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Fake IDs are highly prevalent among underage college students, and are strongly associated with heavy drinking. However it is not currently known how exactly fake IDs are most commonly obtained and used, and how often individuals are caught. Such information could aid law enforcement and school personnel in their enforcement responsibilities, and might further elucidate the extent and means by which students "make ethical compromises" to gain illegal access to alcohol. A cross-sectional online survey of 1098 underage students at a large Midwestern university indicated that comparable to previous findings, 21.0% reported possessing a fake ID (which was strongly associated with past-month frequent heavy drinking; OR=4.84, 95% CI=3.41-6.86). Of those with fake IDs, 93.5% reported having used them, and 29.1% reported having been caught. Greek (i.e., fraternity/sorority) members were more likely than others to obtain them through a Greek organization (OR=8.02, 95% CI=1.81-35.54). Also, men were more likely than women to buy (OR=2.74, 95% CI=1.57-4.77), yet less likely to be given them (OR=0.53, 95% CI=0.31-0.90). Future studies might examine whether and how fake ID capture reduces (or exacerbates) drinking over time. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Modern theoretical models of Alcohol Use Disorder (AUD) highlight the different functional roles played by various mechanisms associated with different symptoms. Symptom network models (SNMs) offer one approach to modeling AUD symptomatology in a way that could reflect these processes and provide important information on the progression and persistence of disorder. However, much of the research conducted using SNMs relies on cross-sectional data, which has raised questions regarding the extent they reflect dynamic processes. The current study aimed to (a) examine symptom networks of AUD and (b) compare the extent to which cross-sectional network models had similar structures and interpretations as longitudinal network models. 17,360 participants from Wave 1 (2001-2002) and Wave 2 (2003-2004) of the National Epidemiological Survey on Alcohol and Related Conditions (NESARC) were used to model cross-sectional and longitudinal AUD symptom networks. The cross-sectional analyses demonstrate high replicability across waves and central symptoms consistent with other cross-sectional studies on addiction networks. The longitudinal network shared much less similarity than the cross-sectional networks and had a substantially different structure. Given the increasing attention given to the network perspective in psychopathology research, the results of this study raise concerns about interpreting cross-sectional symptom networks as representative of temporal changes occurring within a psychological disorder. We conclude that the psychological symptom network literature should be bolstered with additional research on longitudinal network models., (Copyright © 2022 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Psychiatric diagnostic systems, such as The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fifth Edition (DSM-5), use expert consensus to determine diagnostic criteria sets and rules (DCSRs), rather than exploiting empirical techniques to arrive at optimal solutions (OS). Our project utilizes complete enumeration (i.e., generating all possible subsets of item combinations A and B with all possible thresholds, T) to evaluate all possible DCSRs given a set of relevant diagnostic data. This method yields the entire population distribution of diagnostic classifications (i.e., diagnosis of the disorder versus no diagnosis) produced by a set of dichotomous predictors (i.e., diagnostic criteria). Once unique sets are enumerated, optimization on some predefined correlate or predictor will maximally separate diagnostic groups on one or more, disorder-specific "outcome" criteria. We used this approach to illustrate how to create a common Substance Use Disorder (SUD) DCSR that is applicable to multiple substances. We demonstrate the utility of this approach with respect to alcohol use disorder and Cannabis Use Disorder (CUD) using DSM-5 criteria as input variables. The optimal SUD solution with a moderate or above severity grading included four criteria (i.e. 1) having a strong urge or craving for the substance (CR), 2) failure to fulfill major role obligations at work school or home (FF), 3) continued use of the substance despite social or interpersonal problems caused by the substance use (SI) and 4) physically hazardous use (HU)) with a diagnostic threshold of two. The derived DCSR was validated with known correlates of SUD and performed as well as DSM-5. Our findings illustrate the value of using an empirical approach to what is typically a subjective process of choosing criteria and algorithms that is prone to bias. The optimization of diagnostic criteria can reduce criteria set sizes, resulting in decreased research, clinician, and patient burden., (Copyright © 2019 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

The current work sought to examine both intra-individual and situational features that can predict heightened alcohol misuse among individuals who report sexual-orientation self-concept ambiguity (SSA). It was hypothesized that situations that evoke the salience of individuals' sexuality will contribute to alcohol misuse among individuals who report heightened SSA. In the first experiment, fifty-nine students were recruited from psychology subject pools at two large state universities. Following a writing manipulation, used to evoke a state of heightened self-focus on an individual's sexuality, participants completed the Alcohol Approach-Avoidance Task, which served as a marker of implicit bias toward alcohol-related cues. In the second experiment, ninety-four women between the ages of 21 and 35 were recruited into a lab-based study. Utilizing procedures similar to the first experiment, we attempted to test our research questions in an ad lib drinking study. Among young adults with greater SSA, situations that induced heightened self-focus were predictive of increased approach bias toward alcohol-related cues and increased consumption of an ostensibly alcoholic beverage. Evidence supported a causal link between the situational salience of sexuality and acute risk of alcohol-approach bias and consumption behavior among those with heightened SSA. Preventive interventions may highlight variation in risk of alcohol misuse based on identity-related risk factors, such as sexual self-concept ambiguity, and drinking motivations., (Copyright © 2019 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

There is an extensive, albeit inconsistent, literature on the relation between parental alcoholism and offspring impulsive behavior. The reasons for this inconsistency are likely multiple but it seems probable that method effects due to different methodological approaches might explain some of the inconsistencies. Offspring behavior is typically assessed based on informant reports. However, no specific method has been demonstrated as optimal for analyzing informant reports, and conclusions may differ depending on the method used. The present study compared findings derived from a multi-informant method proposed by Bauer et al. (2013) to other structural equation models. Participants came from Wave 7 of the Alcohol, Health and Behavior study and included mother and father reports of offspring impulsive behavior on the Health and Behavior Questionnaire (Armstrong, Goldstein, & the MacArthur Working Group on Outcome Assessment, 2003). There were 368 offspring (50% female, age range 3-17 years, mean age  = 6.78, SD age  = 3.07) from 205 families. The multi-informant model and the single-reporter models each provided a good fit of the data; however, findings differed based on the approach employed. Specifically, the mother-only report model found that offspring with a family history of alcoholism (FHA) were more impulsive compared to offspring without a FHA; no effect of FHA was found in the other single-reporter models. Ratings of offspring impulsive behavior were higher on the father perspective factor suggesting alcoholic fathers were biased in their reports. These findings highlight the relation between FHA and impulsive behavior varies depending on the analytic method used., (Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Background: Young adulthood is a high-risk period for heavy drinking and binge eating, both of which can impact weight and lead to obesity. Examining motives for drinking alcohol and eating palatable foods may facilitate a more integrated understanding of these behaviors during the college years. The current study tested whether shared or distinct (i.e., behavior-specific) motivational mechanisms may explain the occurrence of reward-driven drinking and eating in young adults., Methods: A sample of college freshmen (N = 103) stratified by sex, race/ethnicity, and heavy drinking status were selected to participate. Participants completed questionnaires measuring alcohol use, eating behavior, and motives assessed by the Drinking Motives Questionnaire-Revised and Palatable Eating Motives Scale. Confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) tested whether drinking and eating motives were better represented as single latent motives, or two behavior-specific motives. Structural equation modeling (SEM) was used to test the association between motivational factors and behaviors., Results: Behavior-specific CFA models demonstrated stronger model fit and higher factor loadings than single motive models. SEM models indicated that eating to cope with negative emotions, to enhance positive experiences, to obtain social reinforcement, and to conform with peers were significantly associated with binge eating (p values < .001). Enhancement and social drinking motives were significantly associated with number of weekly drinks (p values < .001)., Conclusions: While motives for drinking alcohol and eating palatable foods may satisfy common goals, findings suggest motivational mechanisms may be behavior-specific. Enhancement and social motives may be important factors to target in prevention programs for both drinking and binge eating., (Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Research indicates 10% of college student drinkers report deliberately training to increase alcohol tolerance (a diagnostic criterion for alcohol use disorder) to avoid passing out early or to keep up with peers. Given that tolerance training may be considered a harm reduction technique designed to reduce acute aversive consequences, we examined the associations between tolerance training and the use of protective behavioral strategies (PBS) more generally. A cross-sectional survey of 1080 lifetime drinkers was conducted at a large Midwestern university. Of this sample, 5.6% (n=60) reported training to increase their tolerance. Drinkers who endorsed having trained to increase tolerance reported notably more alcohol-related problems than those who reported never training (M adj =51.80 versus M adj =39.30; p<0.0001). Further, participants who endorsed tolerance training reported utilizing significantly fewer PBS (e.g., avoid drinking games) on the Protective Behavioral Strategies Scale (PBSS, Martens et al., 2005) than participants who had never trained (M adj =16.89 versus M adj =18.90; p<0.01). An exception was that drinkers who trained to avoid passing out early used significantly more PBS (e.g., using a designated driver, knowing where your drink is at all times). Despite this, these trainers consumed more alcohol and experienced more alcohol-related harms. The present findings support previous research demonstrating that trainers consume more alcohol than non-trainers, and provide further evidence that deliberately training to increase tolerance is indicative of problematic drinking behavior. Prevention efforts might aim to inform drinkers of the problems associated with deliberately inducing alcohol tolerance, and focus on developing alternative strategies for minimizing acute harm from drinking., (Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

The goal of the present study was to compare etiologically and clinically relevant correlates of lifetime AUD (e.g., alcohol consumption, personality traits, psychiatric disorders) based on a single assessment compared to a cumulative, prospective assessment of lifetime AUD. Data were drawn from the Alcohol, Health and Behavior (AHB; baseline N=489) study, which consisted of a prospective cohort of college students assessed seven times over a 16-year period ([M(SD) age at baseline=18.56 (.97)] and [M(SD) age at final assessment=34.33 (.82)]). The participants were assessed using the Diagnostic Interview Schedule (DIS) for DSM-III at Waves 1-7 and for DSM-IV at Waves 6-7. A single assessment and cumulative assessments of DSM-III lifetime AUD at Wave 6 (M[SD] age=28.98 [1.03]) were used to predict past-year alcohol related variables (e.g., alcohol consumption, drinking motives, drinking expectancies), personality variables, general functioning, lifetime substance use, and lifetime psychiatric disorders at Wave 7. Significantly larger correlations were found between the cumulative assessment and eight of the 25 etiologically relevant correlates of AUD compared to the single assessment. Further, significant incremental validity of cumulative assessment over single, retrospective assessment was observed for 16 of the 25 covariates. Overall, this study provides further support for the value of using prospective data with multiple assessments when determining lifetime history of disorder., (Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Research consistently shows that individuals high in impulsivity are at increased risk for excessive alcohol use and alcohol-related problems including alcohol use disorders (AUDs). Recent theorizing posits that working memory (WM) ability might moderate this association, but extant studies have suffered from methodological shortcomings, particularly mischaracterizing WM as a single, unitary construct and using only cross-sectional designs. This paper reports two studies that attempted to replicate and extend previous investigations of the relationship between WM, impulsivity, and alcohol involvement using two independent samples. Study 1 used a large (N=489 at baseline), prospective cohort of college students at high and low risk for AUD to investigate interactions between WM capacity and impulsivity on cross-sectional and prospective alcohol involvement. Study 2 used a large (N=420), cross-sectional sample of participants in an alcohol challenge study to investigate similar interactions between WM updating and impulsivity on recent alcohol involvement. Whereas Study 1 found that WM capacity moderates the relationship between some measures of impulsivity and alcohol involvement, with effects prospectively predicting alcohol involvement for up to three years, Study 2 did not find similar moderation effects when using measures of WM updating. These findings highlight the multifaceted nature of WM, which is often overlooked in the alcohol and impulsivity literature., (Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Aim: To examine the relation of changes in Five-Factor personality traits (i.e., extraversion, agreeableness, conscientiousness, neuroticism, and openness to experience; Costa & McCrae, 1985), drinking motives, and problematic alcohol involvement in a cohort of college students (N=467) at varying risk for alcohol use disorders from ages 21 to 35., Method: Parallel process latent growth models were estimated to determine the extent that prospective changes in personality and alcohol problems covaried as well as the extent to which drinking motives appeared to mediate these relations., Results: Changes in neuroticism and conscientiousness covaried with changes in problematic alcohol involvement. Specifically, increases in conscientiousness and decreases in neuroticism were related to decreases in alcohol from ages 21 to 35, even after accounting for marriage and/or parenthood. Change in coping (but not enhancement) motives specifically mediated the relation between changes in conscientiousness and alcohol problems in addition to the relation between changes in neuroticism and alcohol problems., Discussion: Personality changes, as assessed by a Five-Factor model of personality, are associated with "maturing out" of alcohol problems. Of equal importance, change in coping motives may be an important mediator of the relation between personality change and the "maturing out" of alcohol problems., (Published by Elsevier Ltd.)

Despite support that the minimum legal drinking age (MLDA) of 21 is an important public health provision in the United States, a group of college presidents are petitioning for the MLDA to be lowered. To inform this debate, we examined whether heavy and risky drinking was associated with a stance to lower the MLDA in 865 college students under the age of 21. Results showed that, in comparison to other students, heavy/risky drinkers more often had a stance to lower the MLDA. Thus, for students, the MLDA debate seems to be less a philosophical issue about prohibition and harm reduction, and appears to be more a political stance that reflects students' concurrent behaviors. We discuss how drinking and MLDA laws in Europe might compare with the United States, and how future policy work might benefit from empirical and cross-cultural study.

The present study investigated social influence and selection explanations for the association between frequency of heavy drinking and perceived peer alcohol involvement in emerging and early adulthood. Participants were 489 young adults recruited from a university setting who were taking part in an 11-year longitudinal study, which includes 6 waves of data. Piecewise latent growth curve analyses indicated that patterns of change from ages 18 to 30 for both frequency of heavy drinking and perceived peer alcohol involvement are best represented by two distinct developmental periods (i.e., college and post-college years). Several models were compared to identify a framework that yielded the best estimates of influence and selection effects. Evidence suggests that selection mechanisms may best account for the relation between frequency of heavy drinking and perceived peer alcohol involvement especially during the post-college years.

Parents, public health officials, college personnel, and society at-large continue to be concerned about the increase in heavy drinking that occurs across the transition to college, prompting alcohol researchers to continue the search for effective interventions. In this report we use data from a large (N=3720) prospective study to (1) estimate how predictable heavy drinking in the first semester of college is on the basis of information obtained prior to college and (2) identify precollege variables that are important predictors of heavy drinking in the first semester. We found that first-semester heavy drinking is highly predictable, primarily because of continuity from precollege heavy drinking, but also from precollege peer drinking norms, precollege other substance use (esp. tobacco use), and precollege party motivation for attending college. These findings have implications for both the timing and targets of interventions. Interventions timed to occur prior to college and/or in the early months of college may disrupt the momentum of previously established drinking behavior. Furthermore, interventions may be most effective if they target conjoint alcohol and tobacco use, college party motivation, and self-selection into heavy-drinking social environments.

We evaluated the effects of gender and family history for alcoholism on the co-occurrence of anxiety disorders and alcohol disorders ("comorbidity") in a large university student sample (N = 489). A structured diagnostic interview was used to elicit life-time histories of anxiety disorder (29%) and alcohol disorder (26%). The proportion of subjects receiving an alcohol diagnosis was significantly greater among those with an anxiety diagnosis (39% vs. 21%). Male subjects, as well as those with a parental history of alcoholism, had a significantly greater base-rate of alcohol disorder than did other subjects. However, these factors did not affect the relative increase in risk for an alcohol disorder associated with the presence of an anxiety disorder; that is, these factors did not interact with (i.e., moderate) comorbidity risk. In discussing these results, we emphasize issues relevant to identifying and distinguishing between interaction effects and base-rate effects in comorbidity studies.

Individuals at high risk for alcoholism have been hypothesized to acquire alcoholic characteristics more rapidly than those at low risk. Two studies examined reactivity to alcohol cues, a phenomenon linked to craving for alcohol in clinical alcoholics, and ad lib drinking behavior in young men at varying risk for alcoholism. In Study 1, subjects exhibited increased autonomic and subjective responses during exposure to an alcohol beverage relative to a control beverage, suggesting that alcohol cue reactivity is not merely a clinical alcoholic phenomenon but also present in more moderate drinkers. This alcohol cue reactivity, however, was unrelated to risk status. Also, high-risk subjects exhibited greater nonspecific electromyographic and skin temperature reactivity, and higher baseline salivation volume than low-risk subjects. Of special note, ad lib alcohol consumption in Study 1 was correlated with subjects' self-report of craving during exposure to the alcoholic beverage. Study 2 attempted to replicate the baseline salivation finding but results were equivocal concerning the robustness of this effect. Also in Study 2, subjects exhibited decreased salivation volume following a placebo beverage and increased salivation volume following alcohol consumption. Studies 1 and 2 compared ad lib drinking behavior in high-risk and low-risk samples, but no group differences were found.

The MacAndrew Alcoholism Scale (MAC), an empirically derived MMPI scale, appears to measure a relatively stable trait common to many alcoholics. The present study examined the relationship between the MAC and two potentially important sources of variation within an alcoholic population, severity of alcohol abuse and history of parental alcoholism. Study participants included 105 consecutive admissions to an alcoholism day treatment program. For both male and female patients, scores on the MAC were found to correlate with the severity of alcohol abuse and factor analytically derived subscales of the MAC were found to differentiate alcoholics with and without a history of parental alcoholism.

Recent studies of the correlates of having an alcoholic relative have relied heavily upon study participants' reports of the drinking behavior of their parents and other near relatives. These investigations have rarely attempted to validate the reports of familial alcohol problems or report on the reliability of information across other family members. The present study examined the reliability of reports of parental drinking behavior in a sample of 88 sibling pairs on versions of the Short Michigan Alcoholism Screening Test adapted so that subjects endorsed items pertaining to their father's (F-SMAST) or mother's (M-SMAST) drinking behavior. Because of the relative infrequency of offspring reports of maternal problem drinking in this sample, only data from the F-SMAST were suited for analysis. Siblings' reports of specific paternal drinking consequences showed relatively low agreement on items requiring inference (e.g., the presence or absence of guilt) and relatively high agreement on items referring to specific behavioral acts or consequences (e.g., seeking help, being arrested, driving under the influence). Global judgments of paternal alcoholism and overall scores on the F-SMAST showed adequate levels of reliability. It is concluded that, although it is always desirable to validate offsprings' reports of relatives' drinking, such reports tend to agree with those of other siblings, and the use of these reports is reasonable when validation is impossible or unfeasible.