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Results for “heavy drinking”

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PubMed1999

Heavy drinking, but not moderate or intermediate drinking, increases the risk of intracerebral hemorrhage.

An increased risk of intracerebral hemorrhage among heavy consumers of alcohol has been demonstrated in several epidemiologic studies. The effect of moderate or intermediate intakes is, however, unclear. Although several studies provide evidence for a protective effect, this conclusion may be spurious, resulting from the inclusion, within the zero intake (reference) group, of past drinkers who have recently abstained for health reasons. The present study describes the relation between alcohol consumption and intracerebral hemorrhage among 331 case-control pairs recruited in Melbourne, Australia. Heavy drinking was associated with an increased risk of intracerebral hemorrhage (odds ratio (OR) 3.4, 95% confidence interval (CI) = 1.4-8.4). The odds ratio of intracerebral hemorrhage with moderate drinking, when compared with never drinkers, was 0.7, (95% CI = 0.4-1.2) and was 0.6 (95% CI = 0.4-1.0) when compared with nondrinkers (never drinkers plus past drinkers). Wine drinkers were apparently protected from intracerebral hemorrhage (OR 0.5, 95% CI = 0.2-0.9). These results are consistent with the possibility that moderate drinking may confer protection from intracerebral hemorrhage, but this protection may be less than that previously reported.

Adult↗

PubMed2004

Effects of heavy drinking, binge drinking, and family history of alcoholism on regional brain metabolites.

BACKGROUND: The main goals are to investigate the effects of chronic active heavy drinking on N-acetylaspartate (NAA) and other metabolites throughout the brain and to determine whether they are affected by family history (FH) of alcoholism and long-term drinking pattern. METHODS: Forty-six chronic heavy drinkers (HD) and 52 light drinkers (LD) were recruited from the community and compared on measures of regional brain structure using magnetic resonance imaging and measures of common brain metabolites in gray matter (GM) and white matter (WM) of the major lobes, subcortical nuclei, brainstem, and cerebellum using short-echo time magnetic resonance spectroscopic imaging. Regional atrophy-corrected levels of NAA, myoinositol (mI), creatine, and choline-containing metabolites were compared as a function of group, FH of alcoholism, and bingeing. RESULTS: Frontal WM NAA was lower in FH-negative HD than FH-positive HD and tended to be lower in women than men. Creatine-containing metabolites in parietal GM were higher in HD than LD. FH-negative compared with FH-positive HD also had more mI in the brainstem and tended to have lower NAA and more mI in frontal GM. Although parietal GM NAA was not significantly lower in HD than LD, it was lower in non-binge drinkers than bingers. Frontal WM NAA was lower in HD than LD, with the difference driven by a small number of women, FH-negative HD, and older age. Lower frontal WM NAA in HD was associated with lower executive and working memory functions and with lower P3b amplitudes at frontal electrodes. CONCLUSIONS: Community-dwelling HD who are not in alcoholism treatment have brain metabolite changes that are associated with lower brain function and are likely of behavioral significance. Age, FH, and binge drinking modulate brain metabolite abnormalities. Metabolite changes in active HD are less pronounced and present with a different spatial and metabolite pattern than reported in abstinent alcoholics.

Adult↗

PubMed1989

Superior outcome of females over males after brief treatment for the reduction of heavy drinking.

UNLABELLED: Problem drinkers (52 males, 38 females) recruited through advertisements were randomly assigned to one of three treatments: GUIDELINES: three sessions of advice using a pamphlet outlining basic steps for achieving abstinence or moderate drinking. Manual: three sessions of instruction in the use of a 'self-help' manual presenting a step-by-step approach for attaining abstinence or moderate drinking. Therapist: six or more sessions of instruction in the methods outlined in the 'self-help' manual. At 3, 6 and 12 months follow-up, no significant differences were found among the groups in reduction of heavy drinking days (i.e. days when consumption exceeded four drinks, each containing 13.6 g/ethanol). Overall, the number of heavy days were reduced from an average of 43 at intake, to 20 over the 1-year follow-up period. Females, however, had significantly greater reductions than males (75% versus 35%). Three months after treatment the rate of successful moderate drinkers was significantly higher for females than males in the GUIDELINES (60% versus 33%) and the Manual condition (63% versus 18%), but not in the Therapist condition (25% versus 35%). At 1-year follow-up, females were more successful than males in all conditions. Mean changes in GGT and MCV levels lended support to the change in drinking status (from heavy drinker at intake to moderate drinker at follow-up), based on clients' self-reports.

Adult↗

PubMed2000

Executive cognitive function and heavy drinking behavior among college students.

Executive cognitive functions (ECFs) seem important for motivating change and self-regulation of problem drinking. Evidence for executive cognitive deficits have been found among heavy-drinking college students. Although college students who abuse alcohol often experience a variety of negative consequences related to their drinking behavior, executive cognitive dysfunction may interfere with recognizing consequences and responding skillfully to avoid future harm. Fifty college students with drinking problems completed assessments of ECFs. Greater negative drinking consequences and short-term memory function significantly predicted greater awareness of drinking problems. ECF may be an important factor for motivation to change drinking behavior among college students.

Adult↗

PubMedDate not supplied

Heavy drinking and patterns of sociability at the end of adolescence: a French survey.

UNLABELLED: Many alcohol-related problems at adolescence occur during or as a result of peer-oriented activities, so it is necessary to understand how drinking habits are embedded in sociability and lifestyle. OBJECTIVE: to study patterns of peer-oriented activities among heavy drinkers, and to investigate factors associated with these patterns. STUDY GROUP: A national random sample of 13,623 French adolescents aged 17-18 years, and a subgroup of 762 heavy drinkers (reporting either 20 drinking occasions or more during the prior 30 days, or 20 episodes of drunkenness or more during the previous 12 months). METHODS: Respondents answered to a self-administered closed-ended questionnaire. Questions on peer-oriented activities were used for conducting a cluster analysis among heavy drinkers. Logistic regressions were used for studying factors associated with the resulting clusters. RESULTS: Among heavy drinkers the dominant pattern was characterized by the combination of heavy drinking and peer-oriented activities. But in two other profiles heavy drinking was associated with either strong involvement in formal sporting practice or low participation in peer-oriented activities. The expected relationship between heavy drinking, mood disorders, other drug use, violence and victimization depended on which pattern was considered. CONCLUSIONS: The strong links observed between drinking habits and sociability underline the need to counteract the social acceptability of drinking and focus on the social contexts in which it occurs, but preventive action programs should also take into account the diversity of sociability patterns among heavy drinkers.

Adolescent↗

PubMed1991

Heavy drinking as a risk factor for depression and dementia in elderly men. Findings from the Liverpool longitudinal community study.

A random community sample of subjects aged 65 and over was re-interviewed after three years by psychiatrists using the GMS and HAS. The relationship between drinking history and current psychiatric morbidity was examined. Men with a history of heavy drinking for five years or more at some time in their lives were found to have a greater than fivefold risk of suffering from a psychiatric disorder at the time of the interview. Among this group past alcohol consumption was significantly higher for those with a current psychiatric diagnosis compared with those who were well. This association between heavy alcohol consumption in earlier years and psychiatric morbidity in later life is not explained by current drinking habits.

Aged↗

PubMed2006

Brief motivational enhancement and coping skills interventions for heavy drinking.

Two brief (3-session) interventions were evaluated in a community sample of 98 non-dependent heavy drinking adults. Three weeks of intensive daily monitoring of drinking using a hand-held computer were completed before and after a 3-week intervention phase in which participants were randomly assigned to a brief coping skills, brief motivational enhancement, or waiting list condition. Waiting list participants drank more before, during, and after the brief intervention than brief intervention subjects, but all participants demonstrated reductions in drinking amount and frequency. No differences in drinking were found between the two brief interventions. The potential value of intensive daily monitoring as a tool for non-alcohol dependent individuals interested in reducing their drinking was considered.

Adaptation, Psychological↗

PubMed1992

The effect of general practitioners' advice to heavy drinking men.

The objective of the study was to determine the effectiveness of advice from general practitioners to heavy drinking men (consuming 350-1050 grams of alcohol per week) to reduce their alcohol consumption. One hundred and fifty-four men recruited from eight general practices were allocated randomly to treatment and control groups. Men in the treatment group received advice from their own general practitioner. At one year follow-up, when analyzed according to intention to treat, the treatment group had reduced their consumption by an excess of 65 grams of alcohol per week when compared with the control group (p less than 0.05). General practitioners should be recommended to screen for alcohol consumption amongst their patients and to give advice to those found to be at risk because of their drinking.

Adult↗

PubMed1998

How do physicians define "light," "moderate," and "heavy" drinking?

Although widely used, terms associated with consumption of alcohol--such as "light," "moderate," and "heavy"--are unstandardized. Physicians conveying health messages using these terms therefore may impart confusing information to their patients or to other physicians. As an initial attempt to assess if informal standardization exists for these terms, the present study surveyed physicians for their definitions of such terms. Physicians operationally defined "light" drinking as 1.2 drinks/day, "moderate" drinking as 2.2 drinks/day, and "heavy" drinking as 3.5 drinks/day. Abusive drinking was defined as 5.4 drinks/day. There was considerable agreement for these operational definitions, indicating there is indeed an informal consensus among physicians as to what they mean by these terms. Gender and age did not influence these definitions, but self-reported drinking on the part of physicians was a factor. We also asked physicians for their opinions regarding the effects of "light," "moderate," and "heavy" drinking on health in general and specifically on health-related implications for pregnant women, and whether they felt their patients shared these beliefs.

Adolescent↗

PubMed2004

The effect of heavy drinking on social security old-age and survivors insurance contributions and benefits.

This article estimates the effects of heavy alcohol consumption on Social Security Old-Age and Survivor Insurance (OASI) contributions and benefits. The analysis accounts for differential earnings and mortality experiences of individuals with different alcohol consumption patterns and controls for other characteristics, including smoking. Relative to moderate drinkers, heavy drinkers receive fewer OASI benefits relative to their contributions. Ironically, for each cohort of 25-year-olds, eliminating heavy drinking costs the program an additional $3 billion over the cohort's lifetime. Public health campaigns are designed to improve individual health-relevant behaviors and, in the long run, increase longevity. Therefore, if programs for the elderly are structured as longevity-independent defined benefit programs, their success will reward healthier behaviors but increase these programs' outlays and worsen their financial condition.

Accidents, Traffic↗

PubMed2000

Childhood physical and sexual abuse as risk factors for heavy drinking among African-American women: a prospective study.

OBJECTIVE: This study examines the associations among characteristics of child sexual abuse. childhood physical abuse, lack of parental care, and heavy drinking in a relatively young, urban population of African-American women all of whom have documented histories of child sexual abuse. METHODOLOGY: The sample consists of 113 African American child victims who were brought to a city hospital emergency room for treatment and collection of forensic evidence in the 1970s and re-interviewed as adults in the 1990s. RESULTS: The results of this research suggest that multiple incidents of child sexual abuse, more than the characteristics of such abuse is an important predictor of adult heavy alcohol use and binge drinking. These results remain even after controlling for the effects of parental drinking behavior. CONCLUSION: Although the victim of multiple child sexual assaults is more likely to suffer force and penetration, these analyses suggest that it is the multiple victimization and not the force or penetration that drives the relationship between child sexual assault and drinking behaviors.

Adolescent↗

PubMed2006

Validation study of the Turkish version of the Yale - Brown obsessive compulsive scale for heavy drinking in a group of male patients.

Psychometric properties of Turkish version of the Yale Brown Obsessive Compulsive Scale for heavy drinking (YBOCS-hd) were examined in alcohol-dependent male patients. Factor structure, internal consistency and discriminant validity of the YBOCS-hd were analysed in a sample of 117 male patients diagnosed with alcohol dependence. To study its convergent validity, the YBOCS-hd was correlated with the Addiction Severity Index in 34 of the patients. A test - retest reliability study was performed on the data from 34 patients. Correlation between the YBOCS-hd total score and the ASI Alcohol Use score was moderate (r = 0.51). One factor explained 50.2% of the variance. The YBOCS-hd was able to discriminate the groups abstinent for less than 1 month and a second group with at least 1 month of abstinence. Test - retest correlation was high (r = 0.81, ICC = 0.81). The Turkish version of the YBOCS-hd proved to be a reliable and valid instrument measuring craving in alcohol-dependent male individuals.

Alcohol Drinking↗

PubMed1995

Heavy drinking in a population of methadone-maintained clients.

OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this study was to clarify the relationship between heavy use of alcohol and response to methadone treatment. METHOD: A sample of clients showing three or more DSM-III-R symptoms (n = 79) were identified and compared with a sample of heavy-drinking clients (n = 108) with less than three alcohol dependency symptoms on admitting characteristics and on tenure in treatment. RESULTS: As expected, clients meeting DSM-III-R dependency criteria were significantly more likely to show evidence of psychological problems and dysfunction of family and peer relations at admission. An unexpected finding was that they were also more likely to remain in treatment longer than drinking clients who did not report dependency. Alcohol dependent clients were significantly more likely to have prior experience with self-help groups, which may reflect less denial and therefore relatively better ability to focus on opiate dependency problems. CONCLUSIONS: Failure to differentiate between alcohol dependent and nondependent groups of drinkers enrolled in methadone treatment may help account for reported differences in treatment outcome studies. Recognizing these different types of drinkers also may help clinicians plan more effective treatments.

Adolescent↗

PubMed1998

Adolescents' insight in heavy drinking.

PURPOSE: Because so few adolescents with alcohol problems seek treatment, this study examined the factors associated with adolescents' recognition or insight into having a substance use problem. METHOD: Data were extracted from a self-report questionnaire used in an epidemiological study of public middle school students on substance abuse in Arkansas. Those drinking heavily were divided into "admitters" and "deniers" based on their response to the question of having a substance use problem. Odds ratios were calculated to measure the association of several variables with admitting a problem. RESULTS: Of 3395 adolescents, 13.4% (455) met or exceeded our threshold for heavy drinking. Only 15.9% (65) of these heavy drinkers acknowledged having a substance use problem. Reporting more types of negative social events related to alcohol use and scoring higher on a measure of positive alcohol expectancies were significantly related to admitting to a substance use problem. Recent health care contact and perceived environmental factors did not independently contribute to insight. CONCLUSIONS: If these results are generalizable, treatment and educational interventions should emphasize linking alcohol use and negative social consequences.

Adolescent↗

PubMed2005

Motivational interventions for heavy drinking college students: examining the role of discrepancy-related psychological processes.

The authors examined the effects of a brief motivational intervention for heavy, episodic alcohol use on discrepancy-related psychological processes. Heavy-drinking college students (N=73) were randomly assigned to a motivationally based intervention (MBI) or an assessment-only control (AC) condition. Cognitive (actual-ideal discrepancy) and affective (2 forms of cognitive dissonance) discrepancy processes were assessed at baseline and immediately following the experimental manipulation. At 6-week follow-up, MBI participants demonstrated significantly greater reductions in problematic drinking than AC participants. Moreover, actual-ideal discrepancy and negative, self-focused dissonance were significantly increased following the intervention (discomfort-related dissonance was not) and were correlated with outcome alcohol involvement. These discrepancy processes did not, however, mediate the relationship between condition and outcome. The findings lend some support to the role of discrepancy enhancement in drinking-related behavior change among college students.

Adolescent↗

PubMed2006

From the laboratory to real life: a pilot study of an expectancy challenge with "heavy drinking" young people on holiday.

The Alcohol Expectancy Challenge (EC) is a promising program for changing alcohol expectancies and reducing alcohol consumption in "heavy drinking" young men in a bar-lab setting. In this study the EC was adapted for use in mixed-gender groups in a holiday setting and its feasibility tested in camping resorts in the Netherlands where a lot of binge drinking takes place (summer 2002). Male and female participants (N = 170; mean age, 18.8 years) were randomly assigned to an EC or to an assessment-only control group. One day before the intervention, alcohol expectancies were measured by a Visual Analogue Scale of arousal-sedation expectancies (VAS expectancies questionnaire). At the same time, alcohol use in everyday life and on holiday was assessed by a General Drinking Questionnaire and a 24-hour drinking diary, respectively. Twenty-four hours after the intervention, the VAS expectancies questionnaire was administered again and alcohol use over the previous 24 hours was reported in the drinking diary. Six weeks after the intervention, participants were telephoned and administered oral versions of the VAS expectancies questionnaire and General Drinking Questionnaire. Data were analyzed using mixed ANOVAs. Although the study was hampered by recruitment difficulties, the EC proved feasible in this setting, was well received by youngsters, and effects on their alcohol expectancies may have been present. No effect was found on alcohol use. In conclusion, implementation must be improved and more studies are needed to come to more definite conclusions about the value of the EC in a real-life targeted intervention.

Adolescent↗

PubMed1988

Intervention of heavy drinking--a prospective and controlled study of 438 consecutive injured male patients.

We studied 120 injured male patients of working age who were heavy drinkers or alcoholics, obtaining seven points or more in the Michigan Alcoholism Screening Test (MAST). They were randomly allocated either to an intervention group (IG) or to a control group (CG). In addition to the MAST interview, the consumption of alcohol during the previous week prior to hospital admission was calculated and laboratory measures (serum GGT, ASAT and ALAT) were obtained. Counselling of the patients in the IG was carried out by a trained assistant nurse and a physician. Forty-nine patients in IG and 40 patients in CG were re-examined after 6 months. In the IG 45% and in the CG 20% of the patients were improved (Chi square test, P less than 0.05). Improvement criteria were a decrease in alcohol consumption by at least one-third and decrease of S-GGT by at least 20% during the follow-up period. In respect to the laboratory measures the groups were identical at the beginning of the study and after 6 months' follow-up. Our results are encouraging and suggest that the assessment of heavy drinking should be a routine in the treatment of alcohol-related injuries and that education and counselling must be intensive to be effective.

Accidents, Traffic↗

PubMed1994

Alcohol withdrawal: an adaptation to heavy drinking of no practical significance?

Markedly differing views can be found among both clinicians and researchers regarding whether alcohol withdrawal is a phenomenon of any practical or theoretical importance. Evidence has mounted that alcohol withdrawal, even in a severe form, is rarely life-threatening and the great majority of cases can be managed in non-medical settings, including the home. There is also a widely held view among clinicians that withdrawal symptoms have little motivational significance and may be best regarded as but epiphenomena of prolonged heavy drinking. There are also experimental data from both human and animal laboratory studies to the effect that withdrawal symptoms do not readily trigger further alcohol consumption. Against this most unpromising background a case is presented for alcohol withdrawal being but one manifestation of important biological and psychological adaptive processes which occur almost whenever alcohol is consumed with any regularity. It is proposed that understanding this more general phenomenon is critical to a better understanding of the factors which maintain heavy and problematic drinking. Recent evidence also suggests that minor alcohol withdrawal symptoms are far more common in the general population than had previously been realized, and that this has important implications for prevention policy.

Alcohol Drinking↗