Journal of Studies on
Alcohol
Volume 67
Number 1
January 2006
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
Corbin, W.R., Fromme, K., and Bergeson, S.E. Preliminary data on the association among the serotonin transporter polymorphism, subjective alcohol experiences, and drinking behavior
ABSTRACT. Objective: Individual differences in subjective responses to alcohol are believed to have a genetic basis and have been associated with increased risk of alcohol-related problems. There are, however, conflicting results from past studies, perhaps owing to differences in subjective alcohol effects by limb of the blood alcohol curve and the passage of time. The current pilot study evaluated relations among serotonin transporter (SERT) genotype, subjective alcohol responses, and drinking behavior across both the ascending and descending limbs of the blood alcohol curve. Method: Participants (N = 222; 68% male) were administered alcohol (target blood alcohol concentration of .06%) with a subsample (n = 86) providing genetic data. Following a social stressor, participants were provided the opportunity to engage in ad libitum alcohol consumption. Results: SERT transporter was not significantly associated with ad lib drinking or subjective alcohol effects at individual time points, although a trend toward a SERT by blood alcohol concentration limb interaction was observed for ad lib drinking. In addition, SERT genotype predicted acute tolerance to alcohol effects, with participants homozygous for the long SERT allele developing acute tolerance more rapidly than other genotypes. Conclusions: Although SERT genotype was not reliably associated with ad lib drinking behavior, the results suggest that individuals with the long-long (LL) genotype may develop acute tolerance to alcohol effects more rapidly than heterozygotes or individuals homozygous for the short SERT allele. (J. Stud. Alcohol67: 5-13, 2006)
ABSTRACT. Objective: The purpose of this study was to determine whether injury mechanism among injured patients is differentially distributed as a function of acute alcohol consumption (quantity, type, and drinking setting). Method: A cross-sectional study was conducted between October 2000 and October 2001 in the Gold Coast Hospital Emergency Department, Queensland, Australia. Data were collected quarterly over a 12-month period. Every injured patient who presented to the emergency department during the study period for treatment of an injury sustained less than 24 hours prior to presentation was approached for interview. The final sample comprised 593 injured patients (males = 377). Three measures of alcohol consumption in the 6 hours prior to injury were obtained from self-report: quantity, beverage type, and drinking setting. The main outcome measure was mechanism of injury, which was categorized into six groups: road traffic crash (RTC), being hit by or against something, fall, cut/piercing, overdose/poisoning, and miscellaneous. Injury intent was also measured (intentional vs unintentional). Results: After controlling for relevant confounding variables, neither quantity nor type of alcohol was significantly associated with injury mechanism. However, drinking setting (i.e., licensed premise) was significantly associated with increased odds of sustaining an intentional versus unintentional injury (odds ratio [OR] = 2.79, 95% confidence interval [CI] = 1.4-5.6); injury through being hit by/against something versus other injury types (OR = 2.59, 95% CI = 1.4-4.9); and reduced odds of sustaining an injury through RTC versus non-RTC (OR = 0.02, 95% CI = 0.004-0.9), compared with not drinking alcohol prior to injury. Conclusions: No previous analytical studies have examined the relationship between injury mechanism and acute alcohol consumption (quantity, type, and setting) across all types of injury and all injury severities while controlling for potentially important confounders (demographic and situational confounders, risk-taking behavior, substance use, and usual drinking patterns). These data suggest that among injured patients, mechanism of injury is not differentially distributed as a function of quantity or type of acute alcohol consumption but may be differentially distributed as a function of drinking setting (i.e., RTC, intentional injury, being hit). Therefore, prevention strategies that focus primarily on the quantity and type of alcohol consumed should be directed generically across injury mechanisms and not limited to particular cause of injury campaigns. (J. Stud. Alcohol67: 14-21, 2006)
ABSTRACT. Objective: This study examined the extent to which pregnant women participating in the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) were counseled by their health care providers to stop drinking alcohol during pregnancy. A second purpose was to identify characteristics associated with alcohol consumption postrecognition of pregnancy. Method: The sample consisted of 279 women who continued to drink after learning they were pregnant. Measures of provider advice on alcohol consumption, demographic characteristics, caffeine intake, smoking, other drug use, alcohol risk (using the TWEAK scale), and depressive symptoms on the Center for Epidemiological Studies Depression Scale (CES-D) were collected. Results: Sixty-two percent of women had significantly high TWEAK scores, and 60% scored within the clinical range for depression (CES-D ≥ 16). Sixty percent of sample women had been advised by their care providers not to drink alcohol during pregnancy. Women who were most likely to receive advice were black non-Hispanic and Hispanic, were Spanish speaking, were less educated, were on public assistance, and had a higher number of alcohol-related risk behaviors. Advanced age, public assistance, caffeine use, smoking, and elevated TWEAK and CES-D scores predicted elevations in alcohol consumption rates. Conclusions: Although advice to stop drinking during pregnancy was provided to 60% of this sample, women continued to drink following pregnancy recognition, with alcohol consumption rates highly associated with sociodemographic and psychological factors, namely maternal depression. Because elevations in alcohol consumption during pregnancy are associated with poorer developmental outcomes for children, further efforts are needed to better address social and mental health factors that influence consumption. (J. Stud. Alcohol67: 22-31, 2006)
ABSTRACT. Objective: Our goal was to carefully examine disparities in substance use between two American Indian reservation communities and a national sample. We sought to identify characteristic patterns of use—both across and within samples—that could be used to inform intervention efforts aimed at reducing disparities. Method: Latent class analyses were used to identify subgroups within each sample that were characterized by distinctive patterns of use of alcohol and eight drugs; the use patterns and prevalence of subgroups were then compared across samples. American Indian data were from the American Indian Service Utilization, Psychiatric Epidemiology, Risk and Protective Factors Project (AI-SUPERPFP; N = 2,647), which comprised participants from two distinct cultural groups in the Southwest (SW; n = 1,244; 57% female) and Northern Plains (NP; n = 1,443; 52% female). National data were from the public use file of the 1999 National Household Survey of Drug Abuse (NHSDA; N = 39,152; 52% female). Results: Four classes of lifetime users (abstainers, primarily alcohol users, primarily alcohol and marijuana users, and polysubstance users) and three classes of past-year users (abstainers, primarily alcohol users, and alcohol and drug users) were identified in each sample (SW, NP, NHSDA). Despite consistency in classes of users found across these samples, there were notable sample differences in class prevalence. The modal class for lifetime use, for example, was primarily alcohol users in the SW and NHSDA, and primarily alcohol and marijuana use in the NP. The concordance of lifetime and past-year use classes also varied across the three samples, and examination of past-year abstainers in conjunction with lifetime-use class suggested potentially important differences in the stability of substance-use patterns over time. Conclusions: Our findings highlight the utility of latent class techniques for understanding substance use, comparing substance use across populations and identifying key points of intervention, prevention, and treatment within different communities. (J. Stud. Alcohol67: 32-43, 2006)
ABSTRACT. Objective: Problems with alcohol remain a serious public health concern despite decreased use among some populations. Here we examine the relationship between alcohol problems and religiosity, hypothesizing that social resources may mediate this relationship. Method: Using data from a longitudinal cohort study of a black community population (N = 1,242) followed from age 6 to 32, analysis of moment structures (AMOS) multiple regression analyses were used to examine the association of religious involvement and alcohol-use problems, taking into account mediators, moderators, or both. Results: Findings from this study support and extend the current literature that being male, having a major depressive disorder, completing fewer years of education, being unemployed, moving more frequently, and not attending church at least monthly are associated with serious problems with alcohol use in blacks. Those who were depressed and attended church frequently were no more likely to have alcohol problems than those who were not depressed. However, depression was strongly associated with alcohol problems for those who did not attend church frequently. Conclusions: Frequency of church attendance was associated with fewer alcohol problems, and this relationship was moderated by depression. Other measures of religiosity were not significantly related to alcohol problems, and social resources did not mediate the relationship between alcohol problems and religiosity. (J. Stud. Alcohol67: 44-53, 2006) )