Social interaction and partner familiarity differentially alter voluntary ethanol intake in adolescent male and female rats
Alcohol Volume 42, Issue 8, December 2008, Pages 641-648


Alcohol readily facilitates social interactions and this effect plays an important role in adolescent drinking behaviors. The ability of social interaction to alter behaviors in response to alcohol in adolescent animals has been assessed using the demonstrator–observer paradigm. The demonstrator is exposed to ethanol and the observer is tested for changes in behaviors in response to ethanol after social interaction between the dyad.

The present experiment expanded on previous work to investigate the effects of different types of social interaction on subsequent voluntary ethanol consumption in adolescent male and female rats. Specifically, voluntary ethanol intake was assessed in adolescent observers after social interaction with an alcohol-free or -intoxicated same-sex familiar cage-mate or an age-matched unfamiliar conspecific. Demonstrators were intragastrically administered water or 1.5 g/kg ethanol and allowed to socially interact with observers for 30 min after a 1-h social isolation period. Subsequently, observers were allowed voluntary access to ethanol using a two-bottle choice paradigm overnight for 13 h.

Male and female observers that interacted with an alcohol-intoxicated familiar cagemate consumed significantly more ethanol relative to their alcohol-free counterparts. However, adolescent male observers that socially interacted with an alcohol-intoxicated, age-matched unfamiliar conspecific consumed significantly less ethanol than controls. The opposite effect was observed in adolescent female observers.

The present results are consistent and extend previous work in support of the idea that exposure to the demonstrator–observer paradigm alters voluntary ethanol intake in a sex- and familiarity-dependent manner.

Partner familiarity can induce elevated or reduced ethanol consumption in males. However, females appear to be more sensitive to the elevating effects of social interaction on voluntary ethanol consumption, regardless of familiarity of the partner.


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Effects of adolescent ethanol exposure on sleep in adult rats
Alcohol Volume 42, Issue 8, December 2008, Pages 631-639


Although adolescent ethanol (EtOH) exposure has been associated with long-lasting changes in brain function, little is known as to whether EtOH exposure during adolescence alters sleep and cortical arousal.

This study examined protracted alterations in sleep in adult rats exposed to EtOH during adolescence. Adolescent male Wistar rats were exposed to EtOH vapor for 12 h/day for 5 weeks. Cortical electroencephalograms were obtained during 4-h recording sessions after 5 weeks of withdrawal from EtOH.

Adolescent EtOH exposure significantly reduced the mean duration of slow-wave sleep (SWS) episodes and the total amount of time spent in SWS in EtOH-exposed rats, compared to controls. Spectral analysis revealed that adolescent EtOH exposure significantly increased cortical peak frequencies during SWS in the 2–4, 4–6, and 6–8 Hz bands.

Taken together, our findings suggest that chronic EtOH exposure in adolescent rats reduces measures of SWS, an effect also seen as part of normal aging. Although the cellular and molecular mechanisms mediating the consequences of EtOH exposure on the aging process are not known, the similarities between adolescent EtOH exposure and aging merits further investigation.


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Autonomic responses to ethanol in adolescent and adult rats: a dose–response analysis
Alcohol Volume 42, Issue 8, December 2008, Pages 623-629


Athough the exact cause of the increase in ethanol consumption during adolescence is not known, age differences in sensitivity to some of ethanol's effects may play a contributory role. Prior research has shown little difference in the expression of ethanol-induced tachycardia between adolescents and adults following ethanol inhalation.

In contrast, there is mounting evidence of ontogenetic differences in ethanol-induced hypothermia, although the nature of the ontogenetic effect observed has been found to vary across studies and even within labs. Relative ontogenetic differences in body temperature (BT) after ethanol administration appear to be driven in part by the amount of experimental perturbation associated with the test protocol, although differing ethanol exposure levels across studies may also have contributed to the variations in ontogenetic patterns that have been observed.

To explore the latter possibility, the present study assessed ethanol-induced hypothermia and tachycardia in adolescent and adult male Sprague-Dawley rats examined in their home cages in the presence of their housing partner following intraperitoneal administration of 0.5, 1.5, or 3.0 g/kg ethanol.

The results showed that, although adolescents did not show an adult-typical tachycardic effect at any dose, they proved more sensitive than adults to ethanol's hypothermic effects at the two highest doses.

These findings suggest that not only the degree of experimental perturbation, but also the amount of ethanol exposure may differentially effect expression of age differences in ethanol-induced hypothermia, with adolescents showing greater hypothermia than adults at higher doses.

Together with previous findings, these data contribute to the emerging picture that age differences in autonomic effects of ethanol appear to be particularly sensitive to dosing parameters and experimental protocols, unlike the generally more consistent ontogenetic findings observed across studies when using behavioral measures of ethanol sensitivity.

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Chronic intermittent exposure to ethanol during adolescence produces tolerance to the hypnotic effects of ethanol in male rats: a dose-dependent analysis
Alcohol Volume 42, Issue 8, December 2008, Pages 617-621



Adolescence is a time period when distinct behavioral and neurophysiological changes occur. Novelty seeking is common during this developmental period, and binge alcohol consumption by adolescents is prevalent. Adolescents, as compared to adults, have been shown to display decreased sensitivity to many effects of ethanol, including effects that may serve as cues to moderate consumption. Consequently, reduction of these factors could facilitate drinking behaviors in adolescents, which may disrupt normal developmental processes.

Chronic intermittent ethanol exposure (CIEE) to high doses of ethanol in rats has been shown to prevent normal developmental increases in sensitivity to ethanol-induced loss of righting reflex (LORR). However, it is unknown whether the same disruptions would occur following CIEE to more moderate and low alcohol doses.

The present study was designed to evaluate the effects of CIEE in rats to several different doses during adolescence on ethanol-induced LORR in adulthood. Male rats were weighed and treated intraperitoneal with 1.0, 2.0, 3.0, or 4.0 g/kg ethanol or equivolume saline (equivalent to 4.0 g/kg dosings) every 48 hours for 20 days beginning on postnatal day (PN) 30. LORR was measured following each ethanol exposure. Finally, LORR was measured in both ethanol and saline-exposed animals following 4.0 g/kg ethanol challenge on PN 50 and following a 12-day withdrawal period (PN62).

Duration of LORR remained unchanged throughout the adolescent exposure period. However, when LORR was measured on PN50 and PN62, 4.0 and 3.0 g/kg treatment groups displayed significantly less LORR compared to the free feeding and 1.0 g/kg ethanol treated groups. Animals displayed no tolerance development to LORR throughout the chronic exposure period even though moderate and high doses of ethanol were used. CIEE to high (3.0 or 4.0 g/kg) doses of ethanol disrupted the expected developmental increase in sensitivity to ethanol-induced LORR.

These results may have implications for human adolescent drinkers. Specifically due to adolescents' relative resistance to the hypnotic effects of alcohol and their tendency to intake alcohol in an intermittent, or binge-li


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The Composition of Alcohol Products from Markets in Lithuania and Hungary, and Potential Health Consequences: A Pilot Study
Alcohol and Alcoholism Advance Access published online on November 25, 2008


The rates of alcohol-attributable mortality in Lithuania and Hungary have been shown to be higher than those in most other European countries. Quality of alcohol products is investigated as a possible explanation.

In a descriptive pilot study, a convenience sample of alcohol products was collected from local city markets in both countries (Lithuania n = 10, Hungary n = 15) and chemical analyses, including some that have not been done in prior studies, were conducted. The parameters studied were alcoholic strength, volatiles (methanol, acetaldehyde, higher alcohols), ethyl carbamate, anions (including nitrate) and inorganic elements (including lead). Additionally, a multi-target screening analysis for toxicologically relevant substances was conducted.

The majority of samples (64%) had an alcohol content between 35% vol. and 40% vol., being in accordance with the typical strength of legal spirits in Europe. Three samples containing significantly higher concentrations of alcohol above 60% vol. were found to be unrecorded alcohol products, defined as any alcohol that is outside of legal and taxed production. Screening analysis showed that those samples contained various flavourings, including the hepatotoxic substance coumarin, at concentrations above the legal limit for foods. All other substance classes under study were found to be at levels of no toxicological concern.

Although some problems with the quality of the alcohol samples were found, there is insufficient evidence from this pilot study to conclude that alcohol quality has an influence on health as reflected in alcohol-attributable mortality rates. Given the extent of alcohol-attributable disease burden in central and eastern European countries, future research should focus on collection of large, representative samples, particularly of unrecorded sources, which was the most problematic product group in our study.

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Cultural Analysis as a Perspective for Gender-Informed Alcohol Treatment Research in a Swedish Context
Alcohol and Alcoholism Advance Access published online on November 30, 2008


An exploratory study to investigate the role of culture in women's drinking at a clinic for women with alcohol problems in a Swedish treatment context.

The patients perceived themselves as having a sub-group status. A trajectory of ritualized actions around drinking, especially private drinking rituals, was identified. Existential components of patients’ struggles with addiction in a highly secularized cultural context were identified. Multiple, contradictory explanatory frameworks for understanding drinking problems were creating cognitive dissonance.

Using cultural analysis as a perspective for gaining gendered information may allow for identifying new patterns within specific cultural and subgroup contexts. It may contribute new information to the following treatment research areas: gender-appropriate measurement issues; service integration; gender-appropriate services for women; and, drinking rituals and patterns.


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1 in 5 Young Adults Has Personality Disorder

By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

Published: December 1, 2008

CHICAGO (AP) -- Almost one in five young American adults has a personality disorder that interferes with everyday life, and even more abuse alcohol or drugs, researchers reported Monday in the most extensive study of its kind.

The disorders include problems such as obsessive or compulsive tendencies and anti-social behavior that can sometimes lead to violence. The study also found that fewer than 25 percent of college-aged Americans with mental problems get treatment.

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Press Release - MAKE IT A COMPLAINING CHRISTMAS

01/12/2008

Consumers are being urged to complain about irresponsible drinks producer marketing in the run-up to Christmas.

A national press advertising campaign has been launched today to appeal for consumer complaints about irresponsible naming, packaging and promotions.

70 drinks removed from sale by the Portman Group over the last decade following complaints. In addition, 1,560 products and promotions have been scrutinised before launch with hundreds of them amended.
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Mental Health of College Students and Their Non–College-Attending Peers
Arch Gen Psychiatry. 2008;65(12):1429-1437.



Although young adulthood is often characterized by rapid intellectual and social development, college-aged individuals are also commonly exposed to circumstances that place them at risk for psychiatric disorders.

To assess the 12-month prevalence of psychiatric disorders, sociodemographic correlates, and rates of treatment among individuals attending college and their non–college-attending peers in the United States.

Almost half of college-aged individuals had a psychiatric disorder in the past year. The overall rate of psychiatric disorders was not different between college-attending individuals and their non–college-attending peers. The unadjusted risk of alcohol use disorders was significantly greater for college students than for their non–college-attending peers (odds ratio = 1.25; 95% confidence interval, 1.04-1.50), although not after adjusting for background sociodemographic characteristics (adjusted odds ratio = 1.19; 95% confidence interval, 0.98-1.44). College students were significantly less likely (unadjusted and adjusted) to have a diagnosis of drug use disorder or nicotine dependence or to have used tobacco than their non–college-attending peers. Bipolar disorder was less common in individuals attending college. College students were significantly less likely to receive past-year treatment for alcohol or drug use disorders than their non–college-attending peers.

Psychiatric disorders, particularly alcohol use disorders, are common in the college-aged population. Although treatment rates varied across disorders, overall fewer than 25% of individuals with a mental disorder sought treatment in the year prior to the survey. These findings underscore the importance of treatment and prevention interventions among college-aged individuals.

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Executive dysfunction as a risk marker for substance abuse: The role of impulsive personality traits

Behavioral Sciences & the Law Volume 26 Issue 6, Pages 799 - 822

The relationships between family history of substance use, executive functions, impaired decision making, and current substance dependence are the focus of this study.

Thirty-eight substance-dependent inpatients were compared with 30 community controls on performance on the Wisconsin Card Sorting Test, Trail-Making Test-B, the Stroop Color Word Test, the Wais-II Digit Span, and the Iowa Gambling Task. Recent alcohol use, depressive symptoms, and impulsivity were also assessed.

As hypothesized, individuals with substance dependence exhibited poorer executive functioning. Family history status was modestly related to impaired performance on tests designed to measure the integrity of the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex. In particular, substance-dependent, family history positive individuals performed less well on the Wisconsin Card Sorting Test than substance-dependent individuals without a family history. Digit Span performances were worse among family history positive controls when compared with family history negative controls. Impulsive personality traits - specifically, difficulty thinking before acting (Urgency) - were related, as hypothesized, to executive functioning.

Results indicate that family history status confers an increased risk of impairment beyond that conferred by recent substance abuse, and that impulsive personality traits are related to performance on tests of executive functions.

Implications for criminality are discussed.

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Transitions in and out of Alcohol Use Disorders: Their Associations with Conditional Changes in Quality of Life Over a 3-Year Follow-Up Interval
Alcohol and Alcoholism Advance Access published online on November 28, 2008



The aim of this study was to investigate longitudinal changes in quality of life (QOL) as a function of transitions in alcohol use disorders (AUD) over a 3-year follow-up of a general US population sample.

The analysis is based on individuals who drank alcohol in the year preceding the Wave 1 National Epidemiologic Survey on Alcohol and Related Conditions and were reinterviewed at Wave 2 (n = 22,245). Using multiple linear regression models, changes in SF-12 QOL were estimated as a function of DSM-IV AUD transitions, controlling for baseline QOL and multiple potential confounders.


Onset and offset of AUD were strongly associated with changes in mental/psychological functioning, with significant decreases in mental component summary (NBMCS) scores among individuals who developed dependence and significant increases among those who achieved full and partial remission from dependence. The increases in overall NBMCS and its social functioning, role emotional and mental health components were equally great for abstinent and nonabstinent remission from dependence, but improvements in bodily pain and general health were associated with nonabstinent remission only. Onset of abuse was unrelated to changes in QOL, and the increase in NBMCS associated with nonabstinent remission from abuse only was slight. Individuals with abuse only or no AUD who stopped drinking had significant declines in QOL.

These results suggest the possible importance of preventing and treating AUD for maintaining and/or improving QOL. They are also consistent with the sick quitter hypothesis and suggest that abuse is less a mental disorder than a maladaptive pattern of behavior.


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Supermarkets selling alcohol cheaper than water


Julia Belluz
December 1, 2008

Research has found that it costs less to quench your thirst with alcohol than bottled water at leading supermarkets.

Discounted own-brand alcohol is sold for as little as 23p per can, according to the drink and drug charity Addaction.

This research comes on the eve of Government plans to tackle binge drinking.
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Evaluation of two Web-based alcohol interventions for mandated college students
Journal of Substance Abuse Treatment Volume 36, Issue 1, January 2009, Pages 65-74


This study evaluated the efficacy of two Web-based interventions aimed at reducing heavy drinking in mandated college students. Mandated students were randomly assigned to one of two conditions: Web-based personalized normative feedback (WPNF) or Web-based education (WE).

As predicted, results indicated that mandated students in the WPNF condition reported significantly greater reductions in weekly drinking quantity, peak alcohol consumption, and frequency of drinking to intoxication than students in the WE condition at a 30-day follow-up. Although not statistically significant, there was a similar trend for changes in alcohol-related problems. Mandated students in the WPNF group also reported significantly greater reductions in estimates of peer drinking from baseline to the follow-up assessment than students in the WE group. In addition, changes in estimates of peer drinking mediated the effect of the intervention on changes in drinking.

Findings provide support for providing Web-based personalized normative feedback as an intervention program for mandated college students.

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Patient predictors of alcohol treatment outcome: A systematic review
Journal of Substance Abuse Treatment Volume 36, Issue 1, January 2009, Pages 75-86


Patient characteristics as predictors of alcohol use disorder treatment outcome were examined on three levels, identifying whether or not variables were significant predictors of drinking-related outcome in univariate analysis, in multivariate analysis, and in multivariate analyses limited to studies including several “key predictors.” Also, a model was developed to predict total percentage of variance in treatment outcome accounted for in each study using each of the key predictors and a range of methodological factors.

The most consistent univariate predictors were baseline alcohol consumption, dependence severity, employment, gender, psychopathology rating, treatment history, neuropsychological functioning, alcohol-related self-efficacy, motivation, socioeconomic status/income, treatment goal, and religion.

When these key predictors were combined into multivariate analyses, baseline alcohol consumption and gender showed substantial reductions in predictive consistency whereas the remaining variables were not greatly affected.

The most consistent predictors overall were dependence severity, psychopathology ratings, alcohol-related self-efficacy, motivation, and treatment goal. The two predictor variables most associated with greater variance accounted for in predictive models, when controlling for broader methodological variables, were baseline alcohol consumption and dependence severity.

Few predictor variables were examined in more than a third of studies reviewed, and few variables were found to be significant predictors in a clear majority of studies. However, a subset of variables was identified, which collectively could be considered to represent a consistent set of predictors.

Too few studies controlled for other important predictor variables. Attempts to synthesize findings were often hampered by lack of agreement of the best measure for predictor variables.

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'Drink responsibly' slogans could become more polite

By Kate Devlin Medical Correspondent
28 Nov 2008

Slogans exhorting drinkers to watch their alcohol intake could soon become more polite, under plans being considered by ministers.

The Department of Health is considering adding the word "please" to those that tell consumers to "drink responsibly" on labels and alcohol advertisements, amid concerns that the original phrase could be discourteous.

The Government has said it will "consider constructively" adding the request as part of a voluntary agreement they have with drinks companies.

But alcohol experts warn that the move will do little or nothing to prevent binge drinking.

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The cost-effectiveness of increasing alcohol taxes: a modelling study
BMC Medicine 2008, 6:36

Excessive alcohol use increases risks of chronic diseases such as coronary heart disease and several types of cancer, with associated losses of quality of life and life-years. Alcohol taxes can be considered as a public health instrument as they are known to be able to decrease alcohol consumption.

In this paper, we estimate the cost-effectiveness of an alcohol tax increase for the entire Dutch population, from a health care perspective focusing on health benefits and health care costs in alcohol users.

To extrapolate from decreased alcohol consumption due to tax increases to effects on health care costs, life years gained and quality-adjusted life years (QALYS) gained, the RIVM Chronic Disease Model was used. A Dutch scenario in which tax increases for beer are planned, and a Swedish scenario representing one of the highest alcohol taxes in Europe, were compared to the current practice in the Netherlands. To estimate cost-effectiveness ratios, yearly differences in model outcomes between intervention and current practice scenarios were discounted and added over the time horizon of 100 years to find net present values for incremental life years gained, QALYs gained, and health care costs.

In the Swedish scenario much more QALYs were gained than in the Dutch scenario, but both scenarios have almost equal incremental cost-effectiveness ratios: E 5,100 per QALY and E 5,300 per QALY, respectively.

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Alcoholism and the Coming Social Crisis in Ghana
Feature Article of Monday, 24 November 2008



The young person staggering home, evidently drunk and struggling to avoid the gutter near the “drinking spot”, couldn’t have been older than 20. That it was a woman, well-dressed with hair beautifully coiffed, was even more shocking. She was followed by a group of young men who taunted her. One even tried to grab her breasts, but she clumsily brushed him off, raining slurred insults on them as she zigzagged away.

From the drinking spot, her male drinking partners, seemingly weighed down by their own drunken stupor, tried to call her back but she would have none of that. She hurled some insults at them and then continued on her tortured and tortuous journey away from them.

This spectacle, which I witnessed during a recent visit to the Eastern Region, is indicative of the moral quagmire that the nation finds itself in today and the disproportionate effect that it is having on our youth, the putative future leaders of Ghana.
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Alcoholics Anonymous attendance following 12-step treatment participation as a link between alcohol-dependent fathers' treatment involvement and their children's externalizing problems
Journal of Substance Abuse Treatment Volume 36, Issue 1, January 2009, Pages 87-100

We investigated longitudinal associations between alcohol-dependent fathers' 12-step treatment involvement and their children's internalizing and externalizing problems (N = 125, M_age = 9.8 ± 3.1), testing the hypotheses that fathers' greater treatment involvement would benefit later child behavior and that this effect would be mediated by fathers' posttreatment behaviors.

The initial association was established between fathers' treatment involvement and children's externalizing problems only, whereas Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) results supported mediating hypotheses. Fathers' greater treatment involvement predicted children's lower externalizing problems 12 months later, and fathers' posttreatment behaviors mediated this association: Greater treatment involvement predicted greater posttreatment Alcoholics Anonymous attendance, which in turn predicted greater abstinence.

Finally, fathers' abstinence was associated with lower externalizing problems in children. Theoretical and practical implications of these findings are discussed.

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To what factors do clients attribute change? Content analysis of follow-up interviews with clients of the UK Alcohol Treatment Trial
Journal of Substance Abuse Treatment Volume 36, Issue 1, January 2009, Pages 49-58


The UK Alcohol Treatment Trial compared outcomes after a social treatment (Social Behavior and Network Therapy) and a motivational treatment (Motivational Enhancement Therapy). As part of the process element of the trial, a subsample of clients were interviewed 3 months after treatment allocation and another subsample 12 months after allocation (N = 397) to explore the factors to which clients attributed positive changes that might have occurred in their drinking.

Postinterview reports were content analyzed using three types of code: social, motivational, and general. At 3 months, Social Behavior and Network Therapy clients made significantly more social attributions and Motivational Enhancement Therapy clients more motivational attributions, and the difference for motivational attributions was maintained at 12 months (with a trend for social attributions).

Overall, the factors to which change was most frequently attributed were involvement of others in supporting behavior change (a social factor), awareness of the consequences of drinking (a motivational factor), and three general factors—determination, commitment, and decision; detoxification or medication; and feeling comfortable talking.

Change was more frequently attributed to general factors than it was to either social or motivational ones. Some of the difficulties in eliciting and coding attribution material are referred to.

The results may help understand the absence of between-treatment type outcome differences in UK Alcohol Treatment Trial and other trials.

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A quantitative review of the ubiquitous relapse curve
Journal of Substance Abuse Treatment Volume 36, Issue 1, January 2009, Pages 8-17


The primary goal of this study is to ascertain whether relapse to drug dependence, in terms of continuous abstinence assessment, exhibits a typical pattern that can be characterized by a common quantitative function. If the relapse curve is indeed ubiquitous, then some underlying mechanism must be operating to shape the curve that transcends variables such as drug class, population, or treatment type.

Survival analyses are performed on 20 alcohol and tobacco treatment studies using the proportions of individuals remaining abstinent after a period of initial abstinence. Several parametric models of relapse are compared, and the results demonstrate that a log-logistic distribution is the most accurate reflection of the available data and the basic shape of the relapse curve is uniform.

In most reports examined, the rate of relapse decelerates after initial abstinence has been achieved, and therefore, the amount of accumulated time abstinent may be the transcending variable that operates to shape the relapse curve.

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