Characterizing alcohol dependence: transitions during young and middle adulthood.

Community and high-risk sample studies suggest that alcohol dependence is relatively stable and chronic. By contrast, epidemiological studies demonstrate a strong age-graded decline whereby alcohol dependence tends to peak in early adulthood and declines thereafter. The authors identified the latent trajectory structure of past-year alcohol dependence to investigate (a) whether the syndrome is characterized by symptom profiles and (b) the extent to which the syndrome is stable and persistent.

Borderline personality features predict alcohol use problems.

This study assessed the relation between BPD features and problems associated with alcohol use 2 years later in young adults. Approximately 5,000 nonclinical young adults were screened for BPD features, and two cohorts of participants completed the laboratory phase of the study at Time 1 (total N = 421) and then again 2 years later at Time 2 (total N = 356). Measures included self-report and interview-based assessments of personality disorders, psychopathology in biological parents, Axis I psychopathology, and alcohol use problems.

Individual differences in the "Greek effect" on risky drinking: the role of self-consciousness.

Although the environmental influence of Greek affiliation on drinking has been established, little is known about intrapersonal characteristics that make individuals susceptible to this influence. Self-consciousness (attending to one's self) was hypothesized to represent dispositional vulnerability to environmental influence. The potential moderating effect of self-consciousness on the relation between Greek involvement and drinking was examined longitudinally among college students (N = 319).

Searching for the full picture: structural equation modeling in alcohol research.

This article summarizes the proceedings of a symposium presented at the 2005 Research Society on Alcoholism meeting in Santa Barbara, California. This symposium begins with a description by Michael Windle of structural equation modeling (SEM), including the assets and liabilities of this approach. Next, Marc Schuckit and Tom Smith demonstrate the application of an SEM approach to understanding the impact of a low level of response to alcohol, using data from both adolescent and adult populations.

Similarities and differences of longitudinal phenotypes across alternate indices of alcohol involvement: a methodologic comparison of trajectory approaches.

Extant developmental research distinguishing young adults who moderate versus persist in alcohol consumption has not consistently evaluated the domain of alcohol involvement being modeled, making it difficult to compare findings across studies. In the present study, the authors characterized the developmental course of 5 indices of alcohol involvement using a prospective (6-wave) sample of 377 young adults (Year 1 age = 18.52 years; 55% female; 51% with family history of alcoholism) over 11 years.

Conjoint developmental trajectories of young adult alcohol and tobacco use.

Developmental and etiological advances have set the stage for considering trajectories of problem behavior across the life course, but little work thus far addresses co-occurring problem behavior trajectories. Although recent work characterizes drinking and smoking trajectories, none has explored the course of concurrent drinking and smoking. Using panel data from the Monitoring the Future Project (N=32,087), the authors applied growth mixture modeling to 4 waves of heavy drinking and smoking in a young-adult sample.

Risk for minor childhood injury: an investigation of maternal and child factors.

Objective: To examine how maternal and child characteristics interact to moderate injury rate and injury severity for young children.

Methods: In this study, 149 mothers reported their toddlers' injuries over a 6-month period during biweekly interviews. Mothers completed questionnaires assessing parenting behaviors, psychological characteristics, and their children's injury-relevant behaviors.

Hangover frequency and risk for alcohol use disorders: evidence from a longitudinal high-risk study.

Data from a prospective high-risk study (N=489; 51% with a family history of alcoholism) were used to test whether family history is associated with greater hangover proneness and whether hangover is a risk factor for alcohol use disorders. Hangover was more frequent in family-history-positive participants during the college years. Persons with an alcohol diagnosis showed excess hangover before earning a diagnosis.

Strategic control and medial frontal negativity: beyond errors and response conflict.

Errors in timed choice tasks typically produce an error-related negativity (ERN) in the event-related potential (ERP). The error specificity of the ERN has been challenged by studies showing a correct response negativity (CRN). Forty-five participants engaged in a flanker task in which both compatibility between flankers and target and the probability of compatible flankers were manipulated.

Adolescence: booze, brains, and behavior.

This article represents the proceedings of a symposium at the 2004 Research Society on Alcoholism meeting in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, organized and chaired by Peter M. Monti and Fulton T. Crews.

Trajectories of dynamic predictors of disorder: their meanings and implications.

Developmental psychopathologists are increasingly focused on characterizing heterogeneity of trajectories of psychological disorders across the life course (e.g., developmentally limited vs.

The role of behavioral undercontrol in the relation between alcohol use and partner aggression.

Objective: Recent studies suggest that pre-existing aggressive personality traits moderate the relationship between alcohol use and intimate partner violence. The current study extends this literature by examining the relationship between behavioral undercontrol, patterns of alcohol use and relationship aggression in the context of a large, high-risk sample.

Method: Participants were drawn from a cohort of 489 young adults taking part in an 11-year longitudinal study.

Do college students drink more than their non-college-attending peers? Evidence from a population-based longitudinal female twin study.

The association of college attendance with alcohol use and alcohol use disorders was examined in a population-based young adult female twin sample identified from a systematic search of birth records. College-attending women consumed a larger overall volume of alcohol than did their non-college-attending peers, but they were not more likely to be diagnosed with an alcohol use disorder. Significant associations between college attendance and alcohol involvement were probed using 3 different complementary research designs: multivariate cross-sectional analyses, longitudinal analyses of the precollege and college years, and cotwin-control analyses of twin pairs discordant for attending college.

Relation of attachment style to family history of alcoholism and alcohol use disorders in early adulthood.

The present study examined the association between paternal alcoholism and attachment style in early adulthood and sought to determine whether attachment style might, at least partially, mediate intergenerational risk for alcoholism. The current report focuses on the cross-sectional relation between family history (FH) of alcoholism, attachment styles, and alcohol use disorders (AUD) when cohort members were, on average, 29 years old (N = 369; 46% male; 51% FH+). Results indicated that FH+ participants were more likely to have insecure attachment, characterized by fearful-avoidant and dismissed-avoidant styles.

Collecting longitudinal data through childhood, adolescence, and young adulthood: methodological challenges.

This article presents the proceedings of a workshop at the 2003 Research Society on Alcoholism meeting in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. The organizers and chairs were Vivian Faden and Nancy Day. The presentations were (1) Lessons Learned From the Lives Across Time Longitudinal Study, by Michael Windle and Rebecca Windle; (2) Methodological Issues in Longitudinal Surveys With Children and Adolescents, by Joel Grube; (3) The Pittsburgh ADHD Longitudinal Study: Methodological and Conceptual Challenges, by Brooke Molina, William Pelham, Elizabeth Gnagy, and Tracey Wilson; and (4) Lessons learned in Conducting Longitudinal Research on Alcohol Involvement: If Only I Had Known Before Hand! by Kristina Jackson and Kenneth Sher.

Alcohol, tobacco, and drug use disorders and personality disorder symptoms.

In a nonclinical sample of 395 young adults, the authors evaluated the relations between major personality traits, Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (4th ed.; DSM-IV; American Psychiatric Association, 1994) personality disorder symptoms, and DSM-IV alcohol use disorders (AUDs). Consistent with previous findings, traits related to disinhibition and negative affectivity were consistently associated with AUDs, as were Cluster B personality disorder symptoms (especially antisocial and borderline disorder symptoms).

Alcohol use disorders and psychological distress: a prospective state-trait analysis.

The present study examined the association between alcohol use disorders (AUDs) and psychological distress over an 11-year period using a sample of 378 young adults (46% men, 54% women: baseline age = 18.5; 51% with paternal history of alcoholism). The authors examined this relation using a state-trait model, which decomposes variance in a given construct into a general traitlike factor that spans measurement occasion and more situational, occasion-specific variability.

Changes in heavy drinking over the third decade of life as a function of collegiate fraternity and sorority involvement: a prospective, multilevel analysis.

Although affiliation with a fraternity or sorority is an important risk factor for heavy drinking, recent research indicates that this risk may be limited to the college years. Random coefficient growth modeling was used to track changes in patterns of heavy drinking over the course of 11 years as a function of gender and collegiate Greek involvement (N=318). Overall, greater cumulative exposure to the Greek system led to increased heavy drinking during the college years, particularly among men.

N-acetyl-L-tyrosine as a tyrosine source in adult parenteral nutrition.

Background: N-acetyl-L-tyrosine (NAT) is commonly used in place of tyrosine in parenteral nutrition, but human studies carried out to date indicate considerable amounts of it are excreted unchanged in the urine. NAT retention has not been well studied in parenterally fed adults.

Methods: NAT retention was measured in 13 adults receiving continuous parenteral nutrition with Aminosyn II 15% (Abbott Laboratories, Abbott Park, IL).

Effects of alcohol consumption and alcohol susceptibility on cognition: a psychophysiological examination.

The present study sought to examine acute effects of alcohol on cognitive processing and performance within the context of two prominent theories of alcohol's effects; namely, that alcohol restricts the focus of attention (e.g. Steele and Josephs, 1990.

Reliability of self-reported age of substance involvement onset.

The authors investigated the reliability of self-reported age of onset (AO) for alcohol, tobacco (cigarette), and illicit drug involvement. Participants were 410 young adults taking part in an 11-year longitudinal study. A moderate degree of reliability was found for the 3 substances.