How Strong is the "Fake ID Effect?" An Examination Using Propensity Score Matching in Two Samples.

Background: Underage college students who obtain and use false identification (fake ID) are at risk for negative outcomes. However, it is currently unclear how uniquely the fake ID itself serves as a vehicle to subsequent harm (i.e.

Meta-analysis of DSM alcohol use disorder criteria severities: structural consistency is only 'skin deep'.

Background: Item response theory (IRT) analyses of alcohol use disorder (AUD) and other psychological disorders are a predominant method for assessing overall and individual criterion severity for psychiatric diagnosis. However, no investigation has established the consistency of the relative criteria severities across different samples.

Method: PubMed/Medline, PsycINFO, Web of Science and ProQuest databases were queried for entries relating to alcohol use and IRT.

Determining optimal diagnostic criteria through chronicity and comorbidity.

Purpose: Contemporary approaches to clinical diagnosis have not adequately exploited state-of-the-art empirical techniques in deriving diagnostic criterion sets that are statistically optimal based on 1) relevant external indicators and 2) replicability across data sets. We provide a proof of concept that optimal criterion sets can be derived with respect to alcohol use disorder (AUD) diagnosis that are both more efficient and precise than current systems.

Methods: Using data from the National Epidemiologic Survey on Alcohol and Related Conditions we selected chronicity (i.

Patterns of alcohol use and consequences among empirically derived sexual minority subgroups.

Objective: The current study develops an empirically determined classification of sexual orientation developmental patterns based on participants' annual reports of self-identifications, sexual attractions, and sexual behaviors during the first 4 years of college. A secondary aim of the current work was to examine trajectories of alcohol involvement among identified subgroups.

Method: Data were drawn from a subsample of a longitudinal study of incoming first-time college students at a large, public university (n = 2,068).

Deliberate induction of alcohol tolerance: empirical introduction to a novel health risk.

Aims: Alcohol tolerance is a hallmark indicator of alcohol dependence. Even so, the allure of peers' admiration for having the ability to drink heavily may lead some adolescents and young adults to practice, or 'train', to increase their tolerance (particularly at US colleges, where heavy drinking is highly prevalent and central to the social culture). This is a potential health hazard that has not been documented empirically.

A personality-based description of maturing out of alcohol problems: extension with a five-factor model and robustness to modeling challenges.

Aim: To examine the relation of changes in Five-Factor personality traits (i.e., extraversion, agreeableness, conscientiousness, neuroticism, and openness to experience; Costa & McCrae, 1985), drinking motives, and problematic alcohol involvement in a cohort of college students (N=467) at varying risk for alcohol use disorders from ages 21 to 35.

Sexual orientation and substance use trajectories in emerging adulthood.

Aims: The current study examined developmental changes in substance use behaviors (SUBS) based upon sexual orientation. The analyses also attempted to address a number of methodological limitations in the extant longitudinal literature (i.e.

Methods of "fake ID" obtainment and use in underage college students.

Fake IDs are highly prevalent among underage college students, and are strongly associated with heavy drinking. However it is not currently known how exactly fake IDs are most commonly obtained and used, and how often individuals are caught. Such information could aid law enforcement and school personnel in their enforcement responsibilities, and might further elucidate the extent and means by which students "make ethical compromises" to gain illegal access to alcohol.