Alcohol

Volume 67
Number 3
May 2006

Issues Available Online

Harford, T.C., Yi, H.-Y., and Hilton, M.E.  Alcohol Abuse and Dependence in College and Noncollege Samples: A Ten-Year Prospective Follow-Up in a National Survey

ABSTRACT. Objective: This prospective study examines the association of educational status in 1984 and the risk for past-year Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fourth Edition (DSM-IV), alcohol-use disorders (AUDs) in 1994, 10 years later. Method: A sample of 8,661 respondents was drawn from the National Longitudinal Survey of Labor Market Experience in Youth. Measures included baseline heavy episodic drinking, alcohol-dependence symptoms, early problem behaviors (antisocial behaviors, illicit substance use, family history of alcoholism, and age at onset of alcohol use), demographic characteristics (gender, race/ethnicity, age, marital status), and 1994 assessment for past-year DSM-IV AUDs. Results: Findings from this 10-year prospective study indicate that education beyond high school had a protective effect for alcohol dependence, and dropping out of high school resulted in an elevated long-term risk for alcohol dependence. These associations remained significant when other early behavioral problems were included in the models. Conclusions: The risk of alcohol dependence and, consequently, the need for appropriately tailored prevention efforts is greater among high school dropouts and college nonattenders than among college students, although much of the current literature has focused on the latter. ( J. Stud. Alcohol 67: 803-809, 2006)

White, H.R., McMorris, B.J., Catalano, R.F., Fleming, C.B., Haggerty, K.P., and Abbott, R.D.  Increases in Alcohol and Marijuana Use During the Transition Out of High School Into Emerging Adulthood: The Effects of Leaving Home, Going to College, and High School Protective Factors

ABSTRACT. Objective: This study examined the effects of leaving home and going to college on changes in the frequency of alcohol use, heavy episodic drinking, and marijuana use shortly after leaving high school. We also examined how protective factors in late adolescence predict post-high school substance use and moderate the effects of leaving home and going to college. Method: Data came from subjects ( N = 319; 53% male) interviewed at the end of 12th grade and again approximately 6 months later, as part of the Raising Healthy Children project. Results: Leaving home and going to college were significantly related to increases in the frequency of alcohol use and heavy episodic drinking from high school to emerging adulthood but not to changes in marijuana use. Having fewer friends who used each substance protected against increases in the frequency of alcohol use, heavy episodic drinking, and marijuana use. Higher religiosity protected against increases in alcohol- and marijuana-use frequency. Higher parental monitoring protected against increases in heavy episodic drinking and moderated the effect of going to college on marijuana use. Lower sensation seeking lessened the effect of going to college on increases in alcohol use and heavy episodic drinking. Conclusions: To prevent increases in substance use in emerging adulthood, interventions should concentrate on strengthening prosocial involvement and parental monitoring during high school. In addition, youths with high sensation seeking might be targeted for added intervention. ( J. Stud. Alcohol 67: 810-822, 2006)

Maisto, S.A., Clifford, P.R., Stout, R.L., and Davis, C.M.  Drinking in the Year After Treatment as a Predictor of Three-Year Drinking Outcomes

ABSTRACT. Objective: Previous research suggests that abstinence from alcohol during the first year posttreatment for alcohol-use disorders (AUDs) is an important, independent predictor of longer-term alcohol consumption and related functioning. The purpose of this study was to test the hypothesis that abstinence during the first year posttreatment initiation predicts alcohol use at Months 37-39. A second aim of this study was to explore the relationship between “moderate” drinking in the first year and drinking at Months 37-39. Method: Secondary data analyses were conducted on the outpatient Project MATCH (Matching Alcoholism Treatments to Client Heterogeneity) sample (N = 952 at baseline and 802 at Months 37-39). For these analyses, participants were classified first as abstainers, moderate drinkers, or heavy drinkers based on their alcohol use in the first year posttreatment initiation. Results: Analyses of covariance showed that the first-year drinker classification predicted both percentage of days abstinent and drinks per drinking day at Months 37-39. Subsequent analyses showed that the abstainers functioned significantly better than (1) both of the other drinker groups combined and (2) either of the other two groups, which did not differ from each other on either measure of alcohol use. A third set of exploratory analyses evaluated first-year abstinence and heavy drinking as continuous variables and showed an essentially linear relationship between them and drinking at 3 years. Conclusions: This study confirmed the strong relationship between first-year abstinence and later drinking but did not show that participants who engaged in moderate drinking during the first year had positive alcohol-use outcomes at 3 years. The clinical implications of the findings, their generalizability to different populations of individuals presenting for specialty alcohol treatment, and future research directions are discussed. (J. Stud. Alcohol 67: 823-832, 2006)

Svikis, D.S., Miles, D.R., Haug, N.A., Perry, B., Hoehn-Saric, R., and McLeod, D.  Premenstrual Symptomatology, Alcohol Consumption, and Family History of Alcoholism in Women With Premenstrual Syndrome

ABSTRACT. Objective: The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship among family history of alcoholism (FH), premenstrual syndrome (PMS) symptoms, and alcohol consumption in women with a PMS diagnosis. Method: Participants (N = 46) were predominantly white (73%) women, of whom 17 (37%) reported multigenerational alcoholism on the paternal side (FH positive [FH+]) using the Family Alcohol and Drug Survey. Subjects recorded alcohol consumption and PMS symptoms using a daily record form for 3 consecutive months. Results: Demographics and alcohol consumption during the follicular phase (FOL) and premenstrual phase (PREM) of the menstrual cycle did not differ by FH; however, change in drinking from FOL to PREM was greater in FH+ (mean change = 2.78 drinks/week) versus FH negative (FH-; mean change = -0.72 drinks/week) women. During PREM, FH- women reported more PMS symptomatology compared with FH+ women, and alcohol consumption during PREM was positively correlated with ratings of bloating, craving for alcohol, craving for food, and low energy in FH- but not FH+ women. Conclusions: Although FH+ women increased their drinking premenstrually, such use was unrelated to PMS symptom severity. (J. Stud. Alcohol 67: 833-836, 2006)

O’Donnell, K., Wardle, J., Dantzer, C., and Steptoe, A.  Alcohol Consumption and Symptoms of Depression in Young Adults From 20 Countries

ABSTRACT. Objective: The objective of this study was to determine whether the nonlinear association between alcohol and depressive symptoms observed in middle-aged and older men and women is present in young adults and is independent of culture, socioeconomic position, and health status.Method: Data were from the International Health and Behaviour Survey, involving 6,932 male and 8,816 female university students ages 17-30 years from 20 countries. Alcohol consumption was assessed in terms of number of drinks per week and number of drinks per episode, and the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI) was administered. Analyses were adjusted for clustering by country. Results: The proportion of respondents with elevated BDI scores was 19.3%, 16.3%, and 20.0% for nondrinkers, moderate drinkers, and heavy drinkers, respectively. The odds of elevated BDI scores for nondrinkers compared with moderate drinkers were 1.22 (95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.06-1.42) after adjusting for age, gender, living arrangements, socioeconomic status, and self-rated health. Analysis based on the number of alcoholic drinks consumed in the past 2 weeks indicated that, in comparison with those who consumed 5-13 drinks, the odds of elevated BDI scores for nondrinkers were 1.25 (CI: 1.02-1.53) after adjusting for the same covariates. Heavy drinkers also had higher BDI scores than moderate consumers. Conclusions: The results suggest that the “U”-shaped association between alcohol consumption and depressive symptoms previously identified in Western countries is present in young people from a variety of cultural backgrounds. The relationship is not secondary to variations in health status, socioeconomic background, age, and gender. (J. Stud. Alcohol 67: 837-840, 2006)