A systematic evaluation and validation of subtypes of adolescent alcohol use motives: genetic and environmental contributions.

Background: Alcohol use motives are closely associated with specific profiles of alcohol use and reflect a subjectively derived decisional framework based on a motivational style of responding. Adult twin studies typically estimate the heritability of alcohol use motives to be between 7 and 42%, although relatively little is known about genetic and environmental influences upon alcohol use motives in adolescence.

Methods: Latent class analysis (LCA) models containing 1 through 5 classes were fitted to the data derived from 1,422 adolescent twin and siblings self-reported alcohol use motives.

Integrated motivational interviewing and cognitive behavioural therapy for people with psychosis and comorbid substance misuse: randomised controlled trial.

Objectives: To evaluate the effectiveness of integrated motivational interviewing and cognitive behavioural therapy in addition to standard care for patients with psychosis and a comorbid substance use problem.

Design: Two centre, open, rater blind randomised controlled trial.

Setting: Secondary care in the United Kingdom.

The IMAGEN study: reinforcement-related behaviour in normal brain function and psychopathology.

A fundamental function of the brain is to evaluate the emotional and motivational significance of stimuli and to adapt behaviour accordingly. The IMAGEN study is the first multicentre genetic-neuroimaging study aimed at identifying the genetic and neurobiological basis of individual variability in impulsivity, reinforcer sensitivity and emotional reactivity, and determining their predictive value for the development of frequent psychiatric disorders. Comprehensive behavioural and neuropsychological characterization, functional and structural neuroimaging and genome-wide association analyses of 2000 14-year-old adolescents are combined with functional genetics in animal and human models.

Response inhibition and reward response bias mediate the predictive relationships between impulsivity and sensation seeking and common and unique variance in conduct disorder and substance misuse.

Background: Disinhibited traits, assessed both at the self-report and at the cognitive/behavioral levels, have been frequently implicated in externalizing behaviors, such as conduct disorder (CD), binge drinking, and drug use. However, self-report measures of disinhibition, such as impulsivity (IMP) and sensation seeking (SS), and cognitive measures of disinhibition are not often studied together in the same participants. Thus, it is still unclear how cognitive measures such as response inhibition and reward response bias relate to self-report measures of IMP and SS, and whether they can explain some of the association found between these self-report measures and specific facets of externalizing problems.

Adolescent bullying victimisation and alcohol-related problem behaviour mediated by coping drinking motives over a 12 month period.

Background: Despite the adverse externalising risks associated with bullying victimisation, no study has investigated the underlying mechanisms of adolescent victims' engagement with alcohol. This current study investigated the development of risky coping drinking motives as a mediator in the relationship between adolescent school victimisation and alcohol-related problem behaviour using a longitudinal design over 12 months.

Method: We recruited 324 participants, aged 13 to 15 from schools across London, England.

Structural, concurrent, and predictive validity of the Substance Use Risk Profile Scale in early adolescence.

A brief personality risk profile (23 items), the Substance Use Risk Profile Scale was tested for concurrent and predictive validity for substance use in 1139 adolescents (grades 8-10) from a mid-sized city in western Canada. The SURPS was administered in two waves of a longitudinal study separated by 12 months (2003-04). As expected, four subscales were supported by confirmatory factor and metric invariance analysis.

Personality-targeted interventions delay uptake of drinking and decrease risk of alcohol-related problems when delivered by teachers.

Objective: This trial examined the efficacy of teacher-delivered personality-targeted interventions for alcohol-misuse over a 6-month period.

Method: This randomized controlled trial randomly allocated participating schools to intervention (n = 11) or control (n = 7) conditions. A total of 2,506 (mean age, 13.

Developmental trajectories of psychotic-like experiences across adolescence: impact of victimization and substance use.

Background: Research suggests that psychotic-like experiences (PLEs) in the general population are common, but can reflect either transitory or persistent developmental phenomena. Using a general adolescent population it was examined whether different developmental subtypes of PLEs exist and whether different trajectories of PLEs are associated with certain environmental risk factors, such as victimization and substance use.

Method: Self-reported PLEs were collected from 409 adolescents (mean age 14 years 7 months) at four time points, each 6 months apart.

Brief, personality-targeted coping skills interventions and survival as a non-drug user over a 2-year period during adolescence.

Context: Selective interventions targeting personality risk are showing promise in the prevention of problematic drinking behavior, but their effect on illicit drug use has yet to be evaluated.

Objective: To investigate the efficacy of targeted coping skills interventions on illicit drug use in adolescents with personality risk factors for substance misuse.

Design: Randomized controlled trial.

The Substance Use Risk Profile Scale: a scale measuring traits linked to reinforcement-specific substance use profiles.

The Substance Use Risk Profile Scale (SURPS) is based on a model of personality risk for substance abuse in which four personality dimensions (hopelessness, anxiety sensitivity, impulsivity, and sensation seeking) are hypothesized to differentially relate to specific patterns of substance use. The current series of studies is a preliminary exploration of the psychometric properties of the SURPS in two populations (undergraduate and high school students). In study 1, an analysis of the internal structure of two versions of the SURPS shows that the abbreviated version best reflects the 4-factor structure.

Evaluating integrated MI and CBT for people with psychosis and substance misuse: recruitment, retention and sample characteristics of the MIDAS trial.

Major problems with existing RCTs evaluating psychosocial interventions for psychosis and substance misuse have been identified, in particular small sample sizes, high attrition rates, and short follow up periods. With a sample size of 327 and a follow up of 2 years, the MIDAS trial in the UK is to date the largest RCT for people with psychosis and substance use and is evaluating an integrated MI and CBT ("MiCBT") client therapy. Whilst the outcomes of the study are not yet available, data on recruitment and retention indicate that attrition rates in MIDAS are low and the majority of those allocated to treatment received a substantial number of therapy sessions.

Psychometric evaluation of the five-factor Modified Drinking Motives Questionnaire--Revised in undergraduates.

The psychometric properties of the Modified Drinking Motives Questionnaire--Revised (Modified DMQ-R) [Blackwell, E., & Conrod, P. J.

The role of anxiety sensitivity in subjective and physiological responses to social and physical stressors.

This study examined the specificity of the relationship between anxiety sensitivity (AS), a measure of catastrophizing about arousal-related sensations, and pain responses, by examining the effect of AS on responses to stressors of a physical and social nature. Healthy men and women (n = 129) between the ages of 18 and 25 years were recruited from the community to participate in a study examining subjective, cognitive and behavioural responses to different types of stressors. Participants were randomly assigned to one of 3 groups: (i) a neutral condition in which they sat quietly and read a popular magazine; (ii) a social stress condition in which they anticipated having to give a self-disclosing speech; and (iii) a physical stress condition in which they were presented with 3 countdown to shock trials where a mild electrical shock was administered on the non-dominant arm.

Differential effects of naltrexone on cardiac, subjective and behavioural reactions to acute ethanol intoxication.

Objective: Alcohol may have psychomotor stimulant properties during the rising limb of the blood alcohol curve at commonly self-administered doses. Increased heart rate (HR) immediately after alcohol consumption may serve as an indicator or marker of such properties, which appear to be potentially opiate-mediated and dopamine-dependent. Naltrexone, an opiate antagonist, has been used successfully in the treatment of alcoholism and may produce its therapeutic effects through its effects on alcohol metabolism or by blocking alcohol's rewarding effects.

Efficacy of cognitive-behavioral interventions targeting personality risk factors for youth alcohol misuse.

Sensation seeking, anxiety sensitivity, and hopelessness are personality risk factors for alcohol use disorders, each associated with specific risky drinking motives in adolescents. We developed a set of interventions and manuals that were designed to intervene at the level of personality risk and associated maladaptive coping strategies, including alcohol misuse. Manuals contained psychoeducational information on the target personality risk factor and how it is associated with maladaptive coping, as well as exercises targeting maladaptive cognitions and behaviors specific to each personality type.

Is the strength of implicit alcohol associations correlated with alcohol-induced heart-rate acceleration?

Background: Heart rate (HR) acceleration during the ascending limb of the blood alcohol curve has proven to be a reliable measure of the sensitivity to the activating effects of alcohol. In this study, we investigated the correlation between an ethanol-induced cardiac change and the strength of implicit alcohol-related arousal and approach associations and attentional bias for alcohol-related stimuli in heavy drinkers. These 3 types of implicit alcohol-related cognitions have been proposed to reflect the strength of incentive sensitization that is experienced after repeated alcohol use.

New developments in prevention and early intervention for alcohol abuse in youths.

This article summarizes a symposium held at the 2004 Annual Meeting of the Research Society on Alcoholism in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. It was prepared by the conference co-organizers/co-chairs with substantial input from each of the symposium participants. Increasingly, alcohol abuse interventions focus on preventing alcohol problems or intervening early before risky drinking behavior becomes ingrained.

Heightened heart rate response to alcohol intoxication is associated with a reward-seeking personality profile.

Background: The psychomotor stimulant theory of addiction posits that sensitivity to the positively rewarding properties of alcohol puts certain individuals at higher risk for alcohol abuse. A valid and reliable index of overactivation in the reward system has been a heightened baseline heart rate (HR) increase on the ascending limb of the blood alcohol curve. The main goal of this study was to investigate the relationship between this HR response and a questionnaire measuring sensitivity to reward and sensitivity to punishment.

Reliability and validity of alcohol-induced heart rate increase as a measure of sensitivity to the stimulant properties of alcohol.

Rationale: Alcohol-induced heart rate (HR) stimulation during the rising limb of the blood alcohol curve reliably discriminates between individuals at differential risk for alcoholism, and appears to be a potential psychophysiological index of psychomotor stimulation from alcohol.

Objectives: Three studies are presented which explore the reliability and convergent and discriminant validity of this alcohol response index.

Methods: Young men with and without a multigenerational family history of alcoholism were administered a 1.

Psychometric evaluation of the short form inventory of drinking situations (IDS-42) in a community-recruited sample of substance-abusing women.

Purpose: We investigated the psychometric properties (factor structure, internal consistency reliability, concurrent validity) of the Short Form Inventory of Drinking Situations (IDS-42) in women substance abusers.

Methods: A sample of 297 substance-abusing women was recruited from the community. The women completed the IDS-42 and the three-factor Drinking Motives Questionnaire (DMQ).

Validation of a system of classifying female substance abusers on the basis of personality and motivational risk factors for substance abuse.

This study explored the validity of classifying a community-recruited sample of substance-abusing women (N = 293) according to 4 personality risk factors for substance abuse (anxiety sensitivity, introversion-hopelessness, sensation seeking, and impulsivity). Cluster analyses reliably identified 5 subtypes of women who demonstrated differential lifetime risk for various addictive and nonaddictive disorders. An anxiety-sensitive subtype demonstrated greater lifetime risk for anxiolytic dependence, somatization disorder, and simple phobia, whereas an introverted-hopeless subtype evidenced a greater lifetime risk for opioid dependence, social phobia, and panic and depressive disorders.

Efficacy of brief coping skills interventions that match different personality profiles of female substance abusers.

Female substance abusers recruited from the community were randomly assigned to receive 1 of 3 brief interventions that differentially targeted their personality and reasons for drug use. The 90-min interventions were: (a) a motivation-matched intervention involving personality-specific motivational and coping skills training, (b) a motivational control intervention involving a motivational film and a supportive discussion with a therapist, and (c) a motivation-mismatched intervention targeting a theoretically different personality profile. Assessment 6 months later (N = 198) indicated that only the matched intervention proved to be more effective than the motivational control intervention in reducing frequency and severity of problematic alcohol and drug use and preventing use of multiple medical services.

Functional associations among trauma, PTSD, and substance-related disorders.

This review article presents several potential functional pathways which may explain the frequent co-occurrence of PTSD and substance abuse disorders in traumatized individuals. Emerging empirical studies which have examined these potential pathways are reviewed, including studies on relative order of onset, PTSD patients' perceptions of various drug effects, comparisons of PTSD patients with and without comorbid substance use disorders, and correlational studies examining the relations between severity of specific PTSD symptom clusters and substance disorder symptoms. Research on the acute and chronic effects of alcohol and other drugs on cognitive and physiological variables relevant to PTSD intrusion and arousal symptoms is reviewed to highlight ways in which these two sets of PTSD symptoms might be functionally interrelated with substance abuse.

Differential sensitivity to alcohol reinforcement in groups of men at risk for distinct alcoholism subtypes.

The present study examines the relationship of familial and personality risk factors for alcoholism to individual differences in sensitivity to the positively and negatively reinforcing properties of alcohol. Sixteen sons of male alcoholics with multigenerational family histories of alcoholism (MFH) and 11 men who self-report heightened sensitivity to anxiety (HAS) were compared with 13 age-matched family history negative, low anxiety sensitive men (FH-LAS) on sober and alcohol-intoxicated response patterns. We were interested in the effects of alcohol on specific psychophysiological indices of "stimulus reactivity," anxiety, and incentive reward.