant difference (p = .37) was found in the brain/blood ethanol ratios of the two groups. However, subjective assessments of feeling the extreme effects of alcohol and the extent of intoxication ("how drunk") were highly correlated with a paternal history of alcoholism, with the paternal history negative group reporting significantly more intense feelings of intoxication. Conclusions: A review of existing literature evidence and data obtained in this study indicate that brain alcohol detectability via magnetic resonance spectroscopic imaging is less than 100%. There were no significant differences in brain alcohol detectability between paternal history positive and paternal history negative men. Differences in the Subjective High Assessment Scale ratings between the two groups, however, indicate the importance of a genetic influence on the subjective response to alcohol. (J. Stud. Alcohol 65: 16-21, 2004)
ABSTRACT. Objective: Anticipated biphasic effects of alcohol have been shown to vary with level of alcohol consumption and risk for alcohol dependence. However, past research has failed to control for participants' current mood state. Furthermore, the results of previous studies comparing male and female participants may have been confounded by gender differences in alcohol metabolism. The present study seeks to replicate and expand previous research by establishing the relationship between anticipated alcohol effects and estimated BAC across four groups of male and female participants while controlling for current mood state. Method: Volunteers (N = 633; 367 women) were randomly assigned to one of four different testing conditions. Participants completed a German-language version of the Anticipated Biphasic Alcohol Effects Scale (ABAES), a mood form based on the items of the ABAES and a brief questionnaire on background variables and drinking habits. The written instructions differed across groups. Participants were asked to imagine how they would feel immediately after drinking either one, two, three or four glasses of beer. Results: Current mood state and estimated blood alcohol concentration were most strongly related to anticipated levels of alcohol-induced sedation and stimulation. Moreover, alcohol expectancies were related to drinking habits. Conclusions: The results of the present study suggest that both male and female social drinkers are able to make fairly sophisticated predictions about alcohol's effects in relation to the assumed level of intoxication. Future research may address the sources of individual differences in anticipated levels of alcohol-induced sedation and stimulation. (J. Stud. Alcohol 65: 22-26, 2004)
ABSTRACT. Objective: The purpose of this study was to examine performance effects of alcohol in young adult heavy drinkers (HDs) and light drinkers (LDs). Prior research has shown that HDs have alterations in subjective alcohol response in comparison with LDs, with greater reported stimulant-like effects and reduced sedative-like effects. It is unclear whether these quantitative differences extend to performance and objective effects. Method: Thirty-four subjects participated (20 HDs and 14 LDs) in three early evening individual alcohol challenge sessions. Subjects were examined on eye movement and psychomotor performance tasks before and several times after consuming either 0.8 g/kg or 0.4 g/kg ethanol or placebo beverage. Results: Alcohol produced similar impairment for the groups in psychomotor performance and saccadic velocity measures, with blood alcohol concentration dependent group differences on the smooth pursuit task and a marginally lower threshold for impairment for HDs on the saccadic latency task. Covarying for personality differences (i.e., disinhibition and boredom susceptibility traits) and family history of alcoholism did not significantly alter the findings. Conclusions: Despite prior findings of differential subjective response to alcohol in HDs and LDs, alcohol-induced performance impairment was comparable between the groups. Our findings suggest HDs may be particularly at risk for alcohol-related consequences because their greater sensitivity to positive alcohol effects and/or tolerance to sedative effects may not be accompanied by a lesser degree of alcohol-induced performance impairment. (J. Stud. Alcohol 65: 27-36, 2004)
ABSTRACT. Objective: Heavy alcohol use is widespread among college students, particularly in those social situations where the risk of rape rises. Few studies have provided- information on rapes of college women that occur when they are intoxicated. The purpose of the present study was to present prevalence data for rape under the condition of intoxication when the victim is unable to consent and to identify college and individual-level risk factors associated with that condition. Method: The study utilizes data from 119 schools participating in three Harvard School of Public Health College Alcohol Study surveys. The analytic sample of randomly selected students includes 8,567 women in the 1997 survey, 8,425 in the 1999 survey, and 6,988 in the 2001 survey. Results: Roughly one in 20 (4.7%) women reported being raped. Nearly three quarters (72%) of the victims experienced rape while intoxicated. Women who were under 21, were white, resided in sorority houses, used illicit drugs, drank heavily in high school and attended colleges with high rates of heavy episodic drinking were at higher risk of rape while intoxicated. Conclusions: The high proportion of rapes found to occur when women were intoxicated indicates the need for alcohol prevention programs on campuses that address sexual assault, both to educate men about what constitutes rape and to advise women of risky situations. The findings that some campus environments are associated with higher levels of both drinking and rape will help target rape prevention programs at colleges. (J. Stud. Alcohol 65: 37-45, 2004)