Direct and indirect effects of alcohol expectancies on alcohol-related problems.

This study investigates pathways from alcohol outcome expectancies to alcohol-related problems (ARPs), considering alcohol volume and episodic heavy drinking (EHD) as potential mediators. It is further examined whether these pathways vary by age. The population-based sample comprised 6,823 individuals aged 18 to 64 years reporting alcohol use in the past year.

Patterns of alcohol expectancies and alcohol use across age and gender.

Aims: To investigate the relationship between alcohol expectancies and alcohol use in a community sample as a function of age and gender.

Methods: The study is based on a national probability sample of 6467 German adults. Respondents were grouped into five age groups ranging from 18 to 59 years.

Heart rate stress response dampening: the impact of alcohol, family history, and gender on at risk children and siblings.

Objective: In the following study we tested the stress response dampening (SRD) model which postulates that stress responses are more likely to be attenuated by alcohol in individuals at risk for alcohol dependence than in persons without that risk. In a laboratory experiment we examined a) if SRD effects exist for both sons and healthy daughters of alcohol dependent fathers, and b) if SRD effects exist for siblings of alcohol dependent males.

Methods: We recruited 104 subjects at risk and 51 matched control subjects.

The comprehensive alcohol expectancy questionnaire: confirmatory factor analysis, scale refinement, and further validation.

The Comprehensive Alcohol Expectancy Questionnaire (CAEQ; Demmel & Hagen, 2003a, 2003b) is a self-report measure designed to assess an individual's alcohol expectancies. In this study, we examined the CAEQ in a student sample (N= 932) and in a clinical sample of alcohol-dependent inpatients (N= 744). The Five-factor structure was confirmed by means of confirmatory factor analysis.

Effects of mode of presentation on ratings of empathic communication in medical interviews.

Objective: To test the impact of nonverbal behaviour on the assessment of a clinician's level of empathic communication.

Methods: One hundred volunteers were asked to assess a clinician's level of empathic communication using the Rating Scales for the Assessment of Empathic Communication in Medical Interviews (REM). Participants were randomly assigned to three groups differing with regard to the level of nonverbal information made available to them.

The Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test revisited: establishing its structure using nonlinear factor analysis and identifying subgroups of respondents using latent class factor analysis.

Background: Previous research used principal components as well as exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis to establish continuous dimensions underlying answers to the 10-items of the Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test (AUDIT). The majority of these studies conclude that one consumption dimension and an adverse consequences dimension explain the answers to the AUDIT sufficiently. However, most of the methods used presuppose normal answer distributions and linear relations between indicators and constructs, which are unrealistic assumptions for AUDIT answer.

Exploring the link between gender, sensation seeking, and family history of alcoholism in cortisol stress-response dampening.

Many studies have demonstrated an inverse association between cortisol and risk-taking behaviors, with high-sensation seekers (HSS) showing lower cortisol levels. We investigated the potential link between sensation seeking (SS) and stress-induced stress responses, as well as alcohol-induced stress-response-dampening (SRD) effects in cortisol. First, we hypothesized that HSS would show inverse SRD effects in cortisol.

The impact of gender stereotypes on the evaluation of general practitioners' communication skills: an experimental study using transcripts of physician-patient encounters.

Objective: The present study has been designed to test for the effect of physicians' gender on the perception and assessment of empathic communication in medical encounters.

Methods: Eighty-eight volunteers were asked to assess six transcribed interactions between physicians and a standardized patient. The effects of physicians' gender were tested by the experimental manipulation of physicians' gender labels in transcripts.

Self-efficacy and alcohol relapse: concurrent validity of confidence measures, self-other discrepancies, and prediction of treatment outcome.

Objective: Self-efficacy has been shown to predict relapse following treatment for alcohol dependence. Most studies use comprehensive multi-item scales to assess clients' confidence. The development and validation of simple measures may encourage both clinicians and researchers to assess self-efficacy more frequently over the course of treatment.

Alcohol-induced heart rate response dampening during aversive and rewarding stress paradigms in subjects at risk for alcoholism.

Individuals with a family history of alcoholism (FH+) are at risk to develop alcohol problems. In several studies, psychophysiological stress responses were more attenuated by alcohol in FH+ than in FH- subjects. However, it is not clear from these studies, if this stronger stress-response dampening effect of alcohol (SRD) in FH+ subjects is confined to aversive stimuli, or would hold for nonaversive stress conditions as well.

Alcohol expectancies and current mood state in social drinkers.

Background: Whereas the relationship between affective states and drinking behaviour is well established, there is only limited evidence to support the notion that an individual's current mood state is related to his or her alcohol expectancies. Moreover, previous research focused predominantly on the impact of affective valence and, at the same time, failed to assess an individual's evaluation of alcohol effects.

Method: Three hundred and fifty-seven volunteers completed a German-language version of the Anticipated Biphasic Alcohol Effects Scale (ABAES), a mood form, and a brief questionnaire on background variables and drinking habits.

Readiness to change in a clinical sample of problem drinkers: relation to alcohol use, self-efficacy, and treatment outcome.

According to the transtheoretical model of behaviour change, individuals addicted to psychotropic drugs typically cycle through a sequence of five discrete stages (precontemplation, contemplation, preparation, action, and maintenance) before achieving sustained long-term abstinence and moderation, respectively. A number of English-language questionnaires have been developed to assess client motivation in accordance with the stages of change approach. The present study aimed to expand the research on the transtheoretical model by establishing the factor structure of a German-language version of the Stages of Change Readiness and Treatment Eagerness Scale (SOCRATES) in a large sample of alcohol-dependent inpatients (n = 350).

Anticipated levels of alcohol-induced sedation and stimulation in relation to estimated blood alcohol concentration.

Objective: Anticipated biphasic effects of alcohol have been shown to vary with level of alcohol consumption and risk for alcohol dependence. However, past research has failed to control for participants' current mood state. Furthermore, the results of previous studies comparing male and female participants may have been confounded by gender differences in alcohol metabolism.

Sensory evaluation of alcohol-related and neutral stimuli: psychophysical assessment of stimulus intensity.

Research on reactivity to alcohol cues yielded conflicting results. While some authors report differences in subjective or physiological responses to drug-related stimuli between addicts and healthy controls, other researchers found no group differences in response patterns. Moreover, a dissociation of self-report and psychophysiological measures of cue reactivity is often observed.

Prediction of treatment outcome in a clinical sample of problem drinkers: self-efficacy, alcohol expectancies, and readiness to change.

Cognitive processes related to client motivation are important mediators of alcoholism treatment outcome. The present study aimed to expand previous research on client motivation and treatment outcome by establishing the predictive utility of self-efficacy, alcohol expectancies, and readiness to change in a sample of alcohol-dependent inpatients (N = 83). Treatment outcome was assessed three months following discharge.

Screening for paternal alcoholism: reliability of a German version of the F-SMAST.

The development of screening instruments for the detection of paternal alcoholism is of both clinical and research interest. F-SMAST, an adapted version of the Short Michigan Alcoholism Screening Test (SMAST), has proven to be a reliable and valid instrument for the assessment of an individual's father's drinking history. The present investigation examines the reliability of a German version of the F-SMAST.