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Background: Diagnostic and Statistical Manual (DSM) alcohol use disorder (AUD) criteria are written in broad enough terms to apply to diverse populations. The current analyses evaluate whether the endorsement of criteria changes with increasing age in individuals with persistent AUDs. Methods: Data regarding AUDs persisting across 3 timepoints between average ages of 31 and 43 were gathered about every 5 years from 318 interviews for 106 San Diego Prospective Study (SDPS) AUD male probands. Similar data regarding persistent AUDs across 2 timepoints were obtained from 136 interviews with 68 SDPS AUD offspring between average ages of 21 and 27. Changes in the endorsement of each AUD criterion were evaluated using Cochran's Q test. Results: For AUD probands across time, significant decreases were observed in the proportions endorsing 4 criteria (tolerance, withdrawal, failure to fulfill obligations, and using alcohol in hazardous situations). Increased rates of endorsement were documented for 3 criteria (drinking alcohol in higher amounts or for longer periods of time, spending a great deal of time regarding alcohol, and continued use despite social or interpersonal problems). Significant increases in rates of endorsements for offspring were seen for spending a great deal of time regarding alcohol and giving up or reducing important activities in order to drink. Conclusions: These data indicate that the salience of many DSM AUD criterion items changed significantly with age in both SDPS generations among individuals with persistent AUDs. The current results support the need for additional systematic research to determine whether specific criterion items might need to be weighted differently in evaluating older and younger individuals with persistent AUDs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The most efficient approach for establishing family histories (FHs) asks informants about disorders in their relatives (a Family History Method [FHM]). However, FHMs underestimate family diagnoses. We evaluated if accuracies of young adult offspring report of their father's alcohol use disorders (AUDs) related to the age, sex, education, and/or substance‐related patterns/problems of either the young adult informants or their AUD fathers. Methods: Data from the San Diego Prospective Study (SDPS), a multigenerational 35‐year investigation, compared father/offspring pairs where the proband father's alcohol problems were correctly (Group 1) or incorrectly (Group 2) noted by offspring. In the key analysis, Group 1 versus 2 results were entered into bootstrapped backward logistic regression analyses predicting Group 1 membership. Results: Five proband and one offspring characteristic were associated with correct identification of their father's alcohol problems. None of these related to age, education, or sex. Characteristics associated with correct FHM diagnoses included the father's FH of AUDs, self‐report of drinking despite social/interpersonal or physical/psychological alcohol‐related problems, spending much time related to alcohol, and his having a religious preference. The single offspring item predicting correct identification of the father's problems was the number of DSM alcohol problems of the offspring. Conclusions: In the SDPS, FHM sensitivity was most closely related to the father's drinking characteristics, not the offspring characteristics. While unique aspects of SDPS families potentially limit generalizability of results, the data demonstrate how the FHM can offer important initial steps in the search for genetically related AUD risks in a subset of families. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Distinguishing the impacts of neighborhood income and off‐premise alcohol outlet density on alcohol use has proven difficult, particularly given the conflation of these measures across neighborhood areas. We explicitly test for differential effects related to individual and area income and outlet densities on alcohol use and alcohol use disorders (AUDs) by implementing a stratified microecological sample. Methods: The East Bay Neighborhoods Study included a survey of 984 residents of 72 microenvironments within a geographically contiguous 6‐city area in California and Systematic social observations of each site. The sites included 18 areas in each of 4 strata (high/low median household income and off‐premise outlet density). We assessed 4 outcomes: 28‐day drinking frequency, average quantity of alcohol consumed per drinking occasion, 28‐day drinking volume, and Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test (AUDIT) score. We used zero‐inflated negative binomial regression with standard errors adjusted for site clusters to relate drinking measures to individual‐level age, race/ethnicity, gender, marital status, education, and income, and neighborhood indicators of site strata, physical disorder, and physical decay. An interaction term was tested representing site‐level by individual‐level income. Results: Living in a high‐income site, regardless of off‐premise alcohol outlet density, was associated with more frequent drinking and higher alcohol dependence/problems. Both individual‐level income and site‐level income were related to greater frequencies of use, but lower income drinkers in high‐income areas drank more than comparable drinkers in low‐income areas. Study participants living in high‐density off‐premise alcohol outlet sites drank less frequently but did not differ in terms of either AUDIT scores or heavy drinking from participants living in low‐density sites. Conclusions: Using a stratified microecological sampling design, we were able to directly assess statistical associations of off‐premise outlet density and neighborhood median household income with patterns of drinking and AUDs. Caution should be used interpreting prior study findings linking off‐premise outlet densities to drinking. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background Neurobehavioral consequences of heavy prenatal alcohol exposure are well documented; however, the role of age or sex in these effects has not been studied. The current study examined the effects of prenatal alcohol exposure, sex, and age on neurobehavioral functioning in children. Methods Subjects were 407 youth with prenatal alcohol exposure ( n = 192) and controls ( n = 215). Two age groups (child [5 to 7 years] or adolescent [10 to 16 years]) and both sexes were included. All subjects completed standardized neuropsychological testing, and caregivers completed parent-report measures of psychopathology and adaptive behavior. Neuropsychological functioning, psychopathology, and adaptive behavior were analyzed with separate 2 (exposure history) × 2 (sex) × 2 (age) multivariate analyses of variance (MANOVAs). Significant effects were followed by univariate analyses. Results No 3-way or 2-way interactions were significant. The main effect of group was significant in all 3 MANOVAs, with the control group performing better than the alcohol-exposed group on all measures. The main effect of age was significant for neuropsychological performance and adaptive functioning across exposure groups with younger children performing better than older children on 3 measures (language, communication, socialization). Older children performed better than younger children on a different language measure. The main effect of sex was significant for neuropsychological performance and psychopathology; across exposure groups, males had stronger language and visual spatial scores and fewer somatic complaints than females. Conclusions Prenatal alcohol exposure resulted in impaired neuropsychological and behavioral functioning. Although adolescents with prenatal alcohol exposure may perform more poorly than younger exposed children, the same was true for nonexposed children. Thus, these cross-sectional data indicate that the developmental trajectory for neuropsychological and behavioral performance is not altered by prenatal alcohol exposure, but rather, deficits are consistent across the 2 age groups tested. Similarly, observed sex differences on specific measures were consistent across the groups and do not support sexually dimorphic effects in these domains. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background Different drinkers may experience specific risks depending on where they consume alcohol. This longitudinal study examined drinking patterns, and demographic and psychosocial characteristics associated with youth drinking in different contexts. Methods We used survey data from 665 past-year alcohol-using youths (ages 13 to 16 at Wave 1) in 50 midsized California cities. Measures of drinking behaviors and drinking in 7 contexts were obtained at 3 annual time points. Other characteristics included gender, age, race, parental education, weekly disposable income, general deviance, and past-year cigarette smoking. Results Results of multilevel regression analyses show that more frequent past-year alcohol use was associated with an increased likelihood of drinking at parties and at someone else's home. Greater continued volumes of alcohol (i.e., heavier drinking) was associated with increased likelihood of drinking at parking lots or street corners. Deviance was positively associated with drinking in most contexts, and past-year cigarette smoking was positively associated with drinking at beaches or parks and someone else's home. Age and deviance were positively associated with drinking in a greater number of contexts. The likelihood of youth drinking at parties and someone else's home increased over time, whereas the likelihood of drinking at parking lots/street corners decreased. Also, deviant youths progress to drinking in their own home, beaches or parks, and restaurants/bars/nightclubs more rapidly. Conclusions The contexts in which youths consume alcohol change over time. These changes vary by individual characteristics. The redistribution of drinking contexts over the early life course may contribute to specific risks associated with different drinking contexts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background Despite well-known associations between heavy drinking and child physical abuse, little is known about specific risks related to drinking different amounts of alcohol in different drinking venues. This study uses a context-specific dose-response model to examine how drinking in various venues (e.g., at bars or parties) is related to physically abusive parenting practices while controlling for individual and psychosocial characteristics. Methods Data were collected via a telephone survey of parents in 50 cities in California, resulting in 2,163 respondents who reported drinking in the past year. Child physical abuse and corporal punishment were measured using the Conflict Tactics Scale, Parent-Child version. Drinking behaviors were measured using continued drinking measures. Data were analyzed using zero-inflated Poisson models. Results Drinking at homes, parties, or bars more frequently was related to greater frequencies of physically abusive parenting practices. The use of greater amounts of alcohol in association with drinking at bars appeared to increase risks of corporal punishment, a dose-response effect. Dose-response relationships were not found for drinking at homes or parties or drinking at bars for physical abuse nor for drinking at home and parties for corporal punishment. Conclusions Frequencies of using drinking venues, particularly bars and home or parties, are associated with greater use of abusive parenting practices. These findings suggest that a parent's routine drinking activities place children at different risks of being physically abused. They also suggest that interventions that take into account parents' alcohol use at drinking venues are an important avenue for secondary prevention efforts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study examined alcohol use patterns among men and women with depression seeking outpatient psychiatric treatment, including factors associated with recent heavy episodic drinking and motivation to reduce alcohol consumption. The sample consisted of 1,183 patients aged 18 and over who completed a self-administered, computerized intake questionnaire and who scored ≥10 on the Beck Depression Inventory-II (BDI-II). Additional measures included current and past alcohol questions based on the Addiction Severity Index, heavy episodic drinking (≥5 drinks on 1 or more occasions in the past year), alcohol-related problems on the Short Michigan Alcoholism Screening Test (SMAST), and motivation to reduce drinking using the Stages of Change Readiness and Treatment Eagerness Scale (SOCRATES). Among those who consumed any alcohol in the past year (73.9% of the sample), heavy episodic drinking in the past year was reported by 47.5% of men and 32.5% of women. In logistic regression, prior-year heavy episodic drinking was associated with younger age ( p = 0.011), male gender ( p = 0.001), and cigarette smoking ( p = 0.002). Among patients reporting heavy episodic drinking, motivation to reduce alcohol consumption was associated with older age ( p = 0.008), greater usual quantity of alcohol consumed ( p < 0.001), and higher SMAST score ( p < 0.001). In contrast to prior clinical studies, we examined subdiagnostic alcohol use and related problems among psychiatric outpatients with depression. Patients reporting greater drinking quantities and alcohol-related problems also express more motivation to reduce drinking, providing intervention opportunities for mental health providers that should not be overlooked. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]