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Stress frequently influences a person’s propensity to drink alcohol. Inter-individual differences in such stress-related drinking can be assessed through psychometric scales; however, available questionnaires conflate stress- with emotion-related reasons to drink and ignore evidence of decreased alcohol consumption in response to stress. Therefore, we developed a genuine stress –drinking scale (Salzburg Stress Drinking Scale; SSDS), adapted from the Salzburg Stress Eating Scale, and assessed its psychometric properties. In study 1 (n = 639), the SSDS was found to have a one-factor structure, excellent internal consistency, and acceptable test-retest reliability. SSDS scores were significantly correlated with other measures assessing emotional drinking, but uncorrelated with general alcohol pathology and other health-relevant consummatory behaviors such as stress-related eating or nicotine consumption. In addition, no significant sex differences arose. In study 2 (n = 42) patients with an alcohol use disorder or addiction scored significantly higher on the SSDS compared to healthy controls. In an Ecological Momentary Assessment study 3 (n = 67), the SSDS showed partial ecological validity through significant relationships with daily alcohol consumption, but not daily stress – drinking relationships. In sum, the SSDS represents a psychometrically sound tool for the measurement of stress-related drinking and complements a battery of stress-related changes in health-relevant behaviors.

The AAST liver injury grade has a validated association with mortality and need for operation. AAST liver injury grade is the same regardless of the mechanism of trauma.A 5-year retrospective review of all liver injuries at an urban, level-one trauma center was performed.Totally, 315 patients were included (29% blunt, 71% penetrating). In blunt trauma, AAST grade was associated with need for laparotomy (0%, 7%, 5%, 33%, 29%, Grade 1-5, p = 0.01), angiography (0%, 7%, 25%, 40%, 57%, p 0.001), embolization (0%, 7%, 15%, 33%, 43%, p = 0.01), and percutaneous drainage procedures (13% use in Grade 4, otherwise 0%, p = 0.04), but not ERCP (0% for all grades). In penetrating trauma, AAST grade was associated with need for angiography (7%, 4%, 15%, 24%, 30%, p 0.01) and percutaneous drainage (7%, 2%, 14%, 18%, 26%, p = 0.03) and had a marginal association with embolization (0%, 4%, 11%, 13%, 22%, p = 0.06). Laparotomy, ERCP, sphincterotomy, and stenting rates increased with AAST grade, but this was not statistically significant.AAST grade is associated with the need for surgical hemostasis, angioembolization, and percutaneous drainage in both penetrating and blunt trauma. Operative, endoscopic, and percutaneous procedures are utilized more in penetrating trauma. Angioembolization was used more in blunt trauma. Mechanism should be considered when using AAST grade to guide management of liver injuries.