Psychology Commons^™

A Longitudinal Examination Of Multiple Forms Of Stigma On Minority Stress, Belongingness, And Problematic Alcohol Use, Akanksha Das, Rose Marie Ward, Lauren Haus, Jackson Heitt, Jeffrey Hunger

Health Behavior Research

College students who experience stigma report problematic alcohol use. However, the stigma-health link focuses on one form of stigma, thereby excluding the intersectional oppression of experiencing multiple forms of stigma. The present work has two primary aims: 1) evaluating whether additive intersectional minority stress confers greater problematic alcohol use among multiply-stigmatized college students one year later, and 2) whether that link can be explained by 1) lower belongingness and 2) greater drinking to cope motives. Students (N=427) ranging in stigmatized identities (14.3% zero; 46.4% one; 29.5% two; 9.8% three or more), participated in an annual health survey at two subsequent …

Assessing The Validity Of A Culturally Modified Drinking Motives Questionnaire For Use In Aboriginal Communities, David Tucker, Martyn Symons, Elaine Clifton, Margaret Ramirez, James P. Fitzpatrick, Roz Walker, Glenn Pearson, Michelle Gray, Gary Kirby, Nyanda Mcbride

Journal of the Australian Indigenous HealthInfoNet

Alcohol related harms disproportionately affect Aboriginal people in Australia. Motives to drink have been identified as the most proximal factor to alcohol consumption.The aim of this study is to assess the validity of a culturally modified Drinking Motives Questionnaire-Revised (DMQ-R) (Cooper, 1994) with Aboriginal participants. The study was cross sectional, utilising data collected via face-to-face surveys with a sample of adult Aboriginal participants. A convenience sample of 135 Aboriginal men (n=41) and women (n=94) from the Pilbara Region of Western Australia, who had consumed alcohol in the preceding 12 months. The Culturally modified DMQ-R (CDMQ-R) developed in consultation with Aboriginal …

Examining The Associations Between Experiences Of Perceived Racism And Drug And Alcohol Use In Aboriginal Australians, Victoria Gentile, Adrian Carter, Laura Jobson

Journal of the Australian Indigenous HealthInfoNet

Objective
This study aimed to explore the relationships between experiences of perceived racism, mental health and drug and alcohol use among Aboriginal Australians.

Method
Sixty-two Aboriginal Australians, ranging in age from 19-64 years (M_age = 33.71, SD = 12.47) and residing in Victoria completed an online questionnaire containing measures of perceived racism, alcohol use, substance use and mental health.

Results
First, 66% of the sample reported experiencing interpersonal racism, with the highest proportion of reported experiences occurring in health settings, educational/academic settings and by staff of government agencies. Second, perceived racism was significantly associated with poorer mental health …

Alcohol And Nicotine Co-Dependence Iii, Scott C. Steffensen, Jeffery G. Edwards, Sterling N. Sudweeks

Journal of Undergraduate Research

Alcoholism and nicotine (NIC) addiction are chronic relapsing disorders that have enormous impact on society. Alcohol and NIC are the most commonly abused drugs, and a large body of evidence indicates that there is a positive correlation between their consumption. Today, smoking NIC-containing tobacco products is recognized as one of the greatest risk factors in the development of alcoholism. A major goal of addiction research is to characterize the critical neural substrates that are most sensitive to these drugs, adapt in association with chronic consumption and drive subsequent drug-seeking behavior. The long-term objective of our research program is to advance …

Alcohol And Nicotine Co-Dependence, Taylor Woodward, Scott Steffensen

Journal of Undergraduate Research

Addiction is a diabolical neurochemical trap that robs people of their agency and catastrophically affects virtually every aspect of an addict’s life. Alcohol is one of the most statistically widespread and harmful addictive substances in our society (Nutt, King et al. 2010). Through physiological means, it destroys an addict’s dignity, disrupts the ability to maintain healthy relationships, and often results in premature death of the addict and those around him or her. M. Russell Ballard recently spoke about the spiritual implications of the pleasure center of the brain, stating that “when activated by certain drugs or behaviors, it overpowers the …

Development Of A Self-Determination Theory Measure Of Adolescent’S Motivations To Abstain From Sex And Alcohol, Jacob Curtis, Sam Hardy

Journal of Undergraduate Research

Adolescent sex and alcohol use are issues today in America. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (2012), about a third of high school students report having had sex in the previous three months, and 79% of twelfth graders have drunk alcohol at least once in their lifetime. There has been a cost for society. Teen childbearing cost U.S. taxpayers $10.9 billion in 2008 (The National Campaign to Prevent Teen and Unplanned Pregnancy, 2011), and underage drinking cost Americans over $62 billion in 2010 (Underage Drinking Enforcement Training Center, 2011).

Neural Mechanisms: Nicotine And Alcohol Co-Dependence, Jordan Spencer, Dr. Scott Steffensen

Journal of Undergraduate Research

Alcohol abuse is prevalent in today’s society, causing an economic burden to the US of several hundred billions of dollars annually in direct costs alone. Several reports have estimated that 80% of those with a dependence on alcohol are also smokers. While smoking rates in the general population have decreased in recent decades, the use of NIC has remained high (approximately 70-75%) in individuals who regularly use alcohol. Often taken in concert, the use of tobacco and alcohol are leading causes of preventable death in the United States. In addition, there is strong evidence of co-dependence – individuals who smoke …

Testing Alcohol As A Discriminative Stimulus For Gambling Behavior, Ellen Meier, Cody Link, Jeffrey N. Weatherly Ph. D.

Analysis of Gambling Behavior

In two training sessions, participants consumed alcohol or a control beverage and then played a pair of slot-machine simulations programmed to pay off differentially as a function of the beverage that had been consumed. During test sessions, participants again consumed either alcohol or a control beverage and were given concurrent access to the two slot-machine simulations (which were now programmed to pay off equally). Results did not indicate that alcohol (or the control beverage) controlled participants’ choice behavior between the two slot-machine simulations during testing despite the history of differential reinforcement. A number of procedural details likely contributed to this …

Research Proposal: Alcohol And Sexual Behavior, Brian Roth

Undergraduate Psychology Research Methods Journal

It is known that alcohol and open sexual behavior are related. Does alcohol intake make young adults more receptive to engage in sexual activity? This is an amazing topic that is rather controversial and there are many opinions and debates about this topic. My goal is to find out by conducting this experiment whether there is a relationship between alcohol intake and sexual behavior among young adults. I plan to find that the intake of alcohol by young adults does make you more receptive to sexual behavior, because alcohol alters your thinking and allows you to act more freely. This …

Research Proposal: The Effects Of Alcohol On The Social Aspects Of High School Students, Katherine Friedhoff

Undergraduate Psychology Research Methods Journal

Although the legal drinking age is twenty-one, the age that a person begins to consume alcohol is decreasing. In a study in 1997, the average age of first alcohol use was 13.2 years old ( Maney, Higham-Gardill, & Mahoney, 2002). Drinking alcohol at a young age can lead to social problems and even delinquent behavior. It has been said that adolescent alcohol misuse has been shown to be part of a constellation of problem behaviors including delinquency and illicit drug use (Barnes, Welte, & Hoffman, 2002). Not only does it aid in future delinquency but also antisocial personality and health …

Preventive Psychology As Political Psychology: Illicit Drugs And Alcohol, Ibpp Editor

International Bulletin of Political Psychology

This article describes ideological elements behind scientific positions on the primary prevention of illicit drug and alcohol abuse.