Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Measuring Heightened Attention To Alcohol In A Naturalistic Setting: A Validation Study, Ramey G. Monem, Mark T. Fillmore

Psychology Faculty Publications

Attentional bias to alcohol-related stimuli is believed to be an important contributor to the development and maintenance of drug abuse. There is a considerable body of research examining attentional bias, much of which has typically utilized image-display tasks as a means to assess the phenomenon. Little, however, is known about the nature of this bias in an individual’s natural environment. The current study sought to implement a novel approach to assessing attentional bias in vivo. Participants wore portable eye-tracking glasses that recorded video from their point of view and measured fixation time to objects they observed. They entered a room …

Liking, Craving, And Attentional Bias In Non-Dependent Drinkers, David Lovett

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of the present study was to better understand alcohol use problems by examining the effect of alcohol liking on alcohol attentional bias among non-dependent drinkers. An adapted model of Robinson and Berridge’s (1993) incentive-sensitization theory of addiction was proposed which theorized that manipulation of alcohol liking would produce alcohol attentional bias (assessed via visual probe task) among non-dependent drinkers. To test this adapted model, alcohol liking was manipulated and the effect on alcohol attentional bias was examined. Participants were 53 legal-age, college drinkers (Mage = 23.49; 32.1% female; 67.9% White Non-Hispanic). Participants completed measures of alcohol drink preference, …

San Benito County Parents Learning About Drugs And Alcohol In Spanish, Nancy Zermeno

Capstone Projects and Master's Theses

Hispanic or Latino non-speaking English Parents are not familiarized with the different types of drugs in the community. Various studies have indicated that San Benito County teenager that suffer from drug and alcohol are at-risk of being truant, dropping school, or becoming criminals. This project aimed to address a Drug prevention intervention class in Spanish to target the population of non-speaking English parents. The majority of non-speaking English parents are not familiarized with the culture or laws in the United States. The project was implemented by the Juvenile Division of San Benito County Probation Department in collaboration with Youth Alliance. …

Affective Factors Explaining The Association Between Depressive Functioning And Alcohol Outcomes, Peter D. Preonas

Psychology Theses & Dissertations

Depressive symptoms and alcohol use frequently coexist. In college students, the rates of depression and alcohol use are higher than in the general population, making this population at particular risk for co-occurrence of depressive symptoms and drinking. Though research has shown that depressive symptoms precede alcohol use and problems in non-clinical populations, it is unclear what mechanisms contribute to this relationship. Further exploration into how this relationship occurs could inform and improve intervention of depression and alcohol abuse on college campuses. This study sought to (1) assess three potential mediators (i.e., need for affect, distress tolerance, emotion regulation) to the …

Cross-Lagged Relations Between Motives And Substance Use: Can Use Strengthen Your Motivation Over Time?, Christine A. Lee, Karen J Derefinko, Heather A. Davis, Richard S. Milich, Donald R. Lynam

Psychology Faculty Publications

Motives for substance use have garnered considerable attention due to the strong predictive utility of this construct, both in terms of use and problems associated with use. The current study examined the cross-lagged relations between alcohol use and motives, and marijuana use and motives over three yearly assessment periods in a large sample (N = 526, 48% male) of college students. The relations between substance use and motives were assessed at each time point, allowing for the examination of these inter-relations over time. Results indicated different trends based on the type of substance. For alcohol use, cross-lagged trends were …

The Under-Explored Role Of Tiredness In Alcohol Use And Sexual Risk-Taking Among Gay And Bisexual Men, Brett M. Millar

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Numerous factors have been shown to increase the likelihood of risk-taking in the realms of alcohol use and sexual behavior— and many studies have focused on these behaviors among gay and bisexual men (GBM), given the health disparities that exist in substance use and HIV/STI infections. After a brief review of the person- and situation-level variables that have already been identified, I will argue for the relevance of also considering a previously under-explored situation-level factor in alcohol use and sexual risk-taking: sleep-related fatigue, referred to here as tiredness. While tiredness has been shown, in the sleep science literature, to impair …

Examining The Protective Effect Of Ethnic Identity On Drug Attitudes And Use Among A Diverse Youth Population, Tamika C. B. Zapolski, Sycarah Fisher, Devin E. Banks, Devon J. Hensel, Jessica Barnes-Najor

Educational, School, and Counseling Psychology Faculty Publications

Ethnic identity is an important buffer against drug use among minority youth. However, limited work has examined pathways through which ethnic identity mitigates risk. School-aged youth (N = 34,708; 52 % female) of diverse backgrounds (i.e., African American (n = 5333), Asian (n = 392), Hispanic (n = 662), Multiracial (n = 2129), Native American (n = 474), and White (n = 25718) in grades 4–12 provided data on ethnic identity, drug attitudes, and drug use. After controlling for gender and grade, higher ethnic identity was associated with lower past month drug use …

Three Essays On The Effect Of Overconfidence On Economic Decision Making, Klajdi Bregu

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation uses experimental evidence to explore the effects of overconfidence on economic decision making. In Chapter 1 I provide experimental evidence of the effects of alcohol on overconfidence and several other important tasks. I also explore the relationship between overconfidence and the behavior in the other tasks. The data from this experiment show that an alcohol level of 0.08 does not have a systemic effect on behavior and more importantly it does not affect one’s level of overconfidence. I also show that overconfidence is not significantly correlated with risk preferences, math, strategic behavior, anchoring, altruism, and food choices. In …

The Effects Of Alcohol On Visual Attention, Amber M. Robinson

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Alcohol has been shown to have a variety of effects on cognitive performance in humans; the present study tested the effects of alcohol on visual selective attention using three different paradigms. The effects of alcohol intoxication over a broad range of blood alcohol concentrations (average between 0.01 and 0.08) were evaluated for change blindness, inattentional blindness, and multiple object tracking. Alcohol was found to impair inattentional blindness performance, negatively affecting participants’ ability to notice the unexpected changes presented. This result is interpreted as support for the alcohol myopia theory. No significant effects of alcohol were found for change blindness or …

Using Timelines To Visualize Service Use Pathways To Alcohol Treatment, Lynda Berends, Michael Savic

The Qualitative Report

Many people in alcohol and other drug treatment are clients of other services, however there is limited consideration of the combinations and sequences of services and systems that they use. We used data visualization to analyze and re-present findings from a large research project on clients’ service use and referral sources in the year preceding alcohol treatment entry. Data were from 16 “high-end” service users with alcohol problems and analysis involved constructing individual text and timeline summaries and a visual encoding system to show service type and referral source. Three distinct service use pathways were identified and a visual model …

The Effect Of Androstenone As A Mating Prime On Drinking And Approach Behavior, Robin Tan

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Recent research has shown that sexual activity may be influenced by variables suggested by evolutionary theory, such as pheromonal cues. A recent study in our laboratory indicated that female pheromones influence men’s drinking and approach behavior based on hidden pathways of behavioral influence caused by chemosensory signals. The current study sought to examine whether a link exists between male pheromones and women’s drinking and approach behavior, through the use of a possible male sex pheromone called androstenone, and sought to examine this link within the context of a women’s ovulation cycle. One hundred and three female participants were primed with …

Psychopathic Traits And Substance Use In The Context Of Erotic Services And Sex Exchange Among College Students, Bethany Edwards

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

With increasing education expenses and characterization of our culture as “sexualized”, scholars have begun to explore student engagement in erotic services, but most research has been done outside the United States. This study tested personality correlates, prevalence and type of erotic service involvement in men and women college students in the United States. Specifically, the present study examined gender differences and whether substance use and psychopathic traits exhibit unique and/or interactive associations with both provision and consumption of erotic services among students. A total of 820 undergraduate students (54.3% women) took part in a study on personality and sexual behavior, …

Can We Talk?: Synergistic Effects Of Cognitive And Behavioral Frameworks To Address Substance Use And Abuse, Lauren Jaye Adams

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Behavioral economic accounts of substance use have provided a novel framework to examine constraints that affect behaviorally driven outcomes. Several behavioral studies support the application of such frameworks to examine impulsive decision-making processes as well as how subjective reward influences substance use. Based on stimulus-response models, behavioral economic research often applies mathematical formulas to draw conclusions about behavioral outcomes. These mathematical formulas, while useful, largely ignore decades of cognitive psychology research that have examined state-based influences (e.g., mood, environment, motivational processes, etc.) on behavioral sequelae. To address this issue, the present study merged a cognitive framework into two behavioral economic …

How Social Reactions To Alcohol-Related Facial Flushing Are Affected By Gender, Relationship, And Drinking Purposes: Implications For Education To Reduce Aerodigestive Cancer Risks, Ian Newman, Lanyan Ding, Duane F. Shell, Lida Lin

Department of Educational Psychology: Faculty Publications

Alcohol-related facial flushing is a sign of compromised alcohol metabolism and increased risk of certain cancers. This project examined how facial flushing might be used to reduce alcohol use to lower cancer risks. Interviews with Chinese university students identified gender, friendship, and drinking purpose as important variables related to whether someone would encourage a person who flushes when drinking alcohol to stop or reduce their drinking. A questionnaire was developed that incorporated these variables into 24 drinking scenarios in which someone flushed while drinking. Students responded whether they would (a) encourage the flusher to stop or drink less; (b) do …

Laboratory Analysis Of Risky Driving At 0.05% And 0.08% Blood Alcohol Concentration, Nicholas A. Van Dyke, Mark T. Fillmore

Psychology Faculty Publications

Background—The public health costs associated with alcohol-related traffic crashes are a continuing problem for society. One harm reduction strategy has been to employ per se limits for blood alcohol concentrations (BACs) at which drivers can legally operate motor vehicles. This limit is currently 0.08% in all 50 US states. Recently, the National Transportation Safety Board proposed lowering the legal limit to 0.05 % (NTSB, 2013). While research has well-validated the ability of alcohol to impair driving performance and heighten crash-risk at these BACs, relatively little is known about the degree to which alcohol might increase drivers’ risk-taking.

Methods—Risk-taking …

Neurophysiological Capacity In A Working Memory Task Differentiates Dependent From Nondependent Heavy Drinkers And Controls, Michael J. Wesley, Joshua A. Lile, Mark T. Fillmore, Linda J. Porrino

Behavioral Science Faculty Publications

Background—Determining the brain-behavior profiles that differentiate heavy drinkers who are and are not alcohol dependent will inform treatment efforts. Working memory is linked to substance use disorders and can serve as a representation of the demand placed on the neurophysiology associated with cognitive control.

Methods—Behavior and brain activity (via fMRI) were recorded during an N-Back working memory task in controls (CTRL), nondependent heavy drinkers (A-ND) and dependent heavy drinkers (A-D). Typical and novel step-wise analyses examined profiles of working memory load and increasing task demand, respectively.

Results—Performance was significantly decreased in A-D during high working memory load …

Comorbidity Of Alcohol And Mental Health: Addressing Access To Dual Diagnosis Treatment Centers And The Perceived Effectiveness, Annmarie M. Scott

Electronic Theses, Projects, and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to examine the comorbidity of substance

use disorders and mental illness: Addressing access to dual diagnosis treatment centers and the correlation of perceived effectiveness. The research project was conducted in collaboration with California State University, San Bernardino, (CSUSB) and the Master in Social Work Program. The study used a survey designed with items that measured the participant’s perception of availability and effectiveness of dual diagnosis treatment centers. A quantitative study was conducted using a fixed choice response and data was analyzed on an interval measurement scale. Frequencies and cross tabulations were used to present …

Influences On University Staff Members Responsible For Implementation Of Alcohol-Control Policies, Glenn A. Cochran

Graduate Doctoral Dissertations

Excessive college student drinking is a complex problem associated with a range of consequences including deaths, injuries, damage, health risks, legal difficulties, and academic problems. State governing boards, trustees and executives have enacted policies aimed at reducing the negative effects of excessive drinking. This study examined influences on university staff members responsible for implementation of alcohol-control policies. Deeper understanding of factors influencing alcohol-control policy implementation may help leaders improve policy making, implementation and attainment of policy objectives.

This mixed methods study utilized a sequential transformative mixed methods strategy with a quantitative survey, sequenced first, informing the prioritized qualitative multiple case …

A Case Study Of A Six-Time Convicted Serial Rapist: The Search For Explanation, Ricardo E. Fernandez

University of New Orleans Theses and Dissertations

This case study discusses rape theories by performing a case study of a convicted serial rapist, hereafter referred to as “Carl Criminal.” This pseudonym has been used throughout this research effort in order to avoid the additional contributing to the celebrity status of the true rapist who has committed these vicious sexual assaults. Locations have also been changed in order to prevent contribution of further clues that may help identify the rapist and avoid embarrassment, humiliation, and further mental anguish for the rape victims.

On January 18, 1999, Carl Criminal, a 38-year-old white male Sheriff’s Deputy with a local sheriff’s …

Alcohol Laws In Utah: Drunk With Power?, Rachel Robinson-Greene

Languages, Philosophy, and Communication Studies Faculty Publications

The United States has long struggled with a set of deeply divided attitudes toward alcohol. To be sure, alcohol can be quite dangerous, so it is certainly reasonable to be cautious and concerned about its use in certain contexts. On the other hand, one of the clear lessons taught by our experiment with Prohibition is that individuals feel that restrictive alcohol policies constitute unwarranted violations of their autonomy.

Alcohol Flushing Social Reactions Survey Data 2011, Ian Newman, Lanyan Ding, Duane F. Shell, Lida Lin

Department of Educational Psychology: Faculty Publications

Format: XLSX file

Brief description of the data set:

Tab 1 of the Excel file contains the variable codes.

Tab 2 of the Excel file contains the de-identified survey responses from 2912 undergraduate students attending universities in southwestern, central, and northeastern China (People’s Republic of China). The survey was conducted in the spring university term of 2011.

Spreadsheet data file is attached below as an "Additional file".

(The "Download button retrieves a copy of this metadata.)

Subjective Expected Utility And Sexual Coercive Behaviors: Examining The Role Of Decision Processes, Alcohol Consumption, And Rape-Supportive Attitudes Among College Males, Antover P. Tuliao

Department of Psychology: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Prior studies have established the role of rape-supportive attitudes and alcohol consumption in sexual coercive behaviors among college students. However, less research has examined the role of more proximal variables such as decision processes. Utilizing the subjective expected utility (SEU) model of decision making, this study aimed to examine how decisions are made in a date-rape scenario utilizing a vignette methodology. The SEU model posits that decisions to engage in a behavior are contingent on perceived utility of the action, perceived probability of the utility occurring, perceived cost of the behavior, and the perceived probability of the cost occurring. Higher …

Anxiety-Like Behaviors And C-Fos Expression In Adult Zebrafish: Effects Of Housing Conditions, Alcohol And Caffeine, Adam Douglas Collier

Dissertations

Alcohol abuse is the third largest risk factor for disease world, responsible for an estimated 3.3 million deaths each year. The concomitant ingestion of alcohol and caffeine is hypothesized to increase risk factors associated with alcohol use alone by reducing subjective effects of intoxication. The zebrafish (Danio rerio) has recently garnered attention from researchers as an effective pre-clinical in-vivo animal model in behavioral pharmacology research, largely due to small size, low-cost and ease of drug delivery. A number of studies have reported the effects of alcohol and caffeine on zebrafish behavior at a variety of doses. However, the …

The Modulation Of Reward To Nicotine And Ethanol By Sex And Stage Of Exposure, Kyle L. Dixon

Psychology ETDs

Tobacco and alcohol are among the most widely used and abused drugs in America, resulting in disastrous health consequences and a massive resource drain on society. Nicotine (the primary reinforcing component in tobacco) and alcohol are often used together, though there is limited research on exposure to both drugs at the same time. The present study attempted to fill this gap in knowledge by examining the reward for a cocktail of nicotine and alcohol in male and female Long-Evans rats with differing histories of drug exposure. The conditioned place preference paradigm was used to examine the effects of sex as …

Modeling The Trauma-Antisociality Relationship As Mediated By World Assumptions: Associations With Gender And Drinking Outcomes, Kathryn Fokas

Psychology ETDs

Previous research has established links between traumatic experiences and externalizing pathology including substance use and antisocial behavior, but little is known about potential mechanisms linking these phenomena. This study proposed a novel conceptual model linking these phenomena via the cognitive mechanism of negative world assumptions, or beliefs about the inherent dangerousness and unpredictability of life and others. Given previous mixed findings, this study also sought to explore potential interactions between gender and these phenomena. It was hypothesized that, within a sample of adults seeking alcohol treatment, world assumptions would mediate and gender would moderate the trauma-antisociality association. It also was …

The Relationship Between Self Perceived Versus Peer Perceived Popularity And Alcohol Consumption In University Students, Dayna A. Blustein

Undergraduate Honours Theses

Previous research suggests that alcohol use and abuse is a growing problem for emerging adults (Lyons & Willott, 2008). Emerging adults typically attend social events with their natural drinking groups (Lange et al., 2006). Examining popularity level within the natural drinking group is critical for predicting heavy episodic drinking patterns. The objective of this study is to examine the association between group members’ peer-nominated popularity and heavy alcohol consumption and whether this association is heightened among individuals aware of their popular position. The present study provided 81 university students (Mage = 19.40 years; 69% female) recruited within their natural drinking …

The Systematic Neglect Of Inmates Suffering From Substance-Use Disorder In The American Prison Systems, J Lyons

Brigham Young University Prelaw Review

While the problem of crime and its perpetuation is multifactorial and inherently complex, the mental and physical health of criminals falls under the legal oversight of the penal system. Prisoners have a legal right to quality medical care—a right that is often forgotten and neglected by society at large and, more specifically, the court system itself.

Pnf 2.0? Initial Evidence That Gamification Can Increase The Efficacy Of Brief, Web-Based Personalized Normative Feedback Alcohol Interventions, Sarah C. Boyle, Andrew M. Earle, Joseph W. Labrie, Daniel J. Smith

Heads Up!

Gamified interventions exploit the motivational characteristics of a game in order to provide prevention information and promote behavior change. Despite the modest effect sizes observed in increasingly popular web-based personalized normative feedback (PNF) alcohol interventions for college students, previous research has yet to consider how gamification might be used to enhance efficacy. This study examines whether a novel, gamified PNF intervention format, which includes a point-based reward system, the element of chance, and personal icons to visually represent users, is more effective in reducing short-term alcohol use than the standard web-based style of PNF currently used on college campuses. Two-hundred …

Faster Self-Paced Rate Of Drinking For Alcohol Mixed With Energy Drinks Versus Alcohol Alone, Cecile A. Marczinski, Mark T. Fillmore, Sarah F. Maloney, Amy L. Stamates

Psychology Faculty Publications

The consumption of alcohol mixed with energy drinks (AmED) has been associated with higher rates of binge drinking and impaired driving when compared with alcohol alone. However, it remains unclear why the risks of use of AmED are heightened compared with alcohol alone even when the doses of alcohol consumed are similar. Therefore, the purpose of this laboratory study was to investigate if the rate of self-paced beverage consumption was faster for a dose of AmED versus alcohol alone using a double-blind, within-subjects, placebo-controlled study design. Participants (n = 16) of equal gender who were social drinkers attended 4 separate …

Curbing The Dui Offender's Self-Efficacy To Drink And Drive: A Laboratory Study, Walter Roberts, Mark T. Fillmore

Psychology Faculty Publications

Background—People arrested for driving under the influence of alcohol (DUI) are at high risk to reoffend. One reason for this high rate of recidivism among DUI offenders is that these individuals systematically underestimate the degree to which alcohol impairs their ability to drive. This study compared perceived and objective driving ability following alcohol and performance feedback in drivers with and without a history of DUI.

Method—Adult drivers with (n = 20) and without (n = 20) a history of DUI arrest attended two dose challenge sessions where they received 0.64 g/kg alcohol or placebo, completed a simulated driving …