Alcohol

Issues Available Online

RIMONDINI, R., SOMMER, W. AND HEILIG, M. A Temporal Threshold for Induction of Persistent Alcohol Preference: Behavioral Evidence in a Rat Model of Intermittent Intoxication

Objective: Development of alcohol dependence is gradual, requires prolonged exposure to alcohol and reflects neuroadaptive processes in the brain. An understanding of these neuroadaptive processes can lead to novel treatment targets. We recently showed that 7 weeks of intermittent alcohol vapor exposure in rats induces a long-lasting increase of voluntary ethanol consumption, accompanied by changes in gene expression patterns in cingulate cortex and amygdala. These findings prompt the question of whether underlying adaptive processes develop gradually over time or whether a temporal threshold exists for this phenotype conversion to occur. We addressed this question by examining the functional consequences of different exposure durations. Method: Male Wistar rats (N = 43) were exposed to alcohol according to the previously published protocol for 2, 4 or 7 weeks. Following 3 weeks of abstinence to eliminate effects of acute withdrawal, subjects were introduced to voluntary alcohol self-administration in a two-bottle free-choice paradigm with continuous access. Results: Rats exposed to alcohol vapor for 7 weeks displayed a marked increase in voluntary ethanol consumption and a dramatic increase in ethanol preference. In rats exposed for shorter periods (2 and 4 weeks), neither ethanol self-administration nor ethanol preference were increased at any time point. Conclusions: These observations support the existence of a temporal threshold for induction of long-lasting changes in voluntary alcohol consumption. The search for underlying molecular processes should be carried out in this context. (J. Stud. Alcohol 64: 445-449, 2003)

SPICER, P., NOVINS, D.K., MITCHELL, C.M. AND BEALS, J. Aboriginal Social Organization, Contemporary Experience and American Indian Adolescent Alcohol Use

Objective: Anthropologists with an interest in American Indian alcohol use have long held that how native people drink has been conditioned by aspects of the social organization of their societies prior to the disruptive influences of European colonialism. Our goal in this article was to explicitly test the importance of these factors in four contemporary American Indian cultural groups. Method: Using data on adolescent alcohol use drawn from the first full wave of the longitudinal Voices of Indian Teens Project (N = 1,651, 51% female), we tested whether patterns of quantity-frequency of alcohol use and the negative consequences of alcohol use predicted by social organizational variables were found among contemporary adolescents and, subsequently, whether these differences persisted when other, more proximal, variables were included. Results: Cultural differences appeared to account for a small percentage of the variance in both quantity-frequency of alcohol use and negative consequences in the initial steps of our analyses, but the pattern in these data was not consistent with the predictions of existing theories regarding aboriginal social organization. Moreover, these cultural differences were no longer significant in the final step of our analyses, suggesting that the cultural differences that did exist were better explained by other factors, at least among these adolescents. Conclusions: Although these analyses did not indicate that culture was irrelevant in understanding adolescent alcohol use in American Indian communities, classic formulations of these effects were of limited utility in understanding the experiences of contemporary American Indian adolescents. (J. Stud. Alcohol 64: 450-457, 2003)

HARRIS, C.R., ALBAUGH, B., GOLDMAN, D. AND ENOCH, M.-A. Neurocognitive Impairment Due to Chronic Alcohol Consumption in an American Indian Community

Objective: Studies have shown that clinically ascertained alcoholics tend to have lower scores than nonalcoholics on cognitive performance tests, particularly the Block Design (BD) and Digit Symbol (DS) tests of the Weschler Adult Intelligence Scale-Revised (WAIS-R). The aim of this study was to determine whether similar differences are found in a community sample of Plains Indian men and women with an episodic pattern of drinking and a high lifetime prevalence of alcoholism (71% for men, 44% for women). Method: We administered a truncated form of the WAIS-R to 334 members of a Plains Indian tribe (197 women and 137 men). Blind-rated psychiatric diagnoses were assigned according to Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Third Edition (DSM-III-R) criteria and based on the Schedule for Affective Disorders, Lifetime Version (SADS-L) interview. We compared 68 currently drinking alcoholics (38 men and 30 women), 116 abstaining alcoholics (59 men and 57 women) and 150 nonalcoholics (40 men and 110 women). Results: Current and past heavy drinking had no impact on WAIS-R scores in women. Male alcoholics who were abstinent ³2years had similar scores to nonalcoholic men. Male current drinkers showed a trend for lower overall verbal and performance (PIQ) scores and BD performance subtest. Further analysis showed that drinking for ³15 years was significantly associated with reduced DS in male current drinkers. Conclusions: These findings suggest that for the men in this community sample, the impact on PIQ is due to the direct effect of chronic alcohol consumption on cognitive performance and is at least partially reversible after 2 years of abstinence. (J. Stud. Alcohol 64: 458-466, 2003)

LUCZAK, S.E., CORBETT, K., OH, C., CARR, L.G. AND WALL, T.L. Religious Influences on Heavy Episodic Drinking in Chinese-American and Korean-American College Students

Objective: The purpose of the current study was to examine religious influences that relate to heavy episodic drinking in Chinese-American and Korean-American college students, after controlling for the effects of ALDH2 gene status. Method: Participants (159 Chinese-American and 188 Korean-American college students) were assessed for the presence or absence of a heavy drinking episode in the past 2 weeks, using a gender-specific measure. All participants also reported their religious affiliation and the number of religious services attended in the past year, and were genotyped at the ALDH2 locus. Results: Chinese were less likely than Koreans to be affiliated with any religion (55% vs 84%), but were more likely to be affiliated with Eastern religions (12% vs 1%). When controlling for the effects of ALDH2 status, service attendance significantly related to lower rates of heavy episodic drinking in Koreans, but did not reach significance in Chinese. The relationship was significant, however, in Chinese affiliated with Western religions. In addition, religious service attendance only related to heavy drinking in individuals with ALDH2*1/*1 genotype. Conclusions: These results suggest religious service attendance is inversely related to heavy episodic drinking in Korean Americans and in Chinese Americans with Western religious affiliation. Moreover, service attendance appears to more strongly influence heavy drinking in individuals who are not already protected by an ALDH2*2 allele. (J. Stud. Alcohol 64: 467-471, 2003)

FULLER, B.E., CHERMACK, S.T., CRUISE, K.A., KIRSCH, E., FITZGERALD, H.E. AND ZUCKER, R.A. Predictors of Aggression across Three Generations among Sons of Alcoholics: Relationships Involving Grandparental and Parental Alcoholism, Child Aggression, Marital Aggression and Parenting Practices

Objective: This longitudinal study uses a three-generation database involving measures of grandparental and parental alcohol use disorder (AUD), marital aggression and aggression to offspring to predict early and later childhood aggression of third generation offspring. Given the importance of aggressive, undercontrolled behavior in the etiology of alcoholism, the purpose of this study was to construct a statistical model of intergenerational aggression and alcoholism among family members. Method: Participants were a population-based sample of 186 young sons of alcoholics and both biological parents and 120 nonsubstance abusing families and their age-matched sons drawn from the same neighborhoods. Extensive family data were collected at baseline and at 6 years postbaseline. Structural equation modeling evaluated -retrospective and prospective relationships between grandparental and parental predictors of the sons' childhood aggression when they were 3-5 and 9-11 years of age. Results: The final model showed that grandparental marital aggression predicted development of parental antisocial behavior, which predicted parental alcoholism and marital aggression and partially mediated level of child aggression among their sons as preschoolers. Significant autostabilities in level of child aggression, parental AUD and marital aggression were present in families over the 6-year interval. Marital aggression was a more important predictor of son's preschool aggression; direct parental aggression to the child was more important at 9-11. Child aggression at 3-5 also was a partial mediator of level of parent-to-child aggression at 9-11. Conclusions: Results indicate continuity of aggression across three generations and also indicate that the child's pathway into risk for later AUD is not simply mediated by parental alcoholism, but is carried by other comorbid aspects of family functioning, in particular aggression. (J. Stud. Alcohol 64: 472-483, 2003)