Psychology Commons^™

Nicotine And Alcohol Interactions, Charles C. J. Frye

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Charles C.J. Frye, a graduate student in the Behavior Analysis program at Utah State University, completed this dissertation as part of the requirements of the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Psychology.

Alcohol and Nicotine are the two most commonly abused drugs in the United States, often used at the same time. The goal of the dissertation was to more fully understand how exposure to one drug alters motivation for the other. In Chapter I, we investigated how exposure to nicotine affects relapse for alcohol in rats. Nicotine did not affect relapse for alcohol, possibly due to the method of …

Effects Of Alcohol Intoxication On Hostile Attribution Bias And Relational Aggression In Women, Alita M. Mobley

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Alcohol intoxication is consistently linked to physical and sexual aggression in men, but not women. The lack of evidence supporting the relationship between alcohol and aggression for women could be due to a failure to measure relational aggression (i.e., harmful social manipulation), the form of aggression more commonly employed by women. Further, alcohol intoxication may interfere with the interpretation of social cues, resulting in greater perceived provocation in ambiguous social interactions and increased aggression. The current study examined the relationship between alcohol intoxication and relational aggression in women and the extent to which interpretation of social cues (i.e., hostile attribution …

Opioid Dependency And Its Effects On Alcohol Consumption, Emily V. Flores

Psychology and Counseling Theses

Previous research has found dualistic effects on alcohol consumption with low doses of buprenorphine increasing alcohol and higher doses of buprenorphine reducing alcohol consumption in rats (Ciccocioppo et al., 2006). Other existing research on naloxone treatment and alcohol consumption in opioid use has demonstrated that alcohol consumption decreases after naloxone treatment in rats (Hyytia & Sinclair, 1993). Yet, no research has been conducted on either rats or humans on the effects of buprenorphine and naloxone medication combined. The effects of opioid maintenance therapy are controversial and the relationship between alcohol consumption and opioid dependency treatment is mainly based on literature …

A Daily Diary Examination Of Microaggressions And Alcohol Use Among Emerging Adult Bisexual Women: The Role Of Alcohol Demand, Sarah J. Ehlke

Psychology Theses & Dissertations

Bisexual women are at far greater risk for alcohol use, alcohol-related negative consequences, and alcohol use disorder than heterosexual or lesbian women. However, research on sexual minority women often combines lesbian and bisexual women into a single group. One possible explanation for the increased alcohol use and associated consequences among bisexual women relates to their experiences of discrimination or microaggressions that are daily insults and comments, intentional or unintentional, about their sexuality from both the heterosexual and sexual minority communities. Thus, it is possible that bisexual women drink to cope with microaggressions. Specifically, bisexual women may drink more and have …

Alcohol Use And Drinking-Related Eating Restriction Behaviors Among College Students, Peter Preonas

Psychology Theses & Dissertations

The combination of eating restrictions and alcohol use is a prevalent problem on college campuses. Some students engage in eating restrictions prior to drinking to limit their overall caloric intake or to enhance intoxication effects. To date, limited research suggests that drinking-related eating restriction behaviors are associated with additional and unique health risks relative to high-risk drinking or eating restrictions alone. As such, additional research examining this unique, risky set of behaviors is warranted. Consequently, the present study aimed to address gaps in the literature by further examining the risks associated with drinking-related eating restrictions and testing trait factors related …

The Mediating Effects Of Drinking Refusal Self-Efficacy On The Associations Between Alcohol Protective Behavioral Strategies And Alcohol Use Outcomes, Kray Scully

Dissertations

Alcohol use continues to pose a serious public health problem at universities across the U.S., largely due to the extent of consumption and frequency of negative consequences experienced among college students. Alcohol protective behavioral strategies (PBS-A) are an empirically supported repertoire of safe drinking behaviors college students can use to monitor and control their alcohol consumption as well as limit harm while drinking. However, there remains a need to better understand how cognitive mechanisms, such as drinking refusal self-efficacy (DRSE), help explain college student safe alcohol use behaviors to enhance evidenced-based intervention and prevention efforts. Recently, studies that examined the …

Drinking To Cope: Effects Of Anxiety On Generation Of Self-Regulation Strategies, Lauren Hurd

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This study sought to utilize motivational and self-regulatory processes, specifically the principle of emotional transfer (PET), to elucidate mechanisms underlying the transition from casual alcohol use to dependence in young adults with elevated anxiety. Utilizing a script-driven imagery procedure, the proposed study examined the effects of manipulated state anxiety on 1) the amount, content, and commitment to freely generated anxiety reduction strategies, and 2) the level of craving for alcohol. Young adult college students (N = 69; ages 18-24; 76.8% women) were randomly assigned to either the high (n = 35) or low (n = 34) anxiety condition. After script …

Social And Individual-Level Identities And College Male Alcohol Use Behaviors: Examining The Utility Of Protective Behavioral Strategies, Robert Bearden Whitley

Dissertations

Recent literature has consistently identified conformity to traditional masculine norms as motivating hazardous drinking behaviors of college men. Given the high prevalence of hazardous drinking among college men and the particular negative consequences that emerge secondary to it, additional research is needed in this area to better identify possible intervention targets. The present study sought to better elucidate the proximity of male norm conformity to drinking behaviors through including a specific identity factor related to alcohol use: drinking identity. Secondary to this goal, this study also sought to examine how these factors of identity predicted the safe drinking behaviors of …

Attitudes About Date Rape: Context And Consent, Hannah Mae Strom

Theses and Dissertations

Sexual assault, and date rape specifically, is a prevalent problem among college students. Many factors influence students’ attitudes about these situations such as the closeness of the relationship and alcohol consumed at the time of the incident. These same factors similarly influence attitudes about reporting an assault. The development of mobile proximity-based dating applications (dating apps) has added a new, and largely under-researched, factor of influence to attitudes about perceptions of sexual consent. The current study used vignettes to examine college students’ perceptions of sexual consent and attitudes about reporting in a date rape scenario. The vignettes varied to explore …

Remember That Party Last Night? Examining The Effects Of Binge-Like Alcohol On Memory, Anna Thomas

Undergraduate Honors Thesis Collection

Alcohol is a widely available drug that is often abused. Studies have shown alcohol-induced memory loss in humans and animals; however, the large amount of alcohol often necessary to observe such loss and use of involuntary drinking paradigms in animals makes translation difficult. The current study was designed to look at voluntary binge-like drinking behavior and memory in rodents. We anticipated decreases in working memory function following consumption of binge-like alcohol in mice and expected a greater deficit in mice experiencing acute withdrawal during the memory task. The present study explored drinking behaviors in adult C57BL/6J mice (18 male, 18 …

Anxiety-Inducing Effects Of Alcohol And Caffeine In C57bl/6j Mice, Melissa Evans

Undergraduate Honors Thesis Collection

Caffeine and alcohol are two of the most popular and legal drugs around the world. In America, both drugs are easily accessible, which has contributed to frequent use of the drugs in tandem. Previous studies have revealed much about the mechanisms of each drug, but the effects of co-consumption are not yet fully understood. One concern is that caffeine could reduce how intoxicated a person feels, leading to an increase in alcohol consumption or other risky behaviors. Withdrawal is also a concern as it helps maintain the cycle of substance abuse. This study was designed to examine consumption patterns of …

Do These Violent Delights Have Violent Ends? Social Norms, Alcohol, & Sexual Cyberbullying, Anandi C. Ehman

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Sexually aggressive behavior is well-documented among college students. However, little is known about the role technology may play in facilitating this behavior. Given that social norms have been established as a useful framework for understanding problematic and risky behavior in college students, the current authors sought to determine whether this theory might also provide insight into the use of technology to facilitate sexually aggressive behavior. Thus, this work sought to determine whether sexually aggressive behavior which occurs through the use of technology and social media, henceforth known as sexual cyberbullying, mediated the relationship between perceived social norms of sexually aggressive …

Further Validation Of The Treatment Self-Regulation Questionnaire For Assessing Motivations For Responsible Drinking: A Test Of Self-Determination Theory, Dylan Richards

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

Alcohol protective behavioral strategies (PBS) are cognitive-behavioral strategies used before, during, and/or after drinking to reduce alcohol use and alcohol-related problems. Self-determination theory (SDT) provides a potentially useful framework to understand motivations for responsible drinking, which is operationalized in the present study as PBS use. In the present study, the relation of motivations for responsible drinking, as assessed by the Treatment Self-Regulation Questionnaire (TSRQ), with other SDT constructs (psychological need satisfaction and dispositional autonomy) and PBS use, alcohol use, and alcohol-related problems were examined among college students drinkers. A sample of 507 college students who reported consuming alcohol at least …

Transcriptomic Profiling Of Postmortem Prefrontal Cortex And Nucleus Accumbens From Chronic Alcohol Abusers., Eric S. Vornholt

Theses and Dissertations

Alcohol use disorder (AUD) is a debilitating psychiatric illness that develops from a combination of genetic and environmental factors. While it is well documented that AUD is heritable, the shift from recreational alcohol use to abuse/dependence is poorly understood. In this dissertation, using postmortem brain tissue from individuals with alcohol dependence (AD), we profiled the genome-wide expression of circular RNA (circRNA), microRNA (miRNA), and messenger RNA (mRNA) to better understand the impact of gene expression on the development of AUD. To achieve this, we performed two independent studies that explore transcriptome differences between AD cases and controls. The first of …

Evaluation Of Behavioral Skills Training (Bst) To Teach College Students To Pour A Standard Serving Of Alcohol: Skill Acquisition And Generality Across Cups And Time, Margaret Brock

University of the Pacific Theses and Dissertations

Binge drinking is prevalent among college students and is associated with a number of serious consequences. However, research suggests college students who count drinks and set drink limits are less likely to engage in binge drinking. In order to successfully use these tactics, college students must identify and pour standard servings of alcohol. Unfortunately, college students typically cannot identify or pour standard servings of alcohol. Behavioral Skills Training (BST), comprised of instruction, modeling, rehearsal, and feedback (Miltenberger, 2008), can be used to teach college students to pour standard servings of alcohol (Hankla et al., 2017). If effective, universities might consider …

Influences Among Affect Based Risk Factors And Problem Drinking In College Students, Emily Atkinson

Theses and Dissertations--Psychology

Broad negative affect has been consistently shown to predict problematic alcohol use. More specific affect-based constructs, though, have been shown to predict problem drinking above and beyond broad negative affectivity. The current study aims to investigate transactions among and predictive roles of broad negative affectivity and specific affective-based factors in relation to problem drinking among a sample of 358 students assessed twice during their first year of college. Participants were assessed for negative urgency (the tendency to act rashly when highly emotional), affective lability (the tendency to experience rapid and intense shifts in mood), negative affectivity, and problem drinking via …