Cardiovascular responses to cocaine placebo in humans: a preliminary report.

Cardiovascular responses after placebo-cocaine injections were in the same direction as the effect of cocaine iv in 22 male volunteers. Subjects received iv placebo in a room where they had been given repeated doses of iv cocaine. The placebo response consisted of an increase from baseline values of systolic and diastolic blood pressure and pulse rate. The control group, 8 subjects, which was not exposed to a conditioning phase, showed a smaller increase in the pulse rate and systolic blood pressure after the placebo injection. The results, in accordance with animal literature, suggest the existence of cocaine-conditioned effects in humans.

Concepts of drugs: differences in conceptual structure across groups with different levels of drug experience.

Seventy-seven college students varying in degree of drug use experience rated the perceived similarities of all possible combinations of 16 drugs classes (cigarettes, other tobacco, alcohol, marijuana, barbiturates, minor and major tranquilizers, amphetamines, amphetamine derivatives, cocaine, heroin, opiates, hallucinogens, inhalants, PCP, anti-depressants). Multi-dimensional scaling (INDSCAL) and network models (PFNET) indicated that abstainers had only one pharmacological category involving sedatives/depressants, and that they attached more importance to whether drugs were licit vs. illicit than to whether they were depressants vs. stimulants. Conceptions became more coherent, differentiated and based on pharmacological properties for more experienced drug users. In line with previous work, groups with greater experience with drugs had more sophisticated conceptions not only about the drugs they had used, but also about drugs they had not used. These findings suggest that early on in drug behavior sophisticated and interrelated concepts are developing that should be taken into account when designing interventions and information campaigns.

Effect of religion and religiosity on alcohol use in a college student sample.

Two hundred and sixty-three alcohol using college students completed a questionnaire on their levels of alcohol use, problems with alcohol use, reasons for drinking, perceptions of control over drinking, impulsivity, venturesomeness, irrational beliefs, neuroticism, expectations of alcohol effects, depression, social norms, religious affiliation and intrinsic and extrinsic religiosity. Analyses of variance revealed that students with no religious affiliation reported significantly higher levels of drinking frequency and quantity, getting drunk, celebratory reasons for drinking and perceived drinking norms than those of either Catholic or Protestant religious affiliation, while no significant differences across groups were found for alcohol use problems. Protestants reported significantly higher levels of perceived drinking control than Catholics. Intrinsic religiosity, reflecting one's ego involvement with the tenets of one's religion, appeared to play a more important positive role over drinking behavior for Protestants than for Catholics.

Effects of sensation seeking, instruction set, and alcohol/placebo administration on aggressive behavior.

Sixty-three male college students were assessed on the number of aversive sound blasts they administered in response to their fictitious task partner's blasts in a variation of the Taylor aggression paradigm. Subjects were randomly assigned to one of three alcohol dosing conditions (placebo, placebo/expect alcohol, and alcohol) and one of three instruction conditions (aggression-told the noise blasts were meant to disrupt task performance; altruism-told the noise blasts were meant to improve concentration; ambiguous-either aggression or altruism). A significant three-way interaction of dosing condition by instruction by subjects' sensation seeking was found, such that high sensation seekers in the alcohol condition, compared to low sensation seekers, delivered more noise blasts in the aggression instruction condition, whereas they administered fewer blasts in the altruism condition. High sensation seekers in the placebo condition yielded an opposite pattern of results. The results were interpreted in terms of the effects of "alcohol myopia" on the disinhibition of socially disapproved behaviors and in terms of the moderating effects of personality and situational factors.

Long-term repeatability of human alcohol metabolism, sensitivity and acute tolerance.

Thirty-eight subjects in the Colorado Alcohol Research on Twins and Adoptees (CARTA) were brought back between 3 and 39 months after their initial testing to be retested on a shortened version of the standard CARTA procedures. As before, subjects were given a dose of ethanol (0.8 g/kg) calculated to bring their blood alcohol level (BAL) to near 100 mg/dl, but no topping doses were administered in the retests to maintain BALs near peak for 3 hours, as was done previously. Repeatability (test-retest correlation) for alcohol clearance rate was near zero, repeatability for time to peak BAL was 0.36 and that for peak BAL was 0.50. Repeatabilities of prealcohol baseline scores were generally high (median 0.55) for the shortened battery of physiological, motor coordination, perceptual speed and reaction time measures. Repeatabilities were near zero for sensitivity scores (median 0.02) and were low for acute tolerance scores (median 0.10) and perceived intoxication (median 0.27). These findings are highly consistent with an earlier report on repeatabilities of responses to alcohol over a 1-month time interval.

One-month repeatability of alcohol metabolism, sensitivity and acute tolerance.

Subjects (N = 34) in the Colorado Alcohol Research on Twins and Adoptees (CARTA) were brought back between 30 and 60 days after their initial testing to be retested on all the CARTA procedures. As before, subjects were given a dose of alcohol (.8 g/kg of body weight) calculated to bring their blood alcohol level (BAL) to near 100 mg/dl. Additional doses were given at the end of each of the next 2 hours to maintain their BAL near peak for approximately 3 hours. Repeatability (test-retest correlation) for alcohol clearance rate was near 0, with repeatabilities between .40 and .55 for peak BAL, time-to-peak BAL, average session BAL and relative volume of alcohol distribution. Repeatabilities of prealcohol baseline scores were generally high (median, .71) for the CARTA battery of physiological, motor coordination, perceptual speed and reaction time measures, but were only low to moderate for sensitivity scores (median, .27) and acute tolerance scores (median, .25) calculated on these measures. There was some evidence that repeatabilities for alcohol metabolism, sensitivity and acute tolerance were lower for women than for men.

Reliability of sibling reports on parental drinking behaviors.

Questionnaire data from the Colorado Alcohol Research on Twins and Adoptees (CARTA) were analyzed to explore the reliability of sibling responses to items from the CARTA Family Alcoholism History Questionnaire (FHQ) concerning parental drinking behaviors. Subjects included 142 pairs of male and female, twin and nontwin siblings who reported on paternal and maternal problem drinking. FHQ items were summed to produce drinking-problem scales for fathers and mothers. There was generally good concordance across sibling reports of parental problem-drinking symptoms. There was a significant gender difference in that male offspring were more in agreement about their mothers' drinking behavior, while female offspring were more in agreement about their fathers' drinking behavior. For the most part, objective items, such as having two or more drunk-driving arrests, were more reliable (paternal kappa total = .56, maternal = .66) than subjective items, such as being happy only when drinking (paternal = .24, maternal = -.03). This evidence for reliability of sibling reports about parental drinking does seem to validate the use of such questionnaire data in alcohol studies.

Familial transmission of alcohol consumption and the flushing response to alcohol in three Oriental groups.

Multivariate path analysis was used to examine the etiologies of variation and covariation of flushing after alcohol use in nuclear families of Korean, Taiwanese, Japanese and Caucasian ancestries. Phenotypic variances and covariances were partitioned into familial (additive genetic and common family environment) and environmental components. Although alcohol consumption and flushing varied greatly among the different groups, familialities, estimated from components of mother, father and at least one child, were remarkably similar. The familialities for flushing were 0.48 for Japanese, 0.56 for Koreans and 0.35 for Taiwanese; flushing is infrequent in Caucasians and thus was not analyzed. Familialities were lower for consumption, but like flushing, were consistent across ethnic groups (Japanese, 0.27; Koreans, 0.24; Taiwanese, 0.15; Caucasians, 0.28). The genetic correlation between flushing and alcohol consumption was high. Thus, to the extent that flushing influences alcohol consumption, the covariance is most likely genetic.

A cross-ethnic comparison of reasons given for using alcohol, not using alcohol or ceasing to use alcohol.

In a study that included six different racial-ethnic groups in Hawaii, the reasons given by drinkers for drinking, abstainers for not drinking and former drinkers for ceasing to drink were assessed. Although there were group differences in frequencies of endorsement of given reasons for drinking, for not drinking or for ceasing to drink, the findings of similarity were most impressive. Drinkers, abstainers and former drinkers were similar across racial-ethnic groups in their proportions of endorsement of given reasons for drinking, abstaining or ceasing to use alcohol. Although reasons for drinking varied across racial-ethnic groups, they varied much more across groups that differed in alcohol consumption independent of ethnicity, with all reasons for drinking being more often endorsed as consumption increased. In addition, the citation of more pathological reasons for drinking was associated with a greater number of drinking problems.

Anticipated and subjective sensitivities to alcohol.

The development and maintenance of alcohol use patterns may depend, in part, on differences between how an individual anticipates he will respond to alcohol and how he appears to others when he is drinking. Such differences may introduce bias in decisions regarding which activities are safe while under the influence of an intoxicating amount of alcohol. This study of 387 participants of the Colorado Alcohol Research on Twins and Adoptees project examined the interrelationships of anticipated, subjective and observer-judged sensitivity to a blood alcohol concentrations of about 0.1 g/dl (approximated by breath alcohol concentration). Differences among the sensitivity measures were dependent upon recent alcohol drinking history and individual differences in actual sensitivity (as observer-rated). The results were consistent with hypotheses that people with little drinking experience may overestimate how intoxicated they will be, that heavier drinkers may develop chronic tolerance to the intoxicating effects and that denial may play a role in both subjective and anticipated sensitivity.

The flushing response to alcohol use among Koreans and Taiwanese.

Alcohol use, the existence of a flushing response to alcohol and the amount of alcohol required to evoke flushing were studied by questionnaire in 87 homeland Korean and 101 Taiwan Chinese families. SFs (slow flushers--flush after two or more drinks) and FFs (fast flushers--flush after one drink or less) were compared. Despite the similarity in the proportions of subjects who reported flushing, Koreans reported very heavy and Taiwanese very light alcohol use. The two groups differed substantially in the proportions of SFs and FFs. Five ethnic groups in Hawaii were compared with the Koreans and Taiwanese. It appears that fast flushing, but not slow flushing, leads to substantial decreases in alcohol use among all seven groups. The association of flushing type with the extent and duration of flushing and with the frequency of other alcohol-related symptoms may be dose-dependent. For both Koreans and Taiwanese, family resemblances in flushing are substantial but not supportive of the belief that flushing is dominant and results from the influence of a single autosomal gene pair. Of the large groups of subjects from whom data were obtained (Caucasians, Chinese, Filipinos, Hawaiians or part Hawaiians, and Japanese in Hawaii; homeland Koreans; and Taiwan Chinese), the Koreans and Taiwanese differ the most from one another in alcohol consumption. In summary, there is substantial diversity among groups frequently lumped together as "Mongoloid."

A longitudinal study of family practice residents' attitudes toward alcoholism.

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: This study sought to analyze whether the experience of residency training at a public hospital where alcoholism is highly prevalent, combined with a didactic program emphasizing community resources, would result in changes in residents' baseline attitudes. Previous research has suggested that alcoholism-related attitudes are therapeutically important. METHODS: Forty-three family practice residents took the Marcus Alcoholism Questionnaire at the beginning, and at the end, of their 3-year training program. Initial scores were compared with an "expert" sample (Toronto Alcohol and Drug Research Foundation). Residents' initial and final scores were also compared. RESULTS: Residents' entry attitudes were similar to those of the "expert" sample. On six of nine scales, there were no significant changes between entry and exit attitudes. At final testing, however, residents were significantly more likely to agree that a periodic excessive drinker can be an alcoholic (t = -3.15, P < .01), that alcoholism is not an illness (t = -2.57, P < .05), and that alcoholism is a harmless voluntary indulgence (t = 2.08, P < .05). However, exit means for the latter two scales still remained in a functional category, when compared with the expert sample. CONCLUSIONS: Resident attitudes did not show any substantial deterioration during the course of training. The structured curriculum emphasizing community resources and positive role models may have counterbalanced the frustrations of the clinical training site.

Asians, Asian-Americans and alcohol.

The association of flushing (vasodilation, reddening of the skin) with the alcohol use of Asians and Asian-Americans is examined. Historical changes in alcohol use, recent secular changes in alcohol use, and marked differences in consumption among Asian populations and among Asian-Americans of the same national origins, as well as the lack of reduction of sex differences among flushers, indicate that flushing has little influence on alcohol consumption. Social, psychological, and cultural influences seem to be more adequate explanatory devices with regard to Oriental alcohol use.

Effects of alcoholic beverage, instigation, and inhibition on expectancies of aggressive behavior.

To investigate the role of alcohol expectancy, situational factors, and personality variables in predicting postdrinking aggression, two questionnaire studies were conducted. Subjects were randomly assigned to imagine themselves and their responses in a scenario situation, which was a combination of different beverages (soda vs. alcohol), instigation, and inhibition conditions. Both studies found significant 3-way interactions of personality aggression proneness (Buss-Durkee Hostility Inventory Assault scale) by beverage condition and by situational cue condition on subjects' reported likelihood of engaging in aggressive behavior. Expected aggression was strongly associated with greater aggression proneness in the nonalcoholic condition when there was a situational cue (low inhibition in Study 1, high instigation in Study 2) invoking aggression, but not when the situational cue was absent. This relationship between aggression proneness and expected aggression, however, was attenuated in the alcoholic drink conditions in both studies. In general, it was found that the effect of alcohol on expected aggression was minor relative to the large and significant effects of aggression proneness, instigation, and inhibition.

Magical thinking and alcohol labels.

31 men and 29 women were randomly assigned to conditions in which they drank water they had labeled as either WATER, ALCOHOL, or NOT ALCOHOL, then completed a mood measure. Subjects given the ALCOHOL label who reported low frequency of using alcohol had a significantly greater positive mood and a less negative mood than subjects in the other conditions.

One-month repeatability of emotional responses to alcohol.

Thirty-four subjects in the Colorado Alcohol Research on Twins and Adoptees (CARTA) were brought back between 30 to 60 days after their initial testing to be retested on all the CARTA procedures. As before, subjects were given a dose of ethanol (0.8 g/kg) calculated to bring their blood alcohol concentration (BAC) to near 0.10 g/dl. Additional doses were given at the end of each of the next 2 hr to maintain their BAC near peak for approximately 3 hr. During both testings, subjects' self-reports of their emotional responses and perceived intoxication following alcohol dosing were only minimally correlated with their alcohol metabolism parameters and reported average level of alcohol use. Repeatabilities (test-retest correlations) for subjects' self-reports of positive affect and of intoxication following alcohol dosing were consistently high, in contrast to earlier reports of minimal repeatabilities for alcohol metabolism and responses to alcohol on physiological, motor coordination, reaction time, and perceptual speed measures. Tester ratings of the subjects' levels of intoxication were also moderately stable between the two testings.

Influence of family alcoholism history on alcohol metabolism, sensitivity, and tolerance.

As part of the Colorado Alcohol Research on Twins and Adoptees (CARTA), 35 subjects who reported having an alcoholic parent or sibling [family alcoholism history positive (FHP)] were matched with 35 controls [family alcoholism history negative (FHN)]. All subjects were tested three times on a battery of physiological, motor, and cognitive performance tasks before the ingestion of alcohol, then were tested three more times over a 3-hr period during which their blood alcohol concentration (BAC) was brought up to and maintained at about 0.10 g/dl by an initial large dose of ethanol and subsequent topping doses. FHP subjects scored significantly lower than FHN subjects on the Raven's Progressive Matrices and on some of the cognitive tasks before alcohol ingestion. FHP and FHN subjects, however, did not significantly differ in absorption and clearance of alcohol or in sensitivity and acute tolerance scores calculated on the repeated measures. Contrary to expectations, FHP subjects perceived themselves as being more impaired by alcohol than FHN subjects, and there was little evidence to suggest that they were less sensitive to variations in BAC.

Familial transmission of cognitive abilities in offspring tested in adolescence and adulthood: a longitudinal study.

As part of a follow-up study of now-adult offspring who originally participated in the Hawaii Family Study of Cognition (HFSC) from 1972 to 1976, 49 females and 46 males from 73 families of Caucasian ancestry and 63 females and 55 males from 92 families of Japanese ancestry were retested (average test-retest interval, 13 years) on the battery of cognitive abilities tests they took as adolescents. Age-corrected scale scores for verbal ability, spatial ability, perceptual speed, visual memory, and unrotated first principal component were calculated for the offspring's fathers and mothers, for their original HFSC testing, and for the retesting. Model-fitting procedures for a univariate model of familial transmission indicated significant differences in the parameters between the two racial/ethnic groups for all five cognitive abilities scales. These procedures also demonstrated no significant differences in familialities for offspring abilities in adolescence vs. mature adulthood across all five abilities scales and both racial/ethnic groups.