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A mixture model of discontinuous development in heavy drinking from ages 18 to 30: the role of college enrollment.

OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this study was to illustrate the use of latent class analysis to examine change in behavior over time. Patterns of heavy drinking from ages 18 to 30 were explored in a national sample; the relationship between college enrollment and pathways of heavy drinking, particularly those leading to adult heavy drinking, was explored. METHOD: Latent class analysis for repeated measures is used to estimate common pathways through a stage-sequential process. Common patterns of development in a categorical variable (presence or absence of heavy drinking) are estimated and college enrollment is a grouping variable. Data were from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth (N=1,265). RESULTS: Eight patterns of heavy drinking were identified: no heavy drinking (53.7%); young adulthood only (3.7%); young adulthood and adulthood (3.7%); college age only (2.6%); college age, young adulthood, and adulthood (8.7%); high school and college age (4.4%); high school, college age, and young adulthood (6.3%); and persistent heavy drinking (16.9%). CONCLUSIONS: We found no evidence that prevalence of heavy drinking for those enrolled in college exceeds the prevalence for those not enrolled at any of the four developmental periods studied. In fact, there is some evidence that being enrolled in college appears to be a protective factor for young adult and adult heavy drinking. College-enrolled individuals more often show a pattern characterized by heavy drinking during college ages only, with no heavy drinking prior to and after the college years, whereas nonenrolled individuals not drinking heavily during high school or college ages are at increased risk for adult heavy drinking.

Adolescent↗

Postsecondary education and heavy drinking by young adults: the moderating effect of race.

OBJECTIVE: This study examined racial differences in the relationship between postsecondary education (PSE) and heavy drinking among young adults who participated in the 1998 National Household Survey on Drug Abuse. METHOD: In-home survey data collected from 6,374 18-25 year olds were analyzed to examine black-white differences in the relationship between PSE and past-month heavy drinking (five or more consecutive alcoholic beverages). Logistic regression analyses were conducted to examine the interactive effect of PSE and race on heavy drinking, and the degree to which selected psychosocial risk and protective factors help to explain the differential association between PSE and heavy drinking. RESULTS: The prevalence of past-month heavy drinking was significantly higher among whites with at least some PSE than whites without any PSE (41% vs 30%/6), whereas no differences in past-month heavy drinking were observed among blacks who did and did not have at least some PSE (15% vs 16%). This differential relationship persisted when early initiation of alcohol use and demographic characteristics were adjusted for. The effect of PSE on heavy drinking among whites was substantially reduced by controlling for perceived drinking among friends, friends' social support and subjects' propensity for risk taking or sensation seeking. PSE was inversely, although not significantly, associated with heavy drinking among blacks, after adjusting for early alcohol use and demographic characteristics. This inverse relationship was no longer present after controlling for psychosocial factors (e.g., religiosity, perceived harm of heavy drinking) that were associated with PSE and heavy drinking among blacks. CONCLUSIONS: The apparent effect of college attendance on heavy drinking among young adults is driven by the fact that the majority of young adults who attend college are white. College attendance does not appear to increase the likelihood of heavy drinking among black young adults. Additional research with longitudinal data is needed to better understand how the college environment affects alcohol use among whites, and whether blacks who attend predominantly white colleges are more likely to drink heavily than those who attend traditionally black colleges.

Adolescent↗

Adolescent part-time work and heavy drinking in Finland.

AIMS: To examine the relationship between part-time work and heavy drinking among Finnish adolescents. DESIGN, SETTING: The cross-sectional survey data (the School Health Promotion Survey, n = 47,568) were collected in classrooms in 2000. PARTICIPANTS: Finnish lower-level secondary school students from the 8th and 9th grades, aged 14-16 years. The response rate was 82%. MEASUREMENTS: Work intensity, work type and the frequency of heavy drinking obtained from self-administered questionnaires. The relationship between work and heavy drinking was studied using polychotomous logistic regression models. FINDINGS: Compared with non-workers, adolescents working more than 10 hours per week had an increased risk of heavy drinking, and also the frequency of heavy drinking was connected with this intensive working. When gender, grade level, parental education, the employment status of the parents, family structure, economic situation of the family, the degree of urbanisation, parental control, steady dating. GPA and disposable allowance were adjusted for, the odds of weekly drunkenness were almost three times the odds of not reporting drunkenness among intensive workers compared with non-workers. When adjusted for other factors, some typical children's jobs marginally decreased a likelihood of heavy drinking. CONCLUSIONS: Work does seem not protect adolescents from heavy drinking. Although many relevant factors were controlled for the effect may, however, be mediated through factors not covered in the survey. Therefore, further clarification of the causal chains linking adolescent working and drinking is needed.

Adolescent↗

Heavy drinking and the need for power.

Heavy drinking was associated with high power needs but not with low activity inhibition. Heavily drinking women showed significantly lower power needs than heavily drinking men. It is suggested that heavy drinking may be associated with feelings of inadequacy in meeting sex-role expectations.

Adult↗

Heavy drinking occasions and depression.

AIMS: To assess the risk of depression for subjects with or without heavy drinking occasions after adjusting for the average long-term alcohol consumption, age, gender, marital status, employment status, and chronic diseases. METHODS: In a cross-sectional population survey (N = 3124) carried out in Finland in 1997, long-term average alcohol consumption was assessed by a self-administered quantity-frequency questionnaire. A heavy drinking occasion was defined as six or more drinks for men and four or more drinks for women consumed at one session. The self-administered 21-item Beck Depression Inventory score of > or = 10 was classified as clinically significant depression. RESULTS: Ex-drinkers and subjects with heavy drinking occasions had more often clinically significant depression compared with lifelong abstainers and individuals without heavy drinking occasions. In addition to the drinking habit, the risk for clinically significant depression increased also with age. Men aged 45-64 years with heavy drinking occasions had 2.3 times higher risk for depression compared with young men (aged 25-34 years) without heavy drinking occasions. The respective risk for old women was 2.2 times higher. CONCLUSIONS: Drinking pattern with heavy drinking occasions is independently associated with clinically significant depression irrespective of average long-term alcohol consumption.

Adult↗

Adolescent-to-young adulthood heavy drinking trajectories and their prospective predictors.

OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this study was to investigate longitudinal trajectories of heavy drinking for males and females from adolescence to young adulthood, across the age span of 16-25 years, and to identify prospective predictors of the trajectory groups identified. METHOD: This study used semiparametric group-based mixture modeling to derive adolescent to young adult longitudinal trajectories of heavy drinking separately for 760 participants (430 females and 330 males) who have been participating in a long-term prospective study of risk factors for the development of heavy drinking and alcohol disorders. RESULTS: Four trajectory groups were identified for males and five for females; the trajectories indicated both continuity and change in heavy drinking across time for the trajectory groups identified. Major common prospective predictors for the high and very high heavy drinking trajectory groups supported the influences of values and beliefs (e.g., religious commitment), stressful life events and substance use. Additional predictors for males included lower academic functioning and task orientation, and for females, more frequent sexual behavior and general deviance. CONCLUSIONS: In this predominantly white, middle-class sample, we identified groups of frequent, heavy drinking teens during the middle-adolescent years. Our findings suggest that the frequency of heavy drinking behavior will further increase for some teens into their young adult years. The potential adverse consequences of heavy drinking among adolescents and young adults suggests that multitargeted, gender-specific, early interventions with these high-risk teens is important.

Adolescent↗

Is there a relationship between "heavy drinking" and HIV high risk sexual behaviors among general population subjects?

The authors investigated the association between "heavy drinking" and sexual behaviors among 2,581 general population subjects from the St. Louis Epidemiologic Catchment Area survey conducted from 1981 to 1983. Lifetime sexual behaviors included promiscuity, infidelity, receiving money for sex, and same gender sex. It was found that sexual behaviors were associated with lifetime heavy drinking. Regardless of gender, race, or age, "heavy drinkers" were significantly more likely to report each of the high risk sexual behaviors, except same gender sex, compared to "nonheavy drinkers." With the multiple logistic regression analyses it was found that "heavy drinking" non-Black females, Black males regardless of drinking history, "heavy drinking" males, and younger subjects regardless of drinking history were at higher risk to report the high risk sexual behaviors. This study confirms that there is a strong association between "heavy drinking" and high risk sexual behaviors in a midwestern population. This is the first study to find an association between alcohol drinking patterns and high risk sexual behaviors in the general population. Implications of these findings for public health education efforts are discussed.

Adolescent↗

Heavy drinking from the freshman year into early young adulthood: the roles of stress, tension-reduction drinking motives, gender and personality.

OBJECTIVE: This study investigated the relationship between stress (defined alternatively as negative life events and emotional distress) and heavy drinking across late adolescence and early young adulthood, as well as the roles of tension-reduction drinking motives and gender as moderators of that relationship. The role of personality variables (neuroticism, behavioral undercontrol and extraversion) as moderators also was explored. METHOD: The data were obtained from 485 individuals (255 women) participating in a five-wave longitudinal study that spanned 7 years. The effects on heavy drinking of stress (either negative life events or emotional distress), tension-reduction drinking motives, gender and personality were analyzed each year with hierarchical multiple regression. RESULTS: Stress (negative life events) was positively related to heavy drinking, but only for men with stronger tension-reduction drinking motives at Year 4 (age 21). The relationship between tension-reduction drinking motives and heavy drinking was positive, developmentally graded, and moderated by gender, after the freshman year, the role of tension-reduction drinking motives in heavy drinking became less important for women, relative to men, a trend that grew stronger after the college years. Behavioral undercontrol played a limited role in the relationship of gender and tension-reduction drinking motives to heavy drinking. CONCLUSIONS: The findings have implications for theories of stress-related and stress-motivated drinking. Such theories should consider developmental processes, particularly the transition to adult drinking status at age 21 and the roles of tension-reduction drinking motives, gender and behavioral undercontrol.

Adolescent↗

Exploring differential patterns of situational risk for binge eating and heavy drinking.

This study was designed to compare risk situations for binge eating vs. heavy drinking among women who struggle with both problems. Participants were 41 women in treatment for an alcohol problem who also self-reported binge eating. Participants completed the Inventory of Binge Eating Situations (IBES; [Baker, J. M. (1998). Binge eating and binge drinking among university women. Unpublished master's thesis, Department of Psychology, Queen's University, Kingston, Ontario, Canada]) and the Inventory of Drinking Situations (IDS-42; [Annis, H. M., Graham, J. M., & Davis, C. S. (1987). Inventory of Drinking Situations (IDS) user's guide. Toronto, Canada: Addiction Research Foundation]) to measure frequency of binge eating and heavy drinking, respectively, in eight categories of situations. A 2 (substance) x8 (situation) repeated measures ANOVA revealed a significant substancexsituation interaction. Further exploration of this interaction indicated that heavy drinking is more likely than binge eating to occur in reward and interpersonal situations involving pleasant emotions, pleasant times with others, social pressure, and conflict with others. In contrast, binge eating and heavy drinking are equally likely to occur in relief situations involving unpleasant emotions, and physical discomfort, as well as in situations involving urges and temptations, and testing control. Implications of findings for the treatment of co-occurring binge eating and heavy drinking in women are discussed.

Adult↗

Alcohol consumption and heavy drinking: a survey in three Italian villages.

AIMS: We investigated drinking habits, and heavy and problem drinking prevalence in a sample of individuals attending the consulting rooms of local General Practitioners in three Italian villages. METHODS: The samples were selected to be representative of the entire population of the three villages. Information on alcohol-drinking patterns was collected using a questionnaire that included a masked form of the CAGE rating scale. According to the frequency of alcohol intake, subjects were grouped in three categories: abstainers, occasional drinkers, and daily drinkers. In agreement with WHO guidelines, 40 g/day for males and 20 g/day for females were taken as cut-off for 'heavy drinking' and consumptions of > 80 g/day for males and 40 g/day for females were used to define 'problem drinking'. RESULTS: A total of 2972 individuals were included in the survey (19% of the population). Of these, 44% were abstinent, 20% occasional drinkers, and 36% daily drinkers. Daily drinking was found to be more common in males than in females but heavy drinking was significantly higher in females compared with males (P > or = 0.0001). The problem drinkers were 12% of the entire population and the CAGE-positive subjects (> or = 2 positive answers) were 3.5%. CONCLUSIONS: Our data indicate that alcohol drinking is widely diffused in the three communities. A large layer of the population drinks above the WHO-established cut-off. The incidence of heavy and problem drinking seems to have significant gender and regional differences that are important to consider when planning effective prevention programmes.

Adolescent↗

Risk of heavy drinking and alcohol use disorders in social phobia: a prospective analysis.

OBJECTIVE: The risks of heavy drinking and alcohol abuse/dependence were prospectively assessed among individuals with DSM-III social phobia and individuals with subclinical social phobia (irrational fear of social situations without significant impairment or avoidance). METHOD: The baseline interview for the Baltimore site of the Epidemiologic Catchment Area program was completed in 1981. Between 1993 and 1996 the original cohort was traced. Among the 1,161 individuals who did not have episodes of heavy drinking or current or prior alcohol abuse/dependence at baseline, logistic regression was used to assess the association of social phobia and subclinical social phobia with incident alcohol abuse/dependence and incident episodic heavy drinking. RESULTS: Among the 33 individuals with a DSM-III diagnosis of social phobia at baseline, only one developed heavy drinking by follow-up, and none developed alcohol abuse or dependence. Among the 84 individuals with a history of subclinical social phobia, the cumulative incidence rates of heavy drinking and alcohol abuse/dependence were 119 per 1,000 and 95 per 1,000, respectively. After adjustment for sex, age, race, education level, marital status, age at first alcohol intoxication, and history of other psychiatric or illicit drug use disorder, the estimated relative risk for heavy drinking among respondents with subclinical social phobia was 2.41, and the estimated relative risk for alcohol abuse/dependence was 2.30, relative to respondents without social phobia or subclinical social fears. CONCLUSIONS: The data may improve our understanding of the relationship of social phobia and risk for alcohol conditions, which may have important implications for preventive measures.

Adolescent↗

Heavy drinking and the risk of occupational injury.

This study evaluated the association between the frequency of heavy drinking and the risk of occupational injury, using nationally representative data from the 1988 National Health Interview Survey (NHIS). The sample consisted of 29,192 adults who were employed at some time during the year preceding the NHIS interview. Overall, 7.2% reported an on-the-job injury during the preceding year, but the rates were higher--about 13%--for those employed as skilled or unskilled laborers or who reported engaging in repeated strenuous physical activity at work. Slightly more than one-fourth of the employed adults reported at least one occasion of drinking five or more drinks during the preceding year. After adjusting for the effects of age, gender, education, occupation, and strenuous job activity, the odds of occupational injury increased with frequency of heavy drinking, with odds ratios varying from 1.08 (one occasion of heavy drinking) to 1.74 (daily heavy drinking). Odds ratios were decreased slightly by the inclusion of smoking as a control variable, indicating that some of the excess risk of injury among heavy drinkers may reflect their greater propensity to take health-related risks rather than direct effects of ethanol. The odds ratios also were slightly lower when the analysis was restricted to current drinkers, suggesting that the risk of work injury was increased by light or moderate as well as heavy drinking.

Accidents, Occupational↗

Clinical relevance of heavy drinking during the college years: cross-sectional and prospective perspectives.

This study investigated the clinical relevance of heavy drinking during the college years and beyond on concurrent and prospective alcohol-related problems in a high-risk sample (N = 377). Measures of heavy drinking and alcohol-related problems were significantly correlated cross-sectionally over the study frame, regardless of how these constructs were operationalized. However, the magnitude of the association between heavy drinking and alcohol-related problems declined substantially over time, with the most pronounced decrease following the college years. Despite this cross-sectional decrease in the association between heavy drinking and alcohol-related problems over time, heavy drinking during the college years significantly and substantially predicted alcohol-use disorders up to 10 years later. Implications for assessment of heavy drinking as well as prevention of problematic alcohol use in college students are discussed.

Adult↗

The prevalence of alcohol consumption and heavy drinking among people with HIV in the United States: results from the HIV Cost and Services Utilization Study.

OBJECTIVE: To establish population-based estimates of the prevalence of any alcohol consumption and heavy drinking among individuals who tested positive for human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) and to identify the factors associated with alcohol consumption and heavy drinking in this population. METHOD: Data from the HIV Cost and Services Utilization Study (HCSUS), a national probability survey of HIV-infected adults receiving medical care in the U.S. in early 1996 (N = 2,864: 2,017 men, 847 women), were used to estimate the prevalence of any alcohol consumption and heavy drinking. Logistic regression was used to identify independent influences of sociodemographic, health status, and substance use variables on alcohol consumption and heavy drinking. RESULTS: Approximately 53% of persons in care for HIV reported drinking alcohol in the preceding month and 8% were classified as heavy drinkers. Of those who drank, 15% were heavy drinkers. The odds of heavy drinking were significantly higher among users of cocaine or heroin and significantly lower among the better educated and those with an AIDS-defining illness. CONCLUSIONS: Alcohol consumption is common among people in care for HIV, with rates of heavy drinking almost twice those found in the general population. Heavy drinking is especially higher among individuals with lower educational levels and users of cocaine or heroin.

Adolescent↗

Alcohol-related problems of children of heavy-drinking parents.

Alcohol-related problems that are experienced by sons and daughters of heavy-drinking parents (either father or mother) are examined using data from a 1978 household sample of employed adults in metropolitan Detroit. Adult children with heavy-drinking parents were found to have a higher percentage of dependent problem drinking than those without heavy-drinking parents. Also, adult children with low status (blue-collar) occupations were found to have a higher percentage of dependent problem drinking than those with high status (white-collar) occupations. Although it was not possible to disentangle the genetic processes from the social processes in this study, the results support the hypothesis that having both heavy-drinking parents and low occupational status places sons and daughters at elevated risk for alcohol-related problems. Implications for future epidemiological studies are discussed.

Alcohol Drinking↗

Etiological contributions to heavy drinking from late adolescence to young adulthood.

The authors examined genetic and environmental contributions to stability and change in heavy drinking from late adolescence to young adulthood in a sample of 1,152 twin pairs. In men, heavy drinking was similarly heritable at ages 17 (h2=.57) and 20 (h2=.39), and its stability owed primarily to common genetic factors. In women, heavy drinking was less heritable than in men at ages 17 (h2=.18) and 20 (h2=.30) and its stability was primarily due to enduring shared environmental influences. P3 amplitude, an event-related brain potential marker of alcoholism risk, was less predictive of heavy drinking in women than in men, providing further support for the proposition that biological factors have less impact on heavy drinking in young adult women than in young adult men.

Adolescent↗

Heavy drinking and alcohol policy enforcement in a statewide public college system.

OBJECTIVE: To assess the association between heavy drinking and alcohol policy enforcement following the institution of a new system-wide alcohol policy at Massachusetts public colleges and universities. METHOD: Students (N = 1,252: 59% women) at 11 study schools completed a questionnaire that assessed drinking behaviors and alcohol-associated problems. College deans and campus security officers completed questionnaires assessing policy implementation and enforcement. We compared heavy drinking rates among the 11 schools and measured the association between schools' heavy episodic drinking rates and enforcement index scores based on deans' and security officers' reports of policy enforcement. RESULTS: Rates of heavy episodic drinking varied widely among the 11 schools (range: 36%-71%). The percentage of students reporting strict/very strict policy enforcement also varied widely (35%-90%). In this small sample of colleges, heavy drinking rates among students living on campus tended to be negatively associated with stricter alcohol policy enforcement reports by security officers (Pearson's r = -0.64. p < .05) and the association appeared to be linear. Heavy drinking was not associated with enforcement reports by deans (Pearson's r = 0.17, p = NS). CONCLUSIONS: Within this single state system, stricter enforcement by campus security officers of policies that limit underage drinking tends to be associated with lower rates of heavy drinking by students.

Adolescent↗

Longitudinal trajectories of heavy drinking in adults in the United States of America.

AIMS: To estimate age, period, cohort and other demographic influences on heavy alcohol consumption and trajectories of heavy drinking in American adults. DESIGN: Prospective cohort of 14 127 participants, aged 25-74 years at baseline. Generalized estimating equations to model longitudinal change in the probability of heavy drinking and its association with demographic factors. Setting National, population-based sample of non-institutionalized civilians. MEASUREMENTS: Heavy alcohol consumption (usual number of drinks per occasion >or= five for men; >or= four for women) at baseline (1971-74) and three follow-ups until 1992. FINDINGS: Heavy alcohol consumption declined with increasing age (age effect) and tracked national average consumption (period effect). There was no cohort effect. Higher probability of heavy drinking was associated with male gender (relative risk: RR = 2.4), being not married (RR = 1.4), having less than high school education (RR = 1.7), having annual income below the median (RR = 1.5), not living in the South-east (RR = 1.7), and smoking (RR = 3.4). Getting married and quitting smoking during the study were each associated with reduction in heavy drinking (RR = 0.55 and 0.61, respectively). Slower age-related decline in the probability of heavy drinking was seen in men (P < 0.0001), married individuals (P = 0.03), and smokers (P = 0.05). CONCLUSIONS: Demographic predictors of trends in heavy drinking are different from those for trends in average alcohol consumption. The likelihood of heavy drinking declined more slowly with increasing age in men and smokers, suggesting that the negative health effects of alcohol in older ages may be greatest in these groups.

Adult↗