Fetal alcohol spectrum disorders: an overview of current evidence and activities in the UK.

Estimates for the UK suggest that alcohol consumption during pregnancy and prevalence of fetal alcohol spectrum disorder (FASD)-the most common neurodevelopmental condition-are high. Considering the significant health and social impacts of FASD, there is a public health imperative to prioritise prevention, interventions and support. In this article, we outline the current state of play regarding FASD knowledge and research in the UK, which is characterised by a lack of evidence, a lack of dedicated funding and services, and consequently little policy formulation and strategic direction.

Guidelines for identification and treatment of individuals with attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder and associated fetal alcohol spectrum disorders based upon expert consensus.

Background: The association of attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and fetal alcohol spectrum disorders (FASD) results in a complex constellation of symptoms that complicates the successful diagnosis and treatment of the affected individual. Current literature lacks formal guidelines, randomized control trials, and evidence-based treatment plans for individuals with ADHD and associated FASD. Therefore, a meeting of professional experts was organized with the aim of producing a consensus on identification and treatment guidelines that will aid clinicians in caring for this unique patient population.

Contextual determinants and alcohol control policies in the United Kingdom.

In the United Kingdom, between 1960 and the 2000s, there were many sociodemographic and economic factors that played a part in the changing picture of alcohol consumption and its related harm. This paper describes some of these variables along with the political measures that were identified as correlated with changes in consumption and harm. The resulting picture is unclear.

Conceiving risk, divergent responses: perspectives on the construction of risk of FASD in six countries.

Conceptualizations of risks related to women's alcohol use during pregnancy, and the attendant response to preventing fetal alcohol spectrum disorder (FASD), are examined in six countries: the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, Uganda, Uruguay, and China. Considerable differences were found in how risks were conceptualized across countries and in contextual factors that influence research, prevention, and intervention efforts. Differences in conceptualizations were also apparent within countries.

The social consequences of binge drinking: a comparison of young adults in six European countries.

A considerable amount of survey information was available from general population surveys carried out in six countries between 2000 and 2005. These studies were conducted under the auspices of Gender, Alcohol and Culture: An International Study (GENACIS). A total of 1,446 adults between 18 and 23 years of age and 2,482 adults between 24 and 32 years of age from the Czech Republic, Denmark, the Isle of Man, Spain, Sweden, and the United Kingdom responded to questions about their drinking habits and the social consequences directly resulting from their drinking.

The social consequences of binge drinking among 24- to 32-year-olds in six European countries.

Data were available from general population surveys carried out in six countries in the years 2000 to 2005 under the auspices of Gender, Alcohol and Culture: An International Study (GENACIS). A total of 2089 adults aged 24-32 in the Czech Republic, Denmark, the Isle of Man, Spain, Sweden, and the United Kingdom (UK) responded to questions about their drinking habits and social consequences directly resulting from their drinking. Survey methods varied from quota sampling with face-to-face interviewing in Spain and the UK to telephone surveys in Denmark and Sweden.

Beyond drinking: differential effects of demographic and socioeconomic factors on alcohol-related adverse consequences across European countries.

Background/aims: Evidence underlines the importance of drinking patterns and individual characteristics in experiencing adverse alcohol-related consequences; however, little research has been conducted to explore who does and who does not experience consequences with similar drinking patterns. Using data from seven European countries, this study assesses the association between demographic and socioeconomic characteristics and six adverse consequences.

Methods: Conditional logistic regression models were estimated, cases (experiencing a consequence) being matched to controls (not experiencing the consequence) by drinking patterns.

Spreading or concentrating drinking occasions--who is most at risk?

Aims: (a) To compare acute negative consequences for people who drink a given amount of alcohol on few occasions (concentrators) per week in comparison with the consequences for people who drink the same amount on more days in a week (spreaders). (b) To investigate whether these associations are cross-culturally stable.

Methods: Analysis is based on general population surveys of adults conducted in 7 European countries.

Alcohol-related adverse consequences: cross-cultural variations in attribution process among young adults.

Background: Social norms around what is culturally accepted in terms of alcohol consumption and drunken comportment appear important regarding the acceptance of alcohol-related adverse consequences; however, investigations often neglect to consider differences in terms of attribution. This study aims at assessing cross-cultural differences in the reporting of alcohol-related adverse consequences. It also considers differences across consequences that might explain which type of consequences (mainly acute or mainly chronic) are most affected by an attribution process.

Spreading out or concentrating weekly consumption: alcohol problems and other consequences within a UK population sample.

Aims: To consider the consequences, within a UK population sample, of consuming a given amount of alcohol weekly in one or two sessions as against spreading it out over several sessions.

Methods: A new analysis of data from the UK components of the GENACIS survey of adults aged > or =18, was carried out.

Results: At low levels of weekly alcohol consumption those subjects whose usual drinking frequency was several times per week ('spreaders'), if anything, reported more alcohol problems than those who consumed alcohol only once or twice per week ('bingers').

Childhood and adult sexual abuse: relationships with 'addictive' or 'problem' behaviours and health.

Questions concerning sexual abuse before and after the age of 16 years were included in a general population survey of a representative sample of 1052 UK women and 975 UK men. In relation to women 12.5% reported experiencing some form of sexual abuse before the age of 16 years.

Life Stage, Alcohol Consumption Patterns, Alcohol-Related Consequences, and Gender.

This paper presents findings from a European collaborative study. A common framework for reanalysis of existing data was devised. Alcohol-related problems encountered were classified as "internal" and "external.