Extraversion and the Rewarding Effects of Alcohol in a Social Context

Longitudinal patterns of alcohol and cannabis use among US young adults: Correlates and implications for problematic health outcomes

INTRODUCTION

Alcohol and cannabis use are common during young adulthood. Less is known regarding correlates of alcohol-cannabis use patterns and related problematic health outcomes.

METHODS

Using longitudinal survey data (Fall 2018, 2019, 2020) from 2,194 young adults (YAs; ages 18-34), bivariate analyses and multivariable logistic regressions examined: (1) Wave 1 (W1) sociodemographics and psychosocial factors (i.e., adverse childhood experiences [ACEs], depressive symptoms, personality traits, parent and peer alcohol and cannabis use) in relation to W3 past-month use group (i.e., use of neither, alcohol only, cannabis only, both/co-use); and (2) W3 use group in relation to W5 problematic alcohol use (Alcohol Use Disorder Identification Test), problematic cannabis use (Cannabis Use Disorder Identification Test), and depressive/anxiety symptoms (Patient Health Questionnaire - 4 item).

RESULTS

Overall, 42.3% reported W3 alcohol-only use, 34.9% co-use, 17.8% no use, and 5.0% cannabis-only use. Those reporting W3 co-use reported greater W1 extraversion, openness, friend alcohol/cannabis use, and were more likely to report parent cannabis use (vs. no use); reported less conscientiousness, greater friend cannabis use, and were more likely to report depressive symptoms and parent cannabis use (vs. alcohol-only use); and reported greater friend alcohol use, and were more likely to report parent alcohol use (vs. cannabis-only use). W3 co-use was associated with higher odds of W5 problematic alcohol use (vs. alcohol-only use) and problematic cannabis use (vs. cannabis-only use).

CONCLUSIONS

Substance use messaging and interventions should consider YAs' alcohol-cannabis co-use and the unique correlates of such use.

The impact of alcohol consumption on implicit racial bias

OBJECTIVE

Researchers and theorists studying intergroup relations have been interested in the impact of alcohol on interracial responding. Theories predict that alcohol will exacerbate expressions of racial bias by increasing reliance on stereotypes and/or by decreasing controlled processing and self-monitoring. Prior studies testing these theories have often examined alcohol's effects on implicit (i.e., indirect) measures of racial bias with inconsistent results. However, previous research in this area has suffered from several methodological limitations, including small sample sizes and doses of alcohol that may have been too low to induce substantial intoxication.

METHOD

Here, in more than triple the number of alcohol participants than the largest prior study, we tested whether an intoxicating dose of alcohol (target breath alcohol concentration of .08%) exacerbated implicit racial bias. Young adults who identified as races other than Black or African American (N = 207) were randomly assigned to consume an alcoholic or placebo beverage and completed the race-based Implicit Association Test (race IAT) testing implicit preference for White (vs. Black) individuals [or, conversely, bias against Black (vs. White) individuals].

RESULTS

All participants demonstrated an implicit racial bias (i.e., linking traditionally Black names with negative/unpleasant words), with no difference in this implicit racial bias across beverage conditions. Specifically, there were no differences between alcohol participants' race IAT D scores (M = 0.55, SD = 0.39), and placebo participants' race IAT D scores (M = 0.59, SD = 0.35), b = 0.05, 95%CI [-0.07, 0.18], p = .422.

CONCLUSIONS

These findings challenge theories and prior studies suggesting that alcohol increases implicit racial bias. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved).

Social setting interacts with hyper dopamine to boost the stimulant effect of ethanol

Alcohol consumption occurring in a social or solitary setting often yields different behavioural responses in human subjects. For example, social drinking is associated with positive effects while solitary drinking is linked to negative effects. However, the neurobiological mechanism by which the social environment during alcohol intake impacts on behavioural responses remains poorly understood. We investigated whether distinct social environments affect behavioural responses to ethanol and the role of the dopamine system in this phenomenon in the fruit fly Drosophila melanogaster. The wild-type Canton-S (CS) flies showed higher locomotor response when exposed to ethanol in a group setting than a solitary setting, and there was no difference in females and males. Dopamine signalling is crucial for the locomotor stimulating effect of ethanol. When subjected to ethanol exposure alone, the dopamine transport mutant flies fumin (fmn) with hyper dopamine displayed the locomotor response similar to CS. When subjected to ethanol in a group setting, however, the fmn's response to the locomotor stimulating effect was substantially augmented compared with CS, indicating synergistic interaction of dopamine signalling and social setting. To identify the dopamine signalling pathway important for the social effect, we examined the flies defective in individual dopamine receptors and found that the D1 receptor dDA1/Dop1R1 is the major receptor mediating the social effect. Taken together, this study underscores the influence of social context on the neural and behavioural responses to ethanol.

Pregaming potentiates risk between UPPS-P impulsivity and day-level drinking behavior: A test of person-environment transactions theory

Pregaming represents a uniquely high-risk drinking event for young adults, and subfacets of impulsivity are robust predictors of alcohol use and related negative outcomes. Further, it is likely that pregame events contain social and physical stimuli that are particularly appealing for impulsive individuals, thus exacerbating risk for negative outcomes. However, no prior studies have investigated the extent to which impulsive personality traits interact with pregame events to confer alcohol-related risk. Thus, the present study examined the extent to which UPPS-P (urgency-perseverance-premeditation-sensation seeking-positive urgency) subfacets of impulsivity interact with the occurrence of pregaming to predict relations between pregaming, drinking quantity, and negative alcohol-related outcomes. College students (N = 737) completed a modified, online version of the 30-day Timeline Followback in which they reported drinking quantity, negative consequences, and whether they engaged in pregaming on a given day. Results indicated that sensation seeking and a lack of premeditation moderated relations between pregaming and drinking quantity such that those who are higher in sensation seeking and lower in their ability to plan ahead drank more on pregaming days. Sensation seeking and positive urgency moderated relations between pregaming and negative consequences such that those who are higher in positive urgency experience more consequences on pregaming days whereas those who are higher in sensation seeking experience less consequences. Future studies may benefit from more granular assessments of pregame-related risk as subfacets of impulsivity may confer momentary risk. Prevention efforts targeting the reduction of pregaming frequency, particularly among impulsive individuals, may lower overall risk for heavy drinking. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved).

Bridging the Gap: A Holistic View of Personality Factors in Individuals With and Without Alcohol Use

This comprehensive review examines the intricate interplay between personality factors and alcohol use, shedding light on the dynamic relationship that shapes the initiation, progression, and outcomes of alcohol-related behaviors. The exploration encompasses vital personality traits such as sensation seeking, impulsivity, neuroticism, extroversion, agreeableness, conscientiousness, and openness to experience. The bidirectional nature of this association is underscored, emphasizing how personality influences and is influenced by alcohol consumption patterns. Protective personality factors, including resilience, emotional regulation, and social support, are identified as crucial elements in mitigating the risk of alcohol use disorders (AUDs). The implications for clinical practice advocate for tailored interventions that address individual personality profiles, while policy considerations highlight the need for targeted prevention efforts that acknowledge the diverse ways individuals respond to alcohol use. Furthermore, a call for future research emphasizes emerging perspectives, improved methodologies, and ongoing exploration of intervention strategies to advance our understanding of this complex relationship and refine approaches for prevention and treatment. As we navigate this evolving field, the insights gleaned hold promise for shaping more compelling and nuanced interventions to address the diverse needs of individuals affected by AUDs.

Event-level risk for negative alcohol consequences in emerging adults: The role of affect, motivation, and context

OBJECTIVE

Decades of research has found support for the motivational model of alcohol use, such that positive/negative affect are indirectly associated with drinking behavior through drinking motives. However, research on event-level drinking motives is in its nascent stage, and studies have yet to consider how drinking context plays a role in the motivational pathway to both event- and person-level drinking behavior. Therefore, the present study seeks to test whether drinking context mediates the effect of affect and motivation on drinking outcomes at both the event- and person-level.

METHOD

Data for this Stage 1 Registered Report will come from a recently completed ecological momentary assessment (EMA) study in emerging adults. The study collected data on 131 emerging adults, of whom 107 reported event-level social and solitary drinking during the EMA period. Multilevel structural equation modeling will be used to test whether predrinking affect is associated with predrinking motives, and whether drinking context (social vs. solitary drinking) mediates the effect of drinking motives on drinking outcomes. Models will parse within-/between-person variance, allowing the present study to test whether drinking context serves as a mechanism of risk in the motivational model at the event-level, or solely at the between-person level. Findings will inform personalized interventions and motivational models of drinking behavior. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved).

A systematic review of the acute effects of alcohol on emotion recognition of facial expressions

Alcohol has been linked to both positive (e.g., sociability) and negative (e.g., aggression) social outcomes, and researchers have proposed that alcohol-induced changes in emotion recognition may partially explain these effects. Here, we systematically review alcohol administration studies to clarify the acute effects of alcohol on emotion recognition. We also investigate various moderator variables (i.e., sex, study quality, study design, alcohol dosage, emotion recognition task and outcome measure). PsycINFO, PubMed and Google Scholar were searched following a pre-registered PROSPERO protocol (CRD42021225392) and PRISMA methodology. Analyses focused on differences in emotion recognition between participants consuming alcoholic and/or non-alcoholic (i.e., placebo or no-alcohol control) beverages. Nineteen unique samples (N = 1271 participants) were derived from 17 articles (two articles included two studies, each conducted on a unique sample). Data were extracted for sample characteristics, alcohol administration methods and emotion recognition tasks and outcomes. All studies compared an alcoholic beverage to a placebo beverage and used tasks that asked participants to identify emotions from images or videos of facial expressions. Otherwise, methodologies varied substantially across studies, including the alcohol dosage(s) tested, the specific emotion recognition task(s) used and the outcome variable(s) assessed. No consistent effects of alcohol on emotion recognition emerged for any emotion. None of the moderator variables affected the findings, except for some indication that alcohol may affect males' emotion recognition abilities more so than females. Alcohol does not appear to consistently affect positive or negative emotion recognition of facial expressions, at least with the tasks currently used in the field.

Alternative beliefs in psychedelic drug users

Previous research has suggested that classical psychedelics can foster significant and enduring changes in personality traits and subjective wellbeing. Despite the lack of evidence for adverse effects on mental health stemming from psychedelic use, concerns persist regarding the capacity of these substances to modulate information processing and attitudes towards factual data. The aim of the present study was to investigate the propensity for accepting alternative facts and the general treatment of knowledge within a sample of 392 participants, 233 of whom reported at least a single incidence of psychedelic use in their lifetime. To do this, we leveraged step-wise methods of linear modelling investigating effects of demographics, psychiatric conditions and concomitant drug use. Our findings revealed a moderate positive association between psychedelic use and beliefs in alternative facts, as well as the specific belief that facts are politically influenced. However, no links were found for favouring intuition over evidence when confirming facts. Among other investigated drugs, only alcohol was negatively associated with beliefs in alternative facts. Taken together, our results support the link between psychedelic use and non-conformist thinking styles, which can be attributed to the psychological effects of the drugs themselves, but may also mirror a common trait related to unconventional beliefs and illicit substance use.

Associations Between Social Context and Mood During Alcohol Consumption in Young Adult Smokers

OBJECTIVE

Differences in the subjective effects of alcohol in different social contexts have been well documented, but little research examines affect during drinking in real-world social contexts. This study examined differences by social context in negative affect and positive affect during alcohol consumption. We hypothesized that negative affect and positive affect with drinking would vary as a function of social context (alone or with others).

METHOD

A total of 257 young adults (M age = 21.3, 53.3% female) who were enrolled in a longitudinal, observational study assessing risk for smoking completed 7 days of ecological momentary assessment assessing alcohol use, affect, and social context at two time points of the study. Mixed-effects location scale analyses examined effects of being alone versus with others on positive affect and negative affect after drinking and compared with nondrinking times.

RESULTS

Positive affect was higher when drinking with others versus alone, and negative affect was higher when drinking alone versus with others. Both negative affect and positive affect variability were higher when participants were drinking alone compared to with others, and negative affect variability was higher at low amounts of alcohol but decreased with increased drinking.

CONCLUSIONS

These findings demonstrate that solitary drinking is less consistently reinforcing because of greater and more variable negative affect, as well as more variable positive affect. When drinking with others, increased and less variable positive affect suggests that social drinking may be particularly reinforcing in young adulthood.

Beer Goggles or Liquid Courage? Alcohol, Attractiveness Perceptions, and Partner Selection Among Men

OBJECTIVE

Perception of physical attractiveness (PPA) is a fundamental aspect of human relationships and may help explain alcohol's rewarding and harmful effects. Yet PPA is rarely studied in relation to alcohol, and existing approaches often rely on simple attractiveness ratings. The present study added an element of realism to the attractiveness assessment by asking participants to select four images of people they were led to believe might be paired with them in a subsequent study.

METHOD

Dyads of platonic, same-sex male friends (n = 36; ages 21-27; predominantly White, n = 20) attended two laboratory sessions wherein they consumed alcohol and a no-alcohol control beverage (counterbalanced). Following beverage onset, participants rated PPA of targets using a Likert scale. They also selected four individuals from the PPA rating set to potentially interact with in a future study.

RESULTS

Alcohol did not affect traditional PPA ratings but did significantly enhance the likelihood that participants would choose to interact with the most attractive targets, χ2(1, N = 36) = 10.70, p < .01.

CONCLUSIONS

Although alcohol did not affect traditional PPA ratings, alcohol did increase the likelihood of choosing to interact with more attractive others. Future alcohol-PPA studies should include more realistic contexts and provide assessment of actual approach behaviors toward attractive targets, to further clarify the role of PPA in alcohol's hazardous and socially rewarding effects.

Self-management with alcohol over lifespan: psychological mechanisms, neurobiological underpinnings, and risk assessment

Self-management includes all behavioural measures and cognitive activities aimed at coping with challenges arising throughout the lifespan. While virtually all of these challenges can be met without pharmacological means, alcohol consumption has long been instrumentalized as a supporting tool to help coping with problems arising selectively at adolescence, adulthood, and ageing. Here, we present, to our knowledge, the first systematic review of alcohol instrumentalization throughout lifespan. We searched MEDLINE, Google Scholar, PsycINFO and CINAHL (from Jan, 1990, to Dec, 2022) and analysed consumption patterns, goals and potential neurobiological mechanisms. Evidence shows a regular non-addictive use of alcohol to self-manage developmental issues during adolescence, adulthood, and ageing. Alcohol is selectively used to overcome problems arising from dysfunctional personality traits, which manifest in adolescence. A large range of psychiatric disorders gives rise to alcohol use for the self-management of distinct symptoms starting mainly in adulthood. We identify those neuropharmacological effects of alcohol that selectively serve self-management under specific conditions. Finally, we discuss the adverse effects and associated risks that arise from the use of alcohol for self-management. Even well-controlled alcohol use adversely impacts health. Based on these findings, we suggest the implementation of an entirely new view. Health policy action may actively embrace both sides of the phenomenon through a personalized informed use that allows for harm-controlled self-management with alcohol.

Predictors of Hangover Frequency and Severity: The Impact of Alcohol Consumption, Mental Resilience, Personality, Lifestyle, Coping and Mood

Mental resilience is the ability to bounce back from daily life stressors such as divorce or losing a job. Extensive research has demonstrated a negative relationship between mental resilience and alcohol consumption. That is, both the quantity and frequency of alcohol consumption are greater in individuals with lower levels of mental resilience. There has, however, been little scientific attention paid to the relationship between mental resilience and alcohol hangover severity. The objective of this study was to evaluate psychological factors that may impact the frequency and severity of alcohol hangovers, including alcohol intake itself, mental resilience, personality, baseline mood, lifestyle, and coping mechanisms. An online survey was conducted among Dutch adults (N = 153) who had a hangover after their heaviest drinking occasion in the period before the start of the COVID-19 pandemic (15 January to 14 March 2020). Questions were asked about their alcohol consumption and hangover severity on their heaviest drinking occasion. Mental resilience was assessed with the Brief Mental Resilience scale, personality with the Eysenck Personality Questionnaire-Revised Short Scale (EPQ-RSS), mood via single item assessments, and lifestyle and coping with the modified Fantastic Lifestyle Checklist. The partial correlation, corrected for estimated peak blood alcohol concentration (BAC), between mental resilience and hangover severity was not significant (r = 0.010, p = 0.848). Furthermore, no significant correlations were found between hangover severity or frequency and personality and baseline mood. For lifestyle and coping factors, a negative correlation was found between the use of tobacco and toxins (i.e., drugs, medicines, caffeine) and the frequency of experiencing hangovers. Regression analysis revealed that hangover severity after the heaviest drinking occasion (31.2%) was the best predictor of hangover frequency, and that subjective intoxication on the heaviest drinking occasion (38.4%) was the best predictor of next-day hangover severity. Mood, mental resilience, and personality were not relevant predictors of hangover frequency and severity. In conclusion, mental resilience, personality, and baseline mood do not predict hangover frequency and severity.

Associations of state and trait empathy with daily alcohol use

BACKGROUND

A growing literature documents associations between lower trait empathy and heavier alcohol use and more alcohol problems in adolescent and young adult samples. Prior work linking empathy and alcohol use/problems in these populations has thus far focused on trait rather than state empathy, and researchers often do not differentiate between cognitive and affective empathy. Further, no prior studies have examined associations between daily fluctuations in state empathy and alcohol use. The goal of the current study is to advance knowledge about the associations between state (vs. trait) and cognitive (vs. affective) empathy and alcohol use.

METHODS

Adult alcohol drinkers (n = 492; Mage = 22.89, SD = 5.53; 53.70% female) participated in ecological momentary assessment studies for 7 to 10 days (day n = 4683). Multilevel hurdle models were used to investigate associations between day-level state empathy and daily alcohol use at the within-person level, and associations between individual differences in trait empathy and alcohol use across days at the between-person level.

RESULTS

Higher day-level state affective empathy was not associated with the likelihood of drinking on a particular day, but it was significantly associated with a greater number of drinks consumed on alcohol-consuming days, with the latter associations remaining after controlling for day-level positive affect (PA) and negative affect (NA). No associations were found for day-level state cognitive empathy, or trait affective or cognitive empathy.

CONCLUSIONS

On drinking days, when individuals reported more affective empathy than is typical for them, they were more likely to consume a greater number of alcoholic drinks, results that remained when controlling for levels of PA and NA. Daily shifts in affective empathy may be important to consider in efforts to understand alcohol use.

Social incentives are stronger predictors of drinking decisions than alcohol incentives in young adults: The role of alcohol use disorder

This study investigated the influence of social incentives, alcohol incentives, and responsibility disincentives on decisions to attend and drink at party events in young adult college students (n = 82; 55 women, 27 men) where 36 (20 women; 16 men) had an Alcohol Use Disorder (AUD) and 46 (35 women; 11 men) were control participants without an AUD. In this within-subjects design, participants were presented with a series of hypothetical drinking event scenarios that varied in terms of social incentives (knowing many vs. few people), alcohol incentives (more vs. less alcohol available), and next-day responsibility disincentives (high vs. moderate vs. low). Participants were asked whether they would attend the event and how many drinks they would consume. Social incentives significantly predicted both decisions to attend party events and decisions about how much to drink for all participants. Participants were more likely to decide to attend and drink more at high social incentive party events (where they knew more people). However, while low social incentives generally discouraged attendance decisions, AUD participants were more likely than controls to decide to attend party events in low social incentive contexts. Alcohol incentives did not affect attendance decisions. However, alcohol incentives did increase drinking amount decisions for AUD participants. Finally, while disincentives decreased attendance and drinking amount decisions in general, AUD participants were less deterred by responsibility disincentives than controls. The results highlight the important influence of social rewards on drinking-related decisions and suggest individual differences in how incentives and disincentives affect drinking decisions in persons with an AUD.

Differential effects of UPPS-P impulsivity on subjective alcohol response and craving: An experimental test of acquired preparedness

Recent studies have extended the acquired preparedness model to experimental data, finding that impulsivity predicts subjective alcohol response, a related yet distinct construct from expectancies. However, studies have not tested whether specific facets of impulsivity predict subjective response, or whether impulsivity indirectly predicts alcohol craving through subjective response. Young adults who reported past-month binge drinking (N = 448) participated in a placebo-controlled alcohol administration study. Mediation models tested whether UPPS-P impulsivity facets indirectly predicted alcohol craving through subjective response on the ascending and descending limbs of the blood alcohol content (BAC). High arousal positive (e.g., sociable), low arousal positive (e.g., relaxed), high arousal negative (e.g., rude), and low arousal negative (e.g., dizzy) subjective effects were measured across limbs. Moderation by beverage condition was not detected, so models were collapsed across beverage condition. Sensation seeking indirectly predicted craving through high arousal positive subjective response on both limbs, whereas positive and negative urgency directly predicted craving. When controlling for baseline subjective response and craving, effects of sensation seeking and negative urgency on subjective response and craving became nonsignificant. The effects of positive urgency on craving remained, and an effect of positive urgency on high arousal positive effects emerged on the ascending limb. Findings suggest that relations among impulsivity, subjective response, and craving are contingent upon the specific facet of impulsivity. Interventions targeting predrink cue exposure and/or positive emotionality may be most effective for sensation seekers, whereas targeting subjective response and/or expectancies may be most efficacious for individuals high in positive urgency. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved).

A social contextual review of the effects of alcohol on emotion

Drinking and drinking problems are complex phenomena. Understanding the etiology of alcohol use disorder requires consideration of biological, psychological, and social processes. It is our view that the last of these dimensions is just beginning to receive adequate scrutiny. In this selective review, we discuss the concept of a biopsychosocial analysis of the effects of alcohol. After briefly addressing biological and psychological research on alcohol's emotional effects, we bid to make a case for the vital role that social processes play in understanding why people drink. The bulk of the paper describes research illustrating the contributions that a social psychological perspective can make to advance understanding of the rewarding effects of alcohol. Overall, studies incorporating social contexts have revealed reliable evidence that alcohol enhances emotional experience in many social environments and have identified socio-contextual variables that moderate responses to alcohol. Further, these studies have broadened the scope of constructs thought to be socially rewarding, including social bonding, relationship functioning, and humor enjoyment. Our analysis concludes by identifying research areas we believe would profit from additional research.

The Association of Personality Traits and Parameters of Glycemic Regulation in Type 1 Diabetes Mellitus Patients Using isCGM

This study aimed to examine the impact of personality on glycemic regulation in adult patients with type 1 diabetes mellitus (T1DM). The study group consisted of subjects with T1DM, who were ≥ 18 years of age. The study was conducted in two phases: At baseline, subjects completed the Croatian version of the International Personality Item Pool scale (IPIP50s) and a questionnaire designed to gather socioeconomic data, duration of diabetes, presence of chronic complications, presence of cardiovascular risk factors, frequency, and type of pre-existing hypoglycemic episodes per week. Blood and urine samples were collected and body mass index (BMI) was calculated. Each participant was provided with the intermittently scanned glucose monitoring system (isCGM) Freestyle Libre. During the second visit (3 months from the start of the trial), glycemic parameters were collected from the reports generated from the Freestyle Libre system. Estimated glycated hemoglobin (HbA1c) values were significantly lower after three months compared to baseline HbA1c (Wilcoxon test, p < 0.001). An inverse correlation between the number of daily scans and degree of extraversion among subjects was observed, e.g., higher degrees of extraversion resulted in lower numbers of daily scans, while lower degrees of extraversion, i.e., introvertedness, resulted in higher numbers of daily scans (Rho = −0.238 p = 0.009). There was a positive correlation between emotional stability and time spent in hypoglycemia (Rho = 0.214; p = 0.02). In addition, a shorter duration of diabetes was associated with higher percentages of TIR and vice versa (p = 0.02). Investigating personality traits can be a useful tool for identifying patients predisposed to hypoglycemia and lower scanning frequency. Patients with a longer history of T1DM require closer follow-up and should be re-educated when necessary.

More What Duchenne Smiles Do, Less What They Express

We comment on an article by Sheldon et al. from a previous issue of Perspectives (May 2021). They argued that the presence of positive emotion (Hypothesis 1), the intensity of positive emotion (Hypothesis 2), and chronic positive mood (Hypothesis 3) are reliably signaled by the Duchenne smile (DS). We reexamined the cited literature in support of each hypothesis and show that the study findings were mostly inconclusive, irrelevant, incomplete, and/or misread. In fact, there is no single (empirical) article that would unanimously support the idea that DSs function solely as indicators of felt positive affect. Additional evidence is reviewed, suggesting that DSs can be-and often are-displayed deliberately and in the absence of positive feelings. Although DSs may lead to favorable interpersonal perceptions and positive emotional responses in the observer, we propose a functional view that focuses on what facial actions-here specifically DSs-do rather than what they express.

Time Devoted to Individual, Collective, and Two-Person Sports: Its Association with Risk of Exercise Addiction and Alcohol Use Disorder

INTRODUCTION

Although sport activities have beneficial effects on health, excessive practice can lead to exercise addiction (EA), which can be associated with other addictive behaviors. However, results regarding the comorbidities between EA and alcohol use disorder (AUD) remain heterogeneous. This study aims to investigate the relationship between a proxy of AUD and different sport practices, more specifically focusing on EA.

METHODS

One thousand nine hundred eighty-five (N = 1,985) participants were recruited online and selected to represent the French adult population. Participants were asked to answer questions regarding sport activity, with the EA inventory questionnaire investigating EA, and alcohol consumption, with the CAGE questionnaire investigating a proxy of AUD (score ≥2).

RESULTS

AUD was associated with a higher risk of EA and with more time devoted to collective sports (such as football) and two-person sports (such as tennis). The risk of EA was higher for individual sports (such as running), and the risk of AUD seems to increase with the level of physical activity for collective sport but to decrease for individual sports. The type of sports partly but significantly mediated the relationship between AUD and EA.

CONCLUSIONS

Results support the hypothesis that different types of sport have different risks for EA (individual sports being more concerned) and AUD (collective sports being more concerned). Results suggest that the type of sports may be a crucial variable to understand how physical activity can be a risk factor for alcohol disorders. The social dimension of collective sports should be further investigated to facilitate preventive approaches.

Maternal personality and alcohol use during pregnancy in Japan: The Tohoku Medical Megabank Project Birth and Three-Generation Cohort Study

BACKGROUND

Studies on associations between maternal personality and alcohol use have examined only one time point during pregnancy in Western countries. We aimed to examine the association between maternal personality and alcohol use in early and middle pregnancy in Japan.

METHODS

We analyzed data from 17,144 pregnant women in Japan who participated in the Tohoku Medical Megabank Project Birth and Three-Generation Cohort Study from 2013 to 2017. Personality was assessed using the short-form Eysenck Personality Questionnaire-Revised. Women were dichotomized as current drinkers or non-drinkers in both early and middle pregnancy. Odds ratios (ORs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) for alcohol use in early and middle pregnancy and continued alcohol use between early and middle pregnancy were calculated for 1 standard deviation increase in each personality scale, adjusted for age, as well as education, work status, fertility treatment, and parity.

RESULTS

Higher extraversion scores were associated with alcohol use in early (OR, 1.16; 95% CI, 1.12-1.20) and middle pregnancy (OR, 1.17; 95% CI, 1.10-1.25). Higher psychoticism scores were associated with continued alcohol use into middle pregnancy (OR, 1.07; 95% CI, 1.01-1.14) and alcohol use in middle pregnancy (OR, 1.07; 95% CI, 1.02-1.13). Neuroticism was not associated with alcohol use in early or middle pregnancy. Lower lie was associated with alcohol use in early (OR, 0.95; 95% CI, 0.91-0.98), but not in middle pregnancy.

CONCLUSIONS

Different personality scales are associated with alcohol use at different points during pregnancy.

The effect of alcohol on mood among males drinking with a platonic friend

BACKGROUND

Despite the social nature of most drinking experiences, prior work has largely failed to incorporate social context into the study of alcohol's effects on emotion. The present study provides an initial test of the effect of alcohol on mood among platonic friends drinking together in a non-stress setting. We hypothesized that subjects would report more positive postdrink mood after consuming alcohol than after consuming a nonalcoholic control beverage.

METHODS

Dyads of platonic male friends (n = 36; 55.55% White, 38.88% Asian, 5.55% Black) attended two laboratory-based experimental sessions, wherein their drink conditions (alcohol vs. no alcohol control) were randomized by dyad and counter-balanced across sessions. They reported their mood before and after consuming their beverages together, using the Positive and Negative Affect Schedule and an 8-item mood measure.

RESULTS

As hypothesized, alcohol enhanced positive mood ( β  = 0.26, p < 0.01). Although in the expected direction, the effect of alcohol on negative mood was not significant ( β  = -0.12, p = 0.17). Post hoc analyses revealed that alcohol yielded greater increases in both stimulation ( β = 0.26 , p = 0.00) and sedation ( β = 0.40 , p = 0.00) as compared to the control condition.

CONCLUSION

This study highlights the positive mood-enhancing and broader subjective effects of alcohol when drinking with a platonic friend and encourages further consideration of friendship contexts in the examination of alcohol's effects when developing models of the etiology of alcohol use disorder.

Social facilitation of alcohol subjective effects in adolescents: Associations with subsequent alcohol use

RATIONALE

Laboratory research in adults indicates that alcohol-related subjective effects are enhanced under some social conditions. However, it is unknown whether this "social facilitation" of alcohol effects occurs in adolescents and is associated with alcohol use in the natural ecology.

OBJECTIVES

We examined associations of social facilitation of alcohol-related subjective effects with subsequent alcohol use among a relatively high-risk group of adolescents who reported drinking alcohol both with friends and alone.

METHODS

Los Angeles high school students from a prospective study (N = 142; 51% female; 10th graders) completed a baseline survey that assessed alcohol-related "positive" and "negative" subjective effects in two contexts: social (alcohol with friends) and solitary (alcohol alone); social facilitation was calculated as the difference between social and solitary. Students then completed five semi-annual surveys spanning 30 months (2014-2017) assessing 30-day alcohol use (days used, number of drinks, binge drinking).

RESULTS

Greater social facilitation of positive effects was significantly associated with greater number of alcohol use days (RR [95% CI] = 1.48 [1.19, 1.82]; p < .001), greater number of drinks (RR [95% CI] = 1.38 [1.14, 1.66]; p = .001), and greater odds of binge drinking (OR [95% CI] = 1.75 [1.20, 2.57]; p = .004). Similar associations were found with social positive effects. There were no significant associations between solitary positive effects-or any negative effects-and alcohol use outcomes.

CONCLUSIONS

Social facilitation can be measured outside of the laboratory. Relatively high-risk drinking adolescents who are more susceptible to the social facilitation of subjective alcohol effects are more likely to use more alcohol and binge drink.

Duchenne Smiles as Honest Signals of Chronic Positive Mood

Chronic positive mood (CPM) has been shown to confer a wide variety of social, functional, and health benefits. Some researchers have argued that humans evolved to feel CPM, which explains why most people report better than neutral mood (the “positivity offset bias”) and why particularly happy people have particularly good outcomes. Here, we argue that the Duchenne smile evolved as an honest signal of high levels of CPM, alerting others to the psychological fitness of the smiler. Duchenne smiles are honest because they express felt positive emotion, making it difficult for unhappy people to produce them. Duchenne smiles enable happy people to signal and cooperate with one another, boosting their advantages. In our literature review, we found (a) that not all Duchenne smiles are “honest,” although producing them in the absence of positive emotion is difficult and often detectable, and (b) that the ability to produce and recognize Duchenne smiles may vary somewhat by a person’s cultural origin. In the final section of the article, we consider behavioral influences on CPM, reviewing research showing that engaging in eudaimonic activity reliably produces CPM, as posited by the eudaimonic-activity model. This research suggests that frequent Duchenne smiling may ultimately signal eudaimonic personality as well as CPM.

Psychometric qualities of the English Coping Scales of the Stress and Coping Inventory in a representative UK sample

Background

The Coping Scales of the Stress and Coping Inventory (SCI; Satow in Stress- und Coping-Inventar (SCI): Test- und Skalendokumentation. Stress and coping inventory. http://www.drsatow.de, 2012) are well-established German self-report scales measuring five coping styles: Positive Thinking, Active Coping, Social Support, Support in Faith, and Alcohol and Cigarette Consumption. The purpose of this study was to translate the scales into English and to psychometrically evaluate this English version of the SCI coping scales with a representative sample of the UK population.

Methods

The coping scales of the SCI were forward–backward translated into English and administered to a representative sample according to age, gender, education, and region for the UK (N = 1006). Internal consistencies, factorial validity, and construct validity were assessed for both the original factor structure of the SCI, as well as a newly identified factor structure.

Results

The results for the original factor structure indicated good internal consistency and construct validity. The adaptive coping styles of this version were positively correlated with resilience and negatively with perceived stress. The maladaptive coping strategy, alcohol and cigarette consumption, showed the opposite correlations. The exploratory factor analysis (EFA) of the English version resulted in a five-factor structure, but some items loaded on different factors than in the German version. These new factors were Religious Coping, Social Support, Various Coping, Alcohol and Cigarette Consumption, and Reflective Coping. The novel factors showed similar correlations to resilience and perceived stress as the original factor structure. Only religious coping did not significantly correlate to perceived stress. Confirmatory factor analysis with the original factor structure of the German SCI coping scales revealed poor model fit for the English SCI coping scales.

Conclusion

The English SCI coping scales consistently and accurately measure five different coping styles. Nevertheless, the original factor structure of the SCI coping scales, when applied to an English-speaking sample, did not fit the data well. The new factor structure established by EFA is only preliminary and needs further validation in future large samples using the English version of the SCI coping scales.

Drinking Together and Drinking Alone: A Social-Contextual Framework for Examining Risk for Alcohol Use Disorder

The context in which drinking occurs is a critical but relatively understudied factor in alcohol use disorder (AUD) etiology. In this article, I offer a social-contextual framework for examining AUD risk by reviewing studies on the unique antecedents and deleterious consequences of social versus solitary alcohol use in adolescents and young adults. Specifically, I provide evidence of distinct emotion regulatory functions across settings, with social drinking linked to enhancing positive emotions and social experiences and solitary drinking linked to coping with negative emotions. I end by considering the conceptual, methodological, and clinical implications of this social-contextual account of AUD risk.

Contextual influences on subjective alcohol response

Prior research demonstrates contextual influences on drug responses in both animals and humans, although studies in humans typically focus on only one aspect of context (e.g., social) and examine a limited range of subjective experiences. The current study sought to address these limitations by examining the impact of both social and physical context on the full range of subjective alcohol effects. The sample included 448 young adult social drinkers (57% male, 66.5% White) randomly assigned to consume alcohol (target blood alcohol concentration of .08 g%) or placebo in 1 of 4 contexts (solitary lab, group lab, solitary bar, group bar). Results indicated that high arousal positive (HAP) effects of alcohol (e.g., talkative, lively) were stronger in nonbar relative to bar contexts and that low arousal positive (LAP) effects (e.g., relaxed, calm) were only present in the group lab context. There were also main effects of social context such that high arousal effects (both positive and negative) were stronger in group contexts, regardless of beverage condition. These findings highlight the importance of considering context when examining alcohol effects. Studies designed to isolate pharmacological HAP effects may benefit from a nonbar setting, and studies of LAP effects might be most effective in a simulated living room or home environment, although future studies are needed to directly address this possibility. Further, studies with an explicit focus on expectancies or that need strong control for expectancies might benefit from a group context, particularly when studying high arousal effects. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2021 APA, all rights reserved).

Are Changes in Personality Traits and Alcohol Use Associated? A Cohort Study Among Young Swiss Men

Objective: It is well known that certain personality traits are associated with alcohol use. Because less is known about it, we wished to investigate whether changes in alcohol use were longitudinally associated with changes in personality and in which direction the influence or causation might flow. Methods: Data came from the self-reported questionnaire answers of 5,125 young men at two time points during the Cohort study on Substance Use Risk Factors (C-SURF). Their average ages were 20.0 and 25.4 years old at the first and second wave assessments, respectively. Four personality traits were measured: (a) aggression-hostility; (b) sociability; (c) neuroticism-anxiety; and (d) sensation seeking. Alcohol use was measured by volume (drinks per week) and binge drinking (about 60+ grams per occasion). Cross-lagged panel models and two-wave latent change score models were used. Results: Aggression-hostility, sensation seeking, and sociability were significantly and positively cross-sectionally associated with both alcohol use variables. Drinking volume and these three personality traits bidirectionally predicted each other. Binge drinking was bidirectionally associated with sensation-seeking only, whereas aggression-hostility and sociability only predicted binge drinking, but not vice versa. Changes in alcohol use were significantly positively associated with changes in aggression-hostility, sensation seeking, and sociability. Associations reached small Cohen's effect sizes for sociability and sensation seeking, but not for aggression-hostility. Associations with neuroticism-anxiety were mostly not significant. Conclusion: The direction of effects confirmed findings from other studies, and the association between changes in personality and alcohol use support the idea that prevention programs should simultaneously target both.

Let's Drink to Being Socially Active: Family Characteristics, Social Participation, and Alcohol Abuse across Mid- and Later-life

Researchers and practitioners often extol the health benefits of social relationships and social participation for older adults. Yet they often ignore how these same bonds and activities may contribute to negative health behaviors. Using data from the Wisconsin Longitudinal Study (16,065 observations from 7,007 respondents), we examined how family characteristics, family history, and social participation predicted three measures of alcohol abuse between ages 53 and 71. Results indicate that, generally, greater social participation is associated with increased drinking days per month. We also found that religious participation and having ever lived with an alcoholic are each associated with reporting possible alcohol dependence but not with alcohol consumption itself. Lastly, we identified gendered associations between marital dissolution and drinking behavior. These findings contextualize the increasing rates of alcohol abuse among older adults by emphasizing the possible negative consequences of "linked lives" on health via relationship stress and group norms.

Using machine learning for real-time BAC estimation from a new-generation transdermal biosensor in the laboratory

BACKGROUND

Transdermal biosensors offer a noninvasive, low-cost technology for the assessment of alcohol consumption with broad potential applications in addiction science. Older-generation transdermal devices feature bulky designs and sparse sampling intervals, limiting potential applications for transdermal technology. Recently a new-generation of transdermal device has become available, featuring smartphone connectivity, compact designs, and rapid sampling. Here we present initial laboratory research examining the validity of a new-generation transdermal sensor prototype.

METHODS

Participants were young drinkers administered alcohol (target BAC = .08 %) or no-alcohol in the laboratory. Participants wore transdermal sensors while providing repeated breathalyzer (BrAC) readings. We assessed the association between BrAC (measured BrAC for a specific time point) and eBrAC (BrAC estimated based only on transdermal readings collected in the immediately preceding time interval). Extra-Trees machine learning algorithms, incorporating transdermal time series features as predictors, were used to create eBrAC.

RESULTS

Failure rates for the new-generation prototype sensor were high (16 %-34 %). Among participants with useable new-generation sensor data, models demonstrated strong capabilities for separating drinking from non-drinking episodes, and significant (moderate) ability to differentiate BrAC levels within intoxicated participants. Differences between eBrAC and BrAC were 60 % higher for models based on data from old-generation vs new-generation devices. Model comparisons indicated that both time series analysis and machine learning contributed significantly to final model accuracy.

CONCLUSIONS

Results provide favorable preliminary evidence for the accuracy of real-time BAC estimates from a new-generation sensor. Future research featuring variable alcohol doses and real-world contexts will be required to further validate these devices.

Are personality traits associated with smoking and alcohol use prior to and during pregnancy?

Cigarette smoking and alcohol consumption during pregnancy can have detrimental effects on the developing fetus, including fetal alcohol syndrome and low birth weight. Surprisingly little is known about the association of personality traits with smoking and alcohol consumption in the specific subpopulation of pregnant women. This study analyzed data from a geographically diverse sample of 603 pregnant women, aged 18 years and older, who provided information regarding their smoking and drinking habits before and during pregnancy. We compared women who consumed alcohol or smoked cigarettes before pregnancy with women who quit or continued smoking or drinking during pregnancy. Associations between personality and maladaptive behaviors prior to and during pregnancy were modeled using logistic regression. The study revealed that women who scored high on openness to experience were significantly more likely to continue alcohol consumption during pregnancy (OR = 1.07, 95% CI 1.01, 1.14, p = .02). This association was maintained after adjusting for potential confounds. This study demonstrated a significant relationship between personality traits and women's likelihood of continued alcohol consumption prior to and during pregnancy. Understanding personality-based determinants of health-detrimental behavior is important in order to design interventions that aim at decreasing rates of maladaptive health behaviors among pregnant women.

A multimodal, longitudinal investigation of alcohol's emotional rewards and drinking over time in young adults

Theories of alcohol use disorder (AUD) have long suggested that alcohol's emotional rewards play a key role in reinforcing problematic drinking. Studies employing survey methods, in which participants recall and aggregate their experiences with alcohol in a single questionnaire, indicate that self-reported expectancies and motivations surrounding alcohol's emotional rewards predict problematic drinking trajectories over time. The current study is the first to combine laboratory alcohol-administration, ambulatory methods, and longitudinal follow-ups to assess whether alcohol's ability to enhance positive mood and reduce negative mood predicts later drinking problems. Sixty young heavy social drinkers (50% female) participated in laboratory-based alcohol-administration, attending both alcohol (target blood alcohol concentration [BAC] .08%) and no-alcohol laboratory sessions. Forty-eight of these participants also wore transdermal alcohol monitors and completed mood surveys outside the laboratory for 7 days. Participants reported on their drinking at 18-month follow-up (90% compliance). Controlling for baseline drinking, greater negative mood reduction from alcohol at baseline predicted more drinking problems at follow-up, an effect that emerged as consistent across methods capturing alcohol's emotional rewards in the laboratory, b = -.24, p = .02, as well as via ambulatory methods, b = -3.14, p = .01. Greater positive mood enhancement from alcohol, captured via laboratory methods, also predicted drinking problems, b = .16, p = .03, and binge drinking, b = 3.22, p = .02, at follow-up. Models examining drinking frequency/quantity were nonsignificant. Results provide support for emotional reward as a potential factor in the development of problematic drinking. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2020 APA, all rights reserved).

The Association Between Negative and Positive Affect and Alcohol Use: An Ambulatory Study

OBJECTIVE

Negative and positive affect are proposed to play a crucial role in alcohol use and the development of alcohol use disorder. Results from ambulatory studies that measure momentary affect and subsequent alcohol use have been mixed, particularly regarding negative affect. We attempted to identify within-person moderators (i.e., time between assessments, prior blood alcohol content) that might explain mixed results.

METHOD

We examined the association between self-reported affect and an objective measure of alcohol consumption (measured via a transdermal ankle bracelet) in a sample of heavy social drinkers across 7 days of ambulatory assessment.

RESULTS

Our results showed that negative affect was negatively related to later drinking, whereas positive affect was positively related to later drinking. The results showed that these effects were stronger for amount consumed when affect was assessed closer rather than farther in time.

CONCLUSIONS

These findings are important for understanding affect as an antecedent to alcohol use, which may ultimately have implications for the development of alcohol use disorder.

Experiencing cigarette craving with a friend: A shared reality analysis

Cigarette craving predicts relapse to smoking, which remains the leading cause of preventable death in the United States. Understanding why individuals smoke has important clinical implications and is a research priority. Nonlaboratory studies reveal that social factors, such as the presence of other people, are associated with self-reported craving, yet laboratory smoking research has largely ignored these factors by testing participants in isolation. In this study, a shared reality framework was used to evaluate social processes that may change when smokers experience craving while in the presence of a smoking friend versus in social isolation. Sixty pairs of smoking friends (n = 120) arrived together at the laboratory following a required 5 hr of smoking abstinence. One preselected (target) participant then underwent an in vivo smoking cue-exposure craving induction with their friend either present or in another room, completing an unrelated task. Target participants who were together with their friend while craving experienced a greater sense of similarity and felt closer to their friend than did those who were alone. Furthermore, in the together condition, shared Duchenne smiles (using the Facial Action Coding System) were associated with targets' ratings of perceived similarity to their friend. Though social context did not influence affect or urge to smoke, urge was associated with targets' ratings of similarity in the together, but not the alone condition. Results highlight the potential social utility of craving (satisfying epistemic and relational goals) and highlight the need for increased laboratory research on smoking that includes a social context. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2019 APA, all rights reserved).

Personality and Alcohol-Related Risk: Neuroticism, Extraversion, and Alexithymia

Previous research has established associations of neuroticism and extraversion with risky or problematic alcohol use in both clinical and nonclinical samples. More recently, alexithymia—a personality trait defined by difficulties in identifying and describing feelings as well as concrete thinking—has been implicated as a risk factor for problematic drinking; however, whether it is an independent risk factor or overlaps with others has not been determined. The present study examined neuroticism, extraversion, and alexithymia in relation to risky drinking in a nonclinical sample of 285 alcohol consumers aged 18-60 years. Neuroticism and extraversion were measured with the International Personality Item Pool Big Five Factor Markers, whereas alexithymia was measured with the Toronto Alexithymia Scale 20. The Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test provided an index of alcohol-related risk. Hierarchical regression indicated that neuroticism, extraversion, and alexithymia were all significant positive predictors of risky drinking after controlling for demographic and mood variables. Alexithymia was positively related to neuroticism, and both were negatively related to extraversion. The relationship between alexithymia and risky drinking was partially mediated by neuroticism, and the association of alexithymia with neuroticism was partially mediated by negative mood. Neuroticism, extraversion, and alexithymia appear to be independently related to alcohol-related risk, although the influence of alexithymia may partially overlap with that of neuroticism. Both alexithymia and neuroticism are associated with proneness to negative moods; a reliance on drinking to cope with such states may account for the links of both traits to risky or problematic drinking in line with Cloninger’s type I alcoholism. However, additional aspects of alexithymia may also contribute to its role in alcohol-related risk. The relationship of extraversion to risky drinking appears congruent with Cloninger’s type II alcoholism, where high reward sensitivity motivates drinking to enhance positive states.

The Association Between Negative and Positive Affect and Alcohol Use: An Ambulatory Study

OBJECTIVE

Negative and positive affect are proposed to play a crucial role in alcohol use and the development of alcohol use disorder. Results from ambulatory studies that measure momentary affect and subsequent alcohol use have been mixed, particularly regarding negative affect. We attempted to identify within-person moderators (i.e., time between assessments, prior blood alcohol content) that might explain mixed results.

METHOD

We examined the association between self-reported affect and an objective measure of alcohol consumption (measured via a transdermal ankle bracelet) in a sample of heavy social drinkers across 7 days of ambulatory assessment.

RESULTS

Our results showed that negative affect was negatively related to later drinking, whereas positive affect was positively related to later drinking. The results showed that these effects were stronger for amount consumed when affect was assessed closer rather than farther in time.

CONCLUSIONS

These findings are important for understanding affect as an antecedent to alcohol use, which may ultimately have implications for the development of alcohol use disorder.

Temporal Dynamics of Transdermal Alcohol Concentration Measured via New-Generation Wrist-Worn Biosensor

BACKGROUND

The development of a transdermal alcohol biosensor could represent a tremendous advance toward curbing problematic drinking. But several factors limit the usefulness of extant transdermal technology, including relatively lengthy delays between blood alcohol concentration (BAC) and transdermal alcohol concentration (TAC), as well as the large/bulky designs of currently available transdermal sensors (e.g., ankle monitors). The current research examined the lag time between BAC and TAC using a prototype of BACtrack Skyn-a new-generation wrist-worn transdermal sensor featuring a compact design and smartphone integration.

METHODS

Participants (N = 30) received either a dose of alcohol (target BAC 0.08%) or a nonalcoholic beverage in the laboratory while wearing both the AMS SCRAM ankle monitor and a Skyn prototype. Participants were monitored in the laboratory until breath alcohol concentration (BrAC) dropped below 0.025%.

RESULTS

Device failure rates for Skyn prototypes were relatively high (18 to 38%) compared with nonprototype SCRAM devices (2%). Among participants with usable data, both Skyn- and SCRAM-measured TAC showed strong correlations with BrAC, and both Skyn and SCRAM devices detected alcohol within 30 minutes of first alcohol administration. Skyn-measured TAC peaked over 1 hour earlier than SCRAM-measured TAC (54 versus 120 minutes after peak BrAC, respectively), and time-series models suggested that, on average across all measured portions of the BrAC curve, Skyn TAC lagged behind BrAC by 24 minutes, whereas SCRAM TAC lagged behind BrAC by 69 minutes-all differences statistically significant at p < 0.001.

CONCLUSIONS

Results provide preliminary evidence for the validity of a new-generation wrist-worn transdermal sensor under controlled laboratory conditions and further suggest favorable properties of this sensor as they pertain to the latency of transdermal alcohol detection. The prototype version of Skyn employed here displayed a higher failure rate compared with SCRAM, and, in future, more reliable and robust Skyn prototypes will be required suitable to field testing across diverse environmental conditions.

Alcohol and Tobacco Consumption, Personality, and Cybervictimization among Adolescents

Cyberbullying has emerged as a public health problem. Personality may play an important role in substance use and cybervictimization. The aim of this study was to examine whether tobacco and alcohol consumption and personality traits are associated with cybervictimization in Spanish adolescents. A cross-sectional study was conducted with 765 secondary students (aged 14–16) from 16 secondary schools in Spain. Participants completed a questionnaire assessing sociodemographic characteristics; tobacco and alcohol consumption; cybervictimization (Garaigordobil Scale); and personality traits (Big Five Questionnaire). A logistic regression model controlling for sex, age, parental education and personality traits was used to determine the independent associations and interactions between tobacco and alcohol consumption and cybervictimization. The results indicate that a total of 305 adolescents (39.9%) reported that they were cyberbullied in the past year. Girls were more likely to be cyberbullied than boys. Cybervictims had a significantly greater monthly alcohol consumption (OR = 1.51; 95% CI = 1.05–2.15), higher scores for extraversion (OR = 1.31; 95% CI = 1.06–1.63) and emotional instability (OR = 1.53; 95% CI = 1.27–1.83); as well as lower scores for conscientiousness (OR = 0.78; 95% CI = 0.63–0.95). These results suggest that personality traits and alcohol consumption are independently associated with cybervictimization. Our study suggests the existence of underlying common personality factors for cybervictimization and alcohol and tobacco use.

Operational Sex Ratio Predicts Binge Drinking Across U.S. Counties

Previous research suggests that binge drinking among young men serves as a "costly signal" to potential mates, such that the binge drinker is capable of bearing the harmful consequences of alcohol consumption. Here, we propose that binge drinking among young adults is conditionally dependent upon the signaler's willingness to take risks, which is influenced by the local operational sex ratio (OSR). Using archived binge drinking estimates from 2009 to 2012 and Census Bureau records of OSRs, we tested the relationship between OSR and binge drinking rates at the county level across 3,143 U.S. counties against hypotheses drawn from evolutionary theory. Results from our mixed-effects models revealed that a higher overall OSR (i.e., more eligible men compared to women) was associated with higher male binge drinking rates but lower female binge drinking rates. A higher OSR particularly in the 20-29 and 50+ age groups predicted higher male binge drinking rates but lower female binge drinking rates. Our findings generally support predictions derived from evolutionary theory and suggest that binge drinking may function as a costly sexual signal, conditionally regulated by age and the local sex ratio.

Drinking to keep pace: A study of the moderating influence of extraversion on alcohol consumption similarity in drinking buddy dyads

Heavy drinking in college remains a concerning issue due to its association with both health and social risks. While modelling contributes to college students' alcohol use, little work has identified who might be most susceptible to modelling effects. Peterson, Morey, and Higgins (2005) found males high in extraversion were more susceptible than others to matching strangers' drinking levels in a lab-based social drinking context. We sought to replicate and extend these findings by examining the impact of extraversion on social matching of alcohol consumption levels of a drinking buddy in college students' real lives. First, a significant relationship between buddy and target drinking levels was predicted in dyadic drinking situations. Additionally, we hypothesized that target extraversion would positively moderate this buddy- target drinking levels relationship. Data from 149 college student targets (74% F) and their same-sex drinking buddy were collected through online questionnaires examining targets' extraversion levels, and the drinking levels and social drinking context of both dyad members through a 30-day Timeline Followback measure. Linear mixed-effects modelling confirmed the study's first social matching hypothesis, while also revealing that target extraversion positively moderated the relationship between buddy and target daily drinking levels in dyadic drinking contexts. Findings extend those of Peterson et al. (2005) to a real-world (vs. lab-based) context, modelling of a buddy's (vs. stranger's) drinking levels, and a sample including women (vs. all-male). Results provide novel information on extraversion's contributions to modelling of alcohol use that may guide useful modifications to personality-based interventions for reducing college student heavy drinking.

Testing a model of reward sensitivity, implicit and explicit drinker identity and hazardous drinking

Objective: The aim of this study was to investigate both implicit and explicit drinker identity as mediators of reward sensitivity and problematic drinking. University students engage in problematic levels of alcohol consumption, exposing them to increased negative health outcomes. Although personality traits (e.g. reward sensitivity) and social-cognitive variables (e.g. implicit and explicit drinker identity) have been used to investigate drinking behaviour, few studies link personality and multiple indices of drinker identity to problematic drinking. Design: University students (N = 136) completed a drinker identity implicit association test, and questionnaires measuring reward sensitivity, explicit binge drinker identity and problematic drinking as part of a lab-based correlational study. Main Outcome Measures: The Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test was the main outcome measure with participants self-reporting drinking frequency, quantity and negative physical and psychological outcomes of drinking over the past 3-months. Results: A mediation model revealed that reward sensitivity was significantly associated with explicit, but not implicit, binge drinker identity. Explicit binge drinker identity mediated the reward sensitivity and problematic drinking association. Conclusion: This research provides an evidence base for identity-based drinking interventions for students characterised by high reward sensitivity, by promoting identities that do not idealise problematic drinking behaviour.

A multimodal investigation of contextual effects on alcohol's emotional rewards

Regular alcohol consumption in unfamiliar social settings has been linked to problematic drinking. A large body of indirect evidence has accumulated to suggest that alcohol's rewarding emotional effects-both negative-mood relieving and positive-mood enhancing-will be magnified when alcohol is consumed within unfamiliar versus familiar social contexts. But empirical research has never directly examined links between contextual familiarity and alcohol reward. In the current study, we mobilized novel ambulatory technology to examine the effect of social familiarity on alcohol reward in everyday drinking contexts while also examining how alcohol reward observed in these field contexts corresponds to reward observed in the laboratory. Heavy social drinking participants (N = 48, 50% male) engaged in an intensive week of ambulatory assessment. Participants wore transdermal alcohol sensors while they reported on their mood and took photographs of their social contexts in response to random prompts. Participants also attended 2 laboratory beverage-administration sessions, during which their emotional responses were assessed and transdermal sensors were calibrated to estimate breathalyzer readings (eBrACs). Results indicated a significant interaction between social familiarity and alcohol episode in everyday drinking settings, with alcohol enhancing mood to a greater extent in relatively unfamiliar versus familiar social contexts. Findings also indicated that drinking in relatively unfamiliar social settings was associated with higher eBrACs. Finally, results indicated a correspondence between some mood effects of alcohol experienced inside and outside the laboratory. This study presents a novel methodology for examining alcohol reward and indicates social familiarity as a promising direction for research seeking to explain problematic drinking. (PsycINFO Database Record

Alcohol use and personality trait change: pooled analysis of six cohort studies

BACKGROUND

Personality has been associated with alcohol use, but less is known about how alcohol use may influence long-term personality trait change.

METHODS

The present study examines associations between alcohol use and change in the five major personality traits across two measurement occasions (mean follow-up of 5.6 years). A total of 39 722 participants (54% women) were pooled from six cohort studies for an individual-participant meta-analysis. Alcohol use was measured as (1) average alcohol consumption, (2) frequency of binge drinking, (3) symptoms of alcohol use disorder, and (4) a global indicator of risky alcohol use. Changes in the five major personality traits (extraversion, emotional stability, agreeableness, conscientiousness, and openness to experience) were used as outcomes.

RESULTS

Risky alcohol use was associated with increasing extraversion [0.25 T-scores over the mean follow-up of 5.6 years; 95% confidence interval (CI) 0.07-0.44] and decreasing emotional stability (-0.28; 95% CI -0.48 to -0.08), agreeableness (-0.67; 95% CI -0.87 to -0.36), and conscientiousness (-0.58; 95% CI -0.79 to -0.38). Except the association between alcohol use and extraversion, these associations were consistent across cohort studies and across different measures of alcohol use.

CONCLUSIONS

These findings suggest that alcohol use is associated with personality trait changes in adulthood.

Contribution of the Five Factors of Personality and Peers on Adolescent Alcohol Use: A Cross-National Study

Personality characteristics such as extraversion, low agreeableness and low conscientiousness are relevant for alcohol use during adolescence. In addition, having friends who use alcohol is one of the strongest predictors of adolescent alcohol consumption and its negative outcomes. The selection model posits that friends display similar alcohol consumption when their friendships are formed on the basis of common characteristics as, among others, personality. Thus, the aim of this study was to examine the mediation role of peers in the association between the five-factor model of personality and adolescent alcohol use in two cultures. One hundred and twenty Scottish and 221 Spanish respondents, all aged 12-15 years, answered the Alcohol Intake Scale (AIS). Adolescents were asked about the alcohol used at the weekend and also about the alcohol consumed by their friends. Scottish adolescents' personality was measured by the NEO Personality Inventory-3 (NEO-PI-3). The Junior Spanish version of the Revised NEO Personality Inventory (JS NEO) was used to assess personality in the Spanish sample. Low agreeableness and low conscientiousness correlated with own alcohol quantity in both countries. We performed an independent structural equation modeling for each country. Extraversion (β = .205, p < .05) and low agreeableness (β = -.196, p < .01) for Scottish adolescents, and low conscientiousness (β = -.175, p < .05) for Spanish youths, predicted alcohol use through peer alcohol consumption at weekends. These findings support the relevance of personality traits and peer affiliation in relation to alcohol consumption in adolescence.

Using Placebo Beverages in Group Alcohol Studies

BACKGROUND

Placebo beverage conditions remain a key element in the methodological toolkit for alcohol researchers interested in evaluating pharmacological and nonpharmacological factors influencing the effects of alcohol consumption. While interest in experimentally examining alcohol in social context is on the rise, there has been little research examining the effectiveness of placebo manipulations in group settings, when just 1 suspicious participant could potentially jeopardize the effect of the placebo on group members. Moreover, research has rarely considered the association between individual difference factors (e.g., gender) and placebo manipulation effectiveness. The present study, using an uncommonly large sample of placebo-consuming participants, was well suited to investigate fundamental questions regarding placebo efficacy that have not been assessed previously. Specifically, we aimed to examine placebo efficacy and general processes of placebo functioning in a group context. We also assessed potential associations between a variety of individual difference factors and placebo response.

METHODS

A total of 240 participants (50% male) consumed placebo beverages during a triadic drinking period (across 80 three-person groups). Participants reported their subjective intoxication, stimulation, and sedation 8 minutes following drink consumption and estimated the alcohol content of their drink at the end of the study.

RESULTS

Participants consuming placebo beverages in groups were nearly universal in reporting that they had consumed alcohol (>99%) and had experienced an increase in feelings of intoxication [t(239) = 22.03, p < 0.001] and stimulation [t(239) = 5.53, p < 0.001], levels that were similar to those observed in prior studies conducted with participants drinking placebos in isolation. Further, participants' placebo responses were independent of their 2 group members and were largely unaffected by a variety of individual difference factors.

CONCLUSIONS

Placebo response generally operated independently of group-member influences, suggesting that researchers can successfully conduct placebo beverage studies utilizing group drinking designs.

Measurement of Mood States Following Light Alcohol Consumption: Evidence from the Implicit Association Test

As the problems of mood measurements during alcohol consumption of alcoholic beverages do not necessarily evoke interpretable physiological responses, explicit reports may be contaminated by various cognitive biases or expectations. The present study examined whether emotional responses induced by the consumption of beverages containing low concentrations of alcohol can be measured using the Implicit Association Test (IAT). The IAT can detect the estimates of internal proximity between bipolar target concepts (e.g., cheerfulness and fatigue). Participants (N = 30) received three IAT sessions, followed by drinking a beverage containing 0% (control), 1%, or 3% alcohol by volume, and three IATs (at 0, 30, and 60 min after the time of consumption). We also recorded the explicit responses regarding the extent of drunkenness. The analyses of variance with alcohol concentration and time reveal dissociation between implicit and explicit measures. The IAT scores under the alcohol conditions reflect a more cheerful mood state relative to the baseline test. This effect of enhanced cheerfulness was not observed under the non-alcohol control condition. These results demonstrate that the impact of the consumption of low-alcohol beverages on mood can be measured using the IAT.

Personality traits and facets linked with self-reported alcohol consumption and biomarkers of liver health

INTRODUCTION

This study examines whether the association between Five Factor Model personality traits and alcohol consumption extends beyond self-report to biomarkers of alcohol consumption.

METHODS

Community-dwelling adults from Sardinia (N = 5380), Italy, completed the revised NEO Personality Inventory and reported on alcohol consumption, while traditional biomarkers of heavy drinking, such as gamma-glutamyl transferase (GGT), were assayed from blood samples.

RESULTS

Associations between self-report measures were modest but consistent with previous findings on the link between personality and alcohol use. For instance, higher scores on the order and self-discipline facets of conscientiousness were associated with reduced risk of heavy alcohol consumption. Personality was also associated with GGT, though effects were small. Personality was unrelated to other biomarkers of liver health.

CONCLUSIONS

This study adds multi-method evidence in support of a link between personality and health behaviors.

The effects of alcohol on positive emotion during a comedy routine: A facial coding analysis

There is considerable interest in understanding the emotional effects of alcohol. While a great deal of experimental research has focused on alcohol's ability to relieve negative emotions, there has been far less focus on the effects of alcohol on positive emotions. Further, the available research on positive emotion tends to test alcohol while participants are alone. Yet alcohol is often consumed in social settings, and enhancing social pleasure is consistently identified as being a primary motive for drinking. We aimed to address this gap in the literature by investigating the impact of alcohol on positive emotional experience in a social setting. We used the Facial Action Coding System (FACS) to examine in a large sample the effects of alcohol on response to comedy in a group setting. Five hundred thirteen social drinkers (51.9% female) were assembled into groups of three unacquainted persons and administered either a moderate dose of alcohol, a placebo, or a nonalcohol control beverage. Following beverage consumption, groups listened to a roughly 5-min comedy clip while their facial expressions were video recorded. More than 5 million frames of video were then FACS-coded. Alcohol consumption enhanced enjoyment (Duchenne) smiles-but not nonenjoyment social smiles-and elevated mood ratings. Results provide multimodal evidence supporting the ability of alcohol to enhance positive emotional experience during a comedy routine delivered in a social context. More broadly, this research illustrates the value of studying emotion in a social context using both self-report and behavior-expressive approaches. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2019 APA, all rights reserved).