Psychology Commons^™

A Psychometric Validation Of An Adapted Withdrawal Intolerance Scale For Alcohol Withdrawal Syndrome, Sarah Nicole Najera

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

While potentially life threatening, alcohol withdrawal is often under treated and inadequately integrated into the continuum of care for AUD. The current study served as part of a clinically impactful line of research by identifying key physical and psychological aspects of withdrawal. Using a measure previously developed for smoking cessation, a withdrawal intolerance measure was adapted (IDQ-A) and psychometrically validated. We aimed to establish construct validity of a three factor model of the IDQ-A, convergent and discriminant validity, as well as predictive validity. Those highly motivated to quit drinking and high in alcohol dependence were recruited via specialized social media …

Validation Of The Addictions Neuroclinical Assessment Among Diverse Individuals With Alcohol Use Disorder, Elena R. Stein

Psychology ETDs

Individuals with alcohol use disorder (AUD) are heterogeneous in terms of etiology, maintenance, symptoms, and recovery, yet current diagnostic categories fail to adequately capture this heterogeneity. Corresponding to the neurobiological addiction cycle, the Alcohol and Addictions Research Domain Criteria proposes a framework of three core domains disrupted in AUD: negative emotionality, incentive salience, and executive function. The Addictions Neuroclinical Assessment (ANA) is a hypothesized multimodal assessment battery of these three domains, which may better characterize AUD heterogeneity. The current study validated the ANA in a sample of drinkers (N=245) who were diverse with respect to ethnicity and alcohol treatment-seeking status. …

Examining The Role Of Executive Functions On The Intention-Behavior Gap Of Alcohol Harm Reduction Strategy Use, Becky K. Gius

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Alcohol harm reduction strategies are health behaviors that aim to minimize the likelihood or severity of consequences associated with alcohol use. Despite the demonstrated usefulness of harm reduction strategies, there is variability in who and when the strategies are used, leading to the question “if they work, why not use them all the time?” One potential explanation is a discrepancy between the intention to drink safely and actually drinking safely, termed the intention-behavior gap. It is unclear to what extent college drinkers plan on engaging in safe drinking behaviors but fail to follow through. It is plausible some drinkers have …

Girls Just Want To Be Safe: An Analysis Of Drugged Drinking And Prevention Amongst Students At The University Of South Carolina, C. Gray Forsberg

Senior Theses

Drink-spiking has become a well-known phenomenon since the turn of the century, especially on college campuses in the United States. Drink-spiking or drugging can be defined as “adding alcohol or drugs into someone’s drink without their knowledge or permission” (Alcohol and Drug Foundation, 2006). Drink-spiking is not just relevant to the concern of an illicit substance being placed into an alcoholic drink, but adding additional alcohol to drinks or adding alcohol or drugs to non-alcoholic drinks is considered drugging as well. This study collected data through a survey sent to 250 current students at the University of South Carolina regarding …

The Psychology Behind The Marketing Of Alcohol And Tobacco: How We Convince People To Do Things That Are Bad For Them, Sophie Dvorkin

CMC Senior Theses

The marketing tactics of the alcohol and tobacco industry are inextricably linked through the psychological basis upon which these companies target their customers. Through the principles of reciprocity, social proof, scarcity, commitment and consistency, unity, and authority featured in Robert Cialdini’s book Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion (2021). The principle of reciprocity explains how companies get customers to buy in, social proof explains our dependence on our peers’ validation, and scarcity explains why we want what we can’t have. The principles of commitment and consistency explain how companies garner long-term customers that see themselves as an extension of a brand, …

The Effect Of Visual Alcohol Cues On Risk Taking Behavior Based On Memory Primes And Individual Drinking Habits, Madison Mccue

CMC Senior Theses

Given the strong presence of alcohol cues in the media, this study aimed to investigate whether exposure to a visual alcohol cue versus a neutral cue would elicit memories about alcohol and increase the likelihood to engage in risk taking behavior, particularly for individuals who consume higher levels of alcohol or who report positive memories associated with alcohol. Through an online Qualtrics survey, 110 college student participants watched either two video advertisements for alcohol brands (alcohol cue), or two advertisements for soda brands (neutral cue), and then completed a memory cue task to assess if positive, neutral or negative memories …

How To Survive College As An Acoa: The Effectiveness Of University Resources On Helping Acoas Socially And Psychologically Succeed During Their Academic Career, Kelly Buchan

Senior Theses

In 2019, 14.5 million people ages 12 and older had Alcohol Use Disorder (AUD), but only 10% received treatment (National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism [NIAAA], 2022). Parental drinking problems can directly affect children, or “Adult Children of Alcoholics.” Of the few studies targeting ACoAs, results show that ACoAs not only have higher risks of mental illness, but they also have lower GPAs and social health (Schroeder & Kelley, 2008). Thus, this study assessed the extent to which perceptions of the college drinking environment are related to higher depression rates in ACoAs, certain drinking motivations, and reluctance to use …

Self-Objectification And Alcohol Use In Young Adult College Women, Rachel Carretta

Doctoral Dissertations

Although there is a sizeable body of research identifying the gender convergence of drinking rates, fewer studies have explored factors contributing to women’s increasing alcohol consumption. Consequently, scholars have called for more research on gender-related predictors of women’s drinking behaviors and associated consequences (Iwamoto et al., 2018). One potential gender-relevant factor is self-objectification or the perspective toward the self that the body is primarily valued for its appearance and sexual appeal (Frederickson & Roberts, 1997). Thus, our study investigated the link between self-objectification and young adult college women’s alcohol use and alcohol use prior to casual sexual activity or “hooking …

A Comparison Of Sorority Women And Non-Sorority Women’S Alcohol Use: Perception, Rate Of Use, And Consequences, Betsy Zimmerman

Counseling & Human Services Theses & Dissertations

While alcohol use and Greek Life on college campuses have often become synonymous, little is known about the rate of use or the consequences of use for sorority women specifically. Gender has been identified as a risk factor relating to substance use on college campuses; however, there is a gap in the literature concerning compounding factors that influence substance abuse, such as membership in a Greek-lettered organization. With approximately 300,000 college women involved in Greek-lettered organizations annually (NPC, 2019), little is known about the impact of alcohol use for sorority women on college adjustment. An exploration of the perception of …

A Brief Acceptance And Commitment Therapy Protocol For Alcohol Withdrawal Symptoms: A Randomized Controlled Trial For Inpatient Detoxification Patients, Taylor R. Weststrate

Dissertations

Alcohol detoxification inevitability involves physical and emotional discomfort. Common withdrawal symptoms include experiences of nausea, muscle pain, stomach and headaches, shakiness, restlessness, anxiety, and agitation. Rarer, but more severe, withdrawal symptoms can include hallucinations, seizures, and delirium tremens. Pharmacologic treatment of withdrawal symptoms is the primary, and often only, approach to intervention. The current study examined the incremental efficacy of adding a psychotherapeutic program based in Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) for individuals struggling with withdrawal during alcohol detoxification in a residential rehabilitation center. This study compared the standard of care, medication management, which was treatment as usual (TAU) at …

“Finding The Positive” In Recovery: Psychometric Properties Of A Measure Of Human Flourishing In An Alcohol Use Disorder Recovery Sample, Hannah A. Carlon

Psychology ETDs

The fields of alcohol use disorder (AUD) recovery and positive psychology have both rapidly grown in recent years, are paralleled in their philosophy and goals, but have scarcely overlapped. An important first step to applying positive psychology to addiction treatment and recovery is quantifying the extent that treatment-as-usual encourages human flourishing (i.e., holistic well-being and adequate functioning). The PERMA Profiler is a measure based on the PERMA model of flourishing, captured across five positive psychology domains (i.e., Positive Emotions, Engagement, Relationships, Meaning, and Accomplishments), and has been validated in a wide variety of samples. The …

Perfectionism, Alcohol Intoxication, And Deliberate Self-Harm In Men And Women, Lissa N. Mandell

Theses and Dissertations

Previous research has demonstrated associations between deliberate self-harm (DSH) and perfectionism, although most of that research used retrospective self-report measures of DSH, which are prone to various cognitive biases. Although perfectionism has been associated with alcohol abuse, no research has examined how alcohol intoxication may moderate the relation between perfectionism and DSH. The aims of this experimental study were to determine if perfectionism is associated with a laboratory analogue of DSH (the Self-Aggression Paradigm) and examine the role of alcohol intoxication as a potential moderator. Using archival data, blood alcohol content (BAC) was manipulated by randomly assigning participants to reach …

Exploring Parent And Peer Support As A Predictor Of Adolescent Adjustment During The Covid-19 Pandemic, Madeleine M. Macdonald

Undergraduate Honours Theses

Research has demonstrated that adolescents’ social relationships have been negatively impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic (Ayers et al., 2021). Considering adolescence is characterized by a need for peer belonging and autonomy from parents, isolation from peers has been particularly challenging (Magson et al., 2021). Prior literature has noted the ability of parent connectedness to promote resiliency and instill self-care practices (Bender & Ingram, 2018), and for peers to provide additional necessary support and feelings of belongingness (Brown & Larson, 2009). Information on whether the same outcomes can result during the pandemic remains unknown. The purpose of this study is to …

Establishing The Construct And Concurrent Validity Of Psychological Cumulative Stress And The Moderating Effect Of Protective Factors To Drinking Outcomes, Carlos Portillo

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

Previous studies have examined the associations between types of psychological stress and alcohol consumption but have not adequately examined psychological stress from a cumulative perspective. The present study sought to examine if self-report measures representing chronic stress, acute stress, life events, traumatic life events, and daily hassles throughout one’s lifetime were associated with drinking outcomes obtained from an online sample of at-risk drinkers reporting drinking patterns in the previous 90 days. Furthermore, the present study sought to examine if an index of protective factors moderate the effects of psychological stress on drinking outcomes. It was hypothesized that (1) the measures …

The Effects Of Alcohol Intoxication And Threats To Masculinity On Engagement In Sexual Aggression: Results From A Web-Based Survey Design And Alcohol Administration Study, Tiffany Lynn Marcantonio

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Background: Research examining the combined effects of men’s alcohol consumption and perceptions of their masculinity as precarious (e.g., viewing masculinity as easily threatened) on sexual aggression (SA) is lacking. The goal of this dissertation study was to assess if alcohol consumption and precarious masculinity are related to men’s SA via a web-administered survey (Study 1) and an in-person alcohol administration experiment (Study 2).

Methodology: In Study 1, two samples of young adult men (aged 18-30) were collected, 1) a community sample of 492 men and 2) a college sample of 478 men, to complete a 20-minute survey; participants answered questions …

The Relation Between Adhd Symptoms And Alcohol And Marijuana Use Outcomes Among College Students: The Mediating Role Of Experiential Avoidance, William Joshua Bradley

Theses and Dissertations

Individuals with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) are at significantly greater risk for alcohol and marijuana misuse and abuse compared to their peers. College students with ADHD may be particularly vulnerable to problematic alcohol and marijuana use, given the widespread use and abuse of these substances by college students generally and liability associated with ADHD specifically. Experiential avoidance, or avoidance of unwanted thoughts, feelings, and other internal experiences, is positively associated with ADHD symptoms and substance use problems. However, it is unclear what role experiential avoidance plays in the relation between ADHD and alcohol and marijuana use. This study examined whether experiential …

Blocking The Acquisition Of Ethanol-Induced Conditioned Place Preference With 11, 21-Bisphenyl-19-Norpregnane (Pt150) In Coturnix Quail, Mia Radevski

Theses and Dissertations--Psychology

Alcohol use disorder (AUD) has been associated with a dysregulated stress system. Therefore, regulating stress hormones has been investigated as a potential therapeutic target for AUDs. The purpose of the current study was to investigate whether a stress hormone receptor antagonist, PT150, would block the rewarding properties of ethanol. Quail were used as subjects because a conditioned place preference (CPP) apparatus that utilized visual cues was used, and quail readily attend to visual cues. Visual cues in the environment have been shown to become associated with alcohol effects and later induce craving. Starting on day one, quail were pretreated with …

An Experience Sampling Study Of Sleep Disturbance, Emotional Regulation And Posttraumatic Stress Symptoms In Predicting Alcohol Use Among Oif/Oef Veterans, Renata Jacqueline Surette

Dissertations and Theses

Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) is a common concern for veterans involved in the post-9/11 Iraq and Afghanistan conflicts (Epidemiology, 2017). Alcohol use is highly comorbid with PTSD in returning veterans (Seal et al., 2011). There are several models for the complex relationship between these two constructs including self-medication models or as an attempt to regulate emotion. Sleep disturbances have been linked to PTSD and alcohol use (Conroy & Arnedt, 2014) and could be driving the relationship. It is also possible that difficulties in emotion regulation could be part of this relationship either independently (Kelly & Bardo, 2016; Perlick et al., …

Blacking Out, Hooking Up, And Sexual Assault On Bucknell's Campus, Lily Shorney

Honors Theses

Sexual assault is a prominent issue on college campuses across the United States with detrimental impacts for individuals as well their surrounding communities. Two prominent risk factors for campus sexual assault (CSA) identified in the literature are alcohol use and partaking in hookup culture. However, existing research fails to address the specific role of alcohol-induced blackouts within hookups and how this phenomenon is related to CSA. The present study explored the prevalence of alcohol-induced blackouts as well as the relationship between blacking out, hooking up, and CSA. Based on quantitative survey data from 445 university students, analyses indicated that alcohol-induced …

Experiential-Based Feedback During Alcohol Intoxication And Its Effect On Drinkers’ Risk Awareness, Alexandra R. Kelly

Theses and Dissertations--Psychology

The prevalence of alcohol-impaired driving injuries and fatalities has not decreased for over a decade despite strategies to reduce and prevent driving under the influence of alcohol (DUI). In 2019, 10,142 people died in alcohol-impaired driving crashes in the United States, which totaled to 28% of all traffic fatalities for the year. DUI interventions have been found to have moderate effects on reducing DUI recidivism. Prevention research has identified a lack of risk awareness in DUI offenders and this could be a target to motivate behavioral change. However, the training to increase levels of risk awareness needs to occur in …

Adverse Childhood Experiences, Depressive Symptoms, And Binge Drinking: A Mediation Analysis, Nicole June Smalley

Graduate Research Theses & Dissertations

Sixty-one percent of adults in a national CDC study reported experiencing at least one AdverseChildhood Experience (ACE), and 1 in 6 reported 4 or more ACEs. The purpose of this hierarchical regression analysis is to target gaps in research specific to examining the relationships between Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs), depressive symptoms experienced in adolescence, and binge drinking behaviors in emerging adulthood using Bronfenbrenner’s Ecological Systems Theory. Longitudinal, secondary data from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent to Adult Health dataset (Add Health) (Harris et al., 2009) was used in this study. Data was collected in four waves of surveys and …

Alcohol And Other Addictive Behaviors Among Bariatric Surgery Patients, Rachel M. Arnold

Theses and Dissertations

Research has repeatedly highlighted a high rate of comorbidity of addictive behaviors in both clinical and non-clinical samples. While polydrug use has received significant attention in recent years, less is known about rates of comorbidity with behavioral addictions such as eating, work, exercise, or sex. Individuals with a history of bariatric surgery may provide a unique opportunity to examine the potential co-occurrence of addictive behaviors. High rates of food addiction symptoms and changes in alcohol use patterns post-surgically have highlighted a potential gap in our understanding of bariatric patients and their needs post-surgically. Using a composite measure of addictive behaviors, …

Childhood Adhd, Impulsivity, And Alcohol-Related Impairment Among Diverse College Students, Mariely Hernandez

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Aims: We examined (1) if students with high childhood ADHD symptoms, and at high risk for alcohol use disorder (AUD) reported greater alcohol-related impairment (ARI) than their low childhood ADHD peers who had comparable rates of alcohol use; and (2) whether alcohol-related problems were more severe for those with high childhood ADHD and high AUD risk when their trait impulsivity was high.

Method: 18-to 25-year-old (N=81), racially/ethnically diverse, college students completed a two-part study. An online survey assessed childhood ADHD symptoms (Wender Utah Rating Scale) and past-year alcohol use (Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test). Laboratory assessment comprised neuropsychological and self-report …

A Re-Examination Of The Motivations For Using Substances Questionnaire: Motives For Alcohol And Simultaneous Alcohol And Marijuana Use, Taylor Altenberger

Dissertations

The growing body of research examining simultaneous alcohol and marijuana (SAM) use suggests motivations for alcohol-only, marijuana-only, and SAM use, especially among college-aged people, warrant further examination to ultimately tailor interventions to not only specific substances but also the underlying motivations for using those substances. Thus, the purpose of the present study was to test the measurement invariance of a novel broadband motives measure, the Motivations for Using Substances Questionnaire (MUSQ), across alcohol-only, marijuana-only, and SAM users and further test motivations’ relationships to use-related problems. However, due to insufficient sample sizes of marijuana-only users (n = 175), the MUSQ …

The Role Of Alcohol Use, Drinking Context, And Alcohol Expectancies In Sexual Assault Perpetration Among College Men, Joseph D. Censor

Theses and Dissertations

Sexual assault is a major public health and criminal justice problem in our society. The high prevalence rate of sexual assault victimization and perpetration among college students is even more disturbing. Additionally, the prevalence of alcohol use among college students is higher than in the general population, and alcohol use is associated with more than half of sexual assaults. The goal of the present study was to gain a deeper understanding of the role of various alcohol related factors in sexual assault perpetration among college men. Specifically, this study assessed the association of perpetration with general problematic alcohol use, general …

Differences In Compulsive-Like Ethanol Consumption In Adolescent-Trained And Adult-Trained Rats Exposed To Acute Isolation Stressors, Maria J. Lopez

Seton Hall University Dissertations and Theses (ETDs)

The Pavlovian Conditioned Approach (PCA) procedure is an experimental procedure used with animals to induce compulsive-like behaviors directed towards an object conditioned stimulus (CS) paired with a sucrose pellet unconditioned stimulus (US) presented in a nearby food tray (sign tracking). When the object CS is an alcohol-containing bottle, the rats demonstrate compulsive-like interactions with the bottle object (e.g., approach, contact, and licking) that also results in alcohol consumption (drinking) in most rats. Compulsive alcohol drinking in a sign-tracking procedure is a result of the combined effects of schedule-induced compulsive-like behavior and the intake of alcohol (Tomie & Sharma, 2013).

The …

Acceptance Versus Distraction As Coping Strategies For Acute Pain And Pain-Induced Alcohol Urge And Approach Inclinations, Dezarie Jade Moskal

Dissertations - ALL

Excessive alcohol use is a leading cause of preventable death and disproportionately affects people with pain. Experimental research has identified pain as a determinant of alcohol use proxies that has its influence via negative affect (i.e. mediation effect). Although experimental research has shown that acceptance coping reduces pain-related negative affect, such effects have not been examined within the context of the pain and alcohol relationship. The purpose of this study was to test acceptance coping (vs. distraction) as a moderator of the previously established mediation model. Based on a randomized 2x2 between-subjects repeated-measures experimental design, pain-free hazardous drinkers (N = …

Eeg Features Of Explore-Exploit Decision-Making In Alcohol Use Disorder, Ethan Campbell

Psychology ETDs

Little research has assessed explore-exploit behavior in addiction using drug cues and even fewer studies have measured the neural activity underlying these behaviors. The present study aims to explore brain mechanisms of disordered decision-making in alcohol use disorder (AUD) through electroencephalography (EEG) during performance of a novelty bandit task with alcohol imagery and using a validated computational model of explore-exploit dynamics. Individuals with AUD (n = 28) and age and sex-matched controls (n = 27) showed differences in choice behavior and showed differences in EEG activity as a function of exploratory behavior, chosen stimulus type, and explore-exploit computational …

The Trauma, Substance Use, And Crime Connection: Characteristics And Recidivism Outcomes Of Adult Offenders, Kathryn F. Fokas

Psychology ETDs

Despite exceptionally high rates of trauma and substance use among incarcerated offenders, treatments remain limited in scope and availability within the criminal justice system. Identifying shared underlying mechanisms and potential gender differences could facilitate the development of interventions to target the vicious cycle of trauma, substance use, and crime. This study aimed to test a novel conceptualization of trauma, substance use, and criminal history as a composite risk factor for recidivism, including posttraumatic world assumptions as a hypothesized mediator and gender as a potential moderator. Participants were adult offenders from a community corrections program. Due to many institutional barriers and …

Negative Urgency's Influence On State-Level, Emotion-Based Changes In Alcohol-Related Cognitions, Noah Wolkowicz

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This project expanded on the Acquired Preparedness Model of Risk (APMR) by examining how Negative Urgency (NU), the tendency to act rashly in negative emotional states, affects emotion-based changes in alcohol cognitions to produce risk for alcohol use. The APMR prioritizes the role of outcome expectancies as the means through which traits such as NU, convey alcohol use risk. However, this model treats these cognitions as static and often fails to assess their valence; further, alcohol-cognitions fluctuate in response to negative emotions and may become more salient during these states. Therefore, this study examined: 1) how NU impacts negative emotion-based, …