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Biomedical subjects

D J Pittman

Publications and source records attributed to D J Pittman.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed1993

The external costs of alcohol abuse.

This study reviews the economic concepts of external and private costs and interprets them in the context of alcohol abuse. Previous economic cost studies by NIAAA are found inadequate in that they fail to differentiate between external and private costs. This study differentiates between external and private costs. This study finds that the external costs of alcohol abuse in 1985 were $9.5 billion with an additional $4.5 billion in government incurred costs. Policy implications of this finding are discussed.

Alcoholism↗
PubMed1993

Regional differences in alcohol consumption and drinkers' attitudes toward drinking.

Based on a November 1986 national probability sample of American adults aged 21 and over (1,069 of whom were deemed "drinkers" on the basis of having consumed at least one alcoholic beverage in the 7 days prior to interview), this study examines whether region of residence influences drinkers' alcohol consumption and/or their perceptions of alcohol use. In addition to examining the main effects of the relationship between geographic region of residence and alcohol use, four measures of urbanization are also investigated for their influence on drinking. Results indicate that geographic region of residence makes little to no difference in people's alcohol use and has only a small impact on their drinking-related attitudes. By and large, urbanization and gender are not influential variables in these relationships.

Adult↗
PubMed1993

The relationship between emotional state and alcohol consumption.

Based on a November 1986 national probability sample of 1,069 American drinkers (i.e., people who drank at least one alcoholic beverage in the past 7 days) aged 21 and over, this study investigates the relationship between 10 emotional states (i.e., happy, sad, calm, tense, stimulated, bored, irritable, romantic, festive, and lonely) and the amount of beer, wine, distilled spirits, and/or wine cooler consumed during respondents' last drinking episode. The results indicate that: (1) Although all of the mediating variables studied affected the relationship between affect and alcohol consumption, age appears to be the most influential of these variables; and (2) For each alcoholic beverage type, at least one emotional state was significantly related to amount consumed.

Adult↗
PubMed1991

Alcohol and other drugs: the response of the political and medical institutions.

Formal and informal social control in shaping individual behaviors toward the use of alcohol and other drugs is discussed. Emphasis is placed on formal social control as it occurs in two major institutions. The state, which embodies the political and legal structures of the society is discussed in terms of the social control of some of the consequences of drinking, such as public drunkenness, alcoholism, operating vehicles with specific blood alcohol levels, and crime and alcohol use. The medical institution's involvement in alcohol and drug control is discussed in terms of the physician's role in diagnosing alcohol and drug dependent individuals. Two contemporary cases, those of pregnant addicts and alcohol-related organ transplant patients, illustrate the significant interactions between the responses of the political and medical institutions, and the broader influences that help shape these responses.

Alcoholism↗
PubMed1990

Drinker prototypes in American society.

Based on a national probability sample of 2,401 Americans age 21 and over (1,069 of whom were deemed "drinkers" on the basis of having consumed at least one alcoholic beverage in the past 7 days), this study develops profiles of the drinker and heavier drinking prototypes for beer, distilled spirits, wine, and wine cooler drinkers. Both beer-drinking prototypes are mainly composed of less well-educated males who drink beer in circumstances unconnected with any mealtime setting. Wine drinkers are more often women (although the heavy drinking prototype is more likely to be a man), usually with education at or beyond the "some college" level, who typically drink wine in moderation with a meal such as dinner. Both prototypes of the distilled spirits drinkers are likely to be men, age 45 or over, who are not currently married, who usually drink in a bar, before a meal, when they feel somewhat happy or calm. Wine cooler drinkers are much more heterogeneous, and hence less distinguishable than the other drinking prototypes. The heavier wine cooler drinker, however, is likely to be single, with 12 or 13 years of schooling. This person usually drinks when feeling very stimulated, very happy, very romantic, or else very bored, and often does so at bars or in friends' homes.

Adult↗
PubMed1990

Social occasions and the perceived appropriateness of consuming different alcoholic beverages.

Based on a national probability sample of 2,401 Americans aged 21 and over (1,069 of whom were deemed "drinkers" on the basis of having drunk at least one alcoholic beverage within the previous 7 days), this study looks at differences in the perceived situational appropriateness of drinking beer, distilled spirits, wine and wine coolers in each of six social occasions. It was found that wine is usually deemed appropriate in integrative, social enjoyment-enhancing situations. Beer use tends to be viewed ambivalently, with a sort of "cross-situational neutrality"; its use is neither strongly condoned nor strongly condemned in any of the six social contexts under study. People's attitudes toward the use of distilled spirits are best described as allowing for a "cautious indulgence" in this beverage. The respondents tend to favor drinking distilled spirits during integrative social occasions, feel ambivalently toward drinking in social contexts that are simultaneously integrative and disintegrative and disfavor drinking during disintegrative and anxiety-reductive social occasions. Wine cooler use is viewed inconsistently, perhaps with a tendency toward being seen as appropriate for consumption during integrative social occasions that involve having a good time. Sex, income and marital status differences were found to be minimal. Age, though, was found to be a discerning variable in many of these relationships, such that people aged 65 or older were less likely than their younger counterparts to endorse drinking in all of the social contexts under study, except for drinking as a perfect complement to a nice dinner.

Adult↗
PubMed1990

Perceived consequences associated with the use of beer, wine, distilled spirits, and wine coolers.

Based on a national probability sample of 2,401 Americans aged 21 and over (1,069 of whom were deemed "drinkers" on the basis of having drunk at least one alcoholic beverage in the past 7 days), this study examines which of six specific problems people associate with the use of beer, distilled spirits, wine, and wine coolers. It was found that people are most likely to associate alcoholism, birth defects, drunk driving, and fighting and rowdy behavior equally with these four types of alcohol. But when beverage associations are made, distilled spirits and beer are blamed most frequently for these problems, whereas wine and wine coolers are virtually never thought of as being closely related to any of the problems under study. It was also determined that nearly 1 out of every 7 drinkers surveyed stated that birth defects are unrelated to alcohol use of any kind.

Accidents, Traffic↗
PubMed1989

The economic costs of alcohol abuse: an assessment of current methods and estimates.

This article provides an exposition and critical review of the methods and assumptions used by the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism to estimate the economic costs of alcohol abuse. Particular attention is paid to the methods used to estimate productivity loss which comprises over half of total abuse costs. This study concludes that these estimates are inaccurate and that they continually overstate actual costs. The main reasons for this overstatement are the attribution of causality to alcohol abuse where none has been shown to exist and improper methodology with regard to productivity impairment measures. In addition to being inaccurate at any point in time, the estimates are not a valid measure of the costs over time due to changing definitions of what constitutes alcohol abuse and lack of correction for inflation. Also, the method used implies cost comparisons with a society with no alcohol abuse. As a result of these considerations the estimates lack policy relevance.

Alcoholism↗
PubMed1989

Alcohol consumption and the perceived situational appropriateness of consuming different types of alcoholic beverages.

Based on a 1986 national probability sample of 2401 Americans aged 21 years and over (1069 of whom were deemed 'drinkers' on the basis of having drunk at least one alcoholic beverage in the past seven days), this study analyses the relationship between respondents' perceptions of how appropriate it is to consume either beer, wine, distilled spirits, or wine coolers in each of six social contexts (namely, at a bar, at a ballgame, 'when the party's really rolling', at a celebration, as a perfect complement to a nice dinner, and after a particularly rough, i.e. difficult, day) and subsequent alcohol consumption by these same individuals. It was hypothesized that people who considered it appropriate to drink a given beverage type would drink more of that beverage than those individuals who deemed consumption of that type of alcohol to be inappropriate. Results indicated that this is valid for certain of the social occasions in terms of the use of beer, distilled spirits and wine. Wine cooler consumption, however, was found to be unrelated to people's perceptions of how appropriate it is to drink in different social situations.

Adult↗