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Alcohol consumption is an important predictor of a variety of negative outcomes. There is an extensive literature that examines the differences in the estimated level of alcohol consumption between types of assessments (e.g., quantity-frequency [QF] questionnaires, daily diaries). However, it is typically assumed that all QF-based measures are nearly identical in their assessment of the volume of alcohol consumption in a population. Using timeline follow-back data and constructing common QF consumption measures, we examined differences among survey instruments to assess alcohol consumption and heavy drinking. Using three data sets, including clinical to community samples, we demonstrate how scale-specific item characteristics (i.e., number of response options and ranges of consumption assessed by each option) can substantially affect the estimated mean level of consumption and estimated prevalence of binge drinking. Our analyses suggest that problems can be mitigated by employing more resolved measures of quantity and frequency in consumption questionnaires.

Objective: The findings of previous research that examined relationships between popularity and alcohol use in adolescents have been mixed, and few hypotheses have proposed mechanisms for this relationship. The current study expands on previous literature (a) by examining a possible mechanism that can explain the relation between popularity and alcohol use (home access to alcohol) and (b) by using another sociometric measure ("betweenness"), beyond popularity, that may relate more to home alcohol access., Method: Using network-level data from adolescents in 9th-11th grades in eight schools within two in-home waves of the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent to Adult Health (Add Health), we examined two sociometric measures of social status: popularity (number of schoolmates who nominated participants as a friend) and betweenness (level of ties participants have to multiple social subgroups within a network)., Results: Betweenness, but not popularity, related to later alcohol use. Having home access to alcohol positively related to later alcohol use, and having friends with home access to alcohol negatively related to later alcohol use. Alcohol access was also related to later sociometric status. Friends' alcohol access negatively related to later betweenness, and personal alcohol access moderated other pathways predicting betweenness., Conclusions: Betweenness appears to play a unique role in the association between social status and alcohol use in adolescent social networks. This is potentially tied to specific ways in which adolescents may be able to access alcohol (through home or through friends with access at home). More research is necessary to examine the ways in which multiple sociometric statuses relate to the contexts in which adolescents access and use alcohol.

Background: Variability in sensitivity to the acute effects of alcohol is an important risk factor for the development of alcohol use disorder (AUD). The most commonly used retrospective self-report measure of sensitivity, the Self-Rating of the Effects of Alcohol (SRE) form, queries a limited number of alcohol effects and relies on respondents' ability to recall experiences that might have occurred in the distant past. Here, we investigated the construct validity of an alternative measure that queries a larger number of alcohol effects, the Alcohol Sensitivity Questionnaire (ASQ), and compared it to the SRE in predicting momentary subjective responses to an acute dose of alcohol., Methods: Healthy young adults (N = 423) completed the SRE and the ASQ and then were randomly assigned to consume either alcohol or a placebo beverage (between-subjects manipulation). Stimulation and sedation (Biphasic Alcohol Effects Scale) and subjective intoxication were measured multiple times after drinking., Results: Hierarchical linear models showed that the ASQ reliably predicted each of these outcomes following alcohol but not placebo consumption, provided unique prediction beyond that associated with differences in recent alcohol involvement, and was preferred over the SRE (in terms of model fit) in direct model comparisons of stimulation and sedation., Conclusions: The ASQ compared favorably with the better-known SRE in predicting increased stimulation and reduced sedation following an acute alcohol challenge. The ASQ appears to be a valid self-report measure of alcohol sensitivity and therefore holds promise for identifying individuals at-risk for AUD and related problems., (Copyright © 2016 by the Research Society on Alcoholism.)

Although socializing effects of friends' drinking on adolescent drinking behavior have been firmly established in previous literature, study results on the importance of gender, as well as the specific role that gender may play in peer socialization, are very mixed. Given the increasing importance of gender in friendships (particularly opposite-sex friendships) during adolescence, it is necessary to better understand the nuanced roles that gender can play in peer socialization effects on alcohol use. In addition, previous studies focusing on the interplay between individual gender and friends' gender have been largely dyadic; less is known about potential gendered effects of broader social networks. The current study sought to further investigate potential effects of gender on friends' influence on adolescent drinking behavior with particular emphasis on the number of same-sex and opposite-sex friends within one's friendship network, as well as closeness to these friends. Using Waves I and II of the saturated sample of the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health (Add Health), adolescent friendship networks were used to calculate the mean drinking behaviors of adolescent friends. Multi-level models estimated the effects of individual drinking behaviors, friend drinking behaviors, and school-level drinking behaviors on adolescent drinking 1 year later, as well as moderating effects of gender composition of friendship groups and male and female friend closeness on the relationship between friends' drinking behaviors and adolescent drinking behavior. Results documented that gender composition of friendship groups did not influence the effect of friends' drinking on individual drinking 1 year later. However, closeness to friends did influence this relationship. As closeness to male friends decreased, the influence of their drinking behavior increased, for both boys and girls. A similar effect was found for female friends, but only for boys. Female friend closeness did not affect the relationship between peer alcohol socialization and girls' alcohol use. The findings indicate that the role of gender on alcohol socialization may be more complex than previously thought, particularly when examining the potential role that alcohol use may play as a mechanism for social bonding within opposite-sex friendships and same-sex male friendships.

Background: Adult alcohol consumption is influenced by peer consumption, but whether peer drinking is associated with first-onset alcohol dependence (AD) in adults after age 30 is unknown., Methods: 703 adult participants in the St. Louis Epidemiologic Catchment Area Survey (ECA) with no prior history of AD, but with high risk based on previously reported drinking or family history, were re-interviewed 11 years after the last ECA assessment to detect new cases of AD (age at follow-up: M(S.D.)=42.9 (8.2)). Incident AD during the assessment interval was examined in relation to drinking patterns in the social network and history of alcohol problems in parents., Results: Fifteen percent of the sample had a first-onset of AD; another 19.5% never developed AD but were high-risk drinkers at follow-up. Of those who developed AD, 32.1% were remitted and 67.9% were unremitted (current AD) or unstably remitted (asymptomatic high-risk drinkers). Compared to abstinent or low-risk drinkers who did not develop AD, high-risk drinkers with no AD and unremitted/unstably remitted individuals were 4 times as likely to report moderate drinkers in their networks and remitted individuals were nearly 3 times as likely to report network members in recovery from alcohol problems. Associations of social network drinking with remitted and current AD were similar in strength to those of parental alcohol problems., Conclusions: Social network drinking patterns are associated with high-risk drinking and with the development of incident AD in adults, with effects equal to that of alcohol problems in both parents., (Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Existing literature supports the five-factor model (FFM) of personality (i.e., Extraversion, Agreeableness, Conscientiousness, Emotional Stability, and Intellect or Openness) as a comprehensive representation of stable aspects of mood, affect, and behavior. This study evaluated the FFM as a framework for both self-perceptions of drunkenness (i.e., individual changes in mood, affect, and behavior associated with one's own intoxication), as well "drinking buddies'" perceptions of their friends' drunkenness (i.e., changes in mood, affect, and behavior associated with friends' intoxication) and the association of reported sober-to-drunk differences with negative alcohol-related consequences. College-student drinkers (N = 374; 187 drinking buddy pairs) reported on their sober and drunk levels of the 5 factors, as well as those of their drinking buddies. Buddies completed parallel assessments for themselves and their friends to ensure rater agreement. All participants completed assessments of harmful alcohol outcomes experienced within the past year. Regardless of reporter, differences between drunken and sober states were found across all 5 factors and agreement between self and informant reports was consistently significant and comparable across sober and drunk conditions. Low levels of drunk Conscientiousness and drunk Emotional Stability were associated with experiencing more alcohol-related consequences, even when controlling for sober factor levels and binge-drinking frequency. Findings support the use of the FFM as a clinically relevant framework for organizing differences in personality expression associated with intoxication and the validity of self-reports of drunk personality., (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2014 APA, all rights reserved.)

Aims: This study used a person-centered approach to test whether drinking motive typologies could be identified., Design: Longitudinal study of college students within the intensive multivariate prospective alcohol college-transitions (IMPACTS) data set., Setting: University campus in the United States., Participants: University students (baseline n reporting alcohol motives = 2158; baseline age = 18.60 years old)., Measurements: The drinking motives questionnaire-revised (DMQ-R)., Findings: Using Steinley & Brusco's cluster analysis approach [based on the theoretical ratio expected between the within sum of squares and the total sum of squares when the data are divided into two clusters when no cluster structure is present; the cut-off for the ratio is 0.25 for uniform (multivariate uniform) distributions and 0.36 for normal (multivariate normal) distributions], we examined whether there was evidence for distinct clusters of individuals that differed on their overall level of motives to drink. We tested the fit of a one-group (cluster) solution compared to multi-cluster solutions. Both cross-sectionally and prospectively, the data could not be partitioned into two or more clusters [regardless of whether the cut-off assuming a multivariate uniform distribution (i.e. 0.25) or the more liberal multivariate normal distribution (i.e., 0.36) was used]. These findings showed that enhancement and coping drinkers do not form two distinct groups but, rather, these motives exist on a continuum such that individuals who are high in one internal motive tend to be high in the other motive., Conclusions: Coping and enhancement drinkers do not form two distinct groups. Variable-centered approaches to drinking motives may be a better alternative to classifying all drinkers as either enhancement or coping drinkers for both clinical and research endeavors., (© 2012 The Authors, Addiction © 2012 Society for the Study of Addiction.)

Objective: The current study develops an empirically determined classification of sexual orientation developmental patterns based on participants' annual reports of self-identifications, sexual attractions, and sexual behaviors during the first 4 years of college. A secondary aim of the current work was to examine trajectories of alcohol involvement among identified subgroups., Method: Data were drawn from a subsample of a longitudinal study of incoming first-time college students at a large, public university (n = 2,068). Longitudinal latent class analysis was used to classify sexual minority participants into empirically derived subgroups based on three self-reported facets of sexual orientation. Multivariate repeated-measures analyses were conducted to examine how trajectories of alcohol involvement varied by sexual orientation class membership., Results: Four unique subclasses of sexual orientation developmental patterns were identified for males and females: one consistently exclusively heterosexual group and three sexual minority groups. Despite generally similar alcohol use patterns among subclasses, certain sexual minority subgroups reported elevated levels of alcohol-related negative consequences and maladaptive motivations for use throughout college compared with their exclusively heterosexual counterparts., Conclusions: Elevations in coping and conformity motivations for alcohol use were seen among those subgroups that also evidenced heightened negative alcohol-related consequences. Implications and limitations of the current work are discussed.

In recent years, trajectory approaches to characterizing individual differences in the onset and course of substance involvement have gained popularity. Previous studies have sometimes reported 4 prototypic courses: (a) a consistently "low" group, (b) an "increase" group, (c) a "decrease" group, and (d) a consistently "high" group. Although not always recovered, these trajectories are often found, despite these studies varying in the ages of the samples studied and the duration of the observation periods employed. Here, the authors examined the consistency with which these longitudinal patterns of heavy drinking were recovered in a series of latent class growth analyses that systematically varied the age of the sample at baseline, the duration of observation, and the number and frequency of measurement occasions. Data were drawn from a 4-year, 8-wave panel study of college student drinking (N = 3,720). Despite some variability across analyses, there was a strong tendency for these prototypes to emerge regardless of the participants' age at baseline and the duration of observation. These findings highlight potential problems with commonly employed trajectory-based approaches and the need to not over-reify these constructs.

Aims: Alcohol tolerance is a hallmark indicator of alcohol dependence. Even so, the allure of peers' admiration for having the ability to drink heavily may lead some adolescents and young adults to practice, or 'train', to increase their tolerance (particularly at US colleges, where heavy drinking is highly prevalent and central to the social culture). This is a potential health hazard that has not been documented empirically. Thus, we initiated a study of tolerance 'training' and its association to risky and heavy drinking., Design, Setting and Participants: A cross-sectional online survey of 990 college student life-time drinkers at a large Midwestern US university., Findings: Of the sample, 9.9% (n = 97) reported deliberately 'training' to increase tolerance. On average, they reported increasing from approximately seven to 10 US standard drinks in a night prior to 'training' to 12-15 drinks at the end of 'training,' over approximately 2-3 weeks' duration. Although the proportion of frequent binge drinking among 'non-trainers' (34.4%) was similar to national rates, 'trainers' were much more likely to be frequent bingers (76.3%; OR = 6.15)., Conclusions: A number of students report deliberately inducing alcohol tolerance, probably directly increasing the risk for alcohol poisoning and other acute harms and/or dependence. This phenomenon might additionally be applicable to other populations, and deserves further study and attention as a potential personal and public health risk. Prevention efforts might aim to reduce the perceived importance of heavy-drinking abilities., (© 2010 The Authors, Addiction © 2010 Society for the Study of Addiction.)

Background: Research has documented normative patterns of personality change during emerging and young adulthood that reflect decreases in traits associated with substance use, such as impulsivity. However, evidence suggests variability in these developmental changes., Methods: This study examined trajectories of impulsivity and their association with substance use and related problems from ages 18 to 35. Analyses were based on data collected from a cohort of college students (N = 489), at high and low risk for AUDs, first assessed as freshmen at a large, public university., Results: Mixture modeling identified five trajectory groups that differed in baseline levels of impulsivity and developmental patterns of change. Notably, the trajectory group that exhibited the sharpest declines in impulsivity tended to display accelerated decreases in alcohol involvement from ages 18 to 25 compared to the other impulsivity groups., Conclusion: Findings highlight the developmental nature of impulsivity across emerging and young adulthood and provide an empirical framework to identify key covariates of individual changes of impulsivity.

Background: Symptoms often play an important role in the scientific inquiry of psychological disorders and have been theorized to play a functional role in the disorders themselves. However, little is known about the course of specific symptoms and individual differences in course. Understanding the course of specific symptoms and factors influencing symptom course can inform psychological theory and future research on course and treatment. Methods: The current study examined alcohol use disorder (AUD) criteria to explore how etiologically relevant covariates differentially affected the course of individual criteria. The study examined 34,653 participants from Wave 1 (2001–2002) and Wave 2 (2003–2004) of the National Epidemiological Survey on Alcohol and Related Conditions (NESARC), to analyze the extent to which AUD symptom course is predicted by alcohol consumption patterns, family history of alcoholism, the presence of internalizing and externalizing disorders, and race. Results: The course of all AUD criteria was significantly influenced by these predictors, with the magnitude of the influence varying across different criteria and different aspects of the course (i.e., onset, persistence, recurrence). The strength of the relationship is partially related to the theoretical proximity of a given covariate to AUD symptomatology, with heavy drinking being the strongest and family history of AUD being the weakest. The course of all criteria was strongly associated with the prevalence of the criterion in the overall sample. Conclusions: The course of AUD criteria is heterogeneous, appearing to be influenced by conceptually proximal predictors, the prevalence of the criterion, and perhaps an underlying common factor. Diagnostic accuracy may be improved by including a criterion related to alcohol consumption. Future work should include exploring the interchangeability of criteria and alternative operationalization of them. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Increasingly, the structure of mental disorders has been studied in the form of a network, characterizing how symptoms or criteria interact with and influence each other. Many studies of psychiatric symptoms and diagnostic criteria employ community or population-based surveys using co-occurrence of the symptoms/criteria to form the networks. However, given the overall low prevalence rates of mental disorders and their symptoms in the general population, most of those surveyed may not exhibit or endorse any symptoms and yet are often included in network analyses. Consequently, because network models are built on associations between symptoms/criteria, much of the observed variability is driven by individuals who are asymptomatic. Using data from the National Epidemiological Survey of Alcohol and Related Conditions (NESARC) Wave 2 and NESARC-III, we explore the effect of these "asymptomatic" observations on the estimated relations among diagnostic criteria of alcohol use disorder to determine the effects of such observations on estimated networks. We do so using the eLasso tool, as well as with traditional measures of correlation between binary variables (the Φ coefficient and odds ratio). We find that when the proportion of asymptomatic individuals are systematically culled from the sample, the estimated pairwise relations are often significantly affected, even changing signs in some cases. Our findings indicate that researchers should carefully consider the population(s) included in their sample and the implications it has on their interpretations of pairwise similarity estimates and resulting generalizability and reproducibility of estimates of network structures. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2019 APA, all rights reserved). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Psychiatric diagnostic systems, such as The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fifth Edition (DSM-5), use expert consensus to determine diagnostic criteria sets and rules (DCSRs), rather than exploiting empirical techniques to arrive at optimal solutions (OS). Our project utilizes complete enumeration (i.e., generating all possible subsets of item combinations A and B with all possible thresholds, T) to evaluate all possible DCSRs given a set of relevant diagnostic data. This method yields the entire population distribution of diagnostic classifications (i.e., diagnosis of the disorder versus no diagnosis) produced by a set of dichotomous predictors (i.e., diagnostic criteria). Once unique sets are enumerated, optimization on some predefined correlate or predictor will maximally separate diagnostic groups on one or more, disorder-specific "outcome" criteria. We used this approach to illustrate how to create a common Substance Use Disorder (SUD) DCSR that is applicable to multiple substances. We demonstrate the utility of this approach with respect to alcohol use disorder and Cannabis Use Disorder (CUD) using DSM-5 criteria as input variables. The optimal SUD solution with a moderate or above severity grading included four criteria (i.e. 1) having a strong urge or craving for the substance (CR), 2) failure to fulfill major role obligations at work school or home (FF), 3) continued use of the substance despite social or interpersonal problems caused by the substance use (SI) and 4) physically hazardous use (HU)) with a diagnostic threshold of two. The derived DCSR was validated with known correlates of SUD and performed as well as DSM-5. Our findings illustrate the value of using an empirical approach to what is typically a subjective process of choosing criteria and algorithms that is prone to bias. The optimization of diagnostic criteria can reduce criteria set sizes, resulting in decreased research, clinician, and patient burden. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Some individuals “change” more dramatically than others when intoxicated, and the nature and magnitude of these changes can result in harmful outcomes. This study utilized reports (N = 374) of participants’ “typical” five-factor model (FFM) characteristics across sober and intoxicated states and assessed the degree to which these reports could be grouped into meaningful clusters, as well as the association of cluster membership with negative alcohol-related consequences. Results from finite mixture model clustering revealed a four cluster solution. Cluster 1, “Hemingway,” was the largest and defined by intoxication-related decreases in Conscientiousness and Intellect that were below average; Cluster 2, “Mary Poppins,” was defined by being high in Agreeableness when sober, decreasing less than average in Conscientiousness and Intellect and increasing more than average in Extraversion when drunk; Cluster 3, “Mr. Hyde,” reported larger drunk decreases in Conscientiousness and Intellect and smaller increases in Extraversion; Cluster 4, “The Nutty Professor,” was defined by being low in Extraversion when sober, increasing more than average in Extraversion and decreasing less than average in Conscientiousness when drunk. Cluster membership was associated with experiencing more alcohol consequences. These results support use of the FFM to characterize clinically meaningful subgroups of sober-to-drunk differences in trait expression. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Modern theoretical models of Alcohol Use Disorder (AUD) highlight the different functional roles played by various mechanisms associated with different symptoms. Symptom network models (SNMs) offer one approach to modeling AUD symptomatology in a way that could reflect these processes and provide important information on the progression and persistence of disorder. However, much of the research conducted using SNMs relies on cross-sectional data, which has raised questions regarding the extent they reflect dynamic processes. The current study aimed to (a) examine symptom networks of AUD and (b) compare the extent to which cross-sectional network models had similar structures and interpretations as longitudinal network models. 17,360 participants from Wave 1 (2001-2002) and Wave 2 (2003-2004) of the National Epidemiological Survey on Alcohol and Related Conditions (NESARC) were used to model cross-sectional and longitudinal AUD symptom networks. The cross-sectional analyses demonstrate high replicability across waves and central symptoms consistent with other cross-sectional studies on addiction networks. The longitudinal network shared much less similarity than the cross-sectional networks and had a substantially different structure. Given the increasing attention given to the network perspective in psychopathology research, the results of this study raise concerns about interpreting cross-sectional symptom networks as representative of temporal changes occurring within a psychological disorder. We conclude that the psychological symptom network literature should be bolstered with additional research on longitudinal network models. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]