Medicine and Health Sciences Commons^™

Lines In The Sand: Social Representations Of Substance Use Boundaries In Life Narratives, K. F. Trocki, L. O. Michalak, Laurie A. Drabble

Faculty Publications

This study identifies social representations in interviews about alcohol and substance use in the discourse of 129 young adults, who were interviewed for 2.5 to 3.5 hr each for their life histories and use or nonuse of alcoholic beverages and drugs. Respondents spontaneously delineated their substance use boundaries, creating a continuum of behaviors with boundary points separating acceptable from unacceptable behaviors. They used signaling expressions to indicate go and stop signs and movement along the substance use continuum and reported negotiating substance use boundaries both internally and with peers. A ubiquitous narrative element was the cautionary tale, in which a …

Research Brief: "Do Normative Perceptions Of Drinking Relate To Alcohol Use In U.S. Military Veterans Presenting To Primary Care?", Institute For Veterans And Military Families At Syracuse University

Institute for Veterans and Military Families

This brief is about the relation between perceptions of veterans' use of alcohol and their actual consumption and dependence upon alcohol. In policy and practice, health professionals should offer resources to veterans for alcohol misuse, such as interventions, and the VHA should continue its alcohol misuse screening. Policymakers should work with healthcare providers to create alcohol misuse screenings for veterans. Suggestions for future research include studying the sample over time, studying a broader and more representative sample, and studying the effectiveness of brief alcohol interventions across different groups within the population.

College Drinking: A Call To Physicians, Shawn Sorrel, Hatim A. Omar

Pediatrics Faculty Publications

The aim of this paper was to review literature related to prevalence of drinking on college campuses and current prevention practices targeting this population. This paper focuses on current data surrounding alcohol use and misuse. It further discusses strategies which have been successful to prevent alcohol abuse. Finally, it discusses the need for further research to determine the role of the physician in alcohol prevention at university student health services.

Interactions Among Positions In The Third And Fourth Membrane-Associated Domains At The Intersubunit Interface Of The N-Methyl-D-Aspartate Receptor Forming Sites Of Alcohol Action, Hong Ren, Yulin Zhao, Donard S. Dwyer, Robert W. Peoples

Biomedical Sciences Faculty Research and Publications

The N-methyl-d-aspartate (NMDA) glutamate receptor is a major target of ethanol in the brain. Previous studies have identified positions in the third and fourth membrane-associated (M) domains of the NMDA receptor GluN1 and GluN2A subunits that influence alcohol sensitivity. The predicted structure of the NMDA receptor, based on that of the related GluA2 subunit, indicates a close apposition of the alcohol-sensitive positions in M3 and M4 between the two subunit types. We tested the hypothesis that these positions interact to regulate receptor kinetics and ethanol sensitivity by using dual substitution mutants. In single-substitution mutants, we found that a position …

The Effects Of Adolescent Binge Drinking On Corticotropin-Releasing Factor Cells In The Amygdala And Social Predictors Of Alcohol Intake In Male And Female Rats, Chrisanthi Karanikas

Masters Theses 1911 - February 2014

Alcohol is one of the most common drugs of choice among adolescents. Normally, the method of consumption is drinking large quantities of alcohol in short periods of time, otherwise known as “binge drinking.” Corticotropin releasing factor (CRF) stress peptide producing cells in central nucleus of the amygdala (CeA) has been implicated in behavioral responses to stress and addiction. The goals of this thesis were to determine the effects of voluntary binge drinking in adolescence and vapor-induced alcohol dependence in adulthood on CRF cells in the CeA. These studies were done using an operant model of voluntary binge drinking in rodents …

How And When Health-Care Practitioners In Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Services Deliver Alcohol Screening And Brief Intervention, And Why They Don’T: A Qualitative Study, Anton Clifford, Anthony Shakeshaft, Catherine Deans

Aboriginal Policy Research Consortium International (APRCi)

Introduction. Indigenous Australians experience a disproportionately high burden of alcohol-related harm.Alcohol screening and brief intervention (SBI) offers the potential to reduce this harm if barriers to its delivery in Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Services (ACCHSs) can be optimally targeted. Aims. Examine health-care practitioners’ perceptions of, and practices in, alcohol SBI in ACCHSs. Methods. Semi-structured group interviews with 37 purposively selected health staff across five ACCHSs. Results. Alcohol screening independent of standard health assessments was generally selective.The provision of brief intervention was dependent upon factors related to the patient. Four key factors underlying health-care practitioners’ perceptions of alcohol SBI were prominent: …

Reflection Impulsivity In Adolescent Cannabis Users: A Comparison With Alcohol-Using And Non-Substance-Using Adolescents, Nadia Solowij, Katy A. Jones, Megan E. Rozman, Sasha M. Davis, Joseph Ciarrochi, Patrick C. L Heaven, Nicole Pesa, Dan I. Lubman, Murat Yucel

Faculty of Health and Behavioural Sciences - Papers (Archive)

Rationale Reflection impulsivity-a failure to gather and evaluate information before making a decision-is a critical component of risk-taking and substance use behaviours, which are highly prevalent during adolescence. Objectives and methods The Information Sampling Test was used to assess reflection impulsivity in 175 adolescents (mean age 18.3, range 16.5-20; 55% female)-48 cannabis users (2.3 years use, 10.8 days/month), 65 alcohol users, and 62 non-substance-using controls-recruited from a longitudinal cohort and from the general community and matched for education and IQ. Cannabis and alcohol users were matched on levels of alcohol consumption. Results Cannabis users sampled to the lowest degree of …

Support And Services For People With Alcohol-Related Brain Injury, Renee Brighton, Lorna Moxham, Victoria Traynor

Faculty of Health and Behavioural Sciences - Papers (Archive)

Integrated treatment and support from both mental health services and drug and alcohol treatment services is needed for those living with alcohol-related brain injury. This is because alcohol-related brain injury (ARBI) remains a forgotten disorder.

A Hangover And A One-Night Stand: Alcohol And Risky Sexual Behaviour Among Female Students At An Australian University, Heidi Gilchrist, Kylie Smith, Christopher A. Magee, Sandra Jones

Faculty of Health and Behavioural Sciences - Papers (Archive)

There is a growing body of research in Australia exploring the alcohol consumption behaviours of young people and the attendant health and social risks associated with excessive use of alcohol (Chikritzhs et al. 2003; Mancina-Pena & Tyson 2007). A number of studies from countries such as the United States and New Zealand indicate that university students tend to drink at riskier levels than the broader population (see for example Wechsler et al. 1994; Kypri, Stephenson & Langley 2005; Wechsler & Nelson 2008). Data from Australia are limited, although the few studies that have been conducted suggest that Australian university students …

Why (Not) Alcohol Energy Drinks? A Qualitative Study With Australian University Students, Sandra C. Jones, Lance R. Barrie, Nina J. Berry

Faculty of Health and Behavioural Sciences - Papers (Archive)

Introduction and Aims. Alcohol energy drinks (AEDs) are a recent entry to the ready-to-drink market, but there is an absence of research into the reasons young people consume these products and their consumption-related experiences.The aim of the current study was to investigate university students’ perceptions of, and experiences with, pre-mixed AEDs.

Design and Methods. Four focus groups with undergraduate university students in a large regional city in New South Wales; with transcripts coded for key themes.

Results.Participants reported a number of benefits of AED consumption,many of which were similar to other ready-to-drinks, such as taste and image. However, the primary …

Predicting Dropout In The First 3 Months Of 12-Step Residential Drug And Alcohol Treatment In An Australian Sample, Frank P. Deane, David J. Wootton, Ching-I Hsu, Peter J. Kelly

Faculty of Health and Behavioural Sciences - Papers (Archive)

Objective: Premature termination from treatment is a major factor associated with poorer drug and alcohol treatment outcomes. The present study investigated client-related baseline predictors of dropout at 3 months from a faith-based 12-step residential drug treatment program. Method: Data were collected over a period of 14 months from eight residential drug and alcohol treatment programs run by The Australian Salvation Army. The final sample consisted of 618 participants, including 524 men (84.8%) and 94 women (15.2%). Predictor variables of interest were age, gender, primary drug of concern, criminal involvement, psychological distress, drug cravings, self-efficacy to abstain, spirituality, forgiveness of self …

A Comparison Of The Effect Of Mobile Phone Use And Alcohol Consumption On Driving Simulation Performance, Sumie Leung, Rodney J. Croft, Melinda L. Jackson, Mark E. Howard, Raymond J. Mckenzie

Faculty of Health and Behavioural Sciences - Papers (Archive)

Objective: The present study compared the effects of a variety of mobile phone usage conditions to different levels of alcohol intoxication on simulated driving performance and psychomotor vigilance. Methods: Twelve healthy volunteers participated in a crossover design in which each participant completed a simulated driving task on 2 days, separated by a 1-week washout period. On the mobile phone day, participants performed the simulated driving task under each of 4 conditions: no phone usage, a hands-free naturalistic conversation, a hands-free cognitively demanding conversation, and texting. On the alcohol day, participants performed the simulated driving task at four different blood alcohol …