Chronic use of alcohol and/or benzodiazepines may account for evidence of altered benzodiazepine receptor sensitivity in panic disorder.
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Alcoholism↗
Biomedical subjects
R O Pihl
Publications and source records attributed to R O Pihl.
Sensation seeking, stress reactivity, and alcohol dampening discriminate the density of a family history of alcoholism.
Data collected from 95 nonalcoholic men who had either a multigenerational (MFH), unigenerational (UFH), or negative family history (FHN) of alcoholism were subjected to a discriminant function analysis to determine how well a set of variables differentiated between the family history groups. The data-set comprised personality measures (sensation seeking scales, neuroticism, and extroversion), measures of cardiovascular reactivity to unavoidable shock, and measures of the cardiovascular reactivity-dampening effects of alcohol. The discriminant analyses correctly classified 62% of all subjects, 75% of MFH subjects, 47% of UFH subjects, and 63% of FHN subjects. A canonical discriminant function analysis revealed one significant dimension (canonical variable) that differentiated between family history groups. The high density (MFH) family group scored positively on this dimension, while the UFH and FHN groups had negative mean scores on this variable. A MFH of alcoholism was characterized by a pattern of increased sensitivity to the cardiovascular reactivity-dampening effect of alcohol, cardiovascular hyperreactivity to unavoidable shock when sober, and the personality characteristic of experience seeking, which is associated with a desire for novel and unconventional experiences.
Adult↗
Measurement of psychological and heart rate reactivity to stress in the real world.
The purpose of the present investigation was to develop and test an innovative methodology to assess stress reactivity in the real world. A portable microcomputer was programmed to administer two questionnaires eight times per day for 3 days in the field. Heart rate was measured simultaneously using a reliable and valid ambulatory monitor (Sport Tester PE-3000). Data were analyzed in terms of stress versus no stress, based on subjects' perceptions of the 24 events. It was found that heart rate was significantly higher in the stress condition and that physical stressors contributed significantly to heart rate variability, as did cigarette smoking. Three emotional responses were evident when subjects were stressed: anxiety, hostility and depression; the former two emotions also contributed to heart rate variability. The heart rate data were compared to a number of other studies conducted in the field and found to be strikingly similar. It was concluded that the new technologies currently available allow for the measurement of stress reactivity in the field.
Adaptation, Psychological↗
Cognitive dysfunction and the inherited predisposition to alcoholism.
A battery of neuropsychological tests was administered to 22 nonalcoholic sons of male alcoholics (SOMAs) from families with extensive histories of male alcoholism and to 22 nonalcoholic controls with no history of familial alcoholism. In each group 11 subjects were tested while sober and 11 were tested while alcohol-intoxicated. Analyses of the results of this battery suggested (1) that SOMAs may be characterized by comparative decrements in those cognitive functions associated with the organization of novel information, dependent in theory upon the prefrontal cortex; and (2) that alcohol detrimentally affects delayed memory, associated with the temporal cortex, equally across groups. Of these SOMAs 20 had previously participated in one of two studies that demonstrated their cardiovascular hyper-reactivity to threat/stress and their increased sensitivity to the reactivity-dampening effects of alcohol intoxication. Correlational analyses of the results of the present and previous studies demonstrated the existence of a highly significant relationship between cognitive impairment, cardiovascular hyper-reactivity and susceptibility to the reactivity-dampening effects of alcohol.
Adult↗
Factor structure and correlates of the Tridimensional Personality Questionnaire.
Cloninger has proposed a model linking personality characteristics to patterns of responses to various stimuli, including alcohol. The model also uses personality characteristics to divide alcoholics into two types. In order to assess the relevant aspects of personality, the Tridimensional Personality Questionnaire (TPQ) was developed. This study examined the factor structure and correlates of the questionnaire to shed light on its validity. A confirmatory factor analysis of the TPQ failed to replicate the three proposed factors of novelty seeking, harm avoidance and reward dependence. Alternative models also failed to fit the data. The three factors were correlated with other personality measures theoretically linked to drinking (MacAndrew, Socialization and Sensation-Seeking scales), quantity and frequency measures of alcohol use and a measure of alcohol abuse (the Michigan Alcoholism Screening Test). The pattern of correlations provides evidence for the convergent validity of the TPQ. Nevertheless, the failure to replicate the factor structure suggests that the scale requires further revision before the model can be adequately tested.
Adolescent↗
The effects of alcohol on the cardiovascular stress response in men at high risk for alcoholism: a dose response study.
Men at risk for alcoholism appear to be cardiovascularly hyperreactive to stressors; high doses of alcohol have been found to significantly dampen this hyperreactivity. The present study examined the effects of various doses of alcohol on cardiovascular reactivity in high- versus low-risk men. Cardiovascular reactivity to a stressor (unavoidable shock) was examined in men with multigenerational family histories of alcoholism and in family history negative men while they were sober and after they had consumed one of five alcohol doses (active placebo, 0.50, 0.75, 1.00 or 1.32 ml 95% USP alcohol/kg body weight). No significant placebo effects were observed in the active placebo condition. Furthermore, the cardiovascular reactivity dampening effect in high-risk men was evident only at moderate to high doses of alcohol, suggesting that men at high risk for the development of alcoholism must consume moderately high doses of alcohol in order to obtain this potentially reinforcing consequence.
Adolescent↗
Effect of sucrose consumption on alcohol-induced impairment in male social drinkers.
Two studies were conducted to examine the interaction between sucrose and ethanol in normal young fasting adult males. The first experiment employed a 3 (100 g sugar, 35 g sugar, 0 g sugar) x 3 (alcohol, placebo and sober) factorial design, which was carried out double-blind using aspartame to ensure that all the drinks were equally sweet. Subjects were tested for mood, memory, subjective intoxication and psychomotor performance at baseline and at times up to 3.5 h after ingestion of the drinks. An alcohol by sugar interaction was seen at 0.5 after drinking. Sugar attenuated alcohol intoxication at this time without influencing blood alcohol levels. Contrary to previous reports, the combination of alcohol and sugar failed to produce significant hypoglycemia, or any of the adverse behavioral effects associated with hypoglycemia, at later times after drink ingestion. The second experiment involved a simpler design, carried out single-blind in which the subjects receiving no sugar did not get aspartame. This was to rule out the possibility that aspartame was exacerbating alcohol intoxication instead of sugar attenuating it. The second experiment also showed that sugar can attenuate alcohol intoxication in fasting humans without altering blood alcohol levels significantly.
Adult↗
The Tridimensional Personality Questionnaire and the inherited risk for alcoholism.
The Tridimensional Personality Questionnaire (TPQ) (Cloninger, 1987c) was administered to four groups of young men. The first group was composed of nonalcoholic sons of male alcoholics with extensive multigenerational family histories of male alcohol abuse. The second was made up of nonalcoholic men with alcoholic fathers. The third group was composed of nonalcoholic men with no family history of alcoholism, taken from the general population. The fourth group contained male undergraduates with no family history of alcoholism. There were no significant differences between the mean scores obtained by members of all four groups on the three major subscales of the TPQ.
Alcoholism↗
Validation of the Derogatis Stress Profile using laboratory and real world data.
The Derogatis Stress Profile (DSP) is unique among the numerous measures of 'stress' in that it incorporates the interactional model of Lazarus and Folkman in a multidimensional structure. Derogatis has studied the psychometric properties of the DSP but its validity has not been demonstrated in the 'real world' nor has it been related to psychophysiological data. The present investigation was aimed at testing the validity of the DSP in these two areas. Forty-three men between the ages of 18 and 30 years completed the DSP, the Daily Hassles Scale (DHS), the Life Experiences Survey (LES), the Profile of Mood States (bipolar form), and the Jackson Personality Inventory (JPI). Participants were exposed to stressors in a laboratory setting as well as in the field while their heart rate was being monitored. Results supported the validity of the DSP, in part. The correlation between the DSP and JPI anxiety scores was significant as was the correlation between the DSP and the daily depression scores. The correlation between the Total Stress Score (TSS) of the DSP and DHS was significant as were the correlations between the TSS and LES scores. Moreover, the DSP scores were related to heart rate reactivity both in the laboratory and in the field.
Adult↗
A biobehavioural model for the inherited predisposition to alcoholism.
Sons of male alcoholics are at increased risk for the development of alcoholism, and are characterized as well by other traits, that may serve as markers for the alcoholic predisposition. These other traits include mild cognitive abnormalities, cardiac hyper-reactivity to signalled electric shock, susceptibility to alcohol-intoxication elimination of that hyper-reactivity, and increased baseline heart-rate while drinking.
Alcohol Drinking↗
Alexithymia and stimulus augmenting/reducing.
Alexithymia is thought to be a trait that predisposes individuals to psychosomatic and drug abuse disorders. It was hypothesized that alexithymic characteristics would lead an individual to augment stimuli in order to prevent ignoring stimuli that might be dangerous. Subjects (N = 175) were administered alexithymia and augmenting-reducing questionnaires. These concepts were related as expected for male, but not female, subjects. In addition, it was found that alexithymic characteristics in general, rather than a specific difficulty in discriminating physical and emotional stimuli, contributed to this relationship.
Adolescent↗
Information processing, neuropsychological function, and the inherited predisposition to alcoholism.
Sons of male alcoholics are at particularly heightened risk for the development of alcoholism. This heightened risk frequently appears in association with increased incidence of conduct disorder or hyperactivity, with deficits in abstract thinking and poor school performance, with abnormalities in cued psychophysiological response, and with increased sensitivity to the putatively stress-response-dampening effects of alcohol intoxication. This risk and its associated features are discussed within the context of a neuropsychological theory, predicted on the notions (1) that deficits in cognitive functions theoretically dependent upon the intact functioning of the prefrontal cortex could underlie manifestation of the idiosyncracies commonly attributed to sons of male alcoholics, and (2) that acute alcohol intoxication could relieve the subjective discomfort associated with the consequences of such deficits.
Alcoholism↗
Effects of alcohol on psychophysiological hyperreactivity to nonaversive and aversive stimuli in men at high risk for alcoholism.
Psychophysiological reactivity to nonaversive (1-KHz, 70-db tones) and aversive stimuli (shock) was examined in nonalcoholic men with multigenerational family histories (MFH) of alcoholism and family history negative (FH-) men, while sober and after consuming alcohol. In comparison with FH- Ss, sober MFH Ss had significantly larger skin conductance (SC) orienting responses (ORs), shorter OR latencies, slower habituation rates to the tones, and larger increases in heart rate and vasoconstriction to the shock. Alcohol dampened the magnitude of the SC-OR to the tones and the degree of cardiovascular reactivity to the shocks and increased the habituation rate to the tones in MFH Ss only. Alcohol consumption also increased the SC-OR recovery time in FH- Ss only. The MFH Ss' pattern of psychophysiological hyperreactivity is discussed in terms of a potential dysfunction in stimulus-response regulation.
Adult↗
Inherited predisposition to alcoholism: characteristics of sons of male alcoholics.
Sons of male alcoholics (SOMAs) are at markedly heightened genetic risk for the development of alcohol abuse. Study of SOMAs could therefore conceivably increase the efficiency of research aimed at uncovering those heritable factors that predispose to alcoholism. SOMAs manifest observable behavioral, cognitive, and psychophysiological abnormalities while sober and react idiosyncratically to alcohol intoxication. They are most commonly described as conduct disordered and hyperactive, appear heir to a variety of deficits in verbal and abstract cognition, and perform more poorly in the academic environment. SOMAs are characterized by abnormal patterns of cued psychophysiological response, and appear more sensitive to the putatively reinforcing aspects of alcohol intoxication. Various methodological weaknesses permeate the relevant literature. Some straightforward improvements are suggested.
Adolescent↗
Acute alcohol intoxication and cognitive functioning.
Acute alcohol intoxication produces changes in the cognitive functioning of normal individuals. These changes appear similar prima facie to those exhibited by individuals who sustain prefrontal lobe damage during adulthood. In order to test the validity of this observation, and to control for the confounding effects of expectancy, 72 male subjects were administered a battery of neuropsychological tests, within the context of a balanced-placebo design. Each subject received one of three widely different doses of alcohol. Analysis of the results of the cognitive test battery demonstrated that a high dose of alcohol detrimentally affects a number of functions associated with the prefrontal and temporal lobes, including planning, verbal fluency, memory and complex motor control. Expectancy does not appear to play a significant role in determining this effect. The implications of this pattern of impairment are analyzed and discussed.
Adolescent↗
Lead and cadmium levels in violent criminals.
Two groups of violent incarcerated male criminals and 30 nonviolent criminals were compared for element content of hair by atomic absorption spectroscopy. Groups did not differ in age, socioeconomic status, or months institutionalized. The groups did differ significantly in lead and cadmium levels. The importance of cadmium in affecting reactivity to stimuli is discussed.
Adult↗
Alcohol and crimes of violence: present issues.
Current issues in alcohol-related violence are highlighted through the examination of correlational studies between alcohol and violent crime. Alcohol is associated with violent crime at a greater than chance level and at a significantly higher level than it is associated with nonviolent crime. Heavy drinking and a verbal argument usually precede the violent act and the victim is as likely as the offender to initiate the altercation. However, it is the precipitator of the altercation who is more likely to be intoxicated. Alcohol and aggression are more strongly related than expected with violent offenders demonstrating psychopathology. Marital violence appears related to alcohol independent of other marital problems. Although there exists a strong correlational relationship between alcohol and violent crime, the nature of the evidence prohibits the establishment of a causal link. In particular, methodological problems, such as a lack of appropriate comparison groups, make it difficult to draw conclusions in this area.
Alcoholic Intoxication↗
The lifetime prevalence of psychopathology in men with multigenerational family histories of alcoholism.
This paper reports the results of a pilot study of the lifetime prevalence of psychiatric disorders in a group of nonalcoholic men with multigenerational family histories of alcoholism (high-risk) in comparison with that of a control group (nonalcoholic men without multigenerational family histories of alcoholism). Diagnoses were given following the structured interview format of the Schedule for Affective Disorders and Schizophrenia, using the Research Diagnostic Criteria. The prevalence of psychopathology in the probands' first- and second-degree relatives was also determined using the Family History Research Diagnostic Criteria. The results showed a higher lifetime prevalence of psychopathology for the high-risk men compared with control subjects, with the diagnoses of major affective disorder and anxiety disorder predominating. In addition, the data obtained from first- and second-degree relatives indicated a significantly higher prevalence of nonalcoholic diagnoses in the high-risk families (depression in particular), suggesting that alcoholism and depression may be cosegregating in these families. The lifetime prevalence of these disorders is similar to that reported in chronic alcoholics.
Adult↗