Predictors Of Hazardous Drinking Research Articles

Predictors of hazardous drinking and internet gaming severity among a military sample

AbstractResearchers have placed a necessary focus on the mental health and substance use needs of U.S. military populations. In the present study, we examined a sequential regression model in which psychological, emotional, and spiritual factors predicted hazardous drinking and internet gaming severity in a national sample of 207 with military identities. Results indicated that posttraumatic stress disorder symptoms, shame, and negative religious coping predicted hazardous alcohol use. Additionally, religious and spiritual struggles predicted higher internet gaming severity. Future research is needed to better contextualize combat era demographics and mental health risk and protective factors associated with alcohol use and internet gaming among military populations.

Hazardous drinking among young adults seeking outpatient mental health services.

BackgroundAlcohol use can have a significant negative impact on young adults in mental health treatment. This cross-sectional study examined prevalence and factors associated with hazardous drinking among young adults seeking outpatient mental health services, rate of alcohol use disorders (AUDs), and the relationship between hazardous drinking and other types of substance use.MethodsParticipants were 487 young adults ages 18–25 who completed self-administered computerized screening questions for alcohol and drug use. Alcohol use patterns were assessed and predictors of hazardous drinking (≥5 drinks on one or more occasions in the past year) were identified using logistic regression.ResultsOf the 487 participants, 79.8 % endorsed prior-year alcohol use, 52.3 % reported one or more episodes of hazardous drinking in the prior year and 8.2 % were diagnosed with an AUD. Rates of recent and lifetime alcohol, tobacco and marijuana use were significantly greater in those with prior-year hazardous drinking. In logistic regression, prior-year hazardous drinking was associated with lifetime marijuana use (OR 3.30, p < 0.001; 95 % CI 2.05, 5.28), lifetime tobacco use (OR 1.88, p = 0.004; 95 % CI 1.22, 2.90) and older age (OR 1.18 per year, p < 0.001; 95 % CI 1.08, 1.29).ConclusionsIn an outpatient mental health setting, high rates of hazardous drinking were identified, and drinking was associated with history of other substance use. Results highlight patient characteristics associated with hazardous drinking that mental health providers should be aware of in treating young adults, especially older age and greater use of tobacco and marijuana.

Risk Factors Measured During Medical School for Later Hazardous Drinking: A 10-year, Longitudinal, Nationwide Study (NORDOC).

To investigate the prevalence and temporal patterns of hazardous drinking and risk factors during medical school for future hazardous drinking among doctors. Two cohorts of graduating medical students (N = 1052) from all four Norwegian universities (NORDOC) were surveyed in their final year of medical school training (1993/94 and 1999) (T1) and again 4 (T2) and 10 (T3) years later. Longitudinally, 53% (562/1052) of the sample responded at all three time points. Hazardous drinking was defined as drinking five or more drinks during one session at least 2-3 times per month. Predictors of hazardous drinking, identified by logistic regression models after controlling for cohort, included a parental history of alcohol problems, having children, no religious activity, use of alcohol to cope with tension and some personality traits. There was a significant decline in the prevalence of hazardous drinking from T1 (14%) to T2 (10%) but not from T2 to T3 (8%). Approximately 23% of hazardous drinkers at T1 remained hazardous drinkers at T3 (N = 18). At T2, significant adjusted predictors included male gender (OR = 2.0, P = 0.04), use of alcohol as a coping strategy (OR = 2.2, P = 0.03) and hazardous drinking at T1 (OR = 9.8, P < 0.001). The significant adjusted predictors at T3 included older age (OR = 1.1, P = 0.01), male gender (OR = 3.6, P = 0.002) and hazardous drinking at T1 (OR = 7.5, P < 0.001). Hazardous drinking and drinking to cope with tension during medical school were the most important predictors of later hazardous drinking and should be targets of preventive efforts in medical schools.

Hazardous alcohol use among doctors in a Tertiary Health Center.

Background:Doctors have been identified as one of the key agents in the prevention of alcohol-related harm, however, their level of use and attitudes toward alcohol will affect such role.Aim:This study is aimed at describing the pattern of alcohol use and the predictors of hazardous drinking among hospital doctors.Setting:Study was conducted at the Ekiti State University Teaching Hospital, Ado-Ekiti, Nigeria.Design:A cross-sectional survey involving all the doctors in the teaching hospital.Materials and Methods:All the consenting clinicians completed a sociodemographic questionnaire and alcohol use was measured using the 10-item alcohol use disorder identification test (AUDIT) and psychological well-being was measured by the 12-item General Health Questionnaire (GHQ-12).Statistical Analysis Used:Statistical analyses were done using the Statistical Package for Social Sciences version 16. Chi-square tests with Yates correction were used to describe the relationship between respondent's characteristics and AUDIT scores as appropriate.Results:There were a total of 122 participants. Eighty-five (69.7%) of them were abstainers, 28 (23%) were moderate drinkers, and 9 (7.3%) hazardous drinkers. With the exception of age, there was no significant relationship between sociodemographic status, years of practice, specialty of practice, and hazardous alcohol use. Experiencing stress or GHQ score above average is significantly associated with hazardous drinking.Conclusion:Hazardous drinking among hospital doctors appears to be essentially a problem of the male gender, especially among those older than 40 years. Stress and other form of psychological distress seem to play a significant role in predicting hazardous drinking among doctors.

Consequences of Low Risk and Hazardous Alcohol Consumption among University Students in Australia and Implications for Health Promotion Interventions

Background: Hazardous alcohol consumption and associated harms are high among young uni- versity students. The university environment is conducive to excessive alcohol consumption with studies finding young university students to drink alcohol at higher levels than their non-university peers. Methods: A random sample of 18 - 24-year-old undergraduate, internal university students completed a survey (n = 2465) to investigate differences in self-reported personal, second-hand and witnessed alcohol-related harms, alcohol expectancies, pre-loading, and friends’ alcohol consumption between low risk and hazardous drinkers. Univariate and multivariate analyses are reported. Results: Almost 40% of students who had consumed alcohol in the past year reported drinking at hazardous levels. Univariate analyses found students who reported hazardous drinking reported significantly higher scores relating to experienced, second-hand, witnessed and academic problems compared to low risk drinkers. Hazardous drinkers were also more likely to pre-load, to drink at higher levels when pre-loading, have more friends who drank alcohol, have more friends who drank at hazardous levels and to score higher on alcohol expectancies. However both low risk and hazardous drinkers experienced a range of harms due to their own drinking including hangover (71.2%), unprotected sex (19.3%), regretted sex (16.8%) and drink-driving (17%). Looking after an intoxicated student (34.3%) and witnessing someone pass out (37.5%) were issues for all drinkers. Experienced alcohol related harms, academic problems, alcohol expectancies, close friends’ level of alcohol consumption, pre-loading in the last four weeks and level of consumption when pre-loading were predictors of hazardous drinking (p < 0.001). Conclusion: Young undergraduate university students are at risk of a range of academic, social, emotional and physical harms associated with their own and other students’ alcohol consumption. There is a need for integrated programs to address university drinking culture and effect positive changes.

Predictors of hazardous drinking, tobacco smoking and physical inactivity in vocational school students

BackgroundTobacco smoking, hazardous drinking and physical inactivity during adolescence are risk factors that are associated with poorer health in adulthood. The identification of subgroups of young people with a high prevalence of one or more of these risk factors allows an optimised allocation of preventive measures. This study aimed at investigating hazardous drinking, tobacco smoking and physical inactivity as well as their associations and demographic predictors in vocational school students.MethodsOut of 57 contacted vocational schools in Switzerland, a total of 24 schools participated in a survey assessing gender, age, immigrant background, educational attainment and vocational field as well as the above mentioned health risk factors. Out of the 2659 students present in 177 included vocational school classes, 2647 (99.5%) completed the survey. Binary logistic regression analyses were conducted to investigate the demographic predictors of each health risk factor and a multinomial logistic regression analysis was conducted to investigate predictors of different risk factor combinations.ResultsOf the surveyed students, 79.4% showed at least one risk factor, 43.6% showed two or more and 9.6% showed all three health risk factors. Hazardous drinking was more prevalent in male, physical inactivity was more prevalent in female vocational school students. The proportion of students with low physical activity and tobacco smoking increased with increasing age. While the combination of hazardous drinking and tobacco smoking was higher in males, the other risk factor combinations were observed particularly among females.ConclusionsMultiple risk factors were ascertained in a significant proportion of vocational school students. Specifically, tobacco smoking and hazardous drinking were coexistent. The study underlines the need for preventive measures in specific subpopulations of adolescents and young adults with lower educational level.

Hazardous alcohol use among hospital doctors in Germany

To describe alcohol use, and the prevalence and predictors of hazardous drinking, among hospital doctors. Data were collected by anonymous mail survey in 2006, from a representative national sample of 1917 (58% response rate) hospital doctors in Germany. Alcohol use was measured using the AUDIT-C, scores of 5 or more for males and females indicating "hazardous drinking." There were 9.5% abstainers, 70.7% moderate drinkers, and 19.8% hazardous drinkers. The majority of doctors (90.5%) used alcohol--mainly at a sensible level, e.g., 2-4 times a month (32%) or 2-3 times a week (29%), and 1-2 glasses on one occasion (83%). Binge drinking was common (53%), but for most occurred less than once in a month (39%). When hazardous drinking was controlled for certain confounders, being male (OR 4.7; 95% CI 3.4-6.5) and having a surgical specialty (OR 1.4; 1.1-1.8) were significantly correlated to hazardous drinking. Age had no influence on this model. By contrast, the age group 40 years and younger (OR 2.1; 1.4-3.0) was a significant predictor of abstinence. There is a higher rate of abstainers and a lower rate of binge drinkers among hospital doctors in Germany than in the general population. However, some hospital doctors drink hazardously, the risk being greater among males and among surgeons, which should be paid due attention in the interest of their health and their function as doctors.

Personality traits and drinking to cope as predictors of hazardous drinking among medical students.

The purpose of this study was to describe the prevalence and development of drinking to cope and hazardous drinking among medical students and to examine whether various personality traits and drinking to cope predict hazardous drinking. In a 6-year prospective study of a nationwide sample of medical students (N = 421) assessments were made by questionnaire at the beginning (T1) and at the end (T2) of each participant's tenure at medical school. A cohort of 272 medical students (56% women) from all medical schools in Norway participated at both T1 and T2. The questionnaires encompassed measures of personality characteristics (Basic Characteristic Inventory) and alcohol-use (hazardous drinking and drinking to cope). The levels of drinking to cope and hazardous drinking were not significantly different between T1 and T2, rising from 9.2% to 11.8% and from 17.7% to 19.2%, respectively. Hazardous drinking at T1 (odds ratio [OR] = 7.0; 95% confidence interval [CI]: 3.2-15.4) and level of control (personality trait) at T1 (OR = 0.7; 95% CI: 0.6-0.9) predicted hazardous drinking at T2 among all the students. Hazardous drinking (OR = 3.5; 95% CI: 1.4-9.0), control (OR = 0.7; 95% CI: 0.6-0.9) and drinking to cope at T1 (OR = 5.0; 95% CI: 1.0-24.1) independently predicted hazardous drinking at T2 among the men, whereas the only predictor among the women was hazardous drinking at T1 (OR = 42.1; 95% CI: 8.1-218.2). Drinking to cope should be targeted for preventive measures against hazardous drinking, particularly among men. The effects of personality and drinking to cope differ by gender and should be studied further.