Selected Papers by Robin Room

Professor Robin Room, BA, MA, MSoc, PhD(Soc)
Acting Director
Head of AERF Centre For Alcohol Policy

In March 2006, Professor Robin Room became Professor of Alcohol Policy Research at the School of Population Health, University of Melbourne and the Director of the Centre for Alcohol Policy Research at Turning Point. Professor Room received his higher education in the U.S., with a PhD in sociology from the University of California, Berkeley and has worked in alcohol and drug policy for 30 years. Prior to his current position, Professor Room was the founding director of the Centre for Social Research on Alcohol and Drugs at Stockholm University.

A link to the online home of the Selected Papers of Robin Room. The site includes a list of full-text links to Room's papers on alcohol and addiction research, 1968-2005

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Alcohol prices set to rise as tax increases

Tuesday July 01, 2008
By Imogen Neale

A quiet drink with mates will be more expensive from today as excise taxes on alcohol increase almost 3.5 per cent.

Excise tax, sometimes called excise duty, is a type of tax charged on goods produced within New Zealand.

DB Breweries, which produces Tui, Monteith's and Heineken, will raise prices by an average of 5.5 per cent for a pack of beer and 5.3 per cent for tap beer.

Lion Nathan, producer of Speights, Lion Red, Mac's and Steinlager beer, will also raise prices by an average of 5.5 per cent.

Spirits and ready-to-drink beverages will also reportedly rise, by around 5.3 per cent.

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News Release - CFA Reveals Alcohol, Calories and Carbs in Top Selling Beer, Wine and Distilled Spirits Brands



Review Underscores Need for Government Action to Mandate Standardized and Complete Alcohol Label

Washington, DC; June 30, 2008 – While continuing to press the federal government to
require standardized labeling information on all beer, wine and distilled spirits products,
one of the nation’s largest consumer organizations is taking action so Americans will
have basic “alcohol facts” now.

For the 55 percent of adult Americans who drink alcoholic beverages, Consumer
Federation of America developed Alcohol Facts, a side-by-side comparison of the
alcohol, calorie and carbohydrate content per serving of the 26 top selling domestic and
imported alcohol brands.
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Decision Making in Alcohol Dependence: Insensitivity to Future Consequences and Comorbid Disinhibitory Psychopathology
Alcoholism: Clinical and Experimental Research Published Online: 28 Jun 2008


Alcohol dependence (AD) is often comorbid with other disinhibitory disorders that are characterized by poor decision making and evidenced by disadvantageous strategies on laboratory tasks such as the Iowa Gambling Task (IGT).

In this study, a variant of the IGT is used to examine specific mechanisms that may account for poor decision making on the task in AD both with and without comorbid psychopathology.

Both AD and CCD were associated with greater IFC but not greater PLvS. Structural equation models (SEMs) indicated that IFC was associated with higher scores on a latent dimensional "disinhibitory disorders" factor representing the covariance among all lifetime measures of disinhibitory psychopathology, but was not directly related to any one disinhibitory disorder. SEMs also suggested that adult antisocial behavior was uniquely associated with a greater PLvS.

Disadvantageous decision making on the IGT in those with AD and related disinhibitory disorders may reflect an IFC that is common to the covariance among these disorders but not unique to any one disorder.

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The First Social Policy: Alcohol Control and Modernity in Policy Studies
Journal of Policy History - Volume 19, Number 4, 2007, pp. 428-451

From modest beginnings in the systematic analysis of social insurance programs of advanced, industrialized countries, the scope of social policy studies has expanded to encompass myriad programs that seek to mitigate potential risks to employment, income, and economic security.

At the same time, historical interest on policy development has extended back further in time to contextualize the otherwise excessive concentration on social policy developments of the twentieth century. Yet, as the boundaries of epistemology broaden, there remains a curious tendency among policy historians to maintain that what they are studying are the origins of modern social policies.

Perhaps this focus on modernity is the outgrowth of a perceived need to have such research remain relevant to contemporary social policy debates. Whatever the reason, it does raise the question. What makes a social policy modern? To assume that particular social policies are modern suggests that there may be social policies that are not. Do there indeed exist social policies that might be thought of as premodern? If so, do such premodern social policies differ from modern ones not only in...

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The Globe
Issue No 3 2007 & 1 2008

On the cover of this issue

Global Advocacy Grows

Also in this issue:

• Editorial Comment

• Reducing harm from alcohol use in the community

• Killer beers

• Call for a Global Strategy

• WHO Expert Committee
  Report on Problems Related to Alcohol Consumption 2007

• WHO resolutions

• GAPA

• About smoke and mirrors: the alcohol industry and the promotion of science

• Alcohol – a great public health harm Commonwealth Medical Association
  

• Alcohol,Gender,Culture and Harms in the Americas and a Case For Action

• GAPA Chairman visits Thailand

• Alcohol – price, policy and public health

Book review

• Paying the Tab - The Costs and Benefits of Alcohol
  Control, Philip J Cook

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Alcohol Alert
Issue No 2 2008

On the cover of this issue

• Alcohol tax increases ‘will save thousands of lives’ - Dept of Health

Also in this issue:

• Supermarkets step up pricing debate

• Stronger Government action needed to tackle the epidemic of alcohol misuse, says new BMA report

• Gary Newlove - the true price of binge drinking?

• Addiction as a mitigating factor

• Alcohol Harm Reduction Toolkit published

• More money for alcohol screening in Scotland

• Young people at risk from energy drinks

• New report focuses on teenage drinking

• Unfinished business - Professor Marion Roberts gives an evaluation of the Licensing Act 2003

• Licensing Act 2003: facts and figures

• New Welsh Substance Misuse Strategy puts new emphasis on dealing with alcohol misuse

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Drug, alcohol abuse study measures the high cost of under-treated addiction

By Susan Brink, Los Angeles Times Staff Writer
June 30, 2008

Ensuing diseases and hospitalization can be been avoided with more preventive treatment, researchers find.

DRUG AND alcohol abuse sets people on a path toward heart disease, cancer and other chronic illnesses. A study in the Journal of Substance Abuse Treatment reports that hospital costs for this medical fallout can be substantial -- and could be avoided with more drug and alcohol treatment.
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Alcopops tax hike on shaky ground

June 24, 2008

The Rudd government's alcopop tax hike is on shaky ground, as Family First considers dumping its support and Senator-elect Nick Xenophon signals there'll need to be changes to win his support.

The Labor-dominated Senate inquiry into ready-to-drink (RTD) beverages today released recommendations supporting the 70% alcopop tax hike, which came into effect on April 27 this year via regulation.

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Mental Health and Addiction 101

Welcome to Mental Health and Addiction 101 Series

The Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH) is pleased to offer you this series of free, quick, easy-to-use ONLINE TUTORIALS. These tutorials will introduce you to topics concerning substance use and mental health problems.

This material is intended for people who:

• work in non-clinical roles in the substance use and mental health fields
• encounter people with substance use or mental health problems, in any work setting
• have friends or family with substance use or mental health problems.

These tutorials are a starting point for learning about substance use and mental health problems, as well as about factors that are critical to understanding those problems.

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Access Tutorials

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Opinion - Anti-alcohol crusaders skew facts

SARAH LONGWELL
GUEST COLUMNIST

Drunken driving makes headlines every day. Traffic officials relentlessly remind Americans that the abuse of alcohol continues to be a huge problem on roads and, as a result, drastic measures are needed.

In fact, the Seattle P-I Editorial Board recently endorsed one such measure, when it editorialized in favor of sobriety checkpoints ("DUI Laws: Holding the line," April 7). And in February, P-I editorial columnist Joe Copeland lamented Washington's attitude toward drunken driving. Though truly "drunken" driving is a serious issue, much of the reported problem is little more than PR.

Consider fatality statistics. The number of deaths that activists attribute to drunken driving is grossly exaggerated.

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Merger of schemes for prevention of alcoholism
Special Correspondent
June 27, 2008

NEW DELHI: The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) on Thursday approved the merger of two Centrally-sponsored schemes — Prevention of Alcoholism and Substance (Drugs) Abuse and General Grant-in-Aid Programme — and their continuation as the scheme of Assistance for Prevention of Alcoholism and Substance (Drugs) Abuse and Social Defence Services.

The objective of the scheme has also been revised from awareness and treatment to “whole persons recovery” consisting of rehabilitation and social integration of the addicts.

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Minimum Drinking Age Laws and Infant Health Outcomes
NBER Working Paper No. 14118
Issued in June 2008

Alcohol policies have potentially far-reaching impacts on risky sexual behavior, prenatal health behaviors, and subsequent outcomes for infants.

We examine whether changes in minimum drinking age (MLDA) laws affect the likelihood of poor birth outcomes.

Using data from the National Vital Statistics (NVS) for the years 1978-88, we find that a drinking age of 18 is associated with adverse outcomes among births to young mothers -- including higher incidences of low birth weight and premature birth, but not congenital malformations. The effects are largest among black women. We find suggestive evidence from both the NVS and the 1979 National Longitudinal Study of Youth (NLSY) that the MLDA laws alter the composition of births that occur.

In states with lenient drinking laws, young black mothers are more likely to have used alcohol 12 months prior to the birth of their child and less likely to report paternal information on the birth certificate.

We suspect that lenient drinking laws generate poor birth outcomes because they increase the number of unplanned pregnancies.

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Request Reprint E-Mail: Tara.Watson@williams.edu
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2008 Joint Scientific Meeting of the
Research Society on Alcoholism and the
International Society for Biomedical Research on Alcoholism






Symposia Session I

Ethanol and Receptor Gated Ion Channels: A Memorial to Dr. Maharaj Ticku
Organizers/Chairs: Fulton T. Crews and Antonio B. Noronha

New Findings on Alcohol Use Disorders in the U.S. General Population
Organizer/Chair: Deborah Hasin Co-Chair: Bridget Grant

Cytokines and Signaling Pathways in Alcoholic Liver Disease
Organizers/Chairs: Bin Gao and George Kunos

GABA(B) Receptor: A New Target for Effective Pharmacotherapies for Alcohol Dependence?
Organizer/Chair: Kimberly A. Leite-Morris Co-Chair: Giancarlo Colombo

Ethanol and Brain Function: Relieve, Damage, and Repair
Organizer/Chair: Eri Hashimoto Co-Chair: Kimberly Nixon

Mechanisms of Change in Brief Interventions for Young Adult Drinking
Organizer/Chair: Scott T. Walters

Epigenetic Approaches to the Study of Alcoholism and Alcohol Effects
Organizers/Chairs: Feng C. Zhou and Subhash C. Pandey

Genetic Determinants of Subjective and Physiological Responses to Ethanol and the
Risk for Alcohol Use Disorders in Asians
Organizers/Chairs: Susumu Higuchi and Victor Hesselbrock

Symposia Session II

Towards an Individualized Treatment in Alcohol Dependence: Results from the US-COMBINE
Study and German PREDICT Study – In Honor of past work of Dr. Jack Mendelson
Organizers/Chairs: Karl F. Mann and Raymond F. Anton

Progression of Alcoholic Liver Disease
Organizer/Chair: Steven Dooley Co-Organizer: Katja Breitkopf

Alcohol and Injury in the Emergency Room: International Findings from the ERCAAP
and WHO Collaborative Study
Organizer/Chair: Cheryl J. Cherpitel

Endocannabinoid Participation in Alcohol’s Effects on Neurophysiology and Behavior
Organizers/Chairs: Loren H. Parsons and Marisa Roberto

Systems Biology Approaches to the Study of Alcohol-Induced Tissue Damage and Repair
Organizers/Chairs: Jan B. Hoek and Samir Zakhari

Symposia Session III

Understanding and Treating Patients with Alcoholic Liver Cirrhosis: An Update
Organizers/Chairs: Giovanni Addolorato and Lorenzo Leggio

Molecular Nuggets Mined from INIA-West Transcriptomes: Determinants of Excessive
Alcohol Consumption
Organizer/Chair: George Koob Co-Chair: Adron Harris

Acetaldehyde-Induced Cancer Risks: Cellular and Molecular Mechanisms
Organizers/Chairs: R.K. Rao and Helmut K. Seitz

Translating Research into Practice: Evaluating Alcohol Screening and Brief Intervention
Demonstrations in Large Population Areas
Organizer/Chair: Thomas F. Babor

Ethanol and Glia-Neuron Interactions
Organizer/Chair: Suzhen Chen Co-Chair: Michael E. Charness

Alcohol-Induced Brain Damage: New Findings from the Asian-Pacifi c Region
Organizer/Chair: Toshikazu Saito Co-Chair: Ting-Kai Li

Alcohol Dependence: Integration of Neuroimaging and Genetic Approaches
Organizer/Chair: Kent Hutchison

Pre & Post Treatment Interventions for Youth with AOSUD: Is the Whole Greater than the
Sum of Its Parts?
Organizers/Chairs: Yifrah Kaminer and John F. Kelly

Symposia Session IV

Effects of Smoking Interventions on Alcohol Drinking: Preclinical through Public Policy
Investigations
Organizer/Chair: Stephanie S. O’Malley

Ethanol Actions on the Glycine Receptor: No Longer GABA’s Little Brother
Organizers/Chairs: Daryl L. Davies and Luis G. Aguayo

Parent Involvement in Preventing High-Risk College Student Drinking: Emerging Evidence
from Etiological, Efficacy and Effectiveness Studies
Organizer/Chair: Rob Turrisi

Neurobiological Mechanisms Contributing to Alcohol-Stress-Anxiety Interactions
Organizer/Chair: Jeff Weiner

The Role of Dynorphin and Kappa Opioid Receptors in Alcohol Abuse
Organizers/Chairs: Brendan Walker and Rainer Spanagel

Innate Immunity in the Progression of Alcohol-Related Organ Injury
Organizers/Chairs: Kenichi Ikejima and Gavin E. Arteel

Alcoholic Cardiac Injury: From Basic Research to Cure
Organizer/Chair: Emanuel Rubin Co-Chair: Alvaro Urbano-Marquez

Brain Banking for Alcohol Research: Past, Present and the Future
Organizers/Chairs: Clive Harper and Therese Garrick

Symposia Session V
Current Findings on Gender and Alcoholism: Biology, Epidemiology and Treatment
Organizers/Chairs: Michie N. Hesselbrock and Susumu Higuchi

Emerging Targets at the GPCR Signaling Complex: Implications for Ethanol Reinforcement?
Organizer/Chair: Wolfgang Sommer Co-Chair: Boris Tabakoff

Pharmacological Targets for Treatment of Alcoholism: Basic Studies
Organizers/Chairs: Kalervo Kiianmaa and Jorgen A. Engel

Genetics of Alcoholism: Recent Findings Add More Pieces to the Puzzle
Organizer/Chair: Mary-Anne Enoch Co-Chair: David Goldman

The Role of Calcium-Dependent Small and Large Conductance Potassium Channels in Ethanol
Tolerance and Plasticity
Organizer/Chair: Judson Chandler

Adolescent Brain Development: Ethanol Induced Cellular and Molecular Changes
Organizers/Chairs: Antonio B. Noronha and Fulton T. Crews

Theory-Based Prevention Interventions with Alcohol-Using Adolescents at High-Risk for HIV
Organizers/Chairs: Wendee M. Wechsberg and Robert C. Freeman

Optimizing Treatment for Alcoholism Complicated with Bipolar Disorder: Current Advances
and Future Directions
Organizers/Chairs: Ihsan M. Salloum and Conor K. Farren

Symposia Session VI

New BeginnINGS: Diverse Roles of Growth Factors (BDNF, Insulin, IGF, NGF and GDNF) in
Ethanol’s Actions in the Brain
Organizer/Chair: Dorit Ron

Drinking and Symptom Trajectory Classes: The Next Step Drinking Phenotypes
Organizer/Chair: Robert A. Zucker

Neuroimaging of Animal Models of Alcoholism: Second Report from the Integrative
Neuroscience Initiative on Alcoholism
Organizers/Chairs: Edith V. Sullivan and Kathleen A. Grant

Alcohol and Retinoic Acid-Dependent Stem Cell Growth Control
Organizers/Chairs: William F. Bosron and Svetlana Radaeva Co-Chair: Abraham Fainsod

HIV and Alcohol: International Perspective
Organizer/Chair: Jeffrey H. Samet Co-Chair: Evgeny Krupitsky

Involvement of Infl ammatory Mediators in Alcohol-Induced Liver Injury
Organizer: Carol A. Casey Co-Chairs: Patricia Eagon and Amin Nanji

Implementation of Alcohol Interventions in Surgical Patients: Interdisciplinary Challenges
and Opportunities
Organizers/Chairs: Peter Miller and Claudia Spies

The Importance of Glucocorticoids and Alcohol Dependence and Neurotoxicity
Organizer/Chair: Hilary Little

Symposia Session VII

Doctors Will Do This: Strategies for Motivating Physicians to do Brief Interventions
Organizer/Chair: J. Paul Seale Co-Chair: Daniel C. Vinson

Ethanol and Lipid Rafts
Organizer/Chair: Cynthia F. Bearer Co-Chair: Consuelo Guerri

Alcohol and Risk Taking Behavior: A Bi-Directional Relationship
Organizer: Anna E. Goudriaan and Joris C. Verster Chair: Kenneth J. Sher

Mechanisms of Carcinogenesis Resulting from Alcohol Consumption
Organizers/Chairs: P.J. Brooks and Helmut Karl Seitz

Stress-Induced Negative Affect Associated with Withdrawal and Abstinence from Ethanol:
Contributing Sites and Mechanisms
Organizers/Chairs: George R. Breese and Rajita Sinha

Alcohol Biomarkers: Guidelines for Their Measurement and Use
Organizers/Chairs: John Whitfi eld and Anders Helander

Methylation Reactions in Alcohol-Mediated Organ Damage
Organizer/Chair: Kusum K. Kharbanda Co-Chair: Cheng Ji

Factors or Policy Measures that May Cause the Changes in Alcohol Consumption and Related
Harm: Experiences in the Asian-Pacifi c Region
Organizers/Chairs: Dongyul Oh and John B. Saunders

Read Symposia Abstracts (PDF)
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TEXAS RESEARCH SOCIETY ON ALCOHOLISM – 18TH ANNUAL SCIENTIFIC MEETING

The following abstracts were presented, either as oral presentations or posters, at the TRSA’ Annual Scientific Meeting, held February 29, 2008 at the University of Texas Club, Austin, Texas.
TRSA is the only state affiliate of the National RSA – http://www.rsoa.org

ALCOHOL/DRUG DEPENDENCY IN HOMELESS YOUTH

IS THERE BEHAVIORAL EVIDENCE FOR CONSTITUTIVE ACTIVITY AT 5-HT_2A RECEPTORS?

ETHNIC DIFFERENCES IN RESPONSE TO BRIEF INTERVENTION IN THE TRAUMA CARE SETTING

SUBSTANCE USE AMONGST FEMALE SURVIVORS OF DOMESTIC VIOLENCE SURVIVORS RESIDING AT SHELTERS

RESEARCH TO PRACTICE: THE VALUE OF ENGAGING YOUTH IN ADAPTING SUBSTANCE ABUSE PREVENTION INTERVENTIONS

A DISMANTLING TRIAL OF MOTIVATIONAL INTERVIEWING AND FEEDBACK AMONG HEAVY DRINKING COLLEGE STUDENTS

A STRUCTURAL EQUATION MODELING OF ALCOHOL USE AMONG YOUNG ADULTS IN THE U.S. MILITARY: COMPLEXITIES AMONG STRESS, DRINKING MOTIVES, IMPULSIVITIY, ALCOHOL USE AND JOB PERFORMANCE

BINGE ALCOHOL CONSUMPTION IN ADOLESCENT AND ADULT MICE DIFFERENTIALLY REMODELS THE BRAIN TRANSCRIPTOME

THE IMPACT OF PERPETRATORS' ALCOHOL AND DRUG USE DURING AND AFTER SEXUAL ASSAULT

THE IMPACT OF ACCULTURATION AMONG HISPANICS ON DRINKING OUTCOMES FOLLOWING BRIEF INTERVENTION IN THE TRAUMA CARE SETTING

OVARIECTOMY SENSITIZES A DELETERIOUS INTERACTION BETWEEN ETHANOL WITHDRAWAL AND AGING TO A GREATER DEGREE AFTER ABRUPT TERMINATION THAN GRADUAL TERMINATION OF ETHANOL

COMMUNITY TREATMENT OF SUBSTANCE DEPENDENCE IN BEXAR COUNTY: A CASE STUDY OF UNMET NEED

INTERMITTENT HYPOXIA CONDITIONING PREVENTS OXIDATIVE BRAIN INJURY IN ETHANOL WITHDRAWN RATS

GENDER COMPARISON OF BREATH-ALCOHOL CONCENTRATIONS FOLLOWING BOLUS AND HOURLY ALCOHOL DOSING PROCEDURES USING MULTIPLE ALCOHOL DOSES

THE ROLE OF N265 OF THE GABAA RECEPTOR β2 SUBUNIT IN THE ACTIONS OF ALCOHOLS AND ANESTHETICS

PSYCHIATRIC DISTRESS AND OTHER CORRELATES ASSOCIATED WITH BEING A VICTIM OF PHYSICAL ABUSE IN FEMALE INMATES

NEUROPROTECTION AGAINST ETHANOL MEDIATED OXIDATIVE STRESS AND APOPTOSIS VIA NRF2/ARE.

ETHANOL-INDUCED SUPEROXIDE RADICALS IN FETAL CORTICAL NEURONS: CELLULAR ROS NETWORK

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News Release - New Report Details Innovative Ways to Help Teens Struggling With Drugs, Alcohol and Crime

June 26, 2008

A national group of project directors today called on communities across the nation to better help teens beat drugs, alcohol and crime using a groundbreaking approach tested at 10 pilot sites. They have issued a national report which shares a six-step model to bring about change, reveals a road map for communities to plan for innovation, and offers step-by-step instructions and examples on how to implement this new way of helping teens in trouble.

The project directors oversee Reclaiming Futures initiatives funded by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. Together, they have authored the report, How to Implement a Model to Get Youth Off Drugs and Out of Crime, based on six years of creating and testing new ways to help teens that enter the juvenile justice system and previously received little or no care for their drug or alcohol problems. The report describes how judges, probation officers, treatment specialists, families and community members can take steps right now to improve the future of these youths.

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Anheuser to stop selling alcoholic energy drinks

Thu Jun 26, 2008

ATLANTA (Reuters) - Anheuser-Busch Cos (BUD.N: Quote, Profile, Research) will stop selling energy drinks that contain alcohol in the United States under an agreement with 11 state attorneys general who had alleged that the brewer was marketing the products to underage drinkers.
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News Release - Anheuser-Busch Supports Federal Government’s Teen Summer Safety Campaign

Ads and Retail Signage Reinforce Responsibility Message

ST. LOUIS (June 10, 2008) – Anheuser-Busch, the nation’s largest brewer, is helping the federal government spread an important public service message about underage-drinking prevention. The company will place ads in national publications to support the government’s “We Don’t Serve Teens” campaign aimed at fighting underage drinking. The initiative is part of an industry-wide effort timed for summer when many teens have increased freedom, are attending parties, and may, potentially, find themselves in situations where they are tempted to drink alcohol. The campaign, which launches today, also includes outdoor billboards and signs in convenience and grocery stores.

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Generalizability of clinical trials for alcohol dependence to community samples
Drug and Alcohol Dependence Article in Press, 24 June 2008


There is a growing concern that results of tightly controlled clinical trials of individuals with alcohol use disorders may not generalize to broader community samples.

To assess the proportion of community-dwelling adults with alcohol dependence who would have been eligible for a typical alcohol dependence treatment study, we developed a new, simple method: we applied a standard set of eligibility criteria commonly used in alcohol outcome studies to a large (n = 43,093) representative US adult sample interviewed face-to-face, the National Epidemiologic Survey on Alcohol and Related Conditions (NESARC).

We found that approximately one-half (50.5%) of all individuals with a DSM-IV diagnosis of alcohol dependence (n = 1484) and 79.4% of those who sought treatment (n = 185) were excluded by one or more study criteria. Individual study criteria excluded from 0.9% to 48.2% of the overall sample and 0.8% to 43.7% of the treatment-seeking sample. For the overall sample, the lack of motivation/compliance and financial situation criteria excluded the largest percentage of individuals. In the treatment-seeking subsample, comorbid medical conditions and legal problems excluded the largest proportions of individuals.

Our study provides a new method to assess the generalizability of clinical trials, and gives further evidence that typical clinical trials for alcohol dependence likely exclude most adults with the disorder in the community and under care, and support the notion that clinical trials recruit “pure” rather than “typical” patients.

Clinical trials should carefully evaluate the effects of the selected eligibility criteria on the generalizability of their results.


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Electrophysiological correlates of the disrupted processing of anger in alcoholism
International Journal of Psychophysiology Article in Press, 22 May 2008


Recent studies have shown that alcoholism is characterized by a deficit in the processing of emotional facial expressions (EFE), and that this deficit could be "emotion specific".

The present study explored the hypothesis that there is a specific deficit for the EFE of anger compared to another negative emotion (disgust). Moreover, on the basis of event-related potentials (ERPs), this study aimed at determining the locus of this deficit in the information-processing stream.

Behavioural data showed an absence of categorical perception effect for anger (but not for disgust) stimuli among alcoholic patients. Moreover, electrophysiological data revealed that alcoholism is associated with an impaired processing of anger at the attentional level (N2b/P3a complex), extending to the decisional level (P3b).

This study demonstrated disturbed processing of anger in alcoholism, at behavioural and electrophysiological levels. These preliminary results strengthen the proposition of a specific deficit for anger, and localize its possible origin to the attentional level (N2b/P3a complex) of the information processing stream. The clinical implications of these results are discussed.


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Request Reprtint E-Mail: pierre.maurage@uclouvain.be
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