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Background: Chronic fatigue, depression, burnout syndrome, and alcohol addiction have been identified as significant mental health problems in young medical doctors. Given the lack of prospective studies in this area in Poland, the POLski LEKarz (POLLEK) cohort study was created. The goal of the POLLEK study is to assess the quality of life and health status (including mental health) of medical students and young physicians. The aim of the presented paper was to assess the reliability and compatibility of paper and electronic versions of the POLLEK questionnaire. Methods: Between 1 October 2019 and 28 February 2020, all medical students (N = 638) of the first year in the Medical University of Silesia were invited to participate in a cross-sectional study. Three hundred and fifty-three students (55.3%) who accomplished both versions were included in the current analysis. Results: Values of Cronbach's alpha >0.7 proved both modes of delivery to have good internal consistency, except for the individual Alcohol Use Disorder Identification Test (AUDIT) domains and the Environmental domain of the WHOQOL-BREF (paper version). Similarly, interclass correlation coefficients equal to or greater than 0.9 denoted an excellent reproducibility. Conclusions: We documented very good accordance and reproducibility of POLLEK questionnaire (both paper and electronic versions). These findings legitimize the use of the questionnaire interchangeably. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Current Problems of Psychiatry is the property of Medical University of Lublin and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Objective: This paper is aimed at reviewing the literature on oxytocin and attachment relationship among people addicted to alcohol. The paper describes in a holistic way their possible interactions with bio-psycho-social risk factors for the development of addiction. It also indicates the possible practical use of oxytocin in addiction therapy. Material and method: The literature review was made with the use of the following databases: PsycINFO, PubMed and Google Scholar. Each database was searched using the following keywords: 'secure', 'disorganised', 'genetic', and 'therapy'. These keywords were combined with the terms "attachment style", "oxytocin" and each time with "alcohol addiction". Results: The analysis of the literature confirms that people addicted to alcohol are more often characterised by relational problems than healthy people. The association of oxytocin with the attachment relationship is mediated by epigenetic, neurobiological, and environmental factors. Research also confirms that the use of oxytocin in addiction therapy brings positive effects for some patients. Discussion and conclusions: The ability to build satisfactory interpersonal relationships is a protective factor against alcohol use. The article indicates the role that oxytocin plays in building interpersonal relationships and the possibility of its use in addiction therapy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The theme of loneliness is one with a very long history, in ancient times being debated by philosophers and usually regarded from a positive point of view. The present work does not highlight the positive aspects of loneliness, but aproaches loneliness as a negative experience that accompanies the use of alcohol. Thus, we discuss about loneliness as the way in which individuals perceive, experience and evaluate the lack of communication with others. Then, we examine the relationship between loneliness and alcohol use, either as a cause, effect or maintenance factor. The paper highlights the interplay between loneliness and alcohol use and its importance in specialised treatment of the alcoholics. Also, the purpose of this paper is to illustrate the imperative need for the specialists to adress the problems that our clients deal with, from more that just a biological perspective. The case study illustrates a female’s three attempts to escape alcohol dependence, each of the three attempts, enriching the intervention in order to compose a multi-faceted intervention, that we hope it will, ultimately, prove to be complete. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Alcohol addiction can lead to health and social problems. It can also affect people's emotions. Emotion plays a key role in human communications. It is important to recognize the people's emotions at the court and infer the association between the people's emotions and the alcohol addiction. However, it is challenging to recognize people's emotions efficiently in the courtroom. Furthermore, to the best of our knowledge, no existing work is about the association between alcohol addiction and people's emotions at court. In this paper, we propose a deep learning framework for predicting people's emotions based on sound perception, named ResCNN-SER. The proposed model combines several neural network-based components to extract the features of the speech signals and predict the emotions. The evaluation shows that the proposed model performs better than existing methods. By applying ResCNN-SER for emotion recognition based on people's voices at court, we infer the association between alcohol addiction and the defendant's emotion at court. Based on the sound source data from 54 trial records, we found that the defendants with alcohol addiction tend to get angry or fearful more easily at court comparing with defendants without alcohol addiction. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper presents an analysis of the mental health status of the population who has used psychiatry services from two psychiatry hospitals in Galati and Iasi, before and during the Covid-19 social restrictions. The results allowed us to verify the hypothesis that there is a change in the profi le of individuals that require a specifi c approach by the mental health specialists; as well the conclusions resulted from our research regarding the possible eff ects of the pandemic at community level. This could be a chance to establish and implement a plan of psychoeducational measures for vulnerable populations so as to prevent a social crisis. Our main aim is to convert this crisis into an opportunity to change the mentality of individuals and help them realize that the psychological health refl ects on a person’s quality of life. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Alcohol addiction is a disease that engulfs not only addicts but also their significant others around them. The psychosocial and economic disruptions it can cause in the dependent family members' lives lay the study's background. The immediate and most significant persons facing the consequences are the spouses of addicts. They are labeled as an alcohol addict's spouse and attributed to be responsible for the addict's irresponsibility over his life and time. Al-Anon Family Groups are a Self-help model of group education for spouses and those who are affected by the alcoholism of an addict. This paper shares the results of an ethnographic study among two selected Al-Anon group meetings in Tamil Nadu, India. Al-Anon group meetings were chosen in concordance with strict adherence to anonymity. It was observed that the women participating in Al-Anon groups could develop confidence in dealing with their alcoholic husbands and select strategies to face their life situations resiliently. The study is relevant as significantly few structured programs are designed to care for the most critical caregivers of the addicts. The study calls for the attention of health givers, psychologists, social workers, and psychiatrists to the plight of alcoholics' wives. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Psychologie Pro Praxi is the property of Charles University Prague, Karolinum Press and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

This paper situates Sikh identity, spirituality, and recovery from alcohol addiction within a nexus of complex social, psychological, and cultural factors. The way in which affected people in Sikh communities in Britain are able to locate and utilize unofficial recovery trajectories, often successfully alleviating suffering, presents both academic research and service provision with potential puzzles. While Sikh communities have been long settled in the UK, there is still a dearth of extensive, multi-method, and analytically rich research investigating the role of spirituality and Sikh identity. We present existing models of recovery process and locate them against an individual psychological and sociological backdrop, so that through the use of spirituality, recovery along this route is interpreted as having both otherworldly as well as materially grounded formations. It is this duality, we argue, that is prominent socially, culturally, and psychologically as important in the recovery from addiction. The multi-factorial nature of this mechanism of change raises important questions for not only addiction recovery, but also notions of continuity and change in Sikh identity. We aim to contribute to this growing body of work in order to re-situate the role of spirituality and identity in alcohol addiction recovery. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Fueled by stigma, individuals in, or seeking recovery from addiction struggle with disclosure across personal and professional life domains. Guided by the concepts of stigma and alcogenic environments, this paper explores the risks, benefits, and paradoxes of disclosing an alcohol addiction recovery identity from the perspective of an assistant professor in a Canadian university context. It argues that disclosure can be a promising way to strengthen personal recovery, combat self and public stigma, help build community, model authenticity and transparency in teaching and research roles, shift university drinking culture, and provide a safer environment for others to disclose and/or seek help for addiction. Policy and practice recommendations are provided. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Substance addiction is a chronic and relapsing brain disorder characterized by compulsive seeking and continued substance use, despite adverse consequences. The high prevalence and social burden of addiction are indisputable; however, the available intervention is insufficient. The modulation of gene expression and aberrant adaptation of neural networks are attributed to the changes in brain functions under repeated exposure to addictive substances. Considerable studies have demonstrated that miRNAs are strong modulators of post-transcriptional gene expression in substance addiction. The emerging role of microRNA (miRNA) provides new insights into many biological and pathological processes in the central nervous system: their variable expression in different regions of the brain and tissues may play a key role in regulating the pathophysiological events of addiction. This work provides an overview of the current literature on miRNAs involved in addiction, evaluating their impaired expression and regulatory role in neuroadaptation and synaptic plasticity. Clinical implications of such modulatory capacities will be estimated. Specifically, it will evaluate the potential diagnostic role of miRNAs in the various stages of drug and substance addiction. Future perspectives about miRNAs as potential novel therapeutic targets for substance addiction and abuse will also be provided. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Rationale: Of late, evidence emerges that the pathophysiology of psychiatric diseases and their affiliated symptomatologies are at least partly contributable to inflammatory processes. Also in alcohol use disorders (AUD), this interaction is strongly apparent, with severely immunogenic liver cirrhosis being one of the most critical sequelae of chronic abusive drinking. This somatic immune system activation negatively impacts brain functioning, and additionally, alcohol abuse appears to have a direct detrimental effect on the brain by actively stimulating its immune cells and responses. As cognitive decline majorly contributes to AUD's debility, it is important to know to what extent impairment of cognitive functioning is due to these (neuro-)inflammatory aberrations. Method: We hereby summarize the current existing literature on the interplay between AUD, inflammation, and cognition in a systematic review according to the PRISMA-P guidelines for the systematic review. Main findings: Although literature on the role of inflammation in alcohol use-related cognitive deficiency remains scarce, current findings indicate that pro-inflammatory processes indeed result in exacerbation of several domains of cognitive deterioration. Interestingly, microglia, the immune cells of the brain, appear to exert initial compensatory neuroprotective functionalities upon acute ethanol exposure while chronic alcohol intake seems to attenuate these responses and overall microglial activity. Conclusion: As these results indicate inflammation to be of importance in cognitive impairment following alcohol consumption and might as such provide alternate therapeutic avenues, a considerable increase in research efforts in this domain is urgently required. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

By measuring the concentration of total magnesium in serum one cannot make a difference between the biologically active, ionic magnesium and the one bound to proteins. Despite the normal value of concentration of ionic magnesium in serum, very often a deficiency of ionic magnesium is present in cells. This is why the determination of the concentration of ionic magnesium in cells is more important than obtaining an accurate insight about the entire magnesium status in the organism. Two most important functions of magnesium are the activation of enzymes and regulation of the membrane electrolyte transport. In alcohol addicts there is almost always a magnesium deficiency which is manifested as hypomagnesemia and cellular magnesium deficiency. Therefore, we decided to study a group of alcohol addicts and the relationship between magnesium concentration in serum and lymphocytes. The objectives of this paper were to determine the concentrations of ionic and total magnesium in serum and lymphocytes in alcohol addicts and to compare the values obtained in alcohol addicts with those of the healthy control group. We hypothesized that in alcohol addicts there is hypomagnesemia which is expressed more significantly in the sample of lymphocytes than in serum, and that the level of magnesium concentration returns to reference values after the establishment of abstinence. The study included subjects treated for alcohol addiction as inpatients, while the control group consisted of healthy volunteers. The results we obtained suggest that the concentration of total and ionic magnesium in alcohol addicts, both in serum and lymphocytes, reduced significantly compared to the control group. The changes in the concentration of ionic and total magnesium were more significant in the sample of lymphocytes. The concentration values of total and ionic magnesium in serum and lymphocytes depend on the duration of abstinence. After an initial decrease, the concentrations of total and ionic magnesium in serum and the concentrations of ion magnesium in lymphocytes slowly come close to the values of the control group. The most expressed decrease of values compared to the control group was determined in the concentration of total magnesium in lymphocytes. The normalization of concentration values in total and ionic magnesium occurs in serum more quickly than in lymphocytes, so a therapy longer than 21 days is necessary. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aims Major classification systems for alcohol use disorders (DSM-IV and ICD-10) contain elements of the 1976 Edwards and Gross formulation of the Alcohol Dependence Syndrome (ADS). However, issues remain about the criteria that identify Alcohol Dependence (AD) as distinct from Alcohol Abuse (AA) in DSM-IV and Harmful Use in ICD-10. These issues, in part, have their roots in changing historical perceptions of alcohol use and its problems. We discuss current diagnostic criteria for AA and AD, collectively called Alcohol Use Disorders (AUDs), in the context of their historical evolution; research progress in understanding alcohol problems, including alcohol dependence; new findings on the severity of AUDs as classified by DSM-IV; and the role of alcohol consumption patterns in future classifications of AUDs. Methods This paper is based largely on the 2006 H. David Archibald Lecture. Parts of the original lecture have been modified to reflect more recent findings from the National Epidemiologic Survey on Alcohol and Related Conditions (NESARC) of the US National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA). Results The original Edwards and Gross ADS construct is supported by advances in biological and behavioral science over the past 30 years. New findings indicate that DSM-IV AA and AD are not diagnostically distinct entities, but represent a continuum of severity of AUDs. The ADS criteria may best represent one quantifiable dimension of alcohol use problems and this scale can be related to that of the frequency of harmful patterns of drinking. Conclusion The Edwards and Gross ADS criteria can be used as the basis for beginning the development of scalable multi-dimensional criteria for diagnosing AUDs in new initiatives to revise DSM-IV and ICD-10. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Long-term use of drugs can sometimes result in brain damage that greatly affects a person's psychology and sometimes become indecent. This paper examines psychological disorders caused by substance abuse by examining literatures that involved machine learning (ML) models. The brain imaging, behavioural kinematics, and memory analysis are studied to gain insights of substance use and its disorder. Review analysis follows the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) guidelines. In order to help better screen, diagnose and monitor such disorders, ML identifies early onset of substance intake as predictors of disorders. The study measures identified in the articles (N=26) illustrate the exclusive use of ML to bring out insights of substance use disorders. Brain-related factors, behavioural phenotypes, and functional differentiation of the brain can express a great deal about disorders. Findings also identify the insights into various research levels, classification techniques, performance measures, challenges, and future directions related to use of ML. Random forests models are largely used for better performance. In addition, the diversity of interviews, questionnaires, brain imaging and the latest digital tools is part of this review. A longitudinal study with clinical validation could open up new models to explore substance use disorders.

Understanding the role of mass media in shaping the perception of individual health behavior in India, alcohol promoting advertisement bans were imposed on all mass media platforms. However, minimal research explored how the mass media had influenced the alcohol behavior of Indian individual's overtime after imposing a an. The present study examined the effect of mass media exposure to abate alcohol consumption behavior among the Indian population, adjusting for heterogeneity in the risk of alcohol consumption across India's communities and states. The India Human Development Survey panel data, including 16661 individuals, were used for analysis. Multivariable analyses were performed using three-level random intercept logit models to show the variation in consumption behavior across communities and states. Watching TV, listening to the radio and reading newspapers had no significant influence on alcohol consumption during 2005 and 2012, respectively. We have found a high correlation of alcohol consumption among individuals belonging to the same community and state. The study found an insignificant association of mass media with alcohol consumption but higher heterogeneity at the community and state levels. Thus, it suggests programs and campaigns targeting a particular group to address India's high-risk communities and states. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Social Sciences & Humanities Studies / Društvene i Humanističke Studije (DHS) is the property of Faculty of Humanities & Social Sciences, University of Tuzla and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

This work is an attempt to explore the area of interconnectedness between retrospective perceptions of parental attitudes and self-image in adulthood in alcohol addicts, taking into account the differences between men and women. The study was conducted on a sample of 69 patients of the alcohol addiction therapy unit (34 women, 35 men). The Retrospective Assessment of Parent Attitudes (KPR-Roc) questionnaire in M. Plopa (2008) and Jerry S. Wiggins's Interpersonal Adjective Scales (IAS) (2016) were used to measure variables. The difference tests were performed using 2-ANOVA, and the r-Pearson correlation coefficient was used to analyze the relationship between the variables tested. Statistically significant differences between men and women addicted to alcohol concerning the maternal image have been confirmed. However, there were no differences in the paternal image. In addition, there were statistically significant links between the image of the self and the image of both parents. Research shows that in alcohol addicts, there are clear differences between women and men in perceived parental attitudes of mothers. In addition, the memory of parental attitudes is important for the formation of the self-image of addicts, both with regard to the parental interactions of their mothers and fathers. The limitations of the studies and some of their clinical implications are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Alcohol use disorder (AUD) is a highly prevalent, comorbid, and disabling disorder. The underlying mechanism of ethanol neurotoxicity and the involvement of oxidative stress is still not fully elucidated. However, ethanol metabolism has been associated with increased oxidative stress through alcohol dehydrogenase, the microsomal ethanol oxidation system, and catalase metabolic pathways. We searched the PubMed and genome-wide association studies (GWAS) catalog databases to review the literature systematically and summarized the findings focusing on AUD and alcohol abstinence in relation to oxidative stress. In addition, we reviewed the ClinicalTrials.gov resource of the US National Library of Medicine to identify all ongoing and completed clinical trials that include therapeutic interventions based on antioxidants. The retrieved clinical and preclinical studies show that oxidative stress impacts AUD through genetics, alcohol metabolism, inflammation, and neurodegeneration. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study is a joint project involving alcohol-addiction experts and experts on comparative literature, who selected and defined the literary texts that were employed. The research included long-term alcohol abstainers, members of aftercare supportive-therapy groups ( n = 68). The research aimed to obtain some basic information about their reading habits, to test their responsiveness to various types of literary text displaying varying attitudes to alcohol consumption and to acquire the information necessary for a more intensive introduction of bibliotherapy into the therapy of alcohol dependence. The literary passages comprised two texts without reference to alcohol dependence (‘Der Panther’, Siddhartha), two displaying a critical attitude to alcoholism, by describing its negative aspects (John Barleycorn, L’Assommoir), and two without a critical attitude, i.e., with a positive approach to alcoholism (The Pickwick Papers, ‘In Taberna Quando Sumus’). The results showed a more positive response from the participants with higher education and established reading habits. The participants manifested a highly negative emotional response to the positive connotation of alcohol in the texts—an unexpected response after their long abstinence. Even short passages from literary works, appropriately and expertly differentiated, served to trigger or reinforce mentalisation-based reflective processes in addiction psychotherapy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The presented paper focuses on the topic of alcohol abuse and alcohol addiction in terms of work and organisational psychology. Specifically, it introduces the issues of alcohol abuse with people in managerial positions, and their impact on work-related functions and leadership. We emphasise the mutual connection of addictions as a biopsychosocial issue in terms of clinical psychology with applications on abuse in managerial positions and on the workplace. We also analyse the issues of stress, personality traits of managers and their psychological vulnerability to alcohol addiction. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: The theory on the demand for health suggests that schooling causes health because schooling increases the efficiency of health production. Alternatively, the allocative efficiency hypothesis argues that schooling alters the input mix chosen to produce health. This suggests that the more educated have more knowledge about the health production function and they have more health knowledge. This paper uses data from the 1997 and 2002 waves of the NLSY97 to conduct an investigation of the allocative efficiency hypothesis by analyzing whether education improves health knowledge. The survey design allows us to observe the increase in health knowledge of young adults after their level of schooling is increased by differential and plausibly exogenous amounts. Using nine different questions measuring health knowledge, we find weak evidence that an increase in education generates an improvement in health knowledge for those who ultimately attend college. For those with high school as the terminal degree, no relationship is found between education and health knowledge. These results imply that the allocative efficiency hypothesis may not be the primary reason for why schooling impacts health outcomes. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Background: One of the main challenges for clinicians is to ensure that alcohol withdrawal treatment is the most effective possible after discharge. To address this issue, we designed a pilot study to investigate the efficacy of the rehabilitation treatment on the main stages of information processing, using an electroencephalographic method. This topic is of main importance as relapse rates after alcohol withdrawal treatment remain very high, indicating that established treatment methods are not fully effective in all patients in the long run. Method: We examined in alcohol-dependent patients (ADP) the effects of the benzodiazepine-based standard detoxification program on event-related potential components at incoming (D0) and completion (D15) of the treatment, using tasks of increasing difficulty (with and without workload) during an auditory oddball target paradigm. Untreated non-alcohol-dependent-volunteers were used as matching controls. Results: At D0, ADP displayed significantly lower amplitude for all ERP components in both tasks, as compared to controls. At D15, this difference disappeared for the amplitude of the N1 component during the workload-free task, as well as the amplitude of the P3b for both tasks. Meanwhile, the amplitude of the N2 remained lower in both tasks for ADP. At D0, latencies of N2 and P3b in both task conditions were longer in ADP, as compared to controls, whilst the latency of N1 was unchanged. At D15, the N2 latency remained longer for the workload condition only, whereas the P3b latency remained longer for the workload-free task only. Conclusion: The present pilot results provide evidence for a persistence of impaired parameters of ERP components, especially the N2 component. This suggests that neural networks related to attention processing remain dysfunctional. Longitudinal long-term follow-up of these patients is mandatory for further assessment of a link between ERP alterations and a later risk of relapse. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Pharmacological treatment in alcohol use disorder suffers from modest effect sizes. Efforts have been undertaken to identify patient characteristics that help to select individuals that benefit from pharmacological treatment. Previous studies indicated that neural alcohol cue-reactivity (CR) might provide a marker that identifies patients, which benefit from naltrexone treatment. We investigated the reproducibility of the association between ventral striatum (VS) activation and naltrexone (NTX) treatment response by analyzing data from a recent longitudinal clinical trial in N = 44 abstinent treatment-seeking alcohol-dependent patients. A follow-up was conducted over 3 months. We computed the percentage of significant voxels in VS and tested main effects and interactions with NTX treatment on relapse risk using Cox Regression models. We found a significant interaction effect between pre-treatment cue reactivity in the VS and NTX treatment on time to first heavy relapse (Hazard Ratio = 7.406, 95% CI 1.17–46.56, p = 0.033), such that the patient group with high VS activation (defined by a mean split) showed a significant medication effect (Hazard Ratio = 0.140, 95% CI 0.02–0.75, p = 0.022) with a number needed to treat of 3.4 [95% CI 2.413.5], while there was no significant effect in the group with low VS activation (Hazard Ratio = 0.726, p = 0.454). Thus, using an independent sample we replicated the previously described positive association between VS activation and NTX efficacy. Although our results should be considered cautiously in light of the small sample size, our results support the potential of neural alcohol CR as a tool for precision medicine approaches in alcohol dependence. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Alcohol addiction can lead to health and social problems. It can also affect people's emotions. Emotion plays a key role in human communications. It is important to recognize the people's emotions at the court and infer the association between the people's emotions and the alcohol addiction. However, it is challenging to recognize people's emotions efficiently in the courtroom. Furthermore, to the best of our knowledge, no existing work is about the association between alcohol addiction and people's emotions at court. In this paper, we propose a deep learning framework for predicting people's emotions based on sound perception, named ResCNN-SER. The proposed model combines several neural network-based components to extract the features of the speech signals and predict the emotions. The evaluation shows that the proposed model performs better than existing methods. By applying ResCNN-SER for emotion recognition based on people's voices at court, we infer the association between alcohol addiction and the defendant's emotion at court. Based on the sound source data from 54 trial records, we found that the defendants with alcohol addiction tend to get angry or fearful more easily at court comparing with defendants without alcohol addiction.

The present article analyses the relationship between coping styles, defence mechanisms and time perspectives in subjects representing type I and II alcohol dependence according to the classification developed by Lesch. The results showed that among people belonging to type I addiction according to Lesch, a higher intensity of coping style focused on emotions is associated with a higher level of immature defence mechanisms, in particular denial and devaluation. A higher intensity of task-focused coping style in type I alcohol dependent individuals according to Lesch is accompanied by the use of mature defence mechanisms, such as humour and anticipation. In the group of people with type II alcoholism according to Lesch, focusing on past positive events is associated with an increased use of avoidant coping style, as well as its two subscales -- engaging in substitute activities and seeking social contacts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Alcohol use disorder (AUD) is associated with changes in frontostriatal connectivity, but functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) functional connectivity (FC) approaches are usually not adapted to these circuits. We developed a circuit‐specific fMRI analysis approach to detect dynamic changes in frontostriatal FC inspired by medial‐ventral‐rostral to lateral‐dorsal‐caudal frontostriatal gradients originally identified in nonhuman primate tract‐tracing data. In our PeaCoG ("peak connectivity on a gradient") approach we use information about the location of strongest FC on empirical frontostriatal connectivity gradients. We have recently described a basic PeaCoG version with conventional FC, and now developed a dynamic PeaCoG approach with sliding‐window FC. In resting state data of n = 66 AUD participants and n = 40 healthy controls we continue here the analyses that we began with the basic version. Our former result of an AUD‐associated ventral shift in right orbitofrontal cortex PeaCoG is consistently detected in the dynamic approach. Temporospatial variability of dynamic PeaCoG in the left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex is reduced in AUD and associated with self‐efficacy to abstain and days of abstinence. Our method has the potential to provide insight into the dynamics of frontostriatal circuits, which has so far been relatively unexplored, and into their role in mental disorders and normal cognition. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: The experience of trauma and stress in childhood and early adulthood can lead not only to immediate physical and psychological symptoms but also to long-term effects observed in later life. Aim and method: The objective of the following study was to search for the correlation between the occurrence of childhood trauma and its long-term outcome, that is alcohol dependence, and to review studies concerning the presence of certain personality traits in patients with such trauma experience and prognostic factors for treatment. The literature in the Google Scholar database was reviewed using the following keywords: childhood abuse, childhood trauma, alcohol addiction and alcohol use disorder. The time descriptors 2015-2021 were also used. Results: On the basis of the conducted studies, it has been found that the experience of extremely stressful situations at a young age is declared by a greater part of the examined patients with alcohol dependence syndrome. It was also noticed that the most significant and most frequently reported negative childhood experiences in patients with alcohol dependence syndrome are physical violence, parental separation or divorce, and mental illness of a family member. It was found that impulsivity, disorder, pessimism, fatigue and asthenia are some of the characteristics of this group of patients. Conclusions: It can be concluded that there is a significant correlation between the occurrence of traumatic events in childhood and the tendency to develop alcohol addiction in adulthood. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: Alcohol use is a major public health problem in India. We sought to study the use of alcohol and its risk factors in a rural area in South India. Methods: This study was conducted in 20 villages surrounding a Rural Health Training Centre, located in South India. The study was done from March 2018 to October 2018 with the help of Medical Interns and Medical Social Workers using a pretested questionnaire. Results: In a total population of 14,925, 11,995 individuals are in the age group of 15 years and above, among whom 1,005 were reported to be using alcohol. The prevalence of alcohol among 15 years and above is 8.4% (7.9–8.9) and the overall prevalence in the total population is 7% (6.3–7.1). Prevalence of alcohol use among males and females are 16% and 1%, respectively. The alcohol use is higher among those who prefer open defecation (adjusted Odds Ratio (aOR) 1.2 (1.0–1.4)), Kutcha house (aOR 1.7 (1.4–2.2)) or semi-pucca house (aOR 1.3 (1.121.6)), lower caste (Most Backward Castes (MBC) aOR 1.7 (1.2–2.2), Scheduled Castes (SC) aOR 2.1 (1.6–2.9)), male gender (aOR 41 (29–59)), Married 5.0 (3.7–6.8), or Separated 2.6 (1.5–4.4) and Diabetes 1.6 (1.1–2.3). Conclusion: Alcohol use in a remote rural area is high among socially deprived communities who live in kutcha and semi-pucca houses and belong to a lower caste. This needs serious public health interventions to improve their socioeconomic status. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: Population aging is a progressive demographic phenomenon observed in all countries worldwide. The progressive global process of population aging poses many threats, especially in the context of the mental health of the elderly. Third Age Universities are an essential preventive measure shown to improve the quality of life and psychological wellbeing of the elderly. Objectives: The aim of this study was to analyze the mental status of older persons attending Third Age Universities in Poland, with particular emphasis on sociodemographic sources of variance in psychological indices. Methods: The study included a group of the Third Age University program participants from Poland. A total of 247 persons were enrolled, among them 215 women and 32 men. The study was carried out as a diagnostic survey, using the following validated psychometric scales: The Mood Disorder Questionnaire (MDQ), Geriatric Depression Scale (GDS), General Health Questionnaire-28 (GHQ-28), The Athens Insomnia Scale (AIS), Courtauld Emotional Control Scale (CECS), State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI) and SMAST-G—Short Michigan Alcoholism Screening Test—Geriatric Version. Results: The vast majority of the respondents did not screen positively for possible bipolar disorder. However, more than 90% of the participants presented with the symptoms of mild depression, and more than one-third had manifestations of non-psychotic mental morbidity. Nearly half of the respondents had complaints associated with insomnia, and in more than one-fourth, SMAST-G score raised suspicion of problem alcohol drinking. Retired participants were shown to present with significantly higher levels of anger control than the occupationally active respondents. Respondents with poor economic status had significantly higher levels of symptoms for non-psychotic mental disorders. Men significantly more often than women showed symptoms raising suspicion of alcohol-related problems. Discussion: In conclusion, the study group was characterized primarily by the mild depressive and anxiety symptoms. The mental health of the Polish participants of the Third Age University program was significantly modulated by their socio-occupational and marital status, and financial condition. The study showed that persons with likely problem alcohol drinking differed from other respondents in terms of the occurrence of possible bipolar disorder, depression, and non-psychotic symptoms of mental disorders, state and trait anxiety levels and anger control. There is a need for further research in the field of mental health status in the Third Age Universities seniors to determine the prevalence of these phenomena on a national scale. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Psychiatry / Psychiatria is the property of VM Medica-VM Group (Via Medica) and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)